15 Uses for a Gut Hook

Why Put a Gut Hook On a Hunting Knife if Hunters Don’t Use it?

The gut hook feature is a funny thing. It’s usually forged on the back of a blade so you can just flip the knife around and cut a clean line through a fresh kill. But most hunters don’t seem to like the gut hook for that. It makes them uncomfortable to gut a deer or clean a fish with the blade of the knife pointed toward them. It’s nice for new hunters because it keeps them from puncturing the guts, but experienced hunters just rely on their steady hand and practiced aim.

So if it’s not used for gutting, what the heck is the gut hook good for?

It turns out the true limit to its uses are your imagination. We’ve compiled a list of tasks where a gut hook could come in pretty handy in a pinch whether you’re braving the wilderness or sitting around the home. Some of these are tested, some are mostly anecdotal, and some are purely theoretical but we’re convinced they’ll work anyway as soon as we have a chance to try:

In The Home

Prying nails out of a board

Cleaning fingernails (very carefully)

Prying apart lego pieces

Peeling oranges

Opening beer bottles

Zipping up your pants

Scraping burnt stuff off the pan (not the non-stick ones though)

In the Bush

General body scratching (again, very carefully)

Lifting hot grates off the fire

Lifting hot cooking pots

Cutting fishing line, thread, or rope

Hooking meat to move around the grill (just clean the knife first)

Marking trees for reference

Cutting linen/clothes open or into strips

Cutting seat belts