Hey, everyone. Was just thinking about something & figured I'd put it out there for discussion. The best knife for the woods, in my opinion, is the style of a French Butcher Knife (overhanging front ledge, straight back that slants to a point, non-serrated edge, handle that you can hold blade up/down/back/front).
I like that style because of its versatility. It would work for most general tasks, including fighting, fairly well & is especially well-suited to food preparation- since that back corner it has makes skinning & butchering game easier, because that corner will run along the meat & bone (while push-cutting with the edge up) without the point getting stuck in a bone or going into the organs & ruining the meat. It would work even better than normal for cutting food if it was a little bit "forward-set" like a Koster Nessmuck (it's not curved backward or at a slant like a parang machete usually is, it's just...well, forward-set). The front ledge keeps your hand from running up the blade at any point & lets you get a good "herb-cutting grip" (blade directly above whatever it is, going straight up & down in a controlled way).
I'd want it to be solid enough to use for splitting wood (regular butcher knives don't SEEM like they would hold up going through wood, whether it's the tempering of the edge or the thickness of the blade or whatever else). What that would be specifically could depend on thickness, tempering, type of steel, etc..., but the length would likely be about 5"-6"- long enough to at least split pieces of wood as wide across as my palm & not too long to easily control while carving (or to loop it around on a stab- you never know if you're going to have problems with man or beast & that is a useful tactic).
The edge would be non-serrated, so it doesn't leave ragged edges on what you're cutting (wood, leather, tape, bags, rope, plastic bottles, etc...). Not sure if convex or scandi grind would be best, but I hear good things about convex (glides through soft stuff better, has better solidity & splitting potential for wood, and could be easier to sharpen- but it COULD always be sharpened in the same way as you would a scandi grind).
The spine would have 90-degree edges that are hard enough to strike a ferro rod (plus it's good for scuffing up tinder). I'd like the steel to be something that didn't rust very much, but that I could still strike sparks with flint or other stones (maybe 5160?). There'd be nothing to interrupt putting my thumb on the back of the blade (which also means there's nothing to stop me from putting it against my forearm, should the need arise- but it's pretty much entirely for carving).
I'd probably go with unfinished steel because then it's dark when/if I need it to be & it'll stay that way (might be a sudden issue where that comes in handy), but also because it gives a little bit better of a grip if I were trying to do more fine carving (like making a spoon, which is done with the end of the blade to make the dip in the middle). Doesn't seem to resist rust, as I used to think, but the other stuff can be useful.
As I mentioned, the handle would be the type that could be held in basically any grip without issue (ex: no finger grooves to dig into my my palm when using it edge-up like when cutting something like rope/roots/etc...). Specifically, I'd go with a long roach belly or a half-coffin type of handle, so that way my hand doesn't slide off at any point & it gives a little extra cutting power to make things smoother (instead of it being "casually hard," it's "casually easy"). MAYBE the type that has that little ledge on the end like on the Martinii knives, but that could crowd the hand if wearing gloves & might impede a throw if I wanted/had to do that. Either way, I'd want it to have good traction, whether my hands were sweaty/oily/etc... or I dropped it into the dew on the grass or whatever else (no real benefit to having a handle with a bad grip). Also, I'd want this to be something narrow enough that I could get a good grip on it- even in winter gloves/mittens.
Balanced for throwing would be great, whether for serious things or just throwing it for recreation (I know you shouldn't throw something you might seriously need, but you could potentially make something soft to throw it into). Again, you never know if you'll have a problem- whether with man or beast (and again, I know you generally wouldn't be well-advised to throw it- but at least there's an option that works a bit more smoothly than if it wasn't balanced).
Don't know what the specifics are in terms of shape so the thing doesn't snap (I've heard things about the Kabar having a 90-degree angle somewhere that causes problems), but I'd want it handled- whether through shape/solidity/tempering/whatever. I can't decide whether I'd want a saw/wire-breaker combination on the back edge (wire-breaker notches with tops that go different ways, instead of being flat), since it MIGHT make some things a pain in the ass- but I think if it was just in the middle, it might work out.
I like that style because of its versatility. It would work for most general tasks, including fighting, fairly well & is especially well-suited to food preparation- since that back corner it has makes skinning & butchering game easier, because that corner will run along the meat & bone (while push-cutting with the edge up) without the point getting stuck in a bone or going into the organs & ruining the meat. It would work even better than normal for cutting food if it was a little bit "forward-set" like a Koster Nessmuck (it's not curved backward or at a slant like a parang machete usually is, it's just...well, forward-set). The front ledge keeps your hand from running up the blade at any point & lets you get a good "herb-cutting grip" (blade directly above whatever it is, going straight up & down in a controlled way).
I'd want it to be solid enough to use for splitting wood (regular butcher knives don't SEEM like they would hold up going through wood, whether it's the tempering of the edge or the thickness of the blade or whatever else). What that would be specifically could depend on thickness, tempering, type of steel, etc..., but the length would likely be about 5"-6"- long enough to at least split pieces of wood as wide across as my palm & not too long to easily control while carving (or to loop it around on a stab- you never know if you're going to have problems with man or beast & that is a useful tactic).
The edge would be non-serrated, so it doesn't leave ragged edges on what you're cutting (wood, leather, tape, bags, rope, plastic bottles, etc...). Not sure if convex or scandi grind would be best, but I hear good things about convex (glides through soft stuff better, has better solidity & splitting potential for wood, and could be easier to sharpen- but it COULD always be sharpened in the same way as you would a scandi grind).
The spine would have 90-degree edges that are hard enough to strike a ferro rod (plus it's good for scuffing up tinder). I'd like the steel to be something that didn't rust very much, but that I could still strike sparks with flint or other stones (maybe 5160?). There'd be nothing to interrupt putting my thumb on the back of the blade (which also means there's nothing to stop me from putting it against my forearm, should the need arise- but it's pretty much entirely for carving).
I'd probably go with unfinished steel because then it's dark when/if I need it to be & it'll stay that way (might be a sudden issue where that comes in handy), but also because it gives a little bit better of a grip if I were trying to do more fine carving (like making a spoon, which is done with the end of the blade to make the dip in the middle). Doesn't seem to resist rust, as I used to think, but the other stuff can be useful.
As I mentioned, the handle would be the type that could be held in basically any grip without issue (ex: no finger grooves to dig into my my palm when using it edge-up like when cutting something like rope/roots/etc...). Specifically, I'd go with a long roach belly or a half-coffin type of handle, so that way my hand doesn't slide off at any point & it gives a little extra cutting power to make things smoother (instead of it being "casually hard," it's "casually easy"). MAYBE the type that has that little ledge on the end like on the Martinii knives, but that could crowd the hand if wearing gloves & might impede a throw if I wanted/had to do that. Either way, I'd want it to have good traction, whether my hands were sweaty/oily/etc... or I dropped it into the dew on the grass or whatever else (no real benefit to having a handle with a bad grip). Also, I'd want this to be something narrow enough that I could get a good grip on it- even in winter gloves/mittens.
Balanced for throwing would be great, whether for serious things or just throwing it for recreation (I know you shouldn't throw something you might seriously need, but you could potentially make something soft to throw it into). Again, you never know if you'll have a problem- whether with man or beast (and again, I know you generally wouldn't be well-advised to throw it- but at least there's an option that works a bit more smoothly than if it wasn't balanced).
Don't know what the specifics are in terms of shape so the thing doesn't snap (I've heard things about the Kabar having a 90-degree angle somewhere that causes problems), but I'd want it handled- whether through shape/solidity/tempering/whatever. I can't decide whether I'd want a saw/wire-breaker combination on the back edge (wire-breaker notches with tops that go different ways, instead of being flat), since it MIGHT make some things a pain in the ass- but I think if it was just in the middle, it might work out.
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