The Berkley Extreme Duty Knife puts together nearly every high-tech good idea available to manufacturers of rugged fixed blades. The result is a little strange in appearance, but everything about the knife works.
If you’re looking for something traditional, you’ll skip by this garish knife with its hard plastic sheath, and that’s a shame. If you fish around saltwater, this knife presents several good features traditional knives lack. Starting with the sheath, the hard plastic scabbard is built to drain and won’t swell or soften in damp conditions like wood or leather will. You’ll find a small 600-grit sharpening stone built into it.
The six-inch hollow ground blade of high carbon 5CR13MV stainless steel already has the corrosion resistance you’ll need for working around saltwater, but the PVD coating makes the knife even longer-lived. A ceramic molecular layer five times harder than tool steel prevents the steel from contacting salt and other chemicals. Originally developed for use on industrial tools, you’ll usually find this type of coating on tactical knives, but it makes perfect sense for fishing gear as well.
The Extreme Duty’s blade design incorporates every type of edge you could possibly need with a long section of smooth cutting plain edge, a short serrated section for severing rope and straps, and a generous amount of saw-toothed spine for the jobs a cutting edge can’t do. Power all that with an oversized handle built from a rigid composite frame with softgrip inserts, and you have a dependable high-tech knife built for safe wet work, even when your hands are cold.
See the Berkley 10-Inch Breaking Knife for a saltwater version of the fisherman’s fillet blade.
