How much knife for hiking

R

RugerNurse

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Jul 13, 2019
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With all this bushcraft stuff on YouTube promoting larger fixed blades, how many people head out into the woods with a folding knife? I’m expecting a Buck 112 slim to try out soon on some small hikes. Can’t image needing a 6” fixed blade unless bushcraft is really your thing.
 
Just for hiking, any 3" folder does the trick for me. Even a sub 3" slipjoint is fine. Though I do like to have a bigger fixed blade on me when I'm innawoods. Just because.


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RugerNurse said:
how many people head out into the woods with a folding knife? Can’t image needing a 6” fixed blade unless bushcraft is really your thing.
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Define "head out into the woods".

Heading out into the woods 10 minutes from my house for a half-hour walk with my dog, is far different than heading out into the woods up north for 2 weeks of camping with the nearest town over an hour away.

Completely different scenarios dictate what I am packing.
 
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shane45-1911 said:
Define "head out into the woods".

Heading out into the woods 10 minutes from my house for a half hour walk with my dog is far different than heading out into the woods up north for 2 weeks of camping with the nearest town over an hour away.

Completely different scenarios dictate what I am packing.
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Well said. I don’t need an HDFK to stroll around a conservation area.
 
I live in an area with large forests where people get lost.

The two most likely things that will kill you on a “hike” are likely/imo 1) uncontrolled blood-loss, and 2) hyper/hypothermia. So, bring a tourniquet and clotting gauze, and either adequate shelter to keep you warm through the night, or adequate tools to build yourself a quick but large(thick walled) shelter.

Backpacking with a tent I’ll typically bring small knives/saws.

On the other hand, when I’m looking for a lost hiker, alone, on foot, at night, in a dark forest full of cliffs I might fall off of, I carry a large knife which will let me make an emergency shelter much more quickly than a small fixed/folder.

The less survival gear I have, the more knife I want.

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If I only need to cut my food, an inox Opinel #9 is enough.

Serrated Spydercos will stay sharp for a long time and cut both natural and man made fibers well, so the Native Salt SE, the Tasman Salt or the wharnie Caribbean Salt can be a good option.

I would still keep a fixed blade in the backpack. The Moras, Hultafors's are light.
But what I carry will depend on the weather, season and the hike itself.
 
IMO a 6” fixed blade, especially one with a thick blade stock is overkill for 99% of the things you need a knife for in the woods. When I go on a hike I usually just carry a folder like a small Sebenza or a Hogue Deka. When I go backpacking I bring a folder like one of those and a medium sized fixed blade with a 4-5” blade.
 
shane45-1911 said:
Define "head out into the woods".

Heading out into the woods 10 minutes from my house for a half-hour walk with my dog, is far different than heading out into the woods up north for 2 weeks of camping with the nearest town over an hour away.

Completely different scenarios dictate what I am packing.
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Indeed. For short hikes (or strolls haha) around the nearby woods, I usually only have my old Victorinox Spartan with me. For backpacking trips, I would have an ESEE 3HM along, don't usually need more than that.
 
I carry my Swiss Champ everywhere I go, including hiking. It is capable of doing everything, I have ever need a knife to do while hiking. I usually carry one or more other knives, so the Swiss Champ may not be the only knife I use, but it is the only knife I need.

O.B.
 
RugerNurse said:

How much knife for hiking​

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Hardly any knife all. Hiking is (or should be) about minimalism. You should be carrying as little weight as possible. Too much gear gets in the way.

A 3-4 layer 91mm swiss army knife is about the most I would take on a single day hike. Some hikers refuse to carry anything more than a 58mm Classic SD, even on extended multi day hikes.
RugerNurse said:
With all this bushcraft stuff on YouTube promoting larger fixed blades, how many people head out into the woods with a folding knife? I’m expecting a Buck 112 slim to try out soon on some small hikes. Can’t image needing a 6” fixed blade unless bushcraft is really your thing.
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Plenty of people use swiss army knives for bushcrafting, if that's what you're interested in.

The Camper and the Huntsman are both popular choices.

The Camper is 3 layers. It has 2 knife blades, a saw, an awl, a corkscrew which is useful to untie knots, a flat head bottle cap lifter, and a can opener which can work as a #2 phillips driver.

The Huntsman is 4 layers. It is the same as a Camper, but with an extra layer which has scissors and a hook.

The Camper and Huntsman usually come with smooth soft plastic celidor scales, but sometimes they also come with more rugged textured hard nylon scales. The nylon scales are generally considered to be superior, but they aren't very common.

The Farmer and Farmer X are also very popular choices. They're basically like heavier more robust versions of the Camper and the Huntsman, except they don't have scale tools (tweezers and toothpick) and they don't have backside tools (hook and corkscrew). An awl also replaces the secondary knife blade and is used in line with the body of the knife, whereas the awl on the Camper and Hiker models is used in a T-handle configuration. A lot of people prefer the inline awl over the T-handle style.

There are other options, but I have listed what I believe are the 4 most popular swiss army knife models for bushcraft. You could pick any one of those 4 models and not go wrong.
 
I've hiked with everything from no knife to a Busse SHE2, but for the past few years I've usually landed on Spyderco Pacific Salt, a White River Backpacker, or both.

I just added a Bradford Guardian 5.5 to my options, so next hike I'll probably carry that one.
 
For casual short hikes (not camping or trail maintenance etc ) over established trails on my own land :

XL Espada for use as a folding light to medium machete .

XL Vaquero full serrated and a Micro Recon 1 keychain .

Also : walking staff , dogs , pistol/reloads , lighter , flashlights , Puffs , etc ... and the wife , if she wants to go . ;)
 
I don't have established trails over my own land, but I agree with the XL Espada as a great light machete for out there, as well as the Cruwear PM2. The RAT1 in D2 is another I like for outdoors, Mora, always, maybe a big Ontario chopper. Maybe a Sodbuster.
 
I don’t really find that my knife needs are that much different from day to day life vs camping, hiking, outdoor stuff, but that’s just me. Every where I go I have a fixed blade and SAK on my person and lots of times I will have a lockback folder of some type. That setup works for me no matter where I am. If we are talking long term, “survival”, Walking Dead stuff, I’d still stick to my list, but I would add in a folding saw and hatchet. As a matter of fact, I keep a backpack in my truck that has a Fiskars hatchet, a Corona folding saw, a BK14, and a SAK in it, just in case I ever need it.
 
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