The Best Neck Knives with Good Sheaths

A Neck Knife Can be Okay, but the Sheath Needs to Be Great

A neck knife is a great way to keep a blade close at hand that’s quick to deploy. The problem is that even when a neck knife is made well they often come in a sheath that was a haphazard afterthought by the manufacturer. Either the retention is weak, or the construction as a whole is just too weak to rely on in extreme conditions.

I’ve personally tested all of these knives, and loaned several to folks with a different set of needs to get their input. My own use tends toward light EDC stuff, but I talked to those weird people who are really into backpacking, and the even weirder people who see every knife as a tactical puzzle waiting to be solved.

I’ve included neck knives in a broad price range from cheap to expensive to make sure this article offers an option for any budget. Feel free to comment below with recommendations of something you’ve handled personally that I may have overlooked.

Here are our top picks for the best neck knives with good sheaths

Schrade SCHCC1 Neck Knife w/ Money Clip

Schrade SCH57

CRKT S.P.E.W.

Boker Magnum Li’l Friend

Esee Izula II

Victorinox Outdoor Master Mic S

Southern Grind Jackal Pup

Morakniv Eldris

Ka-Bar Esee BK14

Schrade Mini Drop Point Knife

Outdoor Edge Le Duck

TOPS 3 Pointer

Condor Pangui

Ka-Bar TDI LDK

Spyderco Shirly-Owens ARK Neck Knife

Cold-Steel Mini Tac

Gerber Ghoststrike

EDC

You don’t usually see people carrying a tiny fixed blade as an EDC but it’s not an unreasonable idea. It’s handy to have a blade hanging around your neck or sitting scout carry so you don’t have to worry about arranging a bunch of stuff in your pocket. It’s also handy if you’re wearing sweatpants that don’t hold pocket knives very well.

Off Grid All-Day Fixie

Overall Length:	5.25”
Blade Length:	2.25”
Steel:	Cryo D2
Handle Length:	3.0”
Grind:	Flat
Build:	Skeleton
Sheath:	Kydex
Weight:	1.5 oz
Price Range:	$60 – 70

The ergonomics on the All Day Fixie are really well thought out. It still has the hard-angled feeling of a skeletonized handle, but it’s pretty easy to use in a three-finger grip, a sabre grip, or a detail grip with the index finger along the spine. It’s also one of the lighter knives on this list, so it’s pretty comfortable around the neck, and even though the sheath is fairly simple, the retention is good and the angled way it fits in is a good extra assurance that it won’t fall out by accident.

The real attraction of this knife is that the blade is screamingly sharp. It might only be a 2-inch triangle, but it’s super thin behind the edge. Anything you could want to cut with this thing, you’ll be able to, whether you’re skinning small game or cutting out your favorite section of the newspaper.

It won’t reconcile the fact that you’re still reading physical newspapers for some reason, but you can be sure the lines will stay straight for as long as your hand can stay steady.

Schrade SCHCC1 Neck Knife w/ Money Clip

Overall Length:	3.5″
Blade Length:	2.0″
Steel:	8Cr13MoV
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	1.5″
Handle Material:	Stainless steel
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	Skeleton
Sheath:	Polymer
Weight:	0.96 oz
Price Range:	$10 – 20

Technically this sheath isn’t set up for a lanyard, but you can run your chain or leather cord through the belt clip and it’ll hold just fine. While the knife design itself doesn’t seem very ergonomic, the overall usefulness and general neatness of the idea makes it a good option as an EDC.

I really like the design of the blade for this weird little thing. Even if the handle for it is uncomfortable for long use, it’s a good edge to have handy for little things throughout the day, and the sheath itself serves enough of a function that this whole set up is a little bit like a multi-tool. Although I should warn you that if you’re going to keep cash in the belt clip, be sure you pad it with cards or cardboard to make sure everything stays in place.

I’ve seen some complaints about the mechanism for getting the knife out. Since you have to push a button on the sheath to release the knife there’s some thought that this knife is too slow to deploy. That’s fair, except if you want a fast-deploy neck knife there are a dozen other options with regular handles.

Personally, I’ve never had much trouble with the button release, and I don’t think fast deployment was ever supposed to be a feature on this knife. It’s not supposed to be tactical, just handy.

Schrade SCH57

Overall Length:	6.125″
Blade Length:	2.5″
Steel:	65Mn
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.625″
Handle Material:	G-10
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Polymer
Weight:	3.94 oz
Price Range:	$15 – 20

This is one of those highly efficient, cost-effective designs that makes you wonder why every other company hasn’t made a version of this. It’s tough, reliable, takes a good edge, and stays under the $20 mark. The amount of abuse it can take is limited only to its size and your willingness to endanger your hand.

It comes with a pancake-style polymer sheath and a clip that works well enough for vertical or horizontal carry, but if you pull a cord through the sheath and wear it around the neck it feels a lot more at home. This is also one of the few neck knives that actually has a comfortable grip just by virtue of being thicker than usual, so it’s actually pleasant to cut and whittle with.

It’s also one of the heavier knives on this list, coming in at nearly 4 ounces. If you’re backpacking that could be a big issue. Or if you’re just planning on wearing it on your neck all day, there’s a better chance it will start feeling irritating, depending on what kind of cord or chain you’re using.

From a versatility standpoint the SCHF57 is tough to beat. It can be worn around the neck or a belt. If you opt for belt carry you have the option of vertical or horizontal carry. We liked this knife so much we included it in our 2020 knife gift guide.

CRKT S.P.E.W.

Overall Length:	6.25″
Blade Length:	3.0″
Steel:	5Cr15MoV
Blade Style:	Wharncliffe
Handle Length:	3.25″
Handle Material:	G-10
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Kydex
Weight:	1.80 oz
Price Range:	$20 – 30

This is a fishing knife if I ever saw one, but it’s also one of the few neck knives I have that I still carry regularly for EDC. That combination of a non threatening blade shape and a sheath that can go horizontal make it a pretty easy knife to carry around town. Plus that fine point is great for a lot of aggravating problems you run into throughout the day like knots and slivers and the occasional overbuilt plastic package.

One possible problem with the sheath is that the belt loop is pretty small, which is the other reason I label it as a simple EDC. Out of the package, this will only fit on a regular belt. It’s light enough to put on the odd strap, but don’t expect to be able to strap this to a tactical belt. The other options are of course to wear it around your neck. The sheath doesn’t have incredible retention, but the knife is light enough not to cause problems.

Lately, though, I’ve just been carrying it in my pocket behind my wallet. It’s the only knife I’ve ever carried this way, but it seems to work well, although it can be a legal issue if your pocket is big enough to hide the handle. So keep that in mind.

Check out our full review of the CRKT Spew if you think it looks interesting.

Boker Magnum Li’l Friend

Overall Length:	3.375″
Blade Length:	1.375″
Steel:	440
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	2.0″
Handle Material:	G-10
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Kydex
Weight:	1.34 oz
Price Range:	$20 – 30

It’s really important that you take note of the size of this knife. No product photo can really convey how small it actually is.

But also, don’t let the size fool you. It’s tiny, but it has a mean point with a sharp edge. There are plenty of things you could pry, scrape, poke, and cut with it. It’s pretty stout for its size, and it’s so light it almost feels like nothing is there when you’re wearing it.

This might be one of the most interesting and surprisingly useful knives in the Boker Magnum line, but that’s not saying a whole lot. Magnum is Boker’s budget line, and they pump out a ton of designs that are hit or miss. The Li’l Friend is one of their odd hits in a big sea of misses, and that’s mostly because they were clever enough to go small and rustic. As a result, this thing is really tough and takes a sharp edge.

I’ve read a few complaints that the scales have a habit of coming loose over time. After carrying it, I can’t imagine how I would use it hard enough to make that happen, but it’s worth keeping an on eye on that, and having a torx screwdriver ready, or just redo the screws with some lock-tite and you’ll have fixed up a larger issue on an otherwise handy little knife.

Backpacking and Bushcraft Neck Knives

This really feels like the optimal way to use a neck knife. Backpacking is all about cutting weight and finding ergonomic ways to carry everything you need, and those are both areas in which neck knives excel. Here are some of the lightest neck knives I could find that seem to come with a trustworthy sheath.

Esee Izula ii

Overall Length:	6.75″
Blade Length:	2.875″
Steel:	1095
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.88″
Handle Material:	Micarta
Grind:	Flat
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Injection Molded
Weight:	3.30 oz
Price Range:	$79 – $112

It is always nice when a good knife gets an upgrade that makes it a great knife. The Esee Izula II is one of those knives. The original version had a skeleton handle that was practical, but not super comfortable. This version has super comfy removable Micarta handle scales that make this knife a great option as a small survival/camping type knife. ESEE also added a half inch to the version 2’s blade to make it a little more capable around the campsite.

The injection molded sheath of the Izula 2 is really versatile. It can be worn as a neck knife, or set up for horizontal or vertical carry on a person’s belt using the included clip. There are only two bolts involved, so it is pretty east to convert in the field even if a campfire is your only light source.

Victorinox Outdoor Master Mic S

Overall Length:	6.0″
Blade Length:	2.75″
Steel:	1.4116
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.25″
Handle Material:	Micarta
Grind:	Scandi
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Kydex
Weight:	2.71 oz
Price Range:	$140 – 150

As far as I know this knife wasn’t designed for any specialized use, but there’s not a whole lot it couldn’t do between the stout blade and scandi grind. It might not look or feel sharp at first but this is one of the sliciest knives I own. Which just goes to show how important the grind is. This is a ridiculously tough and useful little thing.

There’s a little bit of assembly required. The cord it comes with isn’t long enough to wear around your neck. I think it’s supposed to just make it easier to pull out of your pocket or bag. But it’s easy to switch out, plus the sheath is compatible with Tek-Lok, so you have a huge range of ways to carry this little, unassuming monster. And while the sheath is a simple pancake style Kydex, it kept a good grip on the knife through a fair bit of hiking.

It’s also almost as comfortable as the Schrade SCH57, but has a much better blade that’s a lot nicer to use for whittling and carving. It’s a fantastic camping buddy.

Southern Grind Jackal Pup

Overall Length:	5.75″
Blade Length:	2.75″
Steel:	8670M
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	2.8″
Handle Material:	G-10
Grind:	Flat
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Kydex
Weight:	2.78 oz
Price Range:	$125 – 169

The Southern Grind Jackal Pup is an excellent neck knife, but it can also be carried vertically or in the scout position on a belt. It sports a super practical design, an excellent Kydex sheath, and a blade made of 8670M steel (a pretty tough steel that you don’t see in production knives much these days).

The Jackal Pup is just large enough to be practical for camping and fishing related tasks which is a big part of why it has become so popular. The handle actually reminds me a little of the CRKT SPEW, but it’s a lot grippier, and the concave grind in the spine make sabre grinds feel a lot more natural.

The blade is made of a high carbon, low alloy steel, so it will need to be dried when it gets wet and occasionally oiled, but it can take a good edge. The Jackal Pup is not the cheapest neck knife on the market, but it is one of the best.

Morakniv Eldris

Overall Length:	5.6″
Blade Length:	2.2″
Steel:	15C27
Blade Style:	Standard
Handle Length:	3.4″
Handle Material:	Polypyrene
Grind:	Scandi
Build:	3/4 tang
Sheath:	Polymer
Weight:	2.15 oz
Price Range:	$25 (standard) / $50 (With neck kit)

This one takes a little assembly, but the Eldris is a pretty fantastic neck knife for light cutting (or heavy prying, if you’re that kind of person), but the neck kit is sold separately. Without that, the Elrdris is basically just a tiny knife with a cheap plastic sheath that goes in your pocket or pack. The neck kit lets you hang it around your neck, though, and adds a leather strap that snaps closed to keep the knife contained.

Once you have that figured out, this is a neat little blade for sparking on a ferro rod or doing a little carving. A blade this short might not be good for everything, and since it sits in a snap enclosure it doesn’t exactly feature fast deployment, but usually the only limit to what you can do with any Mora knife is your imagination.

Ka-Bar Esee BK14

Overall Length:	7.0″
Blade Length:	3.25″
Steel:	1095 Cro-Van
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.75″
Handle Material:	Steel
Grind:	Flat
Build:	Skeleton
Sheath:	GFN
Weight:	3.0 oz
Price Range:	$45 – 50 ($60 – 70 with scales)

This is an amalgamation of the ESEE Izula and the Ka-Bar Becker Necker.

It’s hard to understate the appropriate level of excitement people should feel about an ESEE / Ka Bar collaboration.

If you really want to see what this knife can do, it’s a two step process: get the knife, then get the handle set scales. It’s a fine enough knife without them, and it even rides a little easier around the neck just as a skeleton knife, but there’s a massive difference in cutting ability just from the way your hand ends up holding it.

More importantly, the sheath is MOLLE compatible and has a retention tab to keep the knife in place. After a bit of practice with this set up around your neck, the deployment can get pretty fast.

Hunting Neck Knives

Depending on what kind of hunting you’re doing, a smaller knife that rides easy is almost essential. There are a lot of designs for bow hunters who run after game a lot, but if you’re also one to sit up in trees or other tight spaces while you wait for your shot, these knives should come in pretty handy.

Schrade 13SM Mini Drop Point Neck Knife

Overall Length:	4.75″
Blade Length:	2.0″
Steel:	8Cr13MoV
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	2.75″
Handle Material:	G-10
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Kydex
Price Range:	$16 – 20

This is a tough little bushcraft blade to pack around. It doesn’t usually come with a perfect grind, but for the price it’s a great beater to have in the woods and around the yard. It falls into a category where Schrade really excels. It’s cheap, but not spectacular, there’s not a lot of ingenuity to the design, but it’s sturdy and works for pretty much everything.

The sheath doesn’t come with any kind of belt loop. It’s a chain for your neck which I would recommend replacing with a leather strap or paracord. But the retention on the sheath is great, so you can hike around with this thing with a fair amount of security.

Outdoor Edge Le Duck

Overall Length:	6.25″
Blade Length:	2.5″
Steel:	8Cr13MoV
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.75″
Handle Material:	TPR
Grind:	Flat
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Polymer
Price Range:	$20 – 30

This design does a great job of leveraging every inch of the knife to make it more useful. The overall curve of the handle along with the rubberized TPR they slapped on it make this thing incredibly secure in the hand. The duck head-shaped pommel that gave the knife its name also serves as a great hook for your hand. We used that feature for chopping wood, which I’m almost positive is not what this knife was made for, but as far as neck knives go, this is a top-tier chopper.

The sheath has a locking retention tab and comes with a belt clip that works fairly well. The Le Duck rides really well on the neck, though, and the retention tab is a great solution to the compromise between sheath retention and deployment speed.

Check out our in depth review of the Outdoor Edge Le Duck if you think it may be a good choice for your next knife.

TOPS 3 Pointer

Overall Length:	6.5″
Blade Length:	3.0″
Steel:	1095
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.5″
Handle Material:	Micarta
Grind:	Flat
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Kydex
Price Range:	$90 – 125

This might be the most comfortable knife on the list. It’s also the most expensive, but there are reasons for that price.

For one, this is just a lot more knife than most neck knife designs. The blade comes in at three inches with a pair of thick Micarta scales. The blade is also fairly tall for its size so the edge gets a nice big curve. The Kydex sheath also comes with a pair of leather straps that wrap around and button into themselves, which makes it really easy to strap to your belt or backpack. Those straps will probably hang a little loose on whatever you put the knife on, but the buttons are pretty secure.

The really cool thing about the knife is that everything on it is changeable. The scales can be taken off with a torx screwdriver and the straps can be taken off and switched around with a phillips screwdriver. Plus they’ve folded a generous thumb ramp on the sheath so it’s fairly easy to push the blade past the aggressive retention of the sheath.

Condor Pangui

Overall Length:	6.25″
Blade Length:	3.25″
Steel:	1095
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.0″
Handle Material:	Walnut
Grind:	Scandi
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Leather
Price Range:	$60

This is definitely the nicest looking knife on the list with the possible exception of the 3-Pointer, but Condor has a knack for making really good knives with a rustic look. This particular knife comes in 1095 carbon steel with a wood handle, and a massively wide blade that covers a good range of uses that most other neck knives might not be able to manage.

The sheath might not be ideal for everyone. Leather isn’t great for taking into extreme weather, but it is sturdy, and the snap-on strap is a pretty good way to keep a larger blade like this in place when you’re wearing this thing around your neck. The strap snap on both sides of the sheath, so this knife works well for both left and right handed people.

The Condor Pangui is bigger and heavier than most other neck knives, but its size helps to make it a pretty handy camp knife. It is definitely better at food prep than any other knife in this article.

Tactical Neck Knives

If you’re searching for neck knives, you’ve probably already come across 30 blogs listing the best neck knives for tactical use. I don’t get the obsession. Unless I’m in a car, a neck knife is the last thing I’d reach for in for tactical purposes, but here we are, recommending tactical neck knives like a bunch of crazies. I hope you’re happy with yourself.

Ka Bar TDI LDK

Overall Length:	5.6″
Blade Length:	2.31″
Steel:	AUS-8
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.32″
Handle Material:	Steel
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	Skeleton
Sheath:	Polymer
Price Range:	$30 – 60

There are very few conversations about neck knives that the Ka Bar TDI doesn’t belong in. Ka Bar made something pretty ingenious when they put the curve on the spine of this knife. Even more so when they made the sheath with a big wide clip. I’ve heard the favored method of wearing this knife is actually inside the line of the pants, but it’ll sit comfortably almost anywhere you clip it.

Favored by (and apparently designed by) law enforcement officers, this thing is made for close quarters combat. Anything this sharp and pointy has about a million uses though, and they put a pretty extreme hollow grind on the blade that would be nice for breaking down cardboard.

Spyderco Shirly-Owens ARK Neck Knife

Overall Length:	5.0″
Blade Length:	2.6″
Steel:	H1
Blade Style:	Clip point
Handle Length:	2.33″
Handle Material:	FRN
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	3/4 tang
Sheath:	Polymer
Price Range:	$68 – 70

The ad copy for this knife usually says the ARK was made to be a self defense tool, but I’ve seen a lot of knives made for skinning boar that have a very similar blade shape. I’ll defer to what the designers supposedly intended, though. Personally I don’t like the design for tactical purposes, but there’s something to be said for the slashing ability from the dramatic curve of the edge. Don’t let the advertising make you pigeonhole this knife, though. This seems like a great blade to have on a hunt.

It takes a little practice to get the hang of the retention tab, but one-handed draw is pretty seamless once you get the hang of it. This knife is so light and small, though, it doesn’t really need that much retention to stay in the sheath.

This would actually be a pretty good knife for jogging or fishing, thanks to the H1 steel. It’s super corrosion resistant, so sweat and water and fish guts don’t pose as much of a rusting danger as it would to even AUS-8 or even 8Cr steels. Plus, the shape and rough texture of the handle provide a pretty firm grip within the little material available. Overall it’s a really impressive little design.

Cold Steel Mini Tac

Overall Length:	6.75″
Blade Length:	3.75″
Steel:	AUS-8
Blade Style:	Tanto
Handle Length:	3.0″
Handle Material:	G-10
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	Full tang
Sheath:	Polymer
Price Range:	$25 – 30

This was one of the first neck knives we reviewed on this site, and it still holds up pretty well. It’s surprisingly comfy for the size, feels light around the neck, and the sheath has a pretty good balance of retention strength and deployability.

I really like thick tanto blades on smaller knives like this. You’re not supposed to use knives as pry bars, but I do anyway, and this type of knife, with a stout tip and a thick spine (and low price tag) is a great emergency pry bar. The jimping is also nice and makes the Mini Tac a good candidate for push cuts as well if you want to use a knife the way it was intended.

If you’d like to know our full opinion of it, read our review of the Cold Steel Mini Tac  here.

Gerber Ghostrike

Overall Length:	6.75″
Blade Length:	3.12″
Steel:	420HC
Blade Style:	Drop point
Handle Length:	3.63″
Handle Material:	Steel w/ rubber grip
Grind:	Hollow
Build:	Skeleton
Sheath:	Modular GFN
Price Range:	$35 – 50

I like the Ghostrike in spite of its overtly brutal design. I don’t exactly enjoy using it, but there’s no denying it has one of the best sheaths on this list. It’s tough and lightweight, and it comes with two removable belt loops that you can screw in at pretty much every direction.

You can carry the Ghostrike vertically and horizontally and even adjust the length and height of how it sits in both directions. The sheath retention is definitely good enough to wear around your neck, but the square shape might make it feel a little awkward for a while.

The knife itself is okay. I went to some lengths in my review to explain that it’s a great back up knife for most any job, but it’s not actually good at any of those jobs. Still worth packing around if for no other reason than that once it’s strapped to you, it basically becomes just another part of your pack or pants.

For a little more detail, here’s my full review.