Boot Knife

What makes a boot knife a boot knife

A boot knife is defined by where it rides, not by what it cuts. Wikipedia's entry calls it a small fixed-blade knife designed to be carried in or on a boot, usually worn in a sheath with some kind of clip, and notes that blades typically run 3 to 5 inches. It also lists the old nickname, "gambler's dagger." Nobody at Hemlock Run gambles anything bigger than the last pork chop, so we just call it the short one.

That location drives every spec. A knife in your boot has to be short overall, slim, held tight, and fine with being damp. It also has to come out when you need it and stay put when you don't.

Boot knives are often sold as defensive tools. This page treats one the way a deer hunter uses it. For a deer hunter, a boot knife is a backup. It's the blade that's still on you when the hunting knife is in the pack and the pack is hanging on a hook 20 feet up a tree. Cutting a tangled pull-up rope. Trimming a branch at the blind window. Opening the bag of hand warmers you forgot to open at the truck.

For fixed-blade basics like tangs and steel grades, see the fixed blade knife page. What follows is only the small, short, clip-on kind.

Below the text, the table holds fixed blades with a 3- to 5-inch blade and under 9.5 inches overall, each sold with a sheath, as the maker or the Amazon listing states it. You'll see both lengths, shape, edge, steel, tang, handle and sheath, plus thickness if the maker or the listing gives it and weight if the maker does. The table marks values that come from the listing, and an empty cell means neither states it.

What to look at in a boot knife

Overall length decides whether it fits your boot

On most knives, blade length is the headline. On a boot knife, it's overall length: blade plus handle. That's what has to fit between your ankle bend and the top of the boot.

Measure twice. Put on the boots you actually hunt in, sit down the way you sit in a blind, and measure from where your ankle bends to the top of the shaft. Low hikers leave almost no room. Tall rubber boots leave plenty. The table's overall-length column is the number to hold against your tape measure.

Rule of thumb: the handle should end below the boot top or just above it, not halfway up your shin. A handle that pokes up into your calf every time you kneel will be in the truck by day two.

Blade length is the second number

Wikipedia gives 3 to 5 inches as the usual boot-knife range, and this page's table uses the same band. Within it, the trade is the same one Morakniv describes for any outdoor knife: a shorter blade gives control and precision, a longer one gives reach for heavier work.

For a backup knife, shorter is usually fine. The jobs are small. A 3-inch blade cuts cord as well as a 5-inch one, and it leaves more room in the boot.

One edge or two

This is the spec that splits boot knives into two families.

A double-edged blade has two sharpened edges meeting at a centered point. Benchmade's blade-shape guide calls spear points sharpened on both edges daggers, says they're built for piercing and penetrating, and notes they may not have a spine. Many boot knives are made this way; Wikipedia says most are double-edged daggers.

A single-edge boot knife has one sharpened edge and a flat back. It may still be a spear point, symmetrical in outline, or a drop point, which Benchmade describes as having a spine that slopes to the tip and a broad belly for slicing, listed for general utility and hunting.

My one opinion on this page: for a hunter, take the single edge. The reason you can check is that flat back. Morakniv's carving guide teaches a thumb push: the off hand's thumb leans on the blade's back to steer short, controlled cuts. You can't do that on a blade that's sharp on both sides. A single edge also gives you one bevel to sharpen instead of two, and it's the safer knife to choke up on when your hands are cold.

Shape appears in the table in the maker's or the listing's words, and so does the edge style. On a short blade, a plain edge does more of the small jobs well.

The sheath clip is the most important part

Wikipedia notes boot-knife sheaths generally include some form of clip. That clip is the whole system. It hooks over the boot top, the belt or the waistband, and it's what keeps the knife from walking out on the trail.

Makers carry them a few ways. One maker's double-edged boot knife comes in a molded sheath with a spring-steel clip and is made to be worn in a boot or clipped to a waistband. Another maker's single-edged boot knife uses a dual-carry molded sheath that clips to a belt and has slots for adding your own leg straps. So "boot knife" doesn't lock you into the boot. Plenty of hunters end up wearing theirs on the belt behind the hip.

Check three things on the sheath:

• Clip: stiff enough to grip a thick boot top
• Retention: the knife stays in when you shake it upside down
• Slimness: no bulky snaps rubbing your ankle all day

Kydex or leather on a boot knife

Sheath material shows in the table when stated. Montana Knife Company's Kydex-versus-leather piece puts the trade simply. Kydex (molded plastic) holds its shape through a molded detent, a little bump that clicks the knife into place, and doesn't absorb water. Leather tends to loosen as it stretches, and it soaks up water, swells and softens.

For a boot, that leans Kydex: damp, flexing and rubbing all day. The catch is noise. The same article says Kydex makes an audible click when you seat the blade and some noise on the draw, while leather draws quietly. In a ground blind at first light, a click is a click. (A deer has never once been impressed by how secure my sheath was.)

Draw it at home a few times. Better you find out it's loud on the porch than in the blind.

Steel type for a knife that lives somewhere damp

A boot after a wet walk is not a dry place. Per Morakniv's outdoor guide, stainless is the low-maintenance steel for damp places, and carbon trades extra upkeep for a keener edge.

A knife riding against wet socks, sometimes ignored for days, is better off stainless. Even stainless can spot if it sits wet, so pull the knife out and dry it when you dry your boots. Each row names the steel class, and the grade too if the maker printed one.

Blade thickness and weight

Thickness and weight appear only for makers who publish them. On a boot knife, both are about comfort. A thick, heavy knife bangs against your ankle bone with every step. A thin, light one disappears.

You're not batoning with this knife. You're not prying. A thinner blade cuts small things more easily, and the few extra ounces of a thick one are ounces you carry on the lowest, busiest part of your body. Danny wore a heavy one in his boot for a weekend and said it was like hiking with a ruler in his sock. He wasn't wrong.

Handle shape and full tang

A boot-knife handle is short and usually slim, so grip texture matters. You'll often draw it with cold or wet hands. A smooth, polished handle looks nice and slides in a glove.

A full tang is stronger; a partial tang is lighter and, by Morakniv's account, more comfortable to carry. On a backup knife for small jobs, a partial tang is fine. An empty tang cell just means the maker was quiet about it.

Where to carry a boot knife

Inside the boot

The classic spot is inside the boot shaft, on the outside of your leg, with the clip over the boot top. Wear it there with the boots and socks you'll actually hunt in before season. If it rubs on a short walk, it'll raw your leg on a long one.

On the boot, outside

Some sheaths clip over the outside of the boot top or lace up with the boot. That keeps the knife off your skin, but it's also where brush grabs it. Check the clip after every bad thicket.

On the belt or waistband

A lot of boot knives end up here. The short length rides well behind the hip or at the small of the back, and it's easier to reach while sitting. If that's where yours will go, you might also look at the neck knife page, which covers small knives worn on a cord.

Care for a knife that rides low

Low on your body means mud, water and grit. Morakniv's care page says to clean a knife right after use, dry it with a towel rather than letting it air dry, and keep leather and nylon sheaths dry and clean. It also says to check that belt loops, screws and cord on the sheath are intact. On a boot knife, add the clip to that list.

Grit trapped in a sheath wears on the blade. Rinse a Kydex sheath with soapy water, as Montana Knife Company suggests, and let it dry before the knife goes back in.

A short blade dulls fast on small jobs. Sharpen it on the same stone, at the same angle, the day you do your main knife. That's a Saturday-afternoon fix.

Boot knife safety

Make sure the knife is fully seated and the clip is secure every time you put it on. When you sheathe it, guide the blade straight into the sheath mouth; Browning's safety page warns a crooked blade can cut through the sheath and into you. Draw it with the edge pointed away from your body, and keep it sheathed whenever it isn't in use.

Carry rules for fixed, concealed and double-edged blades vary by state and city, so check your state's rules first.

Who should skip a boot knife

If this would be your only knife for dressing deer, skip it. A short boot blade can do the job in a pinch, but a hunting knife has the size and belly that job wants. If you never carry a pack and always have a knife on your belt, a second small fixed blade may just be extra weight. And if you hate anything on your ankle, a folder in the pocket covers the same small chores; see the pocket knife page.

A backup knife you leave in the truck isn't a backup. Pick the one you'll actually wear.