Does the size of a knife matter out there in the wild?

golok

golok

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Oct 20, 2000
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Some trekkers and hunters carry a general purpose knife of not more than 6 inches. Others may carry a bowie of 12in in length.

Whatever the size and length of the blade, does the size of a knife matter when you are out there in the wild?

I suppose one of the factors involved what are you doing out there. Perhaps therein lies the answer to the size of the blade.

I am not a hunter so I have to listen to the others.

Who knows better?
 
Golok,

I guess it depends on your mission or tasks at hand.

I am a hunter, hiker, and fisherman. My needs rarely require much more than a good Victorinox SAK and a small fixed blade like my BM Nimravus Cub. The areas I haunt usually are pretty familiar territory and the risk factors vary, even so, I can make do with the aforementioned.

There are times when camping, however, when a large blade, like a golok or bowie come in pretty durn handy. Handier yet, my GB mini hatchet. Therefore, those big blades and hatchets are usually relegated to being kept in the truck and lugged out only when the specific tasks require.

Moral of my story ... Have one of each:) because, as Forest Gump so eloquently put it "life is like a box a chocolates...Ya never know what your gonna get."

Mike
 
On any camping or overnight backpacking trip, I usually have a large knife or a hatchet, a small sheath knife and a SAK. I have gotten pretty good at using the large blade or the hatchet for doing most chores simply because I like to use them. The SAK I use mostly for the tools, but tend to use that blade for food prep. I also use the small sheath knife for food prep and for whittling around the fire. If I could only take one, it would be the large blade.
 
For hunting I use a dozier straight hunter, for camping a old SRK. The SRK is used just in case I need to hack somthing. Can't hack with a Straight hunter.
 
You can perform any task with any knife, with enough skill and patience, however some knives make the tasks much more difficult than others. The style of blade that you will find optimal will depend both on your skill and level of physical ability, as well as what you are doing and in which enviroment. However it is all not infinitely variable, different geometries do have vastly different abilities, experience is the best teacher. For example, a small hatchet is very nice for cutting hard wood saplings and misc. cuting chores, but it is very difficult to use on very soft vegetation, where you would be much better suited to a much thinner machete, which would likewise suffer poor performance on the hard woods.

A longer blade gives you a combination of more reach and or weight. Try cutting material for bedding or shelter wall padding (grasses) with a 3-4" blade and a light machete and see which one you prefer. Or gathering boughs for the same, or signal fires. Or working in the winter and having to cut through heavy ice, or shape out thick snow into blocks. What about cutting some really abrasive vegetation which can be hell on your hands. A few cuts and scratches are no big deal when you are home. But no something that you want to frequently be exposed to when infection can be a major problem.

That being said there are lots of alternatives to larger knives such as small saws, batoning, or even using a decent club, as well as switching to different materials. It is worth the time to experiment with these as well if you can. You don't always get to use the gear that you wish you could.

-Cliff
 
I guess it really depends on the situation.
If I were shipwrecked on a deserted island with possibly no chance of rescue for maybe years, then I would certainly like to have more than just a Swiss Army Knife. And an axe would be very handy in the dead of a harsh winter in Alaska or Maine, but anywhere in the lower 48 in pleasant weather you really don't need a very large blade (not more than three inches).
 
I've heard it said "The farther you are from the road the bigger your
blade needs to be" I suppose that statement says you'll need a bigger
knife to do wilderness chores when the paved road is far , far away.

For me that means ,in deep wilderness, a knife no larger than a 9" blade
and a stout large 4 1/4 stockman in my pocket. I've found that that combo
is very good for a lot of real world uses if the rest of your gear is up to snuff.

Some will say they prefer a stout lockback , hatchet / saw , and pocket knife . They
would also be right. It all depends on your skills and what you're used to using.
 
allen,

Absolutely no offense meant, but I'd really like to see your eyes in the midst of a bad upstate NY or MI winter. Polar bears don't reside in those locales because the weather is too harsh. How's an avg of 160"+ annual snowfall sound? Not all of the lower 48 can be a balmy NC, now matter how much we can wish. God, I love NC. I should be in Charlotte right now, first time I've missed the Winston and Coke 600 in three years. Oh well, I hope the loss of business doesn't sink the Bass Pro Shop in the mall down the street from the track.

Rant off.

Mike
 
depends on where you are, in a rain forest the have to have survival tool is the machete, in the hard wood forest an axe and small knife will do nicely. but most of the time you need a knife period, you can make any type of knife work as cliff stamp has said, but you might find that other than camp making you can get by with a 3" to 4" blade very nicely. one of the handiest knives i own is a small 3.00 IKEA "hunting knife" carbon steel, holds a sharp edge, and will let you slice what you want. you can wittle a trap trigger, cut roots, skin a large or small animal, make your fire fixins, so it will suffice as a camp knife just fine, a large bladed SAK would do, a SRK, master hunter, or any of the 4"-6" hunting knives or a three inch folder or what have you, a razor blade, a small pocket knife.

if you are confused by this it is because it is not the violin it is the musician. knowing what and how to do something with whatever knife you have is the key. knowledge is power. practice with any knife you like and you will gain the proficiecy to accomplish the tasks you need to get done in an efficient manor.if feel you need another type of tool you will readily discover that also.

alex
 
For the hunting, camping and hiking most of us do, a blade under, say 5 inches is all that is needed. There are times when someting like a saw, axe or machete is needed for such things as feeding a wood stove at a hunting cabin, clearing trails or shooting lanes, or building shelters. On public park lands clearing live brush or cutting wood is often prohibited, so there is less reason to carry something like an axe on a hike, but there is no reason not to have one in your car or truck if you think you might need one.
I find that the smaller blades do tend to see the most use though, for instance, I never chop or cut wood for a camp fire, I just let the fire do the cutting, by feeding the long peices of wood into the flames. In a pinch a SAK saw or a small knife used with a baton will cut small trees for emergancy shelters is need be, so I don't feel completely unprepared on short trips without a larger saw or axe.
 
I just spent 5 days on the Buffalo National River. Canoed 50 miles camping in undeveloped areas every night the last three in the wilderness area.
I took several machetes, a golock, Gerber campax etc.
All I want and need is my SAk (the new one handed model) and a gerber ax.
 
Golok, when hunting I carry a 5" drop point sheath knife and a pocket knife. The sheath knife is for skinning/etc., pocket knife is for misc. The emphasis is on the gun and not the knife. If I kill a deer I'll need to cut his throat and allow to bleed. Back at truck I'll have rope/hatchet/saw/pulley/6" butcher knife to complete the job of field dressing.
When I'm fishing I carry same 5" knife and small pocket knife, but also have fillet knives and 6" butcher knife in truck for cleaning.
When I'm hiking I carry same 5" sheath knife, but here I would like something longer if allowed by state law. (texas limits you to 5.5" blade length for carry purposes).
In general, the most useful sheath knives are from 4-6" blade length.
I have found it clumsy to use blades longer than 6" for everyday tasks, but in a fight or a survival situation where knife may be all you have, I would prefer longer blade.
 
If you are taking modern camping/expedition equipment into the wild then there is not much more you need above a SAK. However, there are places where almost by definition you need a certain tool; for example you would be hard pressed in jungle without some kind of machete. In snow covered areas then a good snow spade may be of more importance. Traveling through a place doesn't require that many cutting tools, but living for an extended time, several months, does. Our ingenuity allows for a less than perfect tool for a job to surfice for a bit; but for the long term the more specialised tool wins hands down. No there isn't one tool that can do it all, and there is no point in taking everthing just in case.
 
Answers to your question will vary as much as the individuals responding. I've never seen anything that a solid 3" blade and a good hatchet couldn't handle. Depending on the terrain, a machete could replace the hatchet.

Paul
 
As most everyone has said, there is no optimum. But you should always have a good, reliable fixed blade, 3-3 1/2 inches or longer. If you have survival skills, that blade should be able to do for you until the calvary arrives.

Otherwise, it's a question of intended use. If you know beforehand what specific tasks lie ahead, you can equip yourself accordingly. In general, three blades will cover most anything in the wilds (the northern wilds, at least). A multibladed folder like an SAK or a Leatherman, a good fixed blade (my current preference being something like the Gerber Yari, BM Nimravus, ot flat-ground Grohmann Camper or Boat Knife, (but I would also be very happy with a Frosts Swedish Army knife, especially for whittling), and an axe, 3/4 size or larger. A good bucksaw would also be handy. The axe and saw will be handy if large amounts of firewood are needed or for instance, say you are traveling by canoe in late fall in the northcountry and you take a spill. If it's been raining, it may be hard to find the wood you need to get a fire going to warm you up and dry you out. A good axe will be the quickest way to save your hide because you can use it to split up standing dead wood very quickly. And in such situations, time could be a major factor before hypothermia sets in. Just make sure the axe is firmly lashed in so you can recover it.

There are a lot of variations to this and I'm sure you could work the big chopping knife in there somewhere. If I know I'm going to be cutting a lot of saplings (such as creating shooting lanes or clearing trails), then the big knife will always get the nod. But if you are lugging a big knife around just because you think it will save you, you could be in for a surprise.
 
Originally posted by Doctom
I just spent 5 days on the Buffalo National River. Canoed 50 miles camping in undeveloped areas every night the last three in the wilderness area.
Click to expand...

Doctom, I love the Buffalo. That is one of our great rivers. I've been on it a time or two myself and spent some very good nights on it's banks. Arkansas in the spring and the fall is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The Buffalo river is what I call a perfect river. Rocky bluffs soaring overhead, rapids, pools and some great places to set up a camp. Then there is the fishing!

I think it is wise to take some tools with you no matter how much you intend to use them. If your backpack trip goes well you may only use your SAK, but like certain survival items that always ride along whether they will be used or not, the larger blade or small hatchet will be very welcome if things turn ugly. I always take some form of fixed blade and a SAK. I'll add a small hatchet or larger fixed blade if the terrain and climate dictate it to me. I don't mind adding one more pound to my pack for the security of staying warm and alive.
 
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