carrying a fixed blade while hiking and camping.

stabman said:
If you cannot use a knife in the woods, where can you use it, right?
Click to expand...

Lol totally agree. I remember a few tales here about someone with big knife and some shocked sheeples came asking why is it in the woods?
Er...are we supposed to bring choppers to the mall then?

It's a norm to see parangs, sabits (bill-hook) and goloks out in the farm, woods and local knife meetings:p . The former 2 will not land you trouble with Five-O but can't be sure about the later.
 
I carry a fixed blade routinely, I've gone through Petco with no strange looks but then again, no one here cares.
 
Well, I'm gonna go a little contrary to the tide when it comes to well-established, organized, family-style camp grounds...the kind with the showers, 200 cites, little amitheaters, etc. You might draw the attention of some onlookers if you strap on a machete to go to the little ampitheater for a family-friendly evening presentation on the local trails and wildlife (I don't know if they still do these, but I seem to remember them as a kid). So generally speaking, if it scares the bejezus out of the park host/ranger, it might be better to tone it down walking around the campground looking like you're seeking a zombie to behead.

Now that's in around the common areas inside the campground. However, inside your own camp cite or heading out on a hike, I'd have no qualms really taking a sensible blade along. Now if the 'hike' is a 1/4 mile down the paved path to the scenic overlook with 200 tourists...you're probably not gonna need it. But if the hike is a couple miles up into the hills, sure, by all means, take along a fixed blade...whatever works for you and is in compliance with the local laws/ordinances/park rules. It's only called 'paranoia' until it saves your bacon...then its called being well-prepared.

And for in the campground, a little 3-5" in fixed blade, carried discreetly isn't going to raise too many eyebrows from the outdoorsy types...its the ignorant 'cityslickers' that might raise a huff...E-gads! A knife! In the outdoors!! Savage!! Little Billy or Susie might see it!! Oh no!!:rolleyes:.

Long story short--in the campground...be sensible, why let other folks unfounded fears ruin your trip over nothing...in other words, out of sight, out of mind. On the trail or in the fields...I'd take it, THAT'S WHAT ITS FOR.

BOSS
 
Boss1 that's a pretty good summation of sensible blade protocol, if the Rambo wannabees would consider this there probably wouldn't be many sheeple issues to deal with. On the other side of the spectrum, there are going to be those folks who freak out over a sharp nail clipper and probably shouldn't be in the woods anyway :-) But that is unavoidable in current society and makes Boss1's suggestions even more appropriate.
 
Wow, tough question, for what really should be a simple subject.

I see the OP hails from NYC, I think if you are closer to urban areas the stares will go up a bit.

I also agree with Boss1, going to do your laundry in a crowded campsite with a Battle Mistress strapped to your side is creating part of the problem.

I almost always carry a Marbles Ideal, the small one, 4.75" I think. Sometimes folks will ask why. I tell them, I canoe a bunch and always like a knife with me on the water. For my own saftey, as well as others. Then I explain that I would feel horrible if I came across their child drowning and was unable to cut them out of the overturned boat or seaweed. They seem to get that.

More and more, when I know I am going to be among other folks in the outdoors. I try to bring a Saw, an Axe, and a Knife, i work to explain the virtues of all three and associate them all as tools. Not weapons. It always amazes me how people will recoil from a knife, but are perfectly fine with a hatchet or an axe. Perception is reality, you just need to work on changing their perception.

Many folks see no reason for a knife, because they camp just like they live, making use of batteries, generators, precooked meals on paper plates, with plastic knives, forks, and spoons, instant coffee, all done with a bag of charcoal or a jet boil.

I actually just returned from a few days at a state campsite, visiting with some old friends. I was boggled by the amount of radios, generators, and people talking on their cell phones that I saw. That's the stuff I go in the woods to get away from. Some of the campers these folks have are nicer than my house. We just need to educate them that there can be a lot more to it. That with very little extra effort, it can be a lot more rewarding.
 
I almost always carry a fixed blade when hiking, backpacking and camping. Except for one time at the Mud Caves in Anza Borrego I've never had anyone make a comment. Was car camping and hiking with a group I didn't know well. I brought a single knife to handle all tasks, a Dozier Pro-Guide...sleek little 4 3/4 in. hollow ground blade. Apparently a great knife when I was making dinner with it in camp and cutting up slabs of tri-tip for all, but when hikiing in the Mud Caves it transformed into a "monster". I kept saying "But I just brought one!" Nobody got it.
 
I don't carry some beast of a fixed blade and have never gotten any serious negative looks at state parks. We had plans for today, but canceled everything due to the likelihood of a total wash out due to rain.
 
I always carry a fixed blade when I'm camping/hiking. It's usually a small one though... some make of bushcrafter, Busse BAD, Fallkniven F1, Randall Model 8, Blackjack Woodsman, etc. Most of my sheaths have TekLok clips so I can easily take them off my belt before I go into the grocery store, bank, or anywhere it might make people uneasy.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
RescueRiley said:
!st post back in a while.. Just some collecting some viewpoints. I'm taking the family camping for the 4th.. with the little ones it;ll be at a campground. I;ve noticed in the past that generally no one at these locations carries a visible fixed blade... A few months back I took my friend and her husband out for a hike and some campfire time. He's a woodsman of sorts. and had tactical type one hand folder.. but called my mora companion a Bowie knife. I personally find a mora to be about as humble a fixed blade as there can be...and once he saw me process wet wood to make a fire with it, he came around real quick. But it seems that in allot of ways we are not living in a fixed blade world anymore. just wanted gather your thoughts. Thanks
Click to expand...

Location has part to do with it I think, I lived in upstate NY while stationed at Fort Drum, never saw anyone carry a fixed blade. Moved to Texas while stationed at Fort Bliss, saw people carry fixed blades all the time, it is legal up to 5.5 inch blade if I remember right. I miss Texas, and their knife laws.
 
I find combining a sizeable fixed blade, like my Ontario machete, with a gillie suit and some face paint smooths things over at the state campgrounds :thumbup:
 
I carry a fixed blade anytime I leave a paved road. Mountain biking, camping, hiking, even long road trips. I just feel better knowing that if anything were to go sour I would have a dependable tool. The only judgements Ive received have been from family members asking me why I needed it. It was justifiable though, I had just bought a ontario sp8 and wanted to carry it at a local lake. It was too big for that situation. Anyway, I think posturing and your demeanor go a long way towards people's attitudes towards your carry choices.
 
While it certainly depends on the location and situation, I usually am camping deep in the wilderness. Any passerby's have never noticed the fixed blade I'm carrying. They're too busy staring at the large gun on my hip.
 
I always carry a fixed blade when hiking and camping but I very seldom see another person in a campground carrying one. We were staying in a Forrest Service owned campground recently and three wardens walked through the campground. They stopped and talked a few minutes. Two were what I normally expect, friendly and respectful. The other never smiled, said very little, and couldn't keep his eyes off of my knife. It was a Martin Bushcraft Tactical worn in plain sight. I'm not sure why there was a difference between them but the two wardens seemed to accept the fixed blade and the other appeared to be very uneasy about it.
 
Campsites I've been to have at least one other person carrying a fixed blade. Smaller than the 711 I use in camp;) but there's other people out there who carry. I don't walk around the campsite with it but I don't hide when I use it to split my kindling either. I see a lot of full sized axes being used at campsites as well.

Edit: If I have a mora size knife I'll where it around the campsite without a second thought. Hiding knives is the best way to keep people affraid of them.
 
Last edited:
I read a comment on the Internet about a man who took a Becker BK5 to a Boy Scout family-camping event. One or two of the soccer moms got really weirded out by the sight of his BK5 or at least they pretended to be (sometimes you never know with soccer moms).
 
When I am on well traveled trails where I run into people here and there, I keep my main fixed blade in my pack. I tend to carry a small fixed blade in my side or back pocket or a folder in my front pocket. When out in the middle of nowhere or otherwise off beaten paths, then I have a knife on my belt or attached to my pack strap.
 
I carry whatever fixed blade I can/will use, in the open on my belt or a pack and with absolutely no regard for the looks I might get from someone else. I am happy to educate folks when/if questions or concerns come up, but in the end, I am doing it my way so long as it is not illegal.

And I will apologize in advance for the thread drift, but frankly, I don't know why any law abiding citizen is worried about accommodating fear and ignorance by keeping a fixed blade out of sight (or worse yet, not taking one). I do not try to intimidate, scare, irritate, etc. folks, but come on...next we will be raising eyebrows by displaying sharpened sticks for marshmellows in the open.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top