These New Compact Tiktaalik Camping Knives Are Specially Designed For Outdoor Use

Avid outdoor chefs (amateur and professional alike) are about to receive a revolutionary new product that promises to enhance campfire cooking.

Portland, Oregon-based Tiktaalik has just launched the “first compact set of professional quality stainless steel cooking knives” specifically designed for those who love the outdoors.

Tiktaalik Field Knife Set

The Tiktaalik set features three knives (paring, serrated, and Chef’s) in a stylish metal case. Born of a desire to “…evolve, simplify and distill the traditional cooking knife…” Tiktaalik focused on designing a knife set that is:

• more lightweight
• easier to clean
• compact and simple to store

The company’s Kickstarter campaign brought in $53,820, well over the initial funding level of $48,000. So yes, this product is coming to market.

The design of each knife consists of:

1. a grip-less handle for compact storage
2. comfortable rounded top edges
3. small hole in rear of handle for easy hanging
4. tapered handle for improved ergonomics
5. finger notch
6. tapered, compact blade

You may be wondering why there’s no handle on this “improved” knife design. Here’s what the founder of Tiktaalik has to say,

So why doesn’t the Field Knife design have a grip? The short answer is that if a kitchen knife is held correctly, in the manner that most Chef’s hold a kitchen knife, you are much less reliant on the grip itself. There are many ways to hold a knife but what it really comes down to is what type of knife you’re using and what specific activity you’ll be using it for. That will determine how you hold the knife.

Because there’s no handle, it takes just 10 seconds to clean and dry the knife.

The knives come in a set of three and are packed in a handsome aluminum case with two Richlite cutting boards. Each blade is made from Swedish Sandvik steel, with a Rockwell hardness of 54 – 61.

Paring field knife.

The 3.5″ paring knife provides greater control when peeling and slicing and weighs in at 1.2 ounces. (Price $75)

Serrated field knife.

Perfect for sausages, tomatoes, or bread the serrated field knife easily tears through a thick crust or tough skin. This knife comes with a 6.1″ blade and a has a total length of 10″. This knife isn’t sold separately.

Chef’s field knife.

The third knife in the set, a 10″ 3.5 ounce Chef’s knife provides the most versatile cutting action.

For those wanting an even more advanced blade, Tiktaalik offers a hand-forged Chef’s knife by Murray Carter, a 17th generation Yoshimoto bladesmith.

Murray Carter Chef knife.

This special-edition Chef’s knife costs $275 and can be ordered from the Tiktaalik Kickstarter website.

If you just want the three “regular” knives, the set can be bought for $250, again through their Kickstarter page.