Fixed Blade Carry While Backpacking

SALTY

SALTY

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Mar 19, 2000
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Medium and larged sized fixed blades usually accompany me while caming. Even though I don't enjoy the weight, especially if I did not use it much, I usally carry a medium or larger fixed blade.

I usually put it on a belt along with a canteen and small kit. This whole arrangement would then be strapped to the outside of my pack so that if I had to put my pack down and go do something, I had some bare (bear?) essentials. I'm going off a few days this coming weekend and have wire tied my Natural Outlaw sheath to the external frame in a very convenient and inconspicuous spot. Though I can get to it while carrying the pack, it will seem odd not having it available separate from the pack. Guess i could always bring an extra sheath but that seems foolish on a trip where I'm already heavy.

Any thoughts? I'm always looking to learn from mistakes, especially someone elses.:D

Seriously, look forward to hearing from y'all.
 
I would keep the knife on the belt(on your waist). In the event you had to salvo the ruck, you will be left with a belt that should have at least your canteen, compass, knife, poncho, 550 cord and a firestarter.
Then, in your pockets, a folder, small compass, matches, water tabs etc, etc. Have fun
 
There are a couple of ways around this. Personally, I prefer to have the bare essentials on me at ALL times. As has been pointed out, if you have to suddenly ditch your ruck, you may not have time to grab your knife belt off the pack.

If you have a knife sheath that allows the knife handle to angle away from your hip a bit, so that it clears the pack belt, that would be handy. If not, maybe you can make a "hanger" like a tactical handgun holster, so that the knife rides lower. You can do the same thing with a canteen. If you can find one of the old WWII style canteens, or a modern knock off with the old style hook that fits into the eyelets on a web belt, that would allow the canteen to ride below the hip belt of your pack. And if you put a mini kit in a GI compass/first aid pouch, that pouch would be small enough not to be in the way if you wore it over one hip.

My hiking knife belt has a Glock M-78 Field Knife (the one without the saw teeth) on the left side, a compass pouch mini kit over my right hip, and a pellet pouch that Cabela's sells that I keep .22 ammo in. I keep a .5 quart Pilot's Flask canteen in the right cargo pocket of my BDU's, plus a fairly comrehensive kit spread about my pockets. With that, even if I ditched my pack in the middle of a stream so I didn't drown, I would still have the basics on me.
 
I carry the bare necessities in a bum bag( small fanny pack) carried in "front of me", below the waist belt of the backpack. usually , my back country knife is a Grohman #3, that will fit into the bag. On the occasions I carry a heavier knife, , like my Chas. Saier Forged bowie, I hook it to my backpck with a small alumium key ring type carabiner. A small water bottle goes in the bdu pocket.
Ravenn in Ky
 
I use a larger neck knife (Rinaldi spook or Talon) so that in an extreme situation I will have at least my knife. It is out of the way of the pack and accessible.:cool:
 
I've used a belt pack turned around with the pack portion in front, as suggested above. It takes a little getting used to, but works pretty well. At other times I've taken a slightly wider, comfortable belt and run it around my waist several inches above the top of my pants. I can hang a decent fixed blade and run the pack's hipbelt under the lower part of the sheath.
 
Hey Guys...

The way I usually carry a large knife with a pack mostly is to tuck the belt of the pack under the handle of the knife..
For some reason I usually don't have a problem with digging,poking orclanging against anything.. One pack I have gives me a little bit of a problem,,but I've learned to live with it...

Recently I've aquired a Bladerigger Executive shoulder rig, and have rigged it up with either my Busse Basic 7 or 9. I've made a kit that allows me to carry any knife I choose and draw with my strong arm,straight down...Very comfortable....

I especially like this setup when I carry one of the twins in the Kelty kid carrier.. All the straps and crap really camoflauge the shoulder rig and blade that slightly hangs below the shoulder straps...

If you've never carried a large knife,especially a lighter large knife in a shoulder rig,,try it out..
Makes for some interesting looks while out on the trails as well...

As far as strapping a knife to a pack...
If you loose the pack,you've just lost your best friend!!!:)
Carry it on you at all times....

ttyle

Eric...
 
I personally just carry a large knife and two quarts of clean water... everything else can be provided from the knife (although I like to have a folder, too)...
 
Thanks for the input guys. This particular trail (part of the Appalachian) doesn't have any stream crossing worthy of mention or tricky portions of potential pack jettison proportions so even though having a good knife, water and a small kit on me "at all times" would make sense and be my druthers, I'm comfortable with having the knife on my pack. That leaves me with the question of leaving it wire tied to the external frame in a spot that looks like it was custom make for the Natural Outlaw and just bringing my Kenny Rowe SOB sheath for the belt, or just putting the NO on the belt in the first place.

The belt, BTW, goes around the outside of my back (above the bedroll) and has a quick release buckle.

Need a darned spellchecker here.
 
The last time I went backpacking I carried my Pack Rat on the hip belt of my Osprey Silhouette. There is a adjustment strap near the frame on the hipbelt that is the perfect place for a sheat. However, I hear what you are saying about wanting the knife "on" you. The problems I see are that wearing a belt substantial enough to support the sheath usually digs into your hips under the weight of the packs hipbelt, and also that the hipbelt of my pack will not let me wear the knife on my belt because they are both at the same spot on my waist.
What we need is a lowering rig like was proposed by V Shrake. It would be pretty simple really. What I envision is a piece of nylon webbing that goes through the normal belt loop on the sheath and around your thigh. From that you have another nylon strap that goes up and around your belt. Place fastex buckles and adjustment buckles at appropriete places and voila! With a setup like this you could position the knife at the desired hieght, for me that would be just below the hip belt of my pack, with the handle up as far as it could go to remain slightly inconspicuous.
 
Nimrod - I do the same thing. My 7" fixed blade is attached to my pack frame. I can reach up with my right hand and it's about 3" behind my right ear. Very handy spot. Whenever I try to wear it on my belt, the waist support on the backpack gets in the way.

However, I like the idea of a shoulder strap. I doubt if Ontario makes one for my knife though. Does anyone have suggestions for how to make a sheath that would allow the knife to be worn across the chest and still be out of the way of the backpack straps?

BTW Nimrod - what part of the AT are you going to be on? I'll be near Newfound Gap this weekend. Starting at Clingmans Dome and going down to Elkmont. Are you in the same neighborhood?
 
Daniel, for a "bandoleer" style sheath, do you have a nylon or leather belt that is only about 1.5-2 inches wide, and is long enough to be worn slung over your shoulder and across your chest? If so, you can take your favorite knife and simply use black or OD duct tape and tape the sheath to the belt. Then you can adjust where the knife hangs under your opposite arm when you put the pack on. Sam Elliot has a 12 inch bowie set-up like this he has worn in several westerns, so you may have seen it.

Another way to get your knife to hang lower is to put your knife on a seperate belt, and then let it hang like the old style western gun belt. For a right handed person drawing the knife from their strong side, the knife would be hanging a little below your right hip, just a little in back of your pants pocket. Let the left side of the belt ride a little above your trouser belt so that it doesn't slip all the way down. If you loosen the knife belt a little, and let it "slouch" down on the right hip, you'll see what I mean. Or just watch ANY western. :~}
 
DanielL: We will be on a section just north of the Delaware Water Gap in NJ.
 
Nimrod,
Have you considered Blade-Tech's Tek-Lok Utility Belt Clip?
*Note-Make sure that you click on the picture of the clip for more detailed specifications.

If your sheath is Kydex/Concealex then this might work for 'ya. I've personnaly got no experience with this clip system but it is getting good reviews.

--The Raptor--
 
I think that this the perfect time for two knives, as has been mentioned.

Put one on the pack, and carry the other connected to you only, like has been mentioned, on a shoulder system which offers the other side as a great place to carry the rest of your survival gear.

Or carry it on a thigh, Frank Sigman offers a sheath that carries the knife and survival gear on your thigh.
 
I seem able to wear the "H" style military suspenders AND the ALICE pack at the same time without too much discomfort.
On the suspenders is my piggyback combo of the BK&T Brute with a Fallkniven F1 secured on top of the sheath. I have addded a ferrociou rod and wrapped the the 2 knives with 30" of 550 cord. The Becker sheath tends to hang quite low and the handle of the Brute rides just over the top of the pack waist strap.
Also using the alice clips I have the BK&T Patrol Machete secured to the pack behind one of the outer pockets.
My tinder and fire pouch is on the opposite side of the suspender belt as the knives.
Works for me.
:D
 
Forgot to mention, and didn't think it would affect suggestions but I will be carrying my everpresent Victorinox Rucksack (with Photon hanging from ring) around my neck in an OST sheath.

Normally, the SAK knife would be in my pocket and an Arclite, Talon or (of late) Assault Shaker will be my neck jewelry. I would also have a Leatherman Supertool and a medium-large fixed blade somewhere. But this time, weight will be a factor and I'm paring down.
 
Muzzleup, I use the large ALICE as well, and you're right, it's easy to wear an LBE set up under your hip belt. But on commercial packs, the hip belt truly *is* a hip belt; it rides directly on your hips to help transfer the load, whereas with an ALICE, most of the load is being taken on the shoulders and the belt is basically there just to keep everything from swinging in the breeze. It is harder to wear a knife belt with a commercial pack, but I used to do it. And commercial packs are more comfortable, but the ALICE is affordable. :~} To each his own.
 
My field knife is a Livesay RTAK. This is a big knife but well worth it's weight. While patroling, I will ONLY carry my knife on myself. Anything else, pack, web gear, fanny pack, etc... may have to be dumpped in a moments notice. To increase my ability to access my blade while wearing my other gear, I used a piece of nylon 2" webbing. Take a piece about 12" long, lay it out flat and find the center. Now space from the center one inch on either side for a total 2" space for the sheath to attach. Fold each side so that there is a 45 degree crease and the ends point up. All you have to do now, is sew along the creases and make fold over belt loops at the top of each end. Insert it through you sheath loop and then run you belt through the two end loops.
This is a very stable dropper that will not twist and turn while you are humping down the bunny trail. You can play with the angle of the folds prior to sewing to find what works best for you.
I've been using one that one of my parachute riggers made for me a while back. It works very well and is quite durable.
Hope this helps.
recondoc
 
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