Do you guys have any strategies for utilizing a small(er) blade for "bushcraft?"

TheDandyLion

TheDandyLion

Joined
Mar 27, 2013
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I currently carry a 4.5" (which at sometime I felt WAS quite the small blade) fixed blade I'm really not liking the weight and heft of said blade for small carving and game prep. I'm looking for advice in utilizing smaller knives in the 3.5-4" size range. I rely on batoning and such for a lot of things and I'm just looking for strategies/techniques that I could use to make my small blade more useful and practical for the tasks I'm using it for. What do you guys do to work around the smaller size of your blades? Should I just man up and live with my larger blade and/or pair it with a smaller one.
 
It's hard to say without knowing what environment you live in. "Bushcraft" techniques and tools are environment dependant.
 
retzius said:
It's hard to say without knowing what environment you live in. "Bushcraft" techniques and tools are environment dependant.
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Fair enough, I live in Oregon, western Oregon specifically so I deal with a lot of thick brush, fairly chilly weather in the winters and a wide variety of wood and other materials. I'd be happy to answer any other needed questions.
 
What 4.5 inch knife are you using? The Condor Kephart is that exact length and not heavy at all. It's a great all around knife. I highly recommend it.
I haven't battoned with it but I do carry a small forest size axe often if I know I will need to make a fire. Even then, a saw is usually all I need and better.
Just wanted to add that I have bigger knives and smaller ones....but the kephart is so dang good at everything it really is all I need from a knife. I find it's size just about perfect
 
It's not the carry weight that bothers my but the heavy/chunky feel in hand during use. I'm currently carrying a custom made knife, very comparable to a slightly longer Becker BK-16
 
is the handle too blocky or thick or the steel itself?
What knives are you used to or do you find comfortable to use?
 
The steel itself, it's not super thick but heavy in hand. The smaller size range I'm working on converting to is my Mora Robust 2015 model, light and comfortable to use for carving.
 
Mora's are popular for a reason...great knives and very comfortable. Can't go wrong there but I stand by my condor kephart. Good luck!
 
Heya Dandy,

I'm in Western Washington. Hang around with relatives in Sweet Home and Corvallis when I can. We have similar taste in knife size, you and me.

Dozier stuff over at A.G. Russell might fit the bill for you. May I suggest you look at the Straight Personal, Slim Outdoorsman, or Personal Utility. You didn't specify a budget that I could see, but since you are no stranger to custom work, I don't think you'll get sticker shock.

His knives are D2, can't remember what RC he works it to, but Dozier knows what he's doing with this material.
 
Velitrius said:
Heya Dandy,

I'm in Western Washington. Hang around with relatives in Sweet Home and Corvallis when I can. We have similar taste in knife size, you and me.

Dozier stuff over at A.G. Russell might fit the bill for you. May I suggest you look at the Straight Personal, Slim Outdoorsman, or Personal Utility. You didn't specify a budget that I could see, but since you are no stranger to custom work, I don't think you'll get sticker shock.

His knives are D2, can't remember what RC he works it to, but Dozier knows what he's doing with this material.
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Thank you for the suggestion! I might check those out
 
Check out a good Nordic leuku and puukko combination for a two-knife setup. Good for about everything outdoors and a leuku can be very good when chopping becomes necessary.
 
TheDandyLion said:
I currently carry a 4.5" (which at sometime I felt WAS quite the small blade) fixed blade I'm really not liking the weight and heft of said blade for small carving and game prep. I'm looking for advice in utilizing smaller knives in the 3.5-4" size range. I rely on batoning and such for a lot of things and I'm just looking for strategies/techniques that I could use to make my small blade more useful and practical for the tasks I'm using it for. What do you guys do to work around the smaller size of your blades? Should I just man up and live with my larger blade and/or pair it with a smaller one.
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Odds are a 3.5-4 inch knife can do most anything a 4.5 inch. Most of the wood I baton is rather small as use that method for kindling. As for most other things an edge is an edge.
 
Strategies?
Saw and battoning small rounds
I carry a saw
I find it faster than an axe
I can rounds quickly in a circumference for battoning into dry wood and kindling
Once I have cut these smaller rounds I find no functional difference in battoning between a 4 1/2" knife and a 3 1/2" knife
So 4 or 5 pieces of 2 1/2" long rounds battoned into quarters then kindling will start me a fire fast

If you have a round wider than the knife, batton round the outside not thru the center


Two examples of knives under 4" both in D2 that I own
Very different
Both are full tang and will do your battoning

The Queen drop point hunter for about $50 in D2 and flat grind 3 1/2"
Plain jane totally solid knife back weighted and the drop point easy to use for hunting

EnZo Trapper D2 Green Canvas Micarta $114.00 in D2 in Zero Scandi 3 5/8"
Classic bushcraft with a super sharp zero grind, very comfortable in the hand, it does everything you dreamed a Mora will do but never break


Saws
The Opinel saw is very good and very light
The Bacho saw is very well considered here
A Silky Saws Pocket Boy 170mm--Medium Teeth is a processional pruning saw, heavier than the rest but that is what you get, and a replaceable blade
 
Good post by neeman. :thumbup:

I do nearly the same with different models:
Silky Super Accel or Ultra Accel 7-9oz.
Bark River Lil Canadian or Kephart or Busse Hack Warden - each < 6oz.

I do without a saw when carrying a shelter and alcohol stove but will take a saw when planning to use wood stove. It is an extremely useful tool which is relatively safe & light weight, uses relatively little energy, requires relatively less "practice".

Back to the smaller knife, just pick one, sharpen it, and try it out on a "short" trip.
 
When I am out, I always carry a SAK with a saw, either a Farmer or Huntsman
Then after that if I am taking more gear, I will carry a dedicated saw as I said above
 
There are some small knife techniques that let you do larger work with a smaller knife. The key is a solid built knife with a sharp edge. You already know about batonning. With smallish green saplings there is the bend-and-cut, with dead seasoned branches up to maybe 1-1/2 inches there is the ring-and-break, For heavier branches with a diameter up to equal the length of the blade or so there is truncating. I teach these to my students because people tend to edc smaller rather than larger blades. Currently I am using one of Ed Martin's hidden tang Bush Hunters in doing instruction. It has a 3-1/2 inch blade made of 5/32 CPM S35VN, 7-3/4 inches overall, and very light-weight. In fact the sheath with the accessories weighs almost twice as much, and that's just the sheath with a small diamond stone and a ferro rod. I need to check the weight on both.

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I haven't needed a knife for game prep, but for any other task, I feel that the size of the object/medium you're working with will have a lot of bearing on the blade length and thickness you need. It's worth mentioning that I have fairly small hands as well, so what I find comfortable will vary from other folks, but that has generally been secondary to finding the appropriately sized tool for the job.

My experience has been that for dealing with any sort of hard medium like wood, 3.25" is the shortest useful blade length I've found, specifically with a fixed blade version of the Kershaw Skyline. While I might be able to achieve decent results with a shorter blade, even my small hands find the Skyline's handle length of just over 4" to be the bare minimum for sufficient control. I compared the Skyline to a smaller Kershaw fixed blade (forget the model) making wood shavings for tinder, and the smaller knife was unmanageable in terms of leverage. The Skyline performed just fine, and more comfortably than expected. I suppose I could theoretically baton with it, but since 3.25" is still pretty short, I just didn't have a use for it; any piece of wood thin enough to baton with such a short blade could just as easily be broken up lengthwise for my purposes.

I routinely have a Camillus Barbarian with 3.75" blade clipped to my pack strap, but that extra half inch of blade (and slightly more at the handle end) doesn't afford me much more length for anything that would call for it, so I'd start looking at overall length. The two knives I'd most likely have with me before going to an all-out chopper measure right around 9.5" total: Ontario 499 and Schrade XT2B. Of knives that I own, either of those would be the shortest I'd baton with for things like building a campfire. Ah, but that brings up the whole "right tool for the job" angle, because I use a folding twig stove for boiling water and cooking, eliminating the absolutely necessity of dealing with thicker pieces of wood, and am just as likely to have a folding saw as I am one of those two knives. Not a hatchet either, as I've found every folding saw I've tried to be more efficient for the thickness of wood I'd typically use for a small fire, and definitely more convenient to carry.
 
For me its about planning, going slow and playing to the strengths of the particular knife I'm using. For example, weight wise I can decide between an Izula, or a Vic Rucksack. Sure the rucksack blade isn't as robust, but the saw takes up the slack and even in small stuff, notch and break it safer, and faster than cut and break with blade. That being said, I know I can lever, baton, or otherwise abuse the izula, so if that is what I had, I wouldn't be so gentle, and just get the job done. Something with a better handle, then its even faster, but I hit an effective limit where I don't gain much as the blade gets longer, at least until it hits chopper size. so that whole 4-10 or so inch range is kinda not great for me.
A blade shape that allows you to choke up and use different palm or blade pinch grips can allow you to get more leverage on a small blade. I've found I prefer "taller" belly knives than "short" ones for this. I don't know how much grind makes a difference, but I feel that smaller knives don't benefit from being thick and chunky. I feel like thin and slicey takes advantage of the size better, since precision can be used to greater effect.

I agree with Inazone that hand size makes a big difference too. I know a lot of guys really didn't like the size of the RC-3 when they were re-released, but for me the handle size is about perfect, and so the balance really works. in a case of small hands making things look big, balance wise a mora2k feels long to me. At one point I carried a SOG Seal-team elite. great knife, but for me there was only about 0.5 inches of effective flat blade once I reached past the serrations. That started me on my small knife road. And now that I live and work in a place where folders are more expensive and more tightly regulated, I'm glad I've got some small, fixed, folder stand ins that work really well.
 
I dont do a lot of bushcraft ... but I do do a fair amount of stuff in the bush :P

I have one knife that does pretty much everything .. its not a big one really either , but I have given in and gone to a fixed blade for my main knife
Its nothing flash .. just an IzulaII
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It shows wear marks from splitting kindling for a while now . Bigger wood ... this is Australia , there is a variety on the ground to choose from , just pick up smaller wood rather than splitting down logs . You may have different situations in your area of the world . I split kindling just to get the sharp thin edges that catch flame easy . Just habit tho .

I carry a folder for eating with tho . Thinner blade deals with cooked food just nicer ... and I have an idea that its safer to not used the same knife I killed and cleaned something with to eat it unless I can wash it up seriously well between times , something about salmonella or something .. just how I do stuff anyway .

Making shelter ... I dont use a knife much at all really . Cleaning and peeling game , a small blade on small game works well . Fish too .. I dont fillet , just scale gut and cook .. even opening oysters ..

But as I said I dont do much bushcraft , just camping .
 
Lots of good info here. And I probably fall into the same category as Myal - I don't deliberately go outside to practice 'bushcraft' but I do spend a lot of time outdoors - hiking, hunting, backcountry biking, etc, year-round. And I reckon that some of the things I do with knives when outdoors could be classified as bushcraft, if one wanted to. Regardless, in addition to the good suggestions above, I would also recommend taking a look at Bark River's "Ultra-Light Bushcrafter." As the name suggests (2.7 oz), you can pretty much forget that it's on your belt or in your pack until you need it. But with a 3.25" blade in CPM3V and a full, very comfortable handle, it's a knife that will do a lot more than one might think a "little" knife like this might do. No slouch in the game dressing dept. either, for any small/mid-size animal. It's my preferred fixed blade for most of my backcountry trips. :thumbup:

khdi.jpg
 
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