Help Find a knife for protection while hiking

All of you! Thank you very much for your excellent input
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I appreciate it.

I am figuring out that I need to learn a bit more about knives and it's going to be fun
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METAL
Like what metals are the higher grade quality and what are the acceptable quality and which ones to avoid no matter what the marketing guys cook-up.

I got this quote from a CPF'r that looks like good info to a n00b like me.
CPF'r said:
Blade steel is critical for getting something that will hold up. 440C should be considered the bottom line, so forget about most CRKT, Bucks and Gerbers (They have all gone to 420C or similar 425 modified which makes it fast to grind out, but lousy to stay sharp.) unless you find one that says it is something like ATS 34m s30v or 154 CM, D2 and A2 are very good options too. The steel available to knife makers now at good prices are numerous and pretty much leave out the reasons not to get a better knife. (in my opinion, and only in my opinion, AUS-8 should be skipped too. Although a good steel, it must have a very small window for heat treating as some from the same maker can be quite good and the next, just not worth it.)
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LENGTH
With all these varied suggestions I'm wondering about getting a small convenient fixed blade say 3.5" or shorter or going up to a larger knife with 6" blade.

SHAPE
Also wondering about the style or type of blade shape. Since my need is very specific ie I envision using the knife like an ice pick jamming down on the animals head or neck and pulling towards me so as to cut as big a gash as possible as quick as possible. (God I hope I never find myself in this situation)
- so does this mean I need a pointy blade meant for thrusting that is sharp on both sides like a daggar, stiletto or poingard but with double sided sharp edges that are meant to cut? Say like this Fairbairn Sykes Commando Knife

I can see that if it is long and pointy and it doesn't go deep enough you wouldn't get enough leverage to be able to cut so you'd need to take another stab or two or three but then if it was too deep it would have too much blade into too much animal parts and would also be hard to pull and cut.

So someone killed a bear with this Buck 119 big aggressive blade! Too big for me to carry around.

So maybe the thruster is not the right tool unless maybe it was short. Say shorter than the handle. Maybe like this Bob Dozier Toothpick Or a larger wider blade like this Nimravus or these very nice looking Double sided Doziers

What about the shape on the Beautiful Fox River Hunter
The Fallkniven F1 Swedish Military Survival Knife has a similar shape or even this Spyderco Temperance looks wicked.

The Busse Swamp Rat knives look really nice and affordable I think the Rat Tail or Bandicoot look like contenders here.

BTW I live in the San Fransisco bayarea and there are a lot of hiking areas within 15-minutes of my house and the bayarea has about 10-million people living in it so you can't walk around with attack dogs and big bowie knives or shotguns etc. We're talking urban civilian theatre here guys.

bladeprice said:
I like to take my Ontario Rat-3 on short hikes. It comes with the large TekLoc so I can draw it into "icepick-edge in" grip in a split second. That's exactly the grip I would want against an animal attack. I also take along my Cold Steel Oda Fighter if I'm going camping or traveling.
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So is that what you call it? Icepick-edge in? ;) Rat-3 looks nice. Wide blade, light weight. The Oda looks just plain wicked!

hwyhobo: Thanx for the spirited posts. ;) We have a hike get-together next week in Almaden if you're interested. It's a 2-hr night hike, flashaholic style. Let me know if you want to come. BTW Where can a guy get a look at some of these knives up close around our neighborhood?

razordescent: LOL I guess you didn't read the statistics in the USGS link I posted ;) this nemesis arch-ally looks pretty sweet. Is it dual sided? sharp blade on either side? Hard to tell for a n00b. I also like the look of those Swamp Rats above.

Nice first thread guys!
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Swamp rat knives. Great knife. Warranted and a good deal with good steel. This knife will last you a lifetime.

cliff
 
CLICK HERE for a link to a pdf I made
showing all the contenders with details
to help narrow down the best one or two from the bunch.​

We can alter the list if some other blades come to light.
 
If I was going into bear country/mountain lion country I would have at the least 1 firearm and 1 good knife. Glocks 10mm with 220gr doubletaps gives you 15 rounds and its what I conceal daily so it wouldnt be anything abnormal to have but if I was preparing for this area it would be my 500 S&W or at the least a 44mag mountain gun(extremely light and small made just for this reason hurts like hell to shoot but hurts less than a bears claws). On the knife issue a swamp rat is a great knife but I would have my Ka-Bar just for the fact it is much lighter and quicker to deploy and swing. It will also penetrate better with its slimmer profile. Ka-Bar and a S&W mountain gun make an excellent lightweight combo.
 
While I'm partial to SRKW/Busse, I'll also say that Bark River's are also very, very good, a bit more inexpensive and significantly easier to obtain. They have a very traditional, non-tactical look that tends to make the sheeple comfortable.

The convex edge that Mike Stewart puts on the Barkies yields the sharpest knife I've ever used; sharp enough that they almost shouldn't be considered for use by a knife newbie. Think: the cutting ability of a lightsaber. :D

Good luck!

My Northstar...
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I totally agree on the Bark River Knives!! They are EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT knives!!
 
TheKnifeCollector said:
I totally agree on the Bark River Knives!! They are EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT knives!!
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Thanks for the FYI :)

These are definately beautiful knives. I found some really nice pics of it on eBay HERE

I'm still trying to figure out the handle thing and blade shape I need for the task.

I'd really like to hold a few of these knives. Got to find a local place that carries them :)
 
I'm tuning into this thread late. I don't have any suggestions as far as knives, primarily because Cromag seems to have plenty of info on that already. I will agree with most that in a man vs. bear or cat situation, the chances are slim for survival. However, carrying a decent balde and being aware that the situation may occur is way better than lolli-gagging off into the wilderness thinking everything will be hunky-dorrie.

An experienced climber, who has climbed all over the US and Canada once told me this tidbit about bears and pepper spray: Forget about the pepper spray. Instead, pack a can of any wasp/hornet spray that shoots up to 20' or so. A square shot to the face/muzzle is an excellent deterrant.

The though of using wasp/hornet spray has often disturbed me. But I guess I'd consider it if my live was on the line. Are there laws in CA about carrying 'bug spray?'
 
Cromag said:
razordescent: LOL I guess you didn't read the statistics in the USGS link I posted ;) this nemesis arch-ally looks pretty sweet. Is it dual sided? sharp blade on either side? Hard to tell for a n00b. I also like the look of those Swamp Rats above.
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No i just dont beleive everything i read on the internet. ;)

No it is a single edged knife. I carry mine daily. Its great bang for the beck. The materials are S30v and g10 which are top of the line materials. It is based on jeff halls custom line.

One last place for you too look is

http://www.rangerknives.com/Knives/index.html

They are an excellent value for a custom.
 
In 30 years now as a wildlife biologist, I always carry a 5 to 7 inch knife (knives, really) because I like 'em, and can use one reflexively (kind of like putting up my arms to keep a branch from slapping me in the face) and because they're absolutely essential. If you want to carry a gun and can do so, go ahead, but rely upon and carry a beer-bottle size $40 or so pepper spray canister in a holster on your belt (and practice deploying it). This stuff works better than you can dream of in almost all situations, even wind, rain, etc. Even if you should have an animal on you, as I have seen, you spray the both of you if necessary and the deal still works out in your favor real quick.
 
Paddling Man, I must have a Northstar after seeing yours. What a sweet knife!!

Who sells them?
 
The ideal knife for your purpose would be a Ka-Bar D2 Spear point- Right shape blade for penertration, Just the right length, good steel and to top it off a good price!!!!!!!!
 
Cromag your quote from cpf'r.
I have had Buck knives my whole life. I am unsure how important blade steel is for a bear or cougar knife. Buck knives have been around for over 100 years. Nothing wrong with 440 * or 420HC. If you would prefer to have premium steel, Buck also makes knives with that also! Beside that there are a ton of knife sharpeners around that put one heck of an edge back on a blade! Knife steel is always a trade off between sharpenability,durability, edge retention, brittleness, and corrosion resistance etc. As far as the post from ? about a 119 being TOO big???? IF I am attacked by a bear etc. can a knife be too big?
 
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