Best Camp Knife

Ok Ben! After your last post I had to go back and take another look at my minis. And I have to admit, I think you're on to something. The Barteaux would probably get the job done (get a whole bunch of jobs done). And cost wise, like you said, you can't beat it.

I think I would have to do some work on the edge though but that's minor. My minis are pretty blunt. And as Marion said, the tip could be redone a bit if you need a sharper point.

And the Barteaux minis meet Jacobson's criteria for a camp knife, i.e., a thin blade. And combined with the SAK, you could do just about anything.

Great idea Ben. Sorry I was so stubborn in my thinking. My 6" seems a little short but I have a 10" and a 12", either of which I think might work well. I would probably go with the 10" though.

The more I think about it, the more I think you came up with a great idea! We get so caught up in thinking about fancy knives that we often fail to see the perfect utility in cheaper ones.


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Hoodoo

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
I love it when one of these threads starts up. They do on a regular basis. I've read numerous books about the Mountain men and explorers from all around the world. One will notice that thier stories most always listed several knives in thier kit. All of different sizes and patterns. Of course they usually made thier shelters from scratch and also needed the blades for defence due to the firearms technology of the times. The most dominant sizes I can remember are 5-7 inches in length. They also carried usually a camp ax,Tomahawk or hatchet. It all depended on how well funded you were or what your mode of transportation as to the amount of "specialized" equipment you could carry.
Starting at the last part of the 1800s into the 1900s commercial sporting equipment became more common,bedrolls, tents, stoves,matches,canned food. The size of the average camp knife got a little shorter 3 1/2 to 5 inches and other tools where added.Mainly a can opener . We were not opening up new teritory and all of the major land exploration had been done. Civilization had spread from coast to coast even in the wliderness. Most Large outdoor knives were used in the "wildness" of the rest of the world. Places where the Lion hunts and the tiger growels at night.
I have traveled these paths at different times and have carried many different knives of all shapes and sizes. The knife is the most personal tool that man has ever made. It is the extenision of his arm. Since everyone has a different size hand and arm it is logical that everyone has a different opinion of what the size, shape, weight, and usefulness of this tool is. Modern man has the luxury of making a specific tool for any job he wishes to accomplish. What we have in the guise of a camp knife is the compromise of a tool that we as an individual can use to do multiple tasks "good enough". I feel comptfortable with a good 3-5 inch folder or strait knife. I usually carry something larger "just in case".

I appologize for any obtuse comments or grammaricle errors. this was written un edited. Due to my not taking proper time to polish it up. I think I got the gist of my message along. Variety is the spice of life and we are the total sum of all our anscetral and personal experiences. I enjoy the debate without the vitrol. It is stimulating and thought provoking.

This is not my first rodeo and hopefully will not be the last. Presently (for those who are curious)I usually carry a Kit Carson Big Hunter, model four, stelite paring knife and a SAK climber in my camping trips.

Cheers,

ts


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Guns are for show. Knifes are for Pros.
 
Big knives have gotten a bad rap by many folks not wanting to be associated with the 'Rambo' syndrome. Here again, Hollywood has screwed up the real world.

For most campers, a smaller sheath knife works fine, but if you get in heavy bush, the larger blades are going to make life a lot easier. 'Camp' knives often get confused with bush knives. They serve two different purposes and while you can usually do camp chores with a bush knife, it's hard to do bush chores with a camp knife. Not saying it can't be done, but it's going to be more difficult.

Someone mentioned earlier in this thread that he would be good to go with only a SAK and a machete. I agree. I've seen and used machetes as hunting blades, skinning and dressing everything from squirrels to deer. As a side note, one of the sharpest deer skinners I've used was a piece of broken flint.

The main thing I look at when taking a knife for extended use is fitting it to the area I'm going to be in. In tropical areas, sheath blades (5-7") are generally used as sort of a compromise between pocket knives and machetes.

Anyone who claims in an article that large knives have no purpose in wilderness needs to go to some hard wilderness. - Jeff

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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
I think wilderness is about as vague a term as camp knife. I've backpacked wilderness areas all across the US and Canada and never needed a big machete or a big hunting knife once. Chopping is not something I do a lot of in the kinds of wilderness I travel in. And I think Jacobson (the guy I quoted originally) is more a traditional northwoods wilderness person than a jungle person.

So I think the key here is that you have to fit the knife to the "wilderness" and how you plan to travel in that wilderness. It makes a big difference. Backpackers are typically self-contained and more and more practice low impact camping. No serious backpacker that I know of takes a hatchet, machete, or big honking blade into the wilderness, at least not in typical montane wilderness.

Colin Fletcher, the guy who wrote the Complete Walker series, struggles about whether he should break off the finger nail file on his SAK classic to save weight! And I believe he's seen a heck of a lot of wilderness. If you've ever hiked for two weeks or more by yourself with your COMPLETE house on your back, you soon realize that if you want to have fun, you go light.

So there are camps and there are camps. There are jungle camps, canoe camps, high-tech backpacking camps, bushwacking backpacking camps, northwoods hunting camps, desert camps, car camps, weekend cabin camps, survival camps, etc., each with it's own particular requirements. I doubt there is one knife or knife combo that would be ideal for all of these camps.

But unless you plan on clearing trails or do chopping in general, the big knife will only slow you down.

Jeff, I think your choice for the kind of wilderness you travel in was the Junglee Tactical Drop Clip Jr and a RTAK. Seems like a great combo to me. On my hunting camping trips, I think I could get some use out of both of those knives. But if I was canoing or backpacking say in Isle Royale or just car camping, a light puukko or my new Grohman Camper would be just the ticket. And of course, an SAK.
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Hoodoo

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
Well said Hoodoo. You make my point of always fitting the knife with the area. What bothers me is folks who have a problem with a particular type of blade due to size, low cost, or style, but never used the blade under its designed intent.

Big blades do have their place, and again, those who make blanket statements that they're not required have just never ventured into an area that requires them.

As far as the Junglee Tactical, it's a nice little piece for the money, but it ain't replaced my 15 dollar machete yet for tropical use. However, it does seem to stay on my side a lot around the farm.

One thing we all seem to agree on is the need for everyone to have a SAK in their pocket
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Randall's Adventure & Training
jeff@jungletraining.com

 
I've spent a lot of time in New England woods over the years and never chopped anything. I cut poles and pegs for my shelter by whittling through them -- slower than chopping, but I only needed two poles and six pegs (hardly ever used a tent, just tarp shelters).

I built lean-tos, too, mostly when I was a kid, and usually without a chopping tool ... just didn't use anything too big to break.

Anybody who chops or saws firewood when backpacking must be wanting to kill time and burn off energy, in New England anyway. I figure using a rock will work best for those goals -- not a stone ax, just a rock. Then he can kill all the time he wants and burn off all the energy he wants and won't have to quit just because he doesn't need any more firewood, and won't have to build an enormous bonfire to burn up all that wood he cut....
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Tables? Benches? If I'd wanted furniture I would have stayed home....

I guess it's just a different style of camping ... but I'm not a Colin Fletcher type who uses a stove and freeze-dried food and a tent and hardly ever builds a campfire; I'm as primitive as the next fellow ... but I've never found any need or desire to chop wood when I was backpacking, or to saw wood either. Only to cut two poles for my tarp shelter every night, and I'd rather take a minute to whittle through them than carry a hatchet all day.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
When I go on a trip to the woods or on the land it's to northern Ontario, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut. These are very different environments, but I always have and always will take a small complement of knives, including one with at least a 6" blade. I wouldn't be without it, even in tundra. You may not need to use it and it might stay lashed to a pack or kayak most of the time, but even in the high arctic, a good sized knife has many uses, or could have in an emergency. I think you have to be nuts not to have one.
I've found, especially in recent years, that I'm certainly in the minority. Big knives are very much the exception now. Some, many, people actually make it a point of pride to travel with nothing but a small kitchen knife and something like a Gerber River or Shorty fixed to a pfd if canoeing. Of course, below the tree line a saw and ax should be compulsory, although fewer people take and can really use an ax these days. "Zero impact camping"? Feh.
For the security it gives me, I'll bear the weight of a big knife. I'll take the biggest one circumstances will allow, and for general kitchen chores I'll use another.
 
Hoodoo I had to work the edge on the barteaux for a long long time to get it thin enough to perform well.I thinned it out from the tip to the middle of the curve.I left the part from the handle to the middle of the curve(tip end)factory.I just touched it up a little.This left the main edge convex and pretty thick and the tip section more flat ground and thin.The sheath I made is pressed Kydex modeled after the RTAK.I realize this knife is not a perfect solution for everyone .It is ugly as sin.It required major labor to make the edge right (a couple of hours).It would be hard to dig with and impossible to pry with.And I had to make my own sheath.So if free time is really valuable to you,making this knife work adds cost to the original $3.99 investment.I did however work great for me and my friends while camping this summer,and I would recommend it to anyone.It is true that everyones camping is different,and their needs are varied so no knife will work for everyone.Please do a review after you put the Grohman through its paces.I love knife reviews on good working knives.Happy camping and Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
troy
 
Although we haven't expressly stated it I believe that we also agree on two other issues.

First, A fancy finish on your camp knife is certainly not advisable. The finish would be the first thing you lose in the field and the pretty file work and engraving will only serve as a stress riser, or rust promoter.

The second thing we would agree with is the absolute importance of a good sheath. During the 19th century many of the fine English Bowies we admire so much today were being sold with thin leather veniered paper sheath. Progess has been slow and many (if not most) of today's knives are provided with sheath that are nothing if not absolutely dangerous.

A good field blade should be simple, solid, cheap, and easy to maintain. The sheath for that knife should retain the knife securely, and be solid enough to protectv you in the event of a severe fall.

So, skip the fancy file work and invest the money on a solid quality sheath.
 
Ben, if you paid $5 for it it's not a SAK. If you've gotten any use out of it at all you've had better luck with it than most have with $5 imitation SAKs.

I've got a very cheap bolo I made a new handle for and I love it. A lot of us have gotten some good usable machetes that way. But in my experience and the experience of everyone I know, $5 multiblade knives and multitools are completely worthless. They often break the first time you use them.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
Cougar, well said on your primitive camping style. It doesn't take long to whittle a couple of poles.

The furniture I was referring to was in reference to the kind of things we used to do in Boy Scouts during big camping jamborees. It was a way to learn how to lash poles. Some of the lashing can get pretty intricate. It was great fun but hasn't been my style since I was 15.

Low impact camping is becoming the law of the land in many places. Stoves are mandatory in many places. Cutting of vegetation is prohibited and you often have to camp in designated sites. I think this is easy to understand. In many wilderness areas I've hiked in, choice campsites are "defoliation" areas. Hard use makes for hard choices.

Also, I'd be willing to bet Ben scored an original SAK. He sounds like a make-do kind of guy and a died-in-the-wool bargain hunter.
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Hoodoo

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
 
Cougar I got a Victorinox camper model and hiker model for $5.00 each.Someone gave the heads up awhile ago for $20 off on a website called theglobe.com.They even picked up the shipping.This was one of my best scores!Hoodoo was indeed correct.
troy
 
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