Camping conundrum

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Wild Willie said:
Camping conundrum...Now my question; do I trust this blade to ride with me on a camping trip? Or do I fall back to a factory knife (Kellam Wolverine) to be sure I have a reliable blade?
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How much of a trip? Where? Doing what?

When I used to backpack and weight was at a premium, I carried one of the simpler SAKs.
These days, if I'm car camping an SAK or pocket knife still works just fine.
On the other hand, if I were on an extended hunting trip, I might want something more.
 
Probably not much of a trip by hard core camper standards. Just some quiet time away to recharge between plowing snow and ramping up for tree work. Hike a couple trails, do a little fishing, and drink plenty of beer. I used to carry a folder when I worked for big corperations, I've found I'm far happier with a short fixed blade as my go to EDC. I always take my gransfors axe with me, and a good handsaw is also always on at least one of us. I suppose my worries about a home made knife are a little useless as long as it cuts things, was slightly more than a little curious about how some of the guys here tested their early blades. Carry them without backup and have faith, or hope for the best and prepare for the worst by having a trusted standby?
 
i always carry multiple blades when camping.
it sounds like your camping trip is going to be a little relaxing, take multiples, use them for different things, see where each excels. Where does it fall short?
what improvements would you like to see? Etc.

make it a learning experience
 
You have an axe, a saw and a folder in addition to this knife. I’m not sure what the concern here is. o_O
 
I would take what you have along with a folder. Maybe your Dad or Brother might need a sheath knife for the camping outing. I would ask them what they are planning on taking and adjust. But nothing wrong with taking two thin fixed blades that you have been using and have confidence in.

With the axe and saw, you have the ability to deal with fairly big wood for the fire. It just depends on what kind of effort you want to make. Me I like a fire if they are allowed.
 
Wild Willie said:
Probably not much of a trip by hard core camper standards. Just some quiet time away to recharge between plowing snow and ramping up for tree work. Hike a couple trails, do a little fishing, and drink plenty of beer. I used to carry a folder when I worked for big corperations, I've found I'm far happier with a short fixed blade as my go to EDC. I always take my gransfors axe with me, and a good handsaw is also always on at least one of us. I suppose my worries about a home made knife are a little useless as long as it cuts things, was slightly more than a little curious about how some of the guys here tested their early blades. Carry them without backup and have faith, or hope for the best and prepare for the worst by having a trusted standby?
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if beer is involved you can probably get by with 2 to 3 options ... and of course the precut/presplit wood pile you do as soon as you set up camp (don't want to baton or split wood with a beer in one hand)
 
Shotgun said:
You have an axe, a saw and a folder in addition to this knife. I’m not sure what the concern here is. o_O
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No concern, just wondering how many guys would bother carrying a spare fixed blade. (I was leaning that way anyway, but I've been trying to trim my gear weight down.)
 
Really appreciate the input everyone. This forum always makes me feel better about my knife habit. Seems that in my limited social circle I'm a bit of an odd ball.
 
Wild Willie said:
No concern, just wondering how many guys would bother carrying a spare fixed blade.
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Car camping or something similar, take everything with you. What does a person do with a "camping knife"? Cut stuff of course; cooking, stakes, limbs, maybe clean some fish or wild game, split kindling perhaps, perhaps some whittling, woods craft type things perhaps, and as an emergency survival tool. My second knife if I am carrying it (aka on my back or in a bag) would be a folder since I use a folder 10x more than a fixed blade. I don't think you need a backup fixed blade unless you plan on carrying two that are much different in size and hence capability. But you have the axe and saw..... What if you lost the fixed blade? I'd use the folder.
 
I EDC a small fixed blade anyway. I only ask about the extra knife in the same size class because one of them I made myself. I've used it around home for the last few months and it does all of the "knifey" things I've needed it to do. My original intent was to see if anyone else would trust their own work without backup, especially since I can't even call myself an amateur when it comes to knife making.
 
Don't beat yourself up over how the knife looks, you got started! That's all that matters. carry yours, you know what it can do, you won't be short tools, and you'll have more understanding of what to do on the next one. Have a good trip!
 
Wild Willie said:
After countless hours of perusing these forums I finally feel the need to throw a question to the to people who have answered so many others. I leave for an annual week long sojourn in the Adirondack mountains a week from Monday. The difference this year from years past is that I've finally dipped my toe into the fascinating world of bladesmithing. Against all of the advice offered here by those who know infinitely more about the subject than myself I have been using pieces of a coil spring scavenged from the scrap pile of my mechanic. (Mostly because I find taking something not even remotely blade shaped and making something sharp from it, secondly because I'm self employed with two young kids and I'm broke most of the time.) One such end result has been riding in my pocket or around my neck for the last several months, it's held up quite well doing all of the things I do for work and play at home. Mostly cutting rope (I'm a tree guy), opening beer, trimming strings, opening mail and all of the sundry tasks that knives are used for. I have used it to baton kindling for the stove and it's survived, but it's kind of small for such tasks. Edge retention has been acceptable and for a short blade I'm able to flex it quite a bit and it snaps back to true (for a short blade at least.). I usually use an axe or a condor lochnessmuk for heavier tasks, curiosity was the only thing that drove me to do some of the things I've done with it. Now my question; do I trust this blade to ride with me on a camping trip? Or do I fall back to a factory knife (Kellam Wolverine) to be sure I have a reliable blade?
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what type edge grind does the Lochnessmuk have? flat with secondary bevel? or full blade thickness to edge, like a machete?
 
deltablade said:
what type edge grind does the Lochnessmuk have? flat with secondary bevel? or full blade thickness to edge, like a machete?
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More of the latter, I've had to do some significant work with a file to thin it to a sharpness level I'm happy with. It also has a pretty strong distal taper so the grind width changes from more chisel like by the ricasso to thinner and closer to flat ground at the tip.
 
thanks. do you like the way it handles and cuts for you after your work on the edge?
 
deltablade said:
thanks. do you like the way it handles and cuts for you after your work on the edge?
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I do very much. It gets used for everything from clearing brush in the garden to breaking down deer carcasses when we process them, and the hump on the back is good for scraping out a hole to do your business in if need be.
 
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