fixed blade for youth campers

T

trailrun

Joined
Mar 29, 2009
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Here is the situation.
I have been volunteering as an adult leader for a youth organization for several months now. I volunteered to work with the older members of the group, 14-18 of age, and help them develop a greater range of outdoor skills. The plan is to get out camping once a month on weekends and 2 weeks a summer.
I'm looking for a knife that can handle camp chores ranging from food prep to fire making, from snare and deadfalls to shelters.

Here is the problem.

The things these kids carry tend to fall into one of two categories

First-Parents don't want me to have a knife in the first place so they bought me a cheap piece of junk that is dull, won't hold an edge is likely to fail when I need it most.

Second-I really like rambo movies and my dad REALLY likes rambo movies. So I got my self the biggest knife i could get regardless of if it works or not. (That being said I grew up on rambo movies I just think there are better knives out there for fieldcraft)

So here is my question.

I would like to turn the knife into something that is important for all of us. Something that the kids could be proud of and improve their knife and fieldcraft skills with. Ideally something that when they get to my age they will still have it and it won't be thrown in a junk drawer somewhere.

I'm looking for a fixed blade.

So what knife would you recommend?
What features are leading you to this recommendation?
 
I would suggest a mora, it's very inexpensive yet still has good quality, and the Scandinavian grind is very easy to sharpen with a stone.
 
I would suggest a blade of about 3-3 1/2", with a single guard. The old Western W-36, or W-66. I don't know who makes a knife like that now.
The Western knives can be found frequently, for around $30-35.
I like the Mora's but for a kid's first fb, I think a knife with a finger guard would be better.
 
I really liked my Buck Woodsman when I was out camping over the weekends. It's under 4" and has a finger guard, the sheath is decent enough and the price isn't too bad. For fishing, food prep, cutting rope and such it's great.

For fire prep I looked to a larger blade. This is mostly because I was having to "shave" small branches off and the Buck simply did not have enough weight behind it to clip off the branches. My buddy had a full sized Ka-Bar handy and this made quick work of the wood. It was really more like a small machete. I would not baton with the Buck Woodsman like I was doing with the Ka-Bar.
 
I would go against a fixed blade. I know they are great for fieldwork but considering it is probably the only knife these kids will have for a while, a multitool may serve them much better.
 
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One of those plus an SAK Cadet or Soldier would probably not run you past $35. I think they sell Cadets at Target.
 
The Mora youth knives have a guard. Very inexpensive, good quality, traditional, easy to work with. Seem like just the thing. Jim Preston has posted a photo of one available model.

Good luck!

------------------

p.s. If the unnamed "youth group" happens to be the Boy Scouts, consider that fixed blade knives are generally discouraged and often not allowed at regional/district/national activities.
 
Rat Izula knife handles alot of chores even though it small blade. Also doesn't scare the bejesus out of sheeple unlike a 7 inch Ka-bar or something along those lines.
 
Assuming that these kids are allowed to have fixed blade knives in the first place, I recommend Ka-Bar and Buck. Ka-Bar Working Hunter is around $28, Buck Bucklite Max around $24, and Buck Diamondback at $22, all online price. All have approximately 4" blade (no rambo but no pen knife either), and they are all modern design with finger grooves (plus finger guard for the Ka-Bar) for additional grip and safety. They're decent enough for actual use while not expensive enough to cause huge grief when lost.
 
Mora's if you're looking to buy a box full to pass out. Cheap with a decent steel. Good for practicing you're freehand sharpening.

RC-3/4 or an Izula if you're looking to offer to the kids to buy. It'd get a bit expensive buying a box of those. :D
 
trailrun said:
Here is the situation.
I have been volunteering as an adult leader for a youth organization for several months now. I volunteered to work with the older members of the group, 14-18 of age, and help them develop a greater range of outdoor skills. The plan is to get out camping once a month on weekends and 2 weeks a summer.
I'm looking for a knife that can handle camp chores ranging from food prep to fire making, from snare and deadfalls to shelters.

Here is the problem.

The things these kids carry tend to fall into one of two categories

First-Parents don't want me to have a knife in the first place so they bought me a cheap piece of junk that is dull, won't hold an edge is likely to fail when I need it most.

Second-I really like rambo movies and my dad REALLY likes rambo movies. So I got my self the biggest knife i could get regardless of if it works or not. (That being said I grew up on rambo movies I just think there are better knives out there for fieldcraft)

So here is my question.

I would like to turn the knife into something that is important for all of us. Something that the kids could be proud of and improve their knife and fieldcraft skills with. Ideally something that when they get to my age they will still have it and it won't be thrown in a junk drawer somewhere.

I'm looking for a fixed blade.

So what knife would you recommend?
What features are leading you to this recommendation?
Click to expand...

Why a sheath knife? If you insist, get a Mora, elsewise a Soddy jr.
 
I would definately suggest a Gerber Big Rock Camp knife. It has a 4.5 inch blade and steel that's easy to sharpen. It is also has a satin blade so it's not super intimidating. It will run you about $25!
 
+1 on mora without a doubt the way to go in this situation. OR you can get a variety of tools for the group and have them share e.g. a nice hatchet a nice saw a few choppers and each of them can have a cheap folder in their pocket... ThaT was the way we used to do it in the scouts.
 
Dang it, Jake, you're going to cost me money.
If you'd rather not go the Mora route, than those Bucks certainly look like the way to go. I just bought a 110 and couldn't be more impressed with it.
Rat Izula knife handles alot of chores even though it small blade. Also doesn't scare the bejesus out of sheeple unlike a 7 inch Ka-bar or something along those lines.
Click to expand...
I've heard nothing bad about the Izula, but I think that a very small, all metal knife with no real semblance of a guard might lead to accidents.
 
most (but not all) bushcrafters i have seen on the internet use a mora/puukko style knife
check out ragweed forge.com
other places have them as well
Edward
 
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