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How much knife for hiking
- Thread starter RugerNurse
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Redneckbmxer24
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Everyone I personally know that has through hiked the AT carried one
. I haven’t done it but I’ve gone into the woods and hiked far and long enough to know that you do need a good sharpening system and 4oz is practically nothing for something that does everything it does.That’s what the built in angle finders are for but you can do any edge of you know how to sharpen a knife, just like using a stone.
Kinda funny that a 4oz sharpener is too much to carry to you, but two knives aren’t when one can do both jobs.
It seems like you’re just arguing to argue and you clearly have no experience with the product yet you’ve made up your mind about it.
I had to go make sure you hadn't snuck into my place and lifted two of my favorites! A couple of real classics right there!
A Spyderco Lum tanto or a Benchmade fixed blade. These are old knives made of acceptable steel, with beautiful designs and tapered tangs. Light but strong, and easily up to any task when I'm hiking for a day.
I took that Benchmade on my first elk hunt, 10 years ago now.
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I didn’t mean for this thread to go haywire. Just curious as to what people take along and why they do. I like a medium fixed blade like an ESEE 3 and a folder
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You did say, "hike". For me, that's a "day hike"; and I'm not actually going to be very far from civilization. So a regular EDC folding knife will be more than sufficient. If I did get stuck, a bushcraft knife isn't really going to be able to be of much more help to me than any of my daily carry knives.
I would likely have a different answer if I were camping in the wild and decided to take a hike from my base camp. The fact that I was camping in the boonies in the first place would likely indicate a different answer.
Wild Willie
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These type of things always seem to go sideways. Every aspect of life is absolutely polarized anymore. Some guys like to carry everything, and others think you're just a "weekend warrior" if you carry anything more than nothing.
Just liking a particular knife is enough excuse to carry it. Next thing we see will be about wanting to smelt iron ore out of local materials to forge a knife on site rather than just slip one in the pocket.
I've read again the OP, and looks like you ask whether a folding knife, specifically a Buck 112 is good enough for short hikes. Seemingly the answer is yes, but many people will get with them a small fixed blade as well for variety of reasons or "just because", including me. Do I think I will need anything more than a folder for a short hike? The answer is no. Will I take a small fixed as well? The answer is yes, unless it is a really short and crowded hike, for example from Waikiki to Diamond Head.
Fully agree, even though I think some will either disagree, or will take a big and heavy knife just to feel more secure. A false security that hopefully will not result risky decisions or careless steps.
I don't pretend otherwise. Honestly I couldn't think of anything more tragic than a super serious knife discussion board.
"You got a knife?"
"Yep"
End thread.
Out of boredom, I've scrolled the posts to see well-worn knives taken for hiking. From the fixed blades, only the Buck 119 in post #219 show marks of use. The traditional slip joints in posts #223 and #229 look used as well, but they are pictured right next to seemingly new fixed blades. Actual knives taken during last hike are lost? Or, the knives were never used? Seemingly the fixed blades with leather sheaths were wrapped in a towel and carried in the backpack all the time? Enigma.
Wild Willie
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Knives with which I usually go hiking... Or to work, or whatever. Hopefully they sate your desires. I wait with bated breath to see your recommendations...
Here I am with the knife in the fire tower on Azure. I know my hiking attire isn't up to spec, I guess it's just because I'm a weekend warrior. Unfortunately I have 2 kids, a house and a small business to tend to during the week.
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Ehh, idunno...I always find it amusing when people cast aspersions about use (or lack thereof) of knives from pictures. Materials, finish, care, lighting, angles, etc. all play a role; and it's not uncommon to see a knife show different amounts of wear from one pic to the next.
If I stop and honestly think about it, what do I most use my knives for on a casual hike? Two main things come to mind, cutting a food and making the occasional walking stick. I've also used my Swisstool to fix things when needed. I throw a camp knife in my pack just because it seems logical to me, but I never really put that much thought into it, and certainly never stopped to think what anyone else would think of it. I'm out there to enjoy life, not prove anything to anybody. Perhaps when I know more I will carry less. I'm open to that and hope to know more every day, but I'm obviously going to always have a tendency to carry too many knives. Hell, I sit on the back porch while watching the sun go down with three knives in my pocket.
Sounds like a request, so I feel obliged to respond, even though I am really not willing to. Kids, house, small business - unless you already have it, nothing else than to acquire a Shirogorov, of course . Please do a field test of Shirogorov vs the Douk Douk, and post a report with the findings. I think many will be interested.
Wild Willie
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I'm afraid I've tried higher end and gone back to the douk douk. Unless shiros do something that a sebenza doesn't they don't really interest me. However, I guarantee that were I to own one it would be put through the same things my daily carry knives are subjected to on a regular basis. Including the occasional day hike or camping trip.
Knives&Lint
, please believe me, but while scrolling the tread to look at the photos, and then when typing my post - I was thinking about you, in contrast to many others, you took the shots outdoors, and the photos are beautiful. To me you are also a photographer, and I enjoy seeing them.
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On the bright side, when people veer from gear opinions into judging others' behaviors and choices in annoying and condescending ways, it presents an opportunity to use the trusty IGNORE filter.
Q: 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.
A: I used to carry a Schrade 77OT Old Timer Small Game Muskrat Folder because that's all I had. Then I bought a Buck 105 and carried that for years, mostly hunting, but occasionally when hiking. Now I just toss whatever folder I'm in the mood to carry and go with that. Usually, that has been my old style Cold Steel Voyager with a 4-inch blade (pre Demko), or the newer XL Cold Steel Voyager (Triad lock). Nowadays, I might go with the 4-Max.
A: I used to carry a Schrade 77OT Old Timer Small Game Muskrat Folder because that's all I had. Then I bought a Buck 105 and carried that for years, mostly hunting, but occasionally when hiking. Now I just toss whatever folder I'm in the mood to carry and go with that. Usually, that has been my old style Cold Steel Voyager with a 4-inch blade (pre Demko), or the newer XL Cold Steel Voyager (Triad lock). Nowadays, I might go with the 4-Max.
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On a recent 3-day self-supported backpacking trip in the Tetons, this is what I had with me for tools. Very light and served all my needs. I can't really imagine what I would have needed to do that I couldn't have done with these two tools, and this was in some of the more remote backcountry in the lower 48.
I'm not dissing on larger knives at all - I own many of them, and I've certainly been known to carry more knife than I need a lot of the time. But on a backcountry trip like this, that involved close to 5,000' of vertical climbing and a 40-mile route, I was focused on keeping my pack as light as possible. I was carrying shelter and a stove (there was a backcountry fire ban, as is pretty common these days in many parts of the West), so I really had no need to have a larger tool with me to make shelter or a fire. I had no need to carve anything, no real need at all for a larger blade.
I love knives, but if I take the emotional attachment out of it, and evaluate my knife selection for a trip like this from the same objective criteria I used to evaluate my food choices, shelter choice, etc. I just couldn't come up with any good reason to justify the additional weight. And I can't really think of any emergency situation, even on a trip like this, in which a larger knife would have changed the circumstances.
As always, YMMV, and I am by no means telling anyone else what they should do. Just outlining my rationale for a real backpacking trip in tough, remote country, as an example.
I'm not dissing on larger knives at all - I own many of them, and I've certainly been known to carry more knife than I need a lot of the time. But on a backcountry trip like this, that involved close to 5,000' of vertical climbing and a 40-mile route, I was focused on keeping my pack as light as possible. I was carrying shelter and a stove (there was a backcountry fire ban, as is pretty common these days in many parts of the West), so I really had no need to have a larger tool with me to make shelter or a fire. I had no need to carve anything, no real need at all for a larger blade.
I love knives, but if I take the emotional attachment out of it, and evaluate my knife selection for a trip like this from the same objective criteria I used to evaluate my food choices, shelter choice, etc. I just couldn't come up with any good reason to justify the additional weight. And I can't really think of any emergency situation, even on a trip like this, in which a larger knife would have changed the circumstances.
As always, YMMV, and I am by no means telling anyone else what they should do. Just outlining my rationale for a real backpacking trip in tough, remote country, as an example.
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Alone
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I wrap my camping/hiking fixie in the silk unmentionables of virgins, and it still looks like hell... ☹
