A good camp knife.

gull wing

gull wing

Joined
May 4, 2002
Messages
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Can you recommend a good camp knife, not the most costly, I would not use it enough to make it worth the cost. It would be used to clear brush and an occasional sapling, split wood, sharpen sticks, etc. No macheteies!
 
I don't think the crewman will be helpful for ' cllearing brush and saplings"!!!!
For your useages a machete sounds ideal however, if you preffer a different big blade style then look at kukries like Himilayan Imports forum here in Manufacturers section.
OR- for bigger bowie typed blades you can see Swamp Rat knives or the "bigger brother " to the Crewman called the Combat Bowie.
Martin
 
I've found that, even though you don't want a machete, my CS Kukri machete works wonders. For twenty bucks, it is a great knife. I also really like my CS Bushman. I am looking to wrap the handle in paracord, and put a cap on the end of it to store stuff in the handle, it is very slick and I would advise to not use it until you have something to wrap the handle with. Both are cheap, consequently, you won't feel bad about using or losing them.
 
I use my Becker BK-9 Combat Bowie for the chores listed. IT does a great job. Also an HI Sirupati would do nicely. :)

Heber
 
gull wing said:
Can you recommend a good camp knife, not the most costly, I would not use it enough to make it worth the cost. It would be used to clear brush and an occasional sapling, split wood, sharpen sticks, etc. No macheteies!
Click to expand...
I gotta ask: why no machetes? The work you're talking about is exactly what a machete is made for!

Can't beat 'em for cost, either.
 
If price is an issue, I would second the Cold Steel Bushman. You can get the Bushman for about $15.00

http://www.knivesplus.com/cold-steel-knives-cs-95busc.html

http://www.wholesalehunter.com/product/coldstee/colddes/bushman.htm


It will do everything you mentioned, plus it will do light digging and comes handy for cooking. If you jam a plastic champange cork (or cap, I don't know how you call that in English) in the back opening of the handle, it will double as a light hammer.

The handle surface can become slippery when wet. Silent thunder's advise on using paracord is a good one. An alternative is to slip the handle into a bicycle tube. This will give you an excellent grip and cushion some of the impact and vibrations when chopping. Just cut the tube about 2 inches longer than the handle. Once you slip the handle into the tube, fold the excess tubbing into the hollow part of the handle.

Here is a step by step guide to do this.

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/coldsteelforester.htm
 
martin j said:
I don't think the crewman will be helpful for ' cllearing brush and saplings"!!!!
For your useages a machete sounds ideal however, if you preffer a different big blade style then look at kukries like Himilayan Imports forum here in Manufacturers section.
OR- for bigger bowie typed blades you can see Swamp Rat knives or the "bigger brother " to the Crewman called the Combat Bowie.
Martin
Click to expand...

I think it would work fine, personally I would have rather said the BK&T Brute but he did mention he wanted to keep the costs down, so I picked the lowest price heavy duty knife I could find and would use myself. If he had said he wanted a machete, I would have told him to get the one I got, an Ontario sawback machete. I've used a lot smaller knives to do everything he listed when camping/hunting, but usually it's a plain old Ontario Machete.
 
gull wing said:
Can you recommend a good camp knife, not the most costly, I would not use it enough to make it worth the cost. It would be used to clear brush and an occasional sapling, split wood, sharpen sticks, etc. No macheteies!
Click to expand...
What about the Western W49 Bowie
Superb!
Tack
 
I wrapped black hockey stick tape around the handle of my CS mini-bushman, and that works really well in terms of making the handle less slippery. Cheap, fast, ...
 
I picked up an 8.5" gaucho knife for a great price (thanks David) . All my dealings with forumites have been great. You might find something there. Also, you might check out Ragweed Forge. They've got an 8" Mora for $20 that would be good for clearing brush and hatchets for under $50 for splitting wood. If wood splitting is a priority maybe a BK7. If price is a priority maybe a CS Bushman. Good luck and happy hunting.

Frank
 
Camillus/Becker BK9, SRKW Camp Tramp, SRKW Battle Rat. The latter two are 2-3 times more expensive, but the resiprene handles and better forward balance will make them ideal for your purposes.
 
among the many other great choices put forth thus far, i'm holding out for spyderco's ed schemp model. can you imagine 9.5" of 3V spydie style, with ed's (chopping jedi knight) input? sheesh. can't wait.

mean time, take a look at this:

http://www.chrisreeve.com/neilroberts.htm

^^amazingly handsome blade.
 
The Becker's are great overall knives,I really like the BK7 & BK9 for the money. For allitle more I also really like the Swamp Rat Camp Tramp.
 
Ranger Knives RD9 for $100. Great blade, comfortable handle, adaptable sheath.
 
I have been hearing alot of good things on those Ranger blades. Thanks nenofury for bringing them up. :D
 
Wow, this is a wealth of information, it's going to take a while to pour thru it.
I knew I could count on you, thanks.
 
I think the Swamp Rat Camp Tramp is ideal for that kind of tasking. I use mine hard and love it.
 
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