Choosing a hunting knife that is perfect for you is hard enough to do without all the complications associated with all the different blade designs available. It really matters what kind of hunting you are planning on doing to determine what you need.
Lets go over each different type in detail to try and alleviate this confusion.
Drop Point
This is probably the most common style used for hunting knives. You can tell a drop point knife because it has a slow convex curved drop in the point. This design makes the point very strong so you can use it to open up rib cages and the pelvis. It is also a very good all around knife that can be used for skinning and trimming right out in the field.
Clip Point
This is the perfect style of blade of the occasional hunter or someone that wants to use the knife on an every day basis and not just for hunting. This knife looks like the drop point but the point is thinner, making it easier to to do more intricate work. The clip point style blade will do everything that the drop point will do but it may just take you longer to do it with the clip point as the point is not as strong as the drop point.
Skinning Knife
For the big game hunters out there then you may want to look into acquiring a skinning knife. The skinning knife has a sweeping blade that makes it easy to peel the skin from the meat of large game. This knife can perform normal duties as well as giving the hunter the ability to field dress their big game.
After you decided whether you want your blade to be of the clip point, drop point or skinning style then you will need to decide if you want your blade to have serrations on it. The serrations help do the heavier tasks such as splitting open the rib cage or pelvis. The serrations usually only take up a small part of the blade and are more utilitarian than anything.
Other styles of hunting knives include the gut hook and the capping knife. The gut hook lets you open up the abdomen of your big game without the possibility of puncturing the precious internal organs.
If you want the possibility of a trophy mount then you will need a capping knife. This knife has a thin blade and It lets you cut the skin around the shoulder very quickly reducing the risk of tearing the skin. The capping knife usually has an upturned point reducing the risk of perforating the skin. It is important to practice capping before you do it in the field. Capping isn’t hard but you must practice and not have your first time be on a 250 lb buck!