How Many Knives Do You REALLY Need?

tonym said:
John I am shocked at the question:eek:

When I am out I prefer to have 2 with me. FB 4"-5" and a SAK, if it is a scheduled overnighter, than I would like to have an ax or large blade depending on the season.

The problem is I don't always have the same clothes on and I need the Knives to match the particular outfit that I am wearing. I can't have a black handled knife on a brown belt with brown shoes!

My wife actually understands this:D
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You have just convinced me that I will NEVER sell you a knife with purpleheart handles! :eek:
 
For work:
Superknife 2
Leatherman in one of their incarnations

Everyday:
SAK Farmer

In vehicles:
Cold Steel Finn Bear

accompanied by
Bahco Hatchet
Silky Saw

Chopper:
Busse Sarsquatch

Mid-Size Fixed:
Still looking for the perfect "One", but have ended up with the perfect "Ones".
So probably 3 or 4, or maybe 5 to 6. Well as I look around more like 10................ or maybe ....................um, I'll get back to you on this.
 
kgd said:
Tony, I really want to see a picture of the outfit you wear with an Orange G10 handled fixed and emergency yellow SAK :D :D :D
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Oooh good call, I am gonna have to get that emergency yellow sack now. I heard emergency yellow is like the new black

;)
 
NEED? Well a 7 Inch Santuko, a five inch Utility kitchen knife, a folding and Fixed blade hunter. a nine inch Fillet knife, a 8-10 inch slicer and a couple boning knives, and my SAK.

I do the cooking because I am retired and the wife still works, thus the kitchen knives. I hunt and fish and we process all of our own meat. I would need my Hatchet and Eswing axes and my folding saw. Really that is all I would need. The last knife to go would be my 7 inch Santuko. There is no useful life without that.

WANT, Well as we all know, that's a different game all together.:D
 
I just wish I could get out often enough to really get my collection dirty and circulate through them more, so they resemble a bunch of hard worked tools more than a collection!
 
Ha! Hard at it bro? Workin on a sunday? Slave. Hehe.:D

I just came off duty this AM from the shift from hell. :grumpy:
 
For me a Gerber pack ax, a rough duty "Wally World special" w/ a 4 inch fixed blade that I can use for prying, digging, batoning and yes even cutting (I carry a small metal file to sharpen it up in the field) and a Gerber multi-tool for the pliers and scissors. I plan on adding a SAK for the saw.

I do not mean to insult you with the "Wally World special." I would love to have a custom knife. Right now I've got a kid in college so a lot of my resources are spoken for. At some point I will add a custom knife as I attempt whenever possible to support American made products.

Knives are small enough, light enough and useful enough to carry several. It's good to have a back up or 2 or 3
 
MBTull said:
I do not mean to insult you with the "Wally World special." I would love to have a custom knife. Right now I've got a kid in college so a lot of my resources are spoken for. At some point I will add a custom knife as I attempt whenever possible to support American made products.

Knives are small enough, light enough and useful enough to carry several. It's good to have a back up or 2 or 3
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No insult to me,I put three daughters through college, I know what you are talking about.

John
 
Stomper said:
I know, this is a pretty dumb question to be asked from a knifemaker......

John
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Not to mention that it is being asked of knife junkies!:D

If it came right down to grabbing what I felt I "needed" when I headed out the door as the flood waters, wildfires or the "monolithic communist horde" (a favorite of one of my past Infantry Commanders) approached, I would grab my "Oh Sh!t Bag" and whatever was in it. Usually, it has a minimum of one 3.5" to 4" fixed blade (that is USUALLY my Breeden CB01, but could be a recently acquired blade I am playing with that is compact and capable), a BRKT Micro-Canadian, Leatherman and a Vic Farmer. Of course, there is always a Ritter Grip' and at least one other small fixed blade in my pockets as well. I would probably try to snag the 12" Tram Bear' gave me as well. Honestly, if I have time and can handle the weight, I would grab an axe, but not one of the little ones. Am I "settling" somewhere, or am I going to be on the move - on foot? I guess it would depend.

I don't think we want to be too pragmatic at picking at that thread. We would have to quit buying knives and guns and flashlights.... I don't have a lot of stuff. I have had a lot of stuff and continue to rotate things out as I purge periodically. I purged again recently and was down to half a dozen knives. Then stuff I had committed to; Breedens, Gossman, Fiddleback, MMK, Shing etc. started coming in. I am back up to a dozen and a half easily.

Each time I purge, one or two knives "stick," they don't make it through the net. It has been a very rewarding process and I have learned a lot about what I like and what works for me, so I don't regret not having found the perfect "one" or the ideal "Nesmuk Trio" one bit. My purges have been manifested by selling, trading and gifting knives of high quality and have led to many friendships, something I have always kept skinny as well, but the surplus of which has been even more rewarding lately.

I got by, for six years in the Army, with a Schrade-Walden Improved Muskrat, a P38 (can opener) and a Nickel-plated match-case full of Ohio Blue tips. I spent a lot of that time in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, detached from my unit, alone or with one other individual I was getting somewhere "quietly." A great many of my meals were prep'd over twig fires and I was seldom uncomfortable. As well as that 'Muskrat served me in that environment, it is retired and I no longer count exclusively on a folder. I carry a Ritter Grip' as a backup to a fixed blade in the other pocket, as a minimum.

I don't know that my needs have changed so much as the fact the makers have answered needs I didn't know I had - with the smaller fixed blades. So, I "need" at least one of those, a 4" (or so) fixed blade and either my 12" Tram or some ideal, light "chopper" I have yet to discover. The first things I would ditch would be my "mini-axes," Vic Farmers, multi-tools and Grips'. They are luxuries in my mind and the mini-axe concept is really on the ropes with me anyway. I am not sold. I want an axe with as long a handle as I can get. The short-handled ones are great to carry but make me nervous. A personal "thing" to be certain and, maybe some day, I will change my mind about that.

Thanks, John for making us think. Catharsis is good.:thumbup:
 
Up until very recently, I would have said Becker Machax, BRKT Bravo-1, and Buck Alpha Dorado, but I picked up a Spyderco Manix a couple of weeks ago and man, that is one beefy knife. Therein lies the dilemma. It probably should replace the Alpha Dorado, but I really love the little Buck. It's especially useful if I need a knife at work around non-knife fans (customers). So I guess instead of replacing the Dorado, it's going to be keeping it company.

I forgot to mention the Vic Spirit, so I guess that makes 5! :eek:

Oh and there is the Benchmade AFCK....................... :(

Doc
 
Since you mentioned woodscraft books, I'm going to ASS-U-ME that you mean how many do we need for the woods.
Need? One.

Yep, one.

If you have an axe/machete/kukri, and some know-how, you can do it all with one of them. If you don't believe me that a large blade such as a kukri can be used for fine tasks, go HERE and watch the video. Axes and machetes can be used just as well.

Anything beyond that is want.

Now, since having another, smaller blade makes things MUCH easier, I'm willing to add them to the "need" list. Since no one has claimed it, in the spirit of the Nessmuk Trio, I dubbed mine the Cpl Punishment Duo. Your big gun that handles the tough jobs (axe/machete/kukri/BFK -- take your pick), and a medium sized blade -- using the Kochanski measurement of the width of your hand +/- one inch. Make mine the HI R-10. Much to my amazement, it drills almost as well as my Aurora, much to my finger's amazement, it's sharp as a razor, and has much more belly then most other "bushcraft" blades, which makes skinning and butchering much easier.

I usually only carry a SAK because they are so light and convenient that I can't see why not.

Now if you're talking an urban environment, I'd say, once again, you only really need one. I'll make mine a Ka-Bar Mule. Although it's legal in my state to carry any size blade either with a concealed weapon permit, or carried openly, there are local ordnances that may preclude such. Most places that restrict knife carry will allow sub 4" folders, and the Mule fits the bill. If it's really restrictive, and doesn't allow thumb studs, then a Buck 110.
 
I refuse to surrender to sound reasoning and good sense while committing to my needs when it comes to edged tools.;):D
 
well, if i HAD to narrow it down (oh the horror the horror!) i would choose these:

- Iltis oXhead felling ax
- Kabar Khukuri
- Becker BK7
- Emerson CQC-11 Utcom folder

if i was to choose my Customs:

- Iltis Oxhead fell ax
- J-Siah heavy camp knife
- Tito's TAC EDC
- GL Drew $65 knife
- MykulMorris File Necker

But to be honest, i hate threads like these, it reminds me that at some point i will HAVE to choose for whatever reason. I'd sooner slather butter on myself and let starving pigs eat me than try to limit my choice of blades.

AUH! .
 
what do i really need? it depends on what is meant by "really need"

my typical EDC is:
-one of my slipjoints (large Case stockman, GEC pioneer trapper, or a nice old german trapper i have) in right pocket
-BRKT nebula on right hip
-BRKT mikro canadian in my left armpit with a fig. 8 paracord rig for single handed ambidextrous access to a stout sharp fixed blade.
-(for the woods) either the 14" fiskars or my 19" wetterlings

if i needed to simplify more, i could really cut it down to one of the slipjoints and one of the axes.

but i enjoy playing with alot of different fixed blades and i like to mix it up every once in a while, so i probably won't get rid of a bunch of the different knives that i don't use all that often. they are also good to have around in case i need to arm a small militia for a zombie invasion or when going camping.
 
When you find that perfect knife you can stop buying. I've been looking for 45 years or so and haven't found it yet....maybe someday I will.
 
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