15 Strange and Unique Blade Shapes

From the infamous Shark Knife to the slew of amazing art knives by Paul Ehlers, we’ve covered an array of interesting knife designs on this blog.

One thing we haven’t really touched on are bizarre blade shades. Sure, various novelty knives like the Scorpion Knife qualify for this post, but we decided to bring you only real knives that are functional—or at least were meant to be functional.

This post was originally published way back in September 2013 (10 years ago!), so we decided to give it an update by replacing older less unique blades and adding in some newer models.

1. Microtech Jagdkommando

In the world of bizarre blade designs, the Microtech Jagdkommando is one of the kings.

Even though this knife is no longer made by Microtech, it’s still one of the most unique blades ever made. It is essentially three razor-sharp edges that spiral into a piercing point.

This knife was criticized by many for the fact that it has almost no functional use, except for hurting someone… and hurting them very badly. Still the blade design is novel and interesting to look at.

2. CRKT Razel

The Razel blade design by the late Jon Graham was originally on the list and remains a worthy addition.

This blade design is one of the newest blade profiles to come out since others like the drop point, tanto point, clip point, and spear point have been around for decades.

Unlike the Jagdkommando, the Razel is highly functional and downright useful. Anyone who’s owned the knife loves it and the chisel point makes it really versatile. It’s not something you would ever put on display though.

CRKT is still making different Razel designs like the simply named Razel and the bizarre Razel Nax.

3. KA-BAR Hell Fire

We originally had the KA-BAR Warthog on this list because of its beefy, almost leaf-shaped blade, but it just wasn’t quite unique enough.

The Hell Fire, on the other hand, is another story.

This collaboration between KA-BAR, TDI’s John Benner, and legendary knifemaker Rick Hinderer is a good one. It has a modified Wharncliffe-style blade with a pronounced recurve and tanto-inspired tip. You can tell this fixed blade was designed for self-defense first and foremost.

Its 3.6-inch blade can easily slice and pierce at a moment’s notice while the slightly angled handle mimics what you might find in a pistol.

4. Cold Steel Ti-Lite Kris

The Kris blade design dates back centuries to ancient Indonesia. Most of the time, the blades were ceremonial, but they have been used in martial arts native to Indonesia.

Since then, a few modern knife brands have tried to adapt the blade profile into their modern knives. Spyderco tried it with the Spyderco Kris Folder, but Cold Steel has adapted the blade profile into its designs more recently.

The Cold Steel Voyager Kris takes the blade out of the original design and slaps in a wavy kris-style blade. Sure, it doesn’t have much practical use, but the blade shape is downright eye-catching.

5. Spyderco Captain

A quick glance through the Spyderco catalog will show that most Spydies could easily fit in this post, but we decided it would be best to only showcase a few. (If you want to see some of the craziest Spyderco designs, check out the 30 Most Bizarre Spyderco Designs).  The Captain was a first ballot candidate for crazy blade designs.

This knife is an example of a blade that only its maker could love, which is probably why it was discontinued long ago. Here’s a good description of the blade from Spyderco:

“The lower half of the blade was curved like a Hawkbill blade but its bulb-like tip was perched on top the curved portion, almost like a head on a neck.”

6. CRKT Ritual

You might notice a trend that the most unique blade shapes have roots in ancient designs. The CRKT Ritual is another example.

This knife takes inspiration from the shamshir, which is a Persian sword with a very pronounced curve. Apparently, it was influenced by different cultures.

Alan Folts of Minimalist fame adapted the curved design and put it on this modernized traditional knife. The curved blade stretches an impressive 4.37 inches and the pronounced swedge gives it an ever stranger look.

7. BnB Damascus Venom Karambit

Something must be in the waters of Indonesia because some of the coolest blade designs originate from Southeast Asia.

The karambit is another one of those knives with roots dating back centuries. The curved blade of the karambit is said to be based off the claws of large cats native to the West Sumatra.

Like all good things, the karambit has been adopted and adapted by the wider knife community to create some truly compelling knives.

You can now find folding karambits with flippers and those with saw backs like the BnB Damascus Venom Karambit.

8. Spyderco Dodo

Spyderco knows when it has an ugly knife on its hands and in its own description wrote that sometimes you have to judge a blade by its ergonomics and design rather than look.

The blade has a downward-pointed tip, a curved belly and less than two inches of cutting edge. As you can probably guess, the Spyderco Dodo went the way of the Dodo and was discontinued.

9. Benchmade HK 14255 SBT

The blade on this Benchmade and HK collaboration was downright wicked. Billed as a modified tanto, the blade features a nice recurve, serrations and awesome-looking jimping.

10. Spyderco Assist

Most of the knives on this list have a unique blade shape just for the visual flair, but Spyderco is rarely one to put unnecessary flourishes (except for the iconic Round Hole on fixed blades like the Bow River).

The Spyderco Assist is strangely shaped from its edge to its spine.

Because it’s a rescue tool, it uses a partially serrated straight edge with a blunt tip. The oddly shaped spine might look superfluous, but it actually serves a purpose.

When the blade is closed, it allows the user to grab the knife in a secure grip, making it easy to use the retractable carbide glass breaker tip. A Cobra Hood also acts like Emerson Wave feature.

Nothing on this knife is unnecessary.

11. Dark Ops Interceptor E&E

Dark Ops appears to be a defunct brand, but we had a few knives on the list a decade ago. Still, the Interceptor deserves a mention here.

The 8.625-inch blade has a combination tanto and spear point and a choil-notch, Splitter Hilt, backsaw, extended serrations and more. There’s not much more you can pack into the blade of a knife.

12. Tom Brown Tracker

Most people see the Tom Brown Tracker and instantly think about Call of Duty, but this knife design has a background you might not know.

The tracker design was created by Tom Brown Jr. after being asked to make a survival knife. Brown worked with other knife makers to perfect the design. The result is now known as the Tom Brown Tracker.

It basically has a wide curved belly, a sectioned straight edge near the handle, a saw tooth spine, and either a tanto or drop point tip. At first glance, it might look like a crazy amalgamation of blade profiles and that’s essentially what it is.

However, each of these differing blade attributes offers the user something different in survival situations. BnB Knives makes a variety of trackers.

13. Kershaw External Toggle

Back in 2005, the Kershaw E.T. won the most innovative design award for its original folding mechanism.

The blade itself is a modified drop point with partial serrations. What makes it stand out is the carabiner built into the back of the blade, giving it a strange look.

14. Spyderco Matriarch 2

When we first made this post, the Civilian occupied this spot because of its long and curvy S-shaped blade with razor-sharp serrations.

However, the Matriarch 2 with Wave just adds another element to the knife that makes it even more head-turning.

The knife doesn’t make a good EDC, but its blade does some tasks, like self-defense, very well. Unlike the previous Spydercos in this post, you can still buy the Matriarch 2 and Civilian.

15. KA-BAR BK3 Becker Tac Tool

There’s something about chisel grinds with pointless tips that make a knife look off.

Nevertheless, it does serve a purpose in the design of the knife, as seen in the Becker Tac Tool. This knife was so original that it won the very first Most Innovative Knife of the Year Award at Blade Show in 1990 as the Becker Tactul II.

When most people say you should never pry or hack or scrape with a knife, they clearly haven’t used the Tac Tool. This 7-inch blade has a chisel grind with partial serrations.

On the spine of the blade is a belt cutter for quick and easy slicing out of hairy situations.