10 Best Replaceable Blade Hunting Knife

Best Replaceable Blade Hunting Knife in 2023

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Knife Review: Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife (Model CK6CH)

The Smith & Wesson Extreme Ops folding knife looks ready for action. It's looks tough, sharp, and convenient to carry.

Looking at this camouflaged, combat-style, knife, I couldn't help but think of the 1941, James Thurber, short story: "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." It chronicled the imaginary adventures of a man trapped in a mundane life. Even a simple drive across town led him to daydream about intrigue and adventures in the air, on land, and on the high seas. If Walter Mitty were to spend $15 or $20 on a knife, I suspect he might choose a knife just like this Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife (Model CK6CH).

This knife simply has a look that evokes a life of adventure and excitement. Made by Taylor Brands (the current maker and distributor of Schrade and Smith amp; Wesson Knives), the Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife has a 4 and 9/16-inch long perforated aluminum body and a stainless steel, drop-point, blade that I measured at nearly 3 and 1/2 inches long. The Taylor Brands website lists the blade at 3.9-inches long, the body at 5.2 inches long, and the weight at 5.1 ounces. I suspect that they count some of the blade that is in the handle around the pivot.

If I were deployed to a far off land, I might find the Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife quite convenient for the many routine cutting tasks of a soldier. The knife has a camouflaged metal handle and blade that would make it unlikely to reveal a soldiers position. The muted, non-reflective, tans, browns, and greens in the color palette of this Extreme Ops Knife would work well in almost any desert or a forest environment. It would also complement most modern American Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) patterns and many of the camouflage patterns currently popular with American hunters and sportsmen. If I were a soldier, I could probably use this knife to slice open an MRE and chow down.

In the safety of my own home, I tested the Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops Folding knife on the far more mundane task of opening sealed plastic consumer product packaging. I found that the sharp blade sliced through the annoying packaging with ease. It certainly beats trying to punch a whole in the plastic with a key and trying to tear it open. Hunters should also find the drop-point blade of this knife effective for gutting game animals.

Of course, if I were actually a game warden confronting poachers in the backwoods of North Georgia, I might need this knife for a completely different reason: close quarters combat with banjo-playing outlaws. The Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife (Model CK6CH) would feel mighty reassuring where banjos are plentiful and teeth are scarce. The knife has a two-inch metal clip that allows it to be securely fastened to a belt or the inside of a pants pocket. If I needed to grab this knife quickly, I would know exactly where it is clipped and be able to produce it very quickly. A 3/8-inch disk located atop the blade just forward of the ricasso allows this Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife to be opened with one hand. Knife aficionados will be interested to know that this knife locked open by a liner lock that snaps into place one the knife is opened.

Fortunately, I was able to test this knife in the far less challenging confines of my gated apartment complex. I took this knife on several late night walks around our community secure in the knowledge that I'd be ready for muggers, ninjas, pirates, pitbulls, and scary hillbillies. While walking the dog in the middle of the night is hardly an extreme operation, the presence of the Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops Folding Knife was re-assuring. I found that 5/8 of an inch of the knife's body was exposed above the pants pocket when the knife was clipped into place. Inside our apartment, I was able to open the knife one-handed regularly with just a little practice. However, I thought that the disk was a tad small to access quickly and the liner lock was a little less convenient to use than a lockback or spine lock typically found on pocket knives. It took a forceful flick of the wrist to lock the blade when trying to open the knife quickly.

In my real life, I'd be a little concerned to carry this knife on a daily basis. I'd want to be very familiar with the laws governing concealed weapons. I suspect that local law enforcement authorities might find this knife suspicious due to it's camouflage pattern and fairly large size. The Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops knife is large enough and quick enough that it might be an effective weapon. However, the literature accompanying Model CK6CH notes that the knife is made to be a working tool not a weapon.

Users of the Extreme Ops folding knife are also cautioned in the instructions not to use the cutting blade as a "can opener, chisel, pry bar, screw driver, or for any heavy work for which your knife was not designed." Smith amp; Wesson also doesn't want users to use the back of the knife handle as a hammer. In other words, you aren't supposed to do anything too extreme with your Extreme Ops Folding Knife. This Chinese-made knife might be a lot more like Walter Mitty than it's extreme paint job might indicate. For real extreme operations, you might want to spend a few hundred dollars on a far tougher knife. In fairness, there are higher end Smith amp; Wesson knives that may fit the bill.

Overall, the Smith amp; Wesson Extreme Ops folding knife (Model CK6CH) looks good, is fun to use, is fairly rugged, and only costs about $16 on a popular online auction site. I'm not a commando, but I like it. For most of us, this "extreme" knife will hold up to daily use as a regular pocket knife and spawn a thousand daydreams.

Sources:

Knife. Wikipedia.org. ( )
Taylor Brands 2020 Smith amp; Wesson Catalog ( )