How about a Camp knife challenge ?

Define "Camp Knife"??

As we all know what one person considers the Perfect knife for camping -another will think is "too big,too small,too thick,too thin,etc"

I know people who think "anything" over the SAK in size is OVERKILL-and I know people who carry enough cutlery on a trip to arm a small army.

This is going to be an EXCELLENT thread as I think it will get people thinking about what "THEY" like,want and NEED(or think they need) in a CAMP knife.

Like most of you I buy and sell knives I see on these forums.(OK--I do it a lot more often than most of you)

But one thing we all can agree on is what we want a knife to do is mostly VERY subjective.

You might find the perfect knife that someone thinks is so so(at best).

My point?

We have to agree on some type of Specs if we are going to compare them.

Like Blade thickness,Blade shape,handle material,etc

If you like G-10 and your testing a knife with G-10 handles-you might be more favorably subjective to it.

Same with blade thickness.(if your testing a knife with a thin blade and you like thicker blades--etc.(Human nature)..

Also applies to Blade shape and grind...

As far as the BEST blade steel---that's a whole other can of worms.

This is going to be a Great Thread
 
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WILLIAM.M said:
My point?

We have to agree on some type of Specs if we are going to compare them.

Like Blade thickness,Blade shape,handle material,etc

If you like G-10 and your testing a knife with G-10 handles-you might be more favorably subjective to it.

Same with blade thickness.(if your testing a knife with a thin blade and you like thicker blades--etc.(Human nature)..

Also applies to Blade shape and grind...

As far as the BEST blade steel---that's a whole other can of worms.

This is going to be a Great Thread
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I'm not sure about how this would work. If it became a matter of "each maker will follow this pattern with these handle materials and this geometry and grind" then... it's just all of us making identical knives.

I know I am going to be on the think side of the blade thickness scale, but I'd hate to lose even that variable.

You are right that there are going to be some things that are, we hope, purely subjective, like color of the pins. But I think that's okay- it's one reason there is a voting base for the challenge. Getting enough people with different ideas about how important aesthetic details are and you will balance out to some extent.
 
I think that you need to define a set of tasks that the knife is supposed to perform. From there it is up to the maker to decide what it takes to get those specific tasks completed.

I also like the idea that was presented about sending all the knives to someone to review. of course it should be a vote to see who gets the job of reviewing all the steel.

This is actually a great thread and I will be watching it to see how it evolves.

I think the only specs should be on blade size, say 5"-7" or 6"-8"

Paul
 
pitdog said:
I got to thinking how a Camp knife challenge for all our resident knife makers might be interesting and fun !!!!

My idea is that all the makers came up with a design of what they considered to be a perfect Camp knife and posted pics of the finished blades for us to vote on and select a winner !!!

I'd imagine that with enough interest most models made would get snapped up by one person or another and it would be a good way to highlight the individuals work and maybe get them some future sales !!!!

What do y'all think ?????
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I kind of interpreted Pitdog's post to mean that the knife to be made, was to be the maker's own idea of a perfect camp knife...design, materials, thickness etc. Unless I missed the point, and perhaps I did, Pitdog might be looking for a great variety of designs, sizes and materials to make things interesting.

What kind of time frame are we looking at for the finished knives...I'd love to play, but time is a deciding factor for me. -Matt-
 
grease-man said:
I kind of interpreted Pitdog's post to mean that the knife to be made, was to be the maker's own idea of a perfect camp knife...design, materials, thickness etc. Unless I missed the point, and perhaps I did, Pitdog might be looking for a great variety of designs, sizes and materials to make things interesting.

What kind of time frame are we looking at for the finished knives...I'd love to play, but time is a deciding factor for me. -Matt-
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That's exactly what I'd like to see buddy, the makers own idea of what a good camp knife should be like.I certainly don't think votes should be given towards such things as Damascus blades and gold handle inlays, LOL, this should be a practical user knife !;)

I realise how busy many makers are so we will give this a big time frame....not sure how long.....I've planted the seed so maybe others can help figure out the finer details !:o
 
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This sounds interesting. However, I will have to see the time frame and guidelines etc. to see if I will be able to play or not.
 
Random brain farts –

As I see it if a maker is going to bother having a go at this and run their competition entry as a t/$ loss leader in return for fun and promotion it strikes me as incumbent upon the examiner to really offer them the opportunity for a crow about it. On that, a bit of rigor.

A blade of between 6”-8”
With an estimated value of around $150 USD.


The hurdles......


Food tests:

Onion dice.

Potato dice.

Spatchock a chicken.

Bacon slice.

Prep a round fish.



Wood tests:

Standard fuzzies.

Reduction to kindling.

Make a fig 4 trap or like.



General tests.

Cross grain bamboo cut.

Manila rope cut.

Nylon rope cut.

Rolled sacking or canvas tarp or denim jeans hack.

Rubber hose of tredder tire sever.


Start with the food tests. A] That'll give you a comparison between knives. B] It'll provide a control. Move on to the wood and the general tests, and complete by doing the food tasks again.


And if I was a PIA I'd nominate Joezilla to do it.

After which you all get to look the reviews and look at the wonderful pictures he took of the fits and finishes in action.

Vote for the winner. The winning blade gets raffled off.
 
LOL.....I'd only origionally intended for the makers to produce one and show a pic for us to vote on, hopefully the knives made would then stand a better chance of being sold than if they were just to make one and post it in the 'makers for sale forum'.
I must admit that the thought of the knives actually being tested sounds awesome and someone such as Joezilla or BrainAndrews etc would be perfect to do the testing ( that is unless Brian enters as well and then his judging might be a little biased, LOL !!!!).
 
I agree that the maker should decide what he thinks is the "perfect" (is there such a thing?) camp knife, within the size limit, but no other restrictions. Also, if they are sent to a tester, who will be responsible for paying for return shipping? If like 12 knives get sent to the tester, he could have a pretty big expense sending them all back to the makers.
 
Pass around a hat for shipping. I would kick in a few bucks just to see the blades get a good workout. Paypal to the tester.
 
One of the main reasons I thought of foisting it on Joezilla apart from him being sufficiently clued up, game for a laugh, and impartial was the scale of it. I can certainly think of others but for example; would X have a use for a dozen butterflied chickens and a shitload of fish. Aside from him being able to use the information for his writings elsewhere he strikes me as being the kinda gregarious chap that could easily accommodate the scale into some sort of social function. Perhaps a win / win.

Anyway, I'm sure I've been irritating enough following along this path. Time to withdraw while dirt can still be shoveled over it easily if need be.
 
Ha! So I'd get a chance for one of my knives to get blasted apart in a head-to-head competition with the premier makers here on Bladeforums? Oh you KNOW I'm in on that. Now I just need to figure out a style that can do all these tests.

I think we should get a firm set of testing criteria put together. It's going to directly impact the knife everyone builds.

So... maybe we should get a tester lined up? Joezilla or otherwise? See what that tester would want to do with them all? I'm sure there are some things he/she may not want, or may not be able to do.

P.S. I'd be happy to pitch in a few bucks or something to cover shipping.
 
I will enter, I would like to suggest that a vote page is set up so every one can log in and vote on their favorite and the maker would post a description and why they think its the right knife for the tasks at hand.

If there is going to be testing (pass around) we need to know what the tests are going to be to insure the best overall design.

Sounds like fun.
 
Fiddleback said:
Thank you for saying this. Really, my entire line are camp knives. You have to tell me what tasks you want it to do really well at, OK at, and passable at. Until I can make a lightsaber, I can't do everything with one blade.



I'd be very disapointed if you didn't give this a try!



This is what I needed to hear.

I'm game. I'll either be submitting a Woodsman, or a Hunter. Probably a woodsman, since I think it'll excel better at the game prep/fileting fish part.
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A Woodsman!!! Definitely a Woodsman!:eek::);)
 
If there are quite a few entrants how about we vote on the top ,say 6 ,and just those go through to the second round which would be to an individual for testing ?
 
pitdog said:
If there are quite a few entrants how about we vote on the top ,say 6 ,and just those go through to the second round which would be to an individual for testing ?
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That's a good idea. Otherwise there will be too many knives going around in the mail and it might get too complicated. It would be a lot easier to just have 5 or 6 for the tests and comparisons. It would make it a lot easier for whoever is testing and doing the write up. Probably be more interesting to read too. Just my opinion.
 
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