The old hickory carbon steel butcher knife is a great classic, full tang, and extremely affordable knife that can be great for bushcraft or survival tasks. It is also fairly lightweight as well and has nice hardwood scales/grips.

1. The steel.

I’d say the steel is of excellent quality, and has a good heat treat especially when considering the price. Almost any other knife in this price range besides a Morakniv knife will be made of low quality steel. I love my Morakniv knives but the old hickory knife is my current go-to. Due to the nature of basic high carbon steel, it can be rough sharpened on a sandstone (with skill) and stropped with a leather belt or strip. The blade must be dried or oiled after use to prevent rust. Over time, it will gain a natural patina, essentially a small amount of oxidation but not red, crappy rust, and this will make the blade a dark grey color and help prevent actual rust from setting in. This knife also throws sparks with a flint or quarts rock very nicely due to the high carbon content.

2. The general shape.

Overall, the knife is shaped very nicely out of the box/bag, but it is a little rough around the edges. You will want to take some light sandpaper to the handle to round off the corners, and file or grind the back to a nice square/90 degree angle to help the knife strike ferrocerium rods as well as making it more useful for scraping tasks with the back of the blade. Use caution with a power grinder not to over heat the blade and damage the heat treat. This knife does not include a sheath, but I have found that the USMC Ka Bar leather sheath, which is made of a thick durable full grain leather can be used as well as a yucca plant stock. For a yucca plant stock sheath, get a section of stock that is wider in diameter than the blade and carefully shove the blade through until it makes a nice groove/hole to keep the knife blade secure when carrying the knife in a bag. These makeshift yucca sheathes can also be wrapped with cord or sinew to prevent the from splitting, and if you can’t find a dry piece to make a fireboard or spindle, it could double as a firecraft piece for a friction fire set.

3. Links to purchase this product and other equipment. (Affiliate links, no extra cost for you to support the blog!)

The knife (Regular carbon steel butcher knife no longer on amazon, but they have a “hunting knife” that is exactly the same. (unfortunately more expensive these days)

Flint Rocks for firecraft

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