Best knives and cutting tools for 2022. Read on to learn about items that can make your time fishing more effective, safe and fun. As anglers, we use a range of different knives. Many of us employ everyday carries for a variety of uses, and anyone that processes their own fish needs good fillet knives.
Best knives and cutting tools for Alaska in 2022
Spyderco Murray Carter Nakiri and Bunka Bocho Knives spyderco.com We are supremely impressed with Spyderco’s culinary-knife offerings. This year we tested the Nakiri and Bunka Bocho models in the Murray Carter Wakiita series and let us tell you, they are awesome. These blades are sharp, light and cut effortlessly. They have made prep work a faster and more precise operation. Blades in the Wakiita series are made from high-carbon, nitrogen-enriched stainless steel. This choice is a fine combination of corrosion resistance, edge retention, and hardness. Edges are thin and straight to maximize cutting performance. Handles are made from solid black G-10, are octagonally shaped and fit very nicely in the hand. Publishers Melissa Norris and Marcus Weiner both tested these blades this year and report that they are now their hands-down first choice in the kitchen. 
Spyderco Sustain G-10 Black spyderco.com This all-around camp knife is Alaska worthy! We punished it on several extended camping trips this year and it simply smiled and asked if that’s all we had. From chopping branches to clear a spot to pitch a tent, to breaking down deer steaks for dinner, to clearing sections of well-used trail, to cutting ropes and slicing open various food packages, we love this burly cutter. The six-inch blade, which possesses a saber grind, is made from Crucible CPM 20CV—which according to Spyderco is an advanced particle metallurgy stainless steel that contains a high volume of chromium and vanadium and gives the blade a combination wear- and corrosion resistance with impact toughness. The handle is made from G-10 scales and incorporates a full tang and blind pins. 
Bubba Multi-Flex Interchangeable Set bubba.com This set of blades allows an angler to fillet any fish you want to harvest from Alaska waters. Four different blades fit into the same handle—7” Tapered Flex, 8” Ultra Flex, 9” Serrated Flex, and 9” Stiff—giving you a range of options and a lot of versatility. We like the 9” Stiff for cutting fillets off Chinook and coho salmon with rib bones attached, as well as harvesting fillets off halibut. The 7” Tapered Flex works wonders on sockeye, where we prefer to leave the rib bones attached to the carcass when filleting, and we use this blade to remove rib bones from coho and Chinook fillets. Blades interchange easily with a squeeze-and-slide mechanism, and Bubba’s Flex-Change locking system. 
Kershaw Skeeter 3 Scissors kershaw.kaiusa.com These stainless-steel scissors are designed for fly tying and are fit for the purpose. The extra-fine point is well suited for trimming, one blade has micro serrations which aids in cleanly cutting a variety of materials, finger holes are large and comfortable, and the scissors are easy to wield. 
Rising Stellar Scissors 2.0 risingfish.net The crew at Rising created the Stellar 2.0 to be a scissor capable of precisely trimming material on flies as small as size 20 to cutting tough synthetic materials and deer hair. The 2.0 version features a micro-adjustable tension knob to customize the operation of the scissors to your liking. One of the blades is micro-serrated; the other is smooth, resulting in the versatility they set out to achieve. The tips of the scissors are very thin, aiding in precision cutting. These are great all-around fly-tying scissors.
