How Large Are Ya Prepared To Carry ?

My friend and I both agree and he is a self proclaimed axe man that an @ 7 inch blade is almost the perfect all purpose woods blade . I carry one every trip in the woods and the one I gave him has made him rethink his axe carring habit . I can see having a smaller blade with you so just piggyback one to your 7inch or as a neck knife back up ,
 
I don't post here much. I read and get the infomation offered and gathered by the more experienced people. Meaning Y'all. However, I have a SOG Tigershark that has been all over the US. I have used it to make fires on the Outerbanks, cut sight ways for hunting from tree stands in Georgia and use it for hiking on some property I wanted to buy in Montana. While these may not be the classic survival situations. They could have went that way.
My point. I hunt alot. On large parcels of land and while I may tell people where I am going. 1300 acres is a big damn place. I have had to blood trail deer hundreds of yards when bow hunting. If I had fallen and gotten hurt I would rather have my SOG with its large blade(cant find a tape to measure it with) 9 inch blade. I could have made a crutch, so could the smaller blades. I just would rather have to swing once. So thats my opinion and preferred knife on all outings. Hiking or hunting.:D
 
i carry a kabar bk7 and a vitorinox forrester on me.. When out for the day or for 3 days.. in my pack is also a folding saw and a mora.
a bk7 style knife is the ultimate compromise for me... While it;s to big to offer super detailed carving.. It offers enought comtrol to notch trap triggers, or make a friction fire set. While it is to short to chop well can can perform snap cuts and when used in conjunction with a baton, can truncate and split wood as needed.. and when I encounter a shady hombre on the trail there's something comforting about a big honkin knife...SO while it will not carve a net needle.. or build me a cabin.. It will keep me warm fed and sheltered if I do my part..
The sak is there for most detailed work and is in a visible sheath on my hip, It sees the most uses when in on the trail. I weatr the BK horizontally under by butpack with my pocho infront of it, so it is not visible, but is readily accessible.. Mostly if just hiking, it is there for emergencies, On a dedicated bush trip however it sees much more use than the Sak.

If I'm feeling more tradiditonal the Knives change, but the setup stays the same... 7 inchish bowie style, and a stockman folder.

(and always a mora in the bag,,no matter what changes the mora is probably my most consitant piece of gear)
 
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I rarely take a blade that is much over 8 to 8.5 inches when just out messing around. I like a 4" to 5.5" blade if I'm planning for an unscheduled stay. Depending on weather conditions and area I will often carry a folder, especially if there are lots of sheeple around.
 
Recently bought a scrapyard dogfather (10" blade). Having a leg drop sheath made for it right now, but when it comes back it'll be my go-to day hiking knife. I hike in the evenings (its hot in the day!) in mountain lion territory, so while I could fight one off with my edc knife, I feel much better swinging the dogfather around. Finger choil makes it easy to carry out of sheath when the sun goes down.

and frankly, I live in los angeles, and not that I'm paranoid about personal protection, but I gotta worry as much about two legged predators as four legged ones. Having a 10" knife on display is a much greater deterrent than a edc folder in my pocket.

Before the dogfather I've been carrying a 6" RAK. Worked fine, but I'm a big guy, I can manage a bigger knife. And the 10" as a stand alone blade can get a lot done in the bush. On a backpacking/bushcrafting trip, probably sport the scrapper 6 and gransfors bruks small forest axe instead and leave the dogfather at home.
 
But Im a large framed guy. For my hikes I carry my spyderco para military in my front pocket and a scrapyard dogfather or estwing hatchett on my pack. I think the dogfather is about a foot long with handle. I dont have a drop down sheath yet but am going to order one soon when I get the dough, then it will be on my hip.I am planning on doing some longer hikes in the fall and we
ll see if the weight is too much.
 
4" blade, sorry dude it is the blade that does the work, but the handle has to be comfortable regardless of the length so I don't put a limit on it, I pick the blade steel/style then the handle has to feel right in my hand.
 
If I'm just walking the local nature trail, a folder or small fixed blade (9"-10" OL) will do fine. If I am trekking in the swamps, a 10" blade is my minimum.
 
pitdog said:
I should have added that we all know that it's possible get by with a 3" blade but if we did have to split wood due to it being wet and we did have to construct a shelter it is all far easier and quicker with a large knife or an axe.
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I travel solo in very remote areas and my knife of choice is a diminutive WM1 (6.9" overall w/ a 2.8" blade)- I can baton wet wood to get a fire going w/o any problems

I throw a 3 oz folding saw in my pack that makes pretty short work out shelter building; in the winter I add a small axe/hatchet

of course ymmv :)
 
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