What gives an outdoor chef knife tactical qualities? We’re not entirely sure. In the case of the New West Tactical Outdoor Chef Knife, it’s because the darn thing was designed in collaboration with Jack Carr, the former US Navy Seal and New York Times bestselling author of The Terminal List. Yes, it’s the book that spawned the Netflix series where Chris Pratt went on a John Wick killing spree.
While they call it a chef knife, it’s actually designed for all-around utility at camp, so you can use it to cut rope, make tinder, or process an animal you caught on top of all the food prep you will be doing to stay nourished in the wild. It looks badass, too, which is always a good thing when it comes to your main blade.
The New West Tactical Outdoor Chef Knife has a 6.6-inch long blade, so this should be big enough to handle large, dense meat and cut it into smaller pieces for cooking in your camp stove. It’s made from CPM S35VN stainless steel, which boasts crazy levels of toughness, excellent edge retention (so you don’t have to sharpen it over and over), and superior stain resistance, making it ideal for demanding cooking applications. Like any proper chef knife, this is very thin, measuring just 0.015 inches at the blade and 0.135 inches at the spine, ensuring it can cut through even tougher food items with little resistance.
It has a clip point design that, the outfit says, is inspired by the classic bowie knife. Doing this allowed them to lower the tip of the blade, which created a longer and flatter cutting edge that’s supposedly more effective at chopping and slicing food. Plus, that sharp clip point tip allows for serious stabbing prowess, in case you end up making your own terminal list while going insane in the backcountry. Or you can just it for paring duties, which it will be equally adept at.
The New West Tactical Outdoor Chef Knife doesn’t use a single continuous sharp edge. Instead, they added partial serration with asymmetrical teeth that bite in both directions near the tip, which should allow it to cut through softer items, such as bread, fabrics, or tomatoes, a little easier. A really eyecatching detail here is the swedge grind on the spine, which puts angular detailing on the top of the blade. According to the outfit, that detail also reduces weight and helps balance the blade to optimize penetration when carving around bones.
They pair that sexy blade with a straight handle cut in G10 and alternating layers of rubber, which supposedly promotes an incredibly secure grip in both wet and dry conditions. It’s full tang, by the way, complete with a striker at the end of the handle, which you can use as a makeshift pry bar or hammer in a pinch. Other features include a total length of 12.1 inches, a weight of 7.6 ounces (just under half a pound), and a handsome leather sheath with a magnet closure and a button stud for carrying right on your belt.
The New West Tactical Outdoor Chef is available as a made to order knife, priced at $450.