I think we can all probably agree that "Wilderness Skills" and "Survival" can each contain some pretty different sets of scenarios. Granted, there may be a certain amount of crossover, but insofar as the terms above are concerned, for the most part I think my previous statement is correct. For me, "Wilderness Skills" equates to about the same as bushcraft and hunting type skills. These skills would include "normal" bushcrafting/hunting tasks such as cooking, food prep, field dressing game, shelter building, fire building, trap making, batoning, etc. And yes, these are absolutely defined as "normal" bushcrafting skills. These and more are explained in countless bushcrafting guides and books, and as far as the popular term "bushcrafting" goes, these are more or less the "norm." Keep in mind that "bushcrafting" generally is done with not just one tool, but several, which may or may not include choppers, axes, saws, etc. That being said, of course some of us will prefer bushcrafting without those things, and as a result probably prefer a more robust knife in order to help encompass those tasks the other tools are generally meant for. I have yet to find a bushcrafting book or expert that explains the need to tunnel through a mountain or chop down a telephone pole (or any other like-minded nonsense) with a knife as a bushcrafting skill or necessity.
"Survival" is pretty self explanatory, and is certainly not a normal situation. Such an abnormal situation would be closer to that "one knife only" scenario we all discuss so much, and in this case you would probably want your knife to be capable of more strenuous and demanding tasks - to the detriment of its detailed carving capabilities, etc. And for those of you who would like to debate the matter, don't. All other things being equal, a thicker blade with a more robust grind will always be less capable at finer tasks than a thinner blade and more delicate grind. Of course you may still be able to get by, the knife will simply be less apt to perform well at finer detail tasks.
Myself, I am a "right tool for the job" kinda guy. I am not an ultra-light-ist. I'll carry an axe, hatchet, or designated chopper for chopping tasks, a saw for sawing tasks, and a knife for knifing tasks (which, for me, include batoning up to a certain diameter).
Now here's the meat and potatoes of the matter:
Notice I put "For me," in BOLD in the first paragraph. I have said this before, and I am absolutely certain that I will end up saying it again, probably many more times: The knife YOU choose to use will have characteristics based upon the tasks YOU use it for. I am not using your knife, and you are not using mine. Bushman uses his knife for different purposes than I use my knife for. Though, even if he were to use it for the same purpose I use my woods knife for, he may PREFER a blade styled much differently. This is what is SO COOL about all of us being here and posting everything we post!! Think about it: This would be a pretty damned boring forum if we all had Bark River Auroras, or if all anyone made were Apache Throwing Stars or lean-to's!
Too often I see a post like this: "I'm just getting into bushcrafting, what knife should I get?" At first? ANY KNIFE!!! Absolutely ANY knife will do! Take out a butter knife! You'll probably quickly learn that it needs to be sharpened, but that's OKAY! Go sharpen it! And then go out AGAIN!! You'll keep learning which tasks are within the knife's limits and which aren't. You'll continue reevaluating your criteria for your woods knife for YEARS AND YEARS! All of us do! Just ask Magnussen to explain his own personal knife design progression. He changes it up all of the time based upon the skills he utilizes most and what he thinks will work better for him!
I apologize for the long post, it just seems to me that many people like to theorize (I, too, am guilty at times) too much instead of using experience as an educator. There ARE no shortcuts. You will not be able to design and build a trap simply by buying a knife of a certain name. Ever. Impossible. You WILL, however, LEARN to design and build traps if you get out and try - over, and over, and over, and over. I understand that many of us use this and other sites to help learn from others' experiences. However, we can only learn from others' experiences to a certain point. As I said previously, there ARE no shortcuts.
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