Best Set of Knives To Have In The Wilderness?

H

HeavyTakeMusic

Joined
May 9, 2012
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I'm new to knives and knife collecting. I'm looking for a decent set that can handle daily chores in the wilderness. Here's a pic of what I have so far. Is this a good enough set to survive in the wild? I also have a cheapo coleman axe and fold saw that I didnt include in the picture.

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From Top to bottom: Fallkniven A1, Fallkniven F1, SOG Seal Pup, Ontario RAT 1
 
I'd say you have your bases well and truly covered. Personally I'd ditch the SOG and just go with the A1/F1 combo (great knives) with the RAT 1 in my pocket.
 
The SOG was the first one I bought. I liked it until I bought the F1 and realized how much a lousy knife the SEAL Pup is compared to the Fallkniven. I set the pup down and have barely touched her since. I am keeping it though because I figure since it was designed for the Seal team, then its probably the best knife I have to use when fishing. I should handle water well with proper care. The RAT1 is my EDC. Very nice knife.
 
I don't care for serrations. Disregarding that, any of those knives, a pocket-size sharpener of some sort and your cheapo folding saw will likely serve you very well when out in the woods. Nice choices :thumbup:
 
yup, that's more than enough. save your money for a nice backpack, tarp/shelter, titanium pots/cup, etc. and go accumulate the skills by going out there and camping :)
 
The F1 is awesome. I'd either take that or the A1 as a second choice, but personally I wouldn't take both. The A1 is longer but not long enough to be useful as a long knife and to differentiate itself from the F1. The length ends up being wasted for me. That's just my personal experience, of course.
 
Yeah I'm not a fan of serrations either but it can come in handy cutting a slab of beef I guess. Thats why I ordered my RAT1 with a straight edge.

@Dahee: Nope! I did not forget. Its in the mail on the way to my house. I didn't go for the victorinox (or the like) this time. Wanted to give the Gerber Dime a try, I'm gonna put it through the test and switch back if it sucks balls. I was cheap so not a total loss.

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@JV3: yeah im in the hunt for a decent Molle backpack. I just can't decide what size is sufficient. I might go for a 3day pack...I also have a 8x10 camo tarp. Not sure if this is a good size. Im 6ft 1inch. I definitely have to go out and gain some experience and skills.
 
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Id say you dont need anything. Take those nice shiny knives out into the woods and practice. Experience weighs nothing but mean everything.
 
Ive been thinking about getting a pocket sharpener, but the F1 and the A1 are convex edges. Wouldnt one of those Fallkniven DC3 riun the edge? I guess I can just use my belt. Not really sure. Im still new to knives.
 
You can sharpen convex edges with a stone. It just takes coordination and time if you want to retain the convexity, but still some coordination even if you don't want to. After all, it's still an edge, so there's always a tangential line, but it's more difficult to find exactly on a convex edge.

The belt trick is a quick fix if you have no other choices, but it has never done my blades any good. You'll need a completely flat belt (no threads causing any bumps or anything) made of good top-grain leather, and even then it'd be better if you could have some honing compound.
 
Ive got Black, White, and Green polishing compounds. I also got a few water stones. Ive been practicing on my kitchen knives and not horrible at it. I can at least make the kitchen knives cut cut paper, but those are all v-edge and I wish I had a cheap convex knife to practice on. Guess im off to ebay looking for a cheapo convex to practice with.
 
HeavyTakeMusic said:
... I wish I had a cheap convex knife to practice on. Guess im off to ebay looking for a cheapo convex to practice with.
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Find yourself a BlackJack Grunt or Small Hunter. Convexed, inexpensive, and very good. Won't kill you if you ruin it (you wont), and perfectly usable.
 
retzius said:
Experience weighs nothing but mean everything.
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I like that, should be a sig line. Can I steal it??

Your bases are indeed well covered. I would also ditch the sog. I hate the aggressive handle texture on it, that's just me though.
 
So what would all of you replace my SOG with? What would compliment my current knife set? Should I go for the Fallkniven S1 and just keep it in the fam, or is that over doing it. Lol.
 
My next outdoors knife will be a koster bushcraft. He has a sub-forum here. Scandi grind in CPM-3V. I must have one!!!
 
HeavyTakeMusic said:
Ive been thinking about getting a pocket sharpener, but the F1 and the A1 are convex edges. Wouldnt one of those Fallkniven DC3 riun the edge? I guess I can just use my belt. Not really sure. Im still new to knives.
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The Fallknivens are not full convex all the way to the cutting edge. They have a regular microbevel and are designed to be sharpened on regular sharpening stones like their DC3 or DC4.
 
HeavyTakeMusic said:
So what would all of you replace my SOG with? What would compliment my current knife set? Should I go for the Fallkniven S1 and just keep it in the fam, or is that over doing it. Lol.
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Why do you want 4-5 knives? Take a small knife(that Dime), a slightly larger knife, be it the F1 or the A1, and then a large chopper, machete, or axe. No need to bring a gajillion knives. You could do with just one, or maybe one knife and an axe/chopper/machete. My suggestion is to go out with one of those setups, TRY IT OUT, and if you think they can't do everything you want done, buy something that fits the role. From what I'm reading you're buying everything and kinda "over-preparing" without actually giving it a shot first. Don't stress the details, you have what you need already.
 
RemyKaze said:
Why do you want 4-5 knives? Take a small knife(that Dime), a slightly larger knife, be it the F1 or the A1, and then a large chopper, machete, or axe. No need to bring a gajillion knives. You could do with just one, or maybe one knife and an axe/chopper/machete. My suggestion is to go out with one of those setups, TRY IT OUT, and if you think they can't do everything you want done, buy something that fits the role. From what I'm reading you're buying everything and kinda "over-preparing" without actually giving it a shot first. Don't stress the details, you have what you need already.
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I'm with Remy, I would lose some current weight and go with some sort of chopper. Personal choice between larger, heavy bladed knife, machete, or axe / tomahawk if you wanna keep the weight down. Also, if you wanna get a cheapo to practice on, get one that has a secondary cutting bevel, and profile it to a convex edge. I think that will go a lot further towards sharpening a good convex than just maintaining an edge that is already there, IMHO. I did this with an inexpensive Gerber (Freeman Hunter withOUT guthook), in some grade of stainless no less, and it has one wicked edge on it. It will shave thermal receipt paper with ease. I have several 200.00 and up customs (and ALL my knives are users, no safe queens here) and still find myself carrying that Gerber quite a bit.

DD
 
discdoggin said:
I'm with Remy, I would lose some current weight and go with some sort of chopper. Personal choice between larger, heavy bladed knife, machete, or axe / tomahawk if you wanna keep the weight down. Also, if you wanna get a cheapo to practice on, get one that has a secondary cutting bevel, and profile it to a convex edge. I think that will go a lot further towards sharpening a good convex than just maintaining an edge that is already there, IMHO. I did this with an inexpensive Gerber (Freeman Hunter withOUT guthook), in some grade of stainless no less, and it has one wicked edge on it. It will shave thermal receipt paper with ease. I have several 200.00 and up customs (and ALL my knives are users, no safe queens here) and still find myself carrying that Gerber quite a bit.

DD
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I just bought my first Mora and my first tomahawk, haha. Seems like I'm getting the "no frills" bug, although I would love a 4" bladed custom bushcrafter/slicer with some kind of burled wood handle. I also choose to use a larger knife out of the three, though I'm hoping I can manage to bring the hawk along too to see how it plays out.
 
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