Bush knife design ideas?

[Kenon Rain]

Hey, I'm a knife maker, and my friend and i as a last hoorah before the weather goes bad up here.. (few weeks most likely) are going to do a weekend up in the sticks with minimalist gear.. and anyway, I figured there would be few better places to ask than the people in this fine sub forum for advice .

I'm thinking of making two knives, a small sub 6in bushcraft knife for trap making and cleaning game..(fish most likely) and a larger between 12-16in machete chopper type thing for gathering wood and shelter building..

I just thought I'de see if you had any input on design, or personal favorites of knives that you personally have taken out.

I'm going to get started on forging them out in the morning, so with any luck I'll have a few pictures to share if anyone wants to see.

Thanks!

 

[fixer]

i've seen some designs that i really like, and others that make me cringe.

several of the makers around here make some great looking knives, but i've only gotten to handle a few, and actually use even fewer.

a "bushcraft" knife should look as good as it works. perhaps that's subjective, since there are some uuu-gly knives that will get the job done, and different people like different stuff, but if the knife works well, looking good doesn't hurt.

 

[Kenon Rain]

any photos of the ones you do like? that'd be really handy

 

[Carolina River Rat]

Tried and true designs are tried and true for a reason. A spear point scandi sorta like this, and a good chopper/machete like this will serve you well.

 

[bkduckworth]

While I don't disagree with CRR on tried and true designs . . .

I drew this up a while back for a contest JK knives was having. I think it would excell as an all around bush blade. I over did the contours on the handle in the sketch, but other than that I really like it! Of course I'm biased.

Good luck!

Brandon