Knives are an essential tool for any person wanting to spend time in the outdoors. Knives can save lives, too.

One of the most important and valuable tools in a survival situation is a knife. The knife will help with building a shelter. A shelter can be built without the help of a knife, but the tool will make the shelter easier to build.

Kill a fool’s hen with a rock and a person in survival mode will be able to skin and gut the bird without a knife. However, a knife will make the entire situation easier and simpler.

Imagine not having a knife and having a bird in hand. A person in survival mode can pull off the skin, rip open the stomach area and pulling out the guts.

The bird can then be rinsed in a nearby stream, if there is a nearby stream. The meat of the bird, will be just fine to eat, washed or not.

The bird could be skinned and the guts removed much easier with a knife in hand. Plus, a stick could be fashioned to hold the entire bird or a part of the bird to hold over a fire.

Speaking of fire, the knife would be instrumental in making the fire, also. Although the bird could be eaten raw, this situation doesn’t sound good to me, unless starvation was close.

A knife, most likely a Buck Knife, is in my left front pocket every day. A naked feeling comes over me when the knife is not in place. This knife is a cutting tool, used to cut many things or to simply open envelopes and other packages at home.

In the field the knife has many uses, such as building a fire or dressing a dove, grouse or turkey.

What type of knife should be given as a Christmas gift? There are thousands of different sizes and shapes of knife designs.

It is my belief a knife makes a great gift to a knife-using/knife-loving person, as soon as the person is old enough to handle it safely. How old is old enough?

The parents of the youth will need to make this decision. Consider this situation: The 10-year-old deer hunter needs a hunting knife to dress the buck. The youth just used a high-power rifle to kill the deer. If this youth is skilled and capable enough to use a rifle to shoot a deer, she/he should be trusted to use a knife to gut a deer.

This situation will probably have another person helping the youth. My hunting buddies share the gutting duty, even if it is just holding a leg.

Tomorrow: More knife gifting ideas.