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5-7" Fixed Blade Backpacking Knife Recommendation
- Thread starter Benaiah
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2007
- Messages
- 3,131
Maybe not a Becker, but in the 3-3.5" category, there are many knives that fit the bill. In the necker category, I hear the Fehrman Thru Hiker is a great knife, and CPM 3V to boot. I just don't see the point in carrying a larger knife in most hiking/backpacking situations, unless you are going to be miles from anywhere for days at a time, and maybe plan on establishing a nice base camp for several days.
ilbruche, I moved from Livonia, MI to Boulder, CO.
I've enjoyed several hikes out here and have taken my #780 Mora on all of them. I have the knife attached blade up on my backpack shoulder strap. That location works perfect for me as it doesn't bother me and is very fast and easy to unsheath with either hand.
A couple of week ago on a hike, I had a 70-100 lb bear blast across the trail about 40 feet in front of me. I only saw him for a second and am really glad that I didn't see his mom. He was in some super thick brush that I couldn't see into and disappeared in rocks and trees just a quickly as he had appeared.
The one conclusion I've come to out here is that I'll most likely never see a mountain lion. There are way too many places for them to hide out here. More mountain lions will probably see me.
At this point in time the #780 Mora will be my primary backpacking knife and SAK Classic for the scissors and the tweezers. I fell outside the original specs I had for my backpacking knife. I ended up with a 4 inch blade instead something in the 5 - 7 inch range. The #780 seems like a study knife that weighs in at 3.6 oz including the sheath.
I've enjoyed several hikes out here and have taken my #780 Mora on all of them. I have the knife attached blade up on my backpack shoulder strap. That location works perfect for me as it doesn't bother me and is very fast and easy to unsheath with either hand.
A couple of week ago on a hike, I had a 70-100 lb bear blast across the trail about 40 feet in front of me. I only saw him for a second and am really glad that I didn't see his mom. He was in some super thick brush that I couldn't see into and disappeared in rocks and trees just a quickly as he had appeared.
The one conclusion I've come to out here is that I'll most likely never see a mountain lion. There are way too many places for them to hide out here. More mountain lions will probably see me.
At this point in time the #780 Mora will be my primary backpacking knife and SAK Classic for the scissors and the tweezers. I fell outside the original specs I had for my backpacking knife. I ended up with a 4 inch blade instead something in the 5 - 7 inch range. The #780 seems like a study knife that weighs in at 3.6 oz including the sheath.
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2007
- Messages
- 2,964
I'm from Grand Rapids and I live in Eldorado Springs. Right down the road basically. My roomate saw a lion in our backyard (my backyard is the foothills) a couple months ago, and they have had lots of sightings near the Mesa trail.
A 4" blade is a good size, some of my bigger blades are overkill. I usually carry only a folder while peakbagging and getting into the alpine, but for less grueling trips when I hike to a camp, fish and explore I like to have a bigger blade. I'll be getting a custom 3/16" RD4 soon. That should be a good blade. The Mora 780 looks nice, good steel.
My pack weight minus food and water is probably 15 pounds in the summer, add 5 for cooler weather, so I can afford to carry some heavy steel. My brother is going to be fitting this blade with a desert ironwood handle for me. Lauri progressive tempered 3 3/4" puukko hardened to 52/63.
A 4" blade is a good size, some of my bigger blades are overkill. I usually carry only a folder while peakbagging and getting into the alpine, but for less grueling trips when I hike to a camp, fish and explore I like to have a bigger blade. I'll be getting a custom 3/16" RD4 soon. That should be a good blade. The Mora 780 looks nice, good steel.
My pack weight minus food and water is probably 15 pounds in the summer, add 5 for cooler weather, so I can afford to carry some heavy steel. My brother is going to be fitting this blade with a desert ironwood handle for me. Lauri progressive tempered 3 3/4" puukko hardened to 52/63.
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ilbruche, yea the mountain lions are my biggest concerns. The RD4 should be a sweet knife. Post some pictures when you get it. I looked at those but they were out of my price range and a little too beefy for what I was looking for. The puukko blade should make a great knife too.