All you big knife fans, sell me on why I should carry a big knife (RD9, BM size).

[Sarge47]

I'm debating. Here's my scenario

I want to do some camping/hiking/backpacking. I don't intend to be lost in the wilderness for years. I don't even intend to be there a week. My longest trip will probably be 5 days. I will be starting off going to established camping/hiking places, but hope to someday do a backpacking trip where I carry my tent with me on a frame pack and the whole nine yards. I don't intend to live completely off the fat of the land, i.e. I won't be chasing down deer and gutting them in the field, but I may need to prepare food like fish or something. I plan to be decently prepared, i.e. I don't intend to fashion a spoon from a tree limb...I'll just carry a spoon. I guess you could say I'm a psuedo-yuppy outdoorsman wannabe who is trying to get more outdoorsman-y as I go.

Here's my questions.
1) What is the advantage of a big 9" blade over a 6" one?
2) Will I have any use for said advantages if I'm only planning short camping/hiking trips?
3) Will I have use of the advantages if I ever do a 5 day backpacking trip?

I'm pretty well decided to go with a Ranger knife due to Justin being extremely helpful. So it's looking like this will be an RD6/RD7/RD9 discussion.

Thanks much. I hope I don't offend any true survivalists here, but everyone has to start somewhere right?

I can't sell you on the idea of carrying a big knife over a smaller one. Everybody carries what they're comfortable with. Also the geographic location of where you're going and what you plan on doing when you get there are the factors that should guide you in your choice.:jerkit: An area with lots of thick brush could use anything from a RTAK-II to afull-length machete, same if your going to have to do any serious chopping. It's why I like Ontario's RAT-7. It's a good choice if you don't want the longer RTAK-II blade, but I'm also looking at Gerber's LMF II

 

[hollowdweller]

I use big knives here at home a lot in clearing trails and stuff.

However like backpacking I like something that is smaller for fine cutting.

I bring a hatchet a lot and have really nice fires, but there was a time I just took a folder and small fixed blade knife and made fires fine and didn't really miss any sort of big chopper:thumbup:

 

[Guntotin_fool]

There is no reason at all for a big chopper. None, nada, zippo. get a good small fixed blade, a folding saw and you got all you need.

I met a guy in northern manitoba who lived up there in the winter, fixing and maintaining fishing shacks for the guides services. He would hike on snow shoe between the different camps carrying a old marbles ideal, a Folding Saw, and a little three blade stockman. Its all he needed and thought anything else was just silly. I met people who tended the tracks for the canadian rail road. All they carried were about the same. a couple had Grohmans, a couple had morseths, and they were happy. anything more just weighs you down.

 

[Myal]

There is a HELL of a big reason for carrying a chopper

it feels good , they are fun to chop stuff with , and you can look cool too

I read in a satirical list of gear to have in emergencies , a big knife is a must so you can strap it on in a hurricane and look cool , someone might even think you are rambo !

that being said , I carry a big chopper with me strapped to the pack , but I do use it for chopping , thru weeds , rushes weeds , to lop the slap face or stinging nettle tree leaves out of my path

my chopper that goes bush with me th is a 20 inch machete usualy , I tried a 24 inch one and while its fun , impresively BIG , and chops like wow , I find its a bit easier to pack the smaller one around without freaking the sheeples too much

but when we just go where ordinary folk go we realy do not need anything designed for coping with places where people usualy do not go .

what you use and what you need depend entirely on where you go and what you do .

we go really bush REALLY bush , so we use tools that are convenient and useful for it , but for folk who hike ready made paths , they dont need path cutting tools , simple as that

 

[Mansour]

my model 15 Randall (51/2 blade) has served me well through 33 years of hunting, fishing, camping, and living in Montana and Alaska

 

[Noshtero]

I decide on the RD9 based on the following shootout (this is only for me, your thoughts and experiences may differ):

RD9 vs Axe vs Saw

Weight: Saw wins. Axe is last place barely, just slighty more than RD9
Robustness: RD9 wins. Saw is last place
Ease of carrying: RD9 wins. Axe is last place
Comfort Factor: RD9 wins. Axe is last place. I've used large knives much more than axes and saws.