Hunting Knife

The  is a practical and widely available weapon and tool of survival in the late period of the American west. It is distinct as having a large, straight fixed-blade and a wide hilt.

In Red Dead Redemption, Marston carries a large with him at all times, and uses it for melee combat, skinning and carving animals, and to free hogtied NPC's.

Although it is one of the weapons Marston can possess, players cannot "cheat" for it because it is given to them at the start of the game.

Combat
Marston can use his to engage in melee combat with enemies. The player can block most animal attacks with the knife as well (using R1 on PS3, RB on Xbox). This is crucial in fighting powerful and deadly animals such as Cougars.

Also, by crouching, it is possible to do a stealth kill with the ; additionally, it is possible to slit the throats of hogtied captives (must be crouching with the knife out). A similar attack can be used on unsuspecting, sleeping victims by pressing a button prompt near them.

The can also be wielded on horseback. The player slashes to the left and right sides of the mount. This is especially useful for hunting predatory animals such as the Cougar and Bear, and for completing Master Hunter challenges. A running gallop can allow the player to strike the foe and move out of harm's way quickly. If the player is struck, the mount may be killed, but the player can still recover without being killed, but with the chance of getting hit. It's also a very good weapon for fighting packs of Wolves, both on foot and on horseback. The Knife is also a very powerful weapon in hardcore multiplayer.

Hunting and Skinning
Marston is very proficient with his Hunting Knife; he can use it to skin and process any animals that he hunts, allowing him to obtain furs, pelts, teeth, horns, hearts and other animal products, which can later be sold to merchants for cash.

Trivia

 * This knife is based upon the Bowie knife, a design created for Jim Bowie during the 19th Century.
 * The Hunting Knife is able to kill most animals and people with two to four slashes.
 * The knife must be used for some of the Master Hunter challenges.
 * Sometimes while using the infinite Dead-Eye cheat together with Dead-Eye level 1, a glitch allows the player to use the hunting knife while in Dead-Eye.
 * If you have the Legends and Killers DLC and you are playing as a character from Red Dead Revolver, the hunting knife's hilt will become red and yellow just as it was in that game.
 * In the Liars and Cheats DLC, it is usable in the Grand Prix mode to slash at other racers and their horses.
 * The knife cannot be found in Undead Nightmare, being replaced by the Torch. In doing so, freeing hogtieds victims becomes impossible. However, the player can acquire the hunting knife in Undead Overrun by running out of bounds as soon as the game starts. Upon respawning, the hunting knife should be in the player's inventory. After using it for some time, the knife will start to glitch up and take the appearance of the stick used for the torch. Occurring only a couple times, it will appear as a club, then turning back to the knife.
 * If the player kills an animal that has a heart available as a provision with a knife, when skinned it is much more likely to find a heart.
 * The is the first weapon featured in a Rockstar game to become bloodied after use.

Achievement/Trophies
The following trophy/achievement can be acquired in Multiplayer when using the :

Cuchillo de caza