Some people say for general outdoors/survival use, a 4 inch knife is all you need and anything larger is just extra weight. Does anyone think a 4 inch knife can generally do everything a larger knife could do reasonably well?
A four inch knife will CERTAINLY be sufficient for most COMMON tasks in the woods that you would normally use a KNIFE for.
A four inch knife will NOT fill in very well for a large blade (8+ inches) in my opinion. The reason there are large blades and medium sized blades and small blades and thin blades and thick blades and blades with spear points and blades with drop points (etc, etc, etc) is because they are all designed with different uses in mind. Of course, WE (the consumer) can use them for whatever we wish (with varying results), but each knife is ALWAYS designed with a fairly specific set of limits in mind. An ESEE RC-3, for instance, was not designed to fell a tree. COULD you fell a tree with one? Of course you could, given enough time and energy. But it would be FAR from being the most efficiently performed of tasks.
Often we hear people discussing their "woods trio," or the set of tools they have found to be most useful when in the woods. Most often, these include a medium sized blade, a chopper of some sort, and a small saw of one design or another. Of course, there are varying ideas on this concept, and some may not need a saw or chopper or whatever. The general idea of a "woods trio" is that by having these three tools, you'd be able to do anything you need in an EFFICIENT manner. When you're in the bush, efficiency is often a high priority as calories can be hard to come by and conserving energy can be extremely important.
Only YOU can decide which tool(s) work best for you, and the only way you're going to decide is with experience. The WS&S community can make all the suggestions we want, but those suggestions will always be biased and based upon our own experiences. Asking for advice is definitely NOT a bad thing, in fact, I think we all here encourage it. Just keep in mind that the answers you will get will almost always be greatly varied because we all have different experiences and preferences.
I included that last paragraph for this reason: I do not think it
efficient to buy a tool someone else has recommended (whether it costs $8 or $900) for a task without first trying out what you have on hand for that same task. In other words, don't take OUR word for it. Go try, and ultimately, decide for yourself!! After all, being in the wild and learning is what this is all about, is it not? I enjoy the wilderness like I enjoy nothing else on earth, and the reasons are that it is always a challenge, I am constantly being confronted with new situations and opportunities, and I am constantly reviewing and revising my methods and preferences. Not to mention that almost all of the most beautiful and amazing sights I have beheld have been granted at the will of mother nature. It makes for a very dynamic, sometimes frustrating, often rewarding and an always immensely enjoyable set of activities.
Sorry to be so long... it seems that the older I get, the more long-winded I get.
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