Does anyone just use a folder?

If you went to the same places and did the same things only , over and over , you would be able to narrow down your requirements pretty good
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An excellent comment. On each one of my trips I make a list of the food and equipment that I took. At the end of the trip I note how much food is left, which items I never used, etc.

-Bob
 
I sometimes carry just a folder, and sometimes carry two (LM and one of the originial Spydercos). If I am out for an extended time, my next knife is not a fixed blade but a real chopper, either a hatchet or a machete depending on the terrain. I've carried the same folder since 87 or so. It's never failed except that the pocket clip broke off. I carry it on braided 550 so I don't really care. For a several years during that period (86-87) and 03, I literally lived in the field and used it everyday. I cannot say that I have ever felt like I needed a fixed blade and certainly not a large fixed blade.
 
Most of the time, all I carry is a SAK. But there are times when I like to have a good fixed blade with me.
 
This is quite interesting, after kinda hanging out here for awhile I wondered if I was the only one. I could say that I think a lot of it is your environment but I will get to that in a moment. I carried a Buck 110, Buck Scoutlight, or Gerber Gator along with a SAK Huntsman and maybe a Scrade wittler all through Boy Scouts and hunting my entire youth and early adulthood. Most fixed blade knives I encountered were either sharpened pry bar bars or so wickedly tactical that they did not seem particularly useful for field dressing a deer (a Cold Steel Tanto will work but not real well.)

Now part of this I believe is I have mostly lived in Ohio and you will encounter a paved road after a couple hours of walking in just about any direction. Survival was thought of as something folks needed out west or in the jungle. Both my grandpas "survived" as farmers and hunters with shotguns and a .22 rifle. My one grandpa had a .22 pistol the other one thought it was a waste of money. Self defense? High power rifle? for what? But I got off the subject sorry.

Now for my example, I did go to the Philmont Scout Ranch in the mountains of New Mexico and backpacked 70 miles with other scouts and adults which I would say were less survival oriented than me as the juvenile leader. None of us were allowed to take a fixed blade or a hatchet. I was chastised by the guide for taking three folding knives. This was before multi tools were very common. A survival situation could have happened as we almost got lost pretty good once. I never felt like we needed a fixed blade though.

Oh yeah I have never in my life had any type of folder fail.
 
There was a time I really really felt like I wish I had a big fixed blade here NOW

I was spear fishing with my brother , walking along a reef in waist deep water when he said something like "I got me a big one" and at the instant I was telling him its a shark dont touch it ... he nailed it with a 4 prong hand spear ... and made it REALLY cranky

In an effort to prevent it doing us a damage now he revved it up , I also nailed and we held it on the bottom while I got my folder and eventually cut the spine near its head and it stopped thrashing , that was the end of fishing for the day tho , the blood and thrashing in the water and the allready present shark we got , kinda made me too nervy to go back .

I remember cursing my bro for making me have to get my opinel wet in salt water , and then for the handle swelling as a result of bing under water , and for feeling the blade being used to its limit , and hoping I didnt do it a damage as I got a bit excited trying to stop the dam thing from making a big fuss underwarter ... shark skin doesnt do a knife any favors , and trying to cut something thats jigging around for its very life isnt easy .

and my bro was holding both spears down laughing at how the shafts were flexing wildly while the fish struggled ... not giving a dam about me or my knife just buzzed at the big fish "he" caught

it was almost 6', only a little critter , but big enough to worry me when I wasnt expecting to see one . I know it was about the most unprofesional way to get a fish I ever have done or seen done , but while Im trying to cut that things spine and stop the thrashing and hopefull keep our spears in tact and us unbitten ... I was thinking "I want a BIG knife about now .."

tasted good tho when we ate it
 
Sure did, back in my younger days. I didn't have acess to "good" knives, I did but no money. So I had a few of these winchester knives, and a coleman hatchet. Did everthing with that combo, never really had a problem, untill the first time I needed a blade, but only had one hand free. So, I bought a Mora. At the time, it was 6 dollars, and I actually got mine free for buying a few things from the local hardware store.
 
I guess I carry nothing but a folder most of the time. For years a Mercator lockback was the ultimate folder for many of us. I also had a cheap slip joint that travelled with me for many miles. More recently I've been using a cheap Maxam lockback, and it has done quite a bit of work too. I've had a couple of Opinels...I found that they would hold a good edge, and I felt they were more 'socially acceptable' to pull out of my pocket at work or around town. I still like them, but I don't pick them as the most reliable companion to take with me. I broke one blade, and I've had trouble with the wood swelling when wet and making it very difficult to open the blade.

I have a nice Swiss Army 'Rucksack' model. It has a locking blade and a saw. I don't use it much, but it is handy...especially when I'm going for a walk in a reasonably populated area and just might find a nice sapling for a bow or some straight shoots for arrows. And it has a corkscrew... it is the only corkscrew we seem to have in the house, so when my wine-drinking step-daughter visits it can get some use. I feel that this too is a 'socially acceptable' knife that, while it is capable of sticking a pig and gutting it,.... it is less likely to cause raised eyebrows around town.

I've done lots of work with folders.

My dad was an experienced hunter and fisherman and spent a lot of time in the bush. I guess my appreciation for knives came largely from him. He had belt knives, and a few pocket knives. Yet in later years I noticed that he often would not carry one. I'd challenge him about it when we were out together, and he'd say "Why should I bother...you always have one". He just seemed to relax feeling that the universe would provide his needs. And he never seemed to get stuck.

I started by saying I carry nothing but a folder most of the time. That is because I generally always have one with me no matter where I'm going (except on airplanes). But I do carry a fixed blade quite a bit too.... more so nowadays when I hunt and trap. I like them...plus if my hands are cold or wet I feel that a fixed blade is easier to work with. I can also get it in and out of a sheath quickly with one hand... and if the knife or my hand is dirty, I am not continually thrusting a dirty hand and knife into my pocket as I work.

But I like folders. In fact, I'm just waiting for my Cold Steel Voyager medium clip plain blade to arrive in the post. I've had my eye on one of these for maybe a couple of years now. Out of all the folding knives I've ogled over on the 'net, these appeal to me the most. A very pleasing shape, reportedly good quality, can be opened with one hand, and not too danged heavy.

Folders are great....and for real life use I think they are capable of doing the great majority of things that normal people need blades for.
 
Thanks for sharing all your experiences and insights. I am reminded of my first fixed blade knife I found when I was a young kid. It was a throwing/boot knife, spear-point sharpened on both sides with holes on the handle, probably for balance? It was stainless and cheap. I did everything you typically do as a kid with a knife; I threw it, made a spear out of it with a broom handle and taped it using black electrical tape I snuck out of my dad's tool box, I pryed with it, cut things with it and it laid above my head on my bed at night to be used if anyone tryed breaking in the house-oh the imagination of a kid! It gave me a sense of protection and security. It was MY survival knife. Back then I thought of my knife as a means of protection first and not so much as a tool.

It wasn't until a couple years later I found a stockman type of knife with the spey blade tip broken off a little. It was a jigged bone type with a little metal shield on the handle maybe a cammilus? But it was sharp and I could do a lot more cutting with that little guy than I could with my dulled boot knife. Back then that is how I acquired my knives usually found them. I remember taking this little knife everywhere with me even to school. My boot boot knife was too obvious it was in my pants pocket when I carried it. I never brandished this knife or took it out to show off but I carried it with me all the time, imagine a 9-10 year old with his very own EDC! Anyway when I had to do any cutting or carving of wood around the yard I would always reach for the pocket knife first being that it was much more functional for what I needed. Now I am a knife junkie and love all types of knives, but somehow in the back of my psychi I still think of a fixed blade as a weapon first and folder a tool.

As the years went on I went through the rambo survival knife type of knives, the flea market specials the sharpened pry bars and so on. But I always thought of a fixed blade as a weapon first. Ironically, I started to value the smaller stockman type of knives as a knife of quality because I knew what I could do with it. I liked the sharper little blades the rustic quality of the handles etc. Now everytime I went to the mountains as a kid or fishing I had this little knife partly because it was small and concealable and partly because I could sharpen sticks and cut stuff better.

Of course I know the capabilities and functions of knives of all sorts but for me this is how I viewed and used such knives. I practices outdoor types of things "bush skills" with my small knife and with my fixed blade type of knives practiced...well you get the idea;-}
 
I have often used only a folder. I had a fixed blade on all those occasions, but didn't use it. Also typically do not use the first aid kit that I always carry.
 
I think a folder (SAK/Leatherman) and a hatchet is a very handy and useful combo and I would feel fine using that for all camping just about anywhere. That being said I carry a fixed blade when I'm in the woods. I see it more as a survival tool so that's why I go for the really strong ones like my Howling Rat LM that I love. It's on me always. It's true that a folder would be on you too but often the hatchet is at camp when you go for water or bathroom or just look around the outer part of your camp. I feel if I fall into the river or whatever, that the fixed blade would make getting shelter and fire going a lot easier and faster. If it weren't for the realist in me that something bad may happen at anytime, I probably wouldn't own a fixed blade.
 
I have sometimes used only a folder, and sometimes I've gone without any kind of knife. Depending on the environment and your skills, a knife can be very much unnecessary, although most often it's at least useful to have with you. Needless to say, those of us who try to equip themselves for disaster scenarios should be carrying a knife at all times. But I absolutely do prefer carrying a fixed blade. A decent fixed blade will do things no folder is going to do reliably, because a folder is, when it comes down it, just a fixed blade that's already broken. ;)
 
Thomas Linton said:
I have often used only a folder. I had a fixed blade on all those occasions, but didn't use it. Also typically do not use the first aid kit that I always carry.
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Good comparison. Usually everyone carries a FAK as a just in case measure and carrying a fixed blade in the same capacity is usually a wise thing to do. The exception being that the fixed blade is illegal to carry, or even if it is legal, will cause undo problems from the authorities, for the individual carrying the knife. Which is the case on most of our local hiking trails.
 
i have a childhood friend that is an eagle scout. growing up he did more with his combo of folders (sak and a 4'' SHARP brand lockback ) than i did with my combo ( a large western fixed blade and a , a sak imitation, and a 2$ compass topped rambo knife) . being an eagle scout he has more survival skills and that made the difference.
 
I've done plenty of solo trips with a benchmade folder and one of my favorites, the pocket machete AKA pruning shears (Felco's preferably).

I find that for light-to-medium bramble and hemlock sucker branches that snag my pack, I can move faster with pruners that I can with a chopper. And you get a lot less throrns in your knuckles. Plus you use less effort.

For heavy bramble, the pruners are slow going, though.

Of course, I'm talking mainly about your trip going as planned, not neccessarily a survival situation.
 
There are any number of folders that will serve well in the bush. The problem is the handle. When hands are wet and numb with cold, a fixed blade with a hand-filling "traction" grip is most welcome, especially in a pouch sheath having no snaps or straps to deal with. A folder that has a big roundish secure handle is not much more compact than a suitable fixed blade and both belong in a belt sheath. Yes, I carry just a folder at times, but not on a cold weather hunting trip.:) Regards, ss.
 
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