The best neck knives worth carrying

The Sea Snake, manufactured by Artisan Cutlery, was originally a custom knife designed by Navy veteran Michael Emler as a small EDC fixed blade for general-purpose utility tasks. This production version features durable G10 handle scales available in green, tan, or black, and a generous finger choil that ensures even large hands can use this small knife comfortably. The Sea Snake has a full tang for increased strength, and its redacted-style tang adds increased ergonomics and aesthetics. Large jimping on the spine makes proper, consistent indexing a breeze, even in low-light environments, and the whole handle is comfortably chamfered.

The blade is a flat-ground Wharncliffe with a cutting edge length of 2.5 inches and is available in both satin and durable PVD finishes. It’s made from Artisan’s proprietary AR-RPM9 steel, which was specifically designed for use in folding and fixed-blade knives. It focuses on high corrosion resistance and decent edge retention while remaining easy to resharpen and maintain. The powdered metallurgy process used creates a fine grain structure that improves the edge retention and toughness drastically, while significantly reducing impurities and inclusions in the alloy.

The Sea Snake is complimented nicely by a taco-style Kydex sheath. It comes with a lanyard to allow it to be carried as a neck knife and has a small drainage hole to prevent moisture from collecting in the sheath and causing corrosion. While the Sea Snake has a thin, slice-y blade that might be too small for larger, more abusive tasks, it’s not intended for that. It’s designed as a convenient, easily accessed EDC knife for things like slicing open packages, breaking down boxes, or cutting twine. With its ergonomic grip, breakaway ball chain, and Kydex sheath, you’ll be able to do so quickly and comfortably.

One of CRKT’s most popular models designed by custom knifemaker Alan Folts, the CRKT Minimalist series has steadily grown over time to include a wide range of blade shapes, including Wharncliffe, cleaver, clip point, drop point, spear point, hawkbill, and tanto variants. All of them have three things in common. The first is being extremely budget-friendly. This is largely due to them being, well, not large, but is also unfortunately due to them typically coming with budget steels like 8Cr13MoV, or even 5Cr15MoV on the older models. Thankfully, Smoky Mountain Knife Works has you covered with this SMKW exclusive bowie, in tough D2 tool steel.

At just over two ounces when sheathed, the Minimalist gets its moniker from the spartan nature of the handle. Full-tang construction, micarta scales, and deep finger grooves ensure that you’ll maintain a secure grip — despite only being designed for three fingers. The micarta scales are an upgrade over the normal green resin-infused fiber scales and make it slightly grippier when wet.

While D2 steel is a little more prone to corrosion, normal blade maintenance should easily prevent rust from forming. The hollow-ground blade allows for a very acute edge and is easily resharpened. And, thanks to the paracord lanyard and adjustable belt clip that it comes with, you can carry it any way you want.

Named after the Vietnamese word for “struggle,” the Dau Tranh is made in the USA from American steel, ready to conquer anything you throw at it. Entirely milled out of a single piece of CPM 20CV, the knife is finished in a durable Cerakote coating, protecting it from both corrosion and wear. The saber-ground drop-point blade features a swedge for easier penetration, a sharpening choil for easy edge maintenance, and a slight cutout on the spine with chamfered jimping for a stable, comfortable platform for your thumb when using a Filipino grip. This thumb-forward grip allows for more support and control than a traditional saber grip, and also allows you to put more force into your cut due to being able to exert pressure directly on the spine of the blade.

The handle is heavily skeletonized, with Attleboro’s triple lightning bolt ensign milled in its center. It also has two extra holes in the handle, allowing you to attach a lanyard, or even turn it into a makeshift spear by lashing it to a pole. The substantial finger groove for your index finger and finger guard easily prevent your hand from sliding forward onto the blade, and the pommel features an integrated bottle opener that comes in pretty handy.

The Kydex sheath is well-formed with excellent retention and includes a breakaway ball chain that’s approximately 30 inches long. The only real downside is that, like many neck knives, its handle is a little on the shorter side, with room for most people to fit 3.5 fingers. The ergonomic handle and jimping ensure that you’re able to maintain a solid grasp in spite of that. Overall, the knife is lightweight, low-profile, and extremely comfortable to wear. Combine that with at least four different-colored Cerakote finishes, and you’re sure to find one you’ll love.

A sub-brand of WE Knife Company, CIVIVI quickly built a reputation for itself as producing high-quality products like its parent company, but at an extremely budget-friendly price point. The main difference is that, where WE uses materials like titanium, S35VN, and 20CV steel, CIVIVI uses G10, brass, and, in this case, 10Cr15CoMoV steel. This stainless steel is similar to VG10 steel and has good edge retention and rust resistance while remaining easy to sharpen.

The Minimus is, as its name suggests, very minimalistic in design. The thin, slice-y drop-point blade melds smoothly back into the milled design of the handle and is finished in a black stonewash. The handle is skeletonized to reduce weight even more and features a lanyard hole on the pommel, which CIVIVI includes a lanyard and titanium bead for.

At an overall length of just under five inches, the Minimus is fairly small, however, the jimping on the spine, pommel, and backside of the finger guard ensure a firm grip. Its small Kydex sheath comes with a breakaway ball chain for neck carry, as well as a reversible pocket clip that allows you to clip it easily to your belt, pocket, or bag. Whatever EDC task you might run into, this petite, versatile blade is the little scalpel that could!

Another great USA-made knife, the G-Cleaver is a part of Bradford Knives’ G-Necker line. Designed as a more compact, lightweight alternative to their Guardian line, the G-Necker line has a minimalistic skeletonized handle with a three-finger pinch-grip. Combined with a unique thickness, it’s surprisingly comfortable and allows for great control.

The entire knife is machined from one solid piece of Elmax steel, made by Bohler-Uddeholm in Austria. Elmax is a type of stainless steel with better corrosion resistance and edge retention than CPM S30V. It is a fantastic choice, albeit a less common one. The G-Cleaver varies from the rest of the G-Necker lineup by sporting a full flat-grind, cleaver-style blade, and features a modified tip, which gives it a good combination of strength and slicing potential, while also having decent penetration for utilitarian tasks.

The spine has jimping for extra grip, and the handle has a lanyard hole, should you need even more retention. The entire knife is finished DLC, or Diamond-Like Coating, which is extremely wear- and rust-resistant. Bradford Knives rounds this compact package off with a well-made Kydex sheath and length of Paracord, so it won’t rust and you won’t have to worry about losing it as you wear it comfortably around your neck.

A minimalistic, modern take on a traditional Japanese design, the Kiri-EDC is the smallest knife on our list, but don’t let that deceive you. Designed by Alessandra De Santis and manufactured by CIVIVI, this blade is based on the kiridashi, which has an acute chisel-ground blade and tip, making it a popular general-purpose tool.

CIVIVI modified this design by machining it out of a solid piece of 9Cr18MoV steel, which has decent edge retention while remaining rust-resistant and easy to sharpen. They also changed it from the traditional chisel grind to a modern flat grind. While this grind is less acute, it yields better edge stability, further increasing the practicality of this miniature fixed blade for everyday use. The straight edge works great for opening boxes, cutting rope, or even scraping paint in a pinch, and at less than two inches in length, it won’t raise any eyebrows or undue attention. In spite of the diminutive nature of the blade, the skeletonized handle is extremely ergonomic and comfortably accommodates a full four-finger grip. Strategically placed jimping further reinforces your grip, and the bottle opener integrated into the handle is sure to be a hit at the next BBQ.

Based out of Nevada, Hogue Knives has built a reputation for producing quality, American-made knives, and the EX-F03 is no exception. EX-F stands for extreme fixed-blade, and it’s easy to see why. It’s made from a singular piece of 154cm steel, which has a solid balance of edge retention, corrosion resistance, and toughness.

We went with the Hawkbill model, which, while small, allows for a full grip while maximizing cutting potential. The black, textured G10 grips are as ergonomic as the rest of Hogue’s grips and are slightly hollowed out on the inside. Combined with the skeletonized tang, this helps keep weight down, while providing a space to store smaller items.

The finger ring is actually part of the G10 handles, which means that you can make the EX-F03 shorter and lighter simply by unscrewing the scales. Included with the knife are two sheaths: a black nylon belt sheath and a black Boltaron neck sheath. The sheaths allow you to insert the Hawkbill with the orientation for both right- and left-handed draw, which makes this even more versatile.