This hunting knife is used during hunting to skin animals and cut up the meat. — In-game description
The Hunting Knife is a bladed melee weapon and multipurpose tool in DayZ Standalone. The Hunting Knife, along with the Combat Knife and the Steak Knife, has the distinctive ability to be stored inside of Military Boots, saving inventory space or, if used as the primary melee weapon, making the player's profile smaller. This ability, combined with its solid damage output and multiple uses as a tool, make the Hunting Knife one of the best melee weapons in the game.