IMHO "Super Steels" have their place. However, as
H
Hawgsnawt
said above, that place is not out in the boonies or sticks; at least not as your primary blade.
You'd be much better off with a 10xx carbon steel or a 440/425HC blade for bushcraft. These are much less likely to chip, and are plenty tough for all the tasks you'll do ... the 10xx has been for hundreds of years so far, anyway.
If you're worried about carbon steel rusting, put a patina on the blade, then wipe it down with some warm cooking grease if you must while out in the field.
As
H
Hawgsnawt
said, regardless of what the steel is, you
will have to sharpen your knife.
Super Steels require a diamond stone.
What happens if you forget to put it in your pack, or worse, lose it?
With a traditional steel, if you forget or lose your Arkansas Stone, you can use the bottom of a coffee mug or a smooth river rock to sharpen the blade, if stropping on your leather boot or belt does not restore the edge.
I'll tell you what I've taken into the field when hunting, fishing, and camping over the last 50 plus years. You can take it for what it is worth:
Buck 110 or Old Timer 7OT for skinning, gutting, and butchering critters and cleaning fish. (A Buck 110 and Old Timer 7OT are good for skinning and gutting 2 to 3 whitetail deer without putting the edge to a stone. I don't need more than that. Do you?)
Buck 301 for general camp use; making fire sticks, tent pegs, spoons, etc. I can also use it for cleaning fish, fowl, and small game.
If I take a fixed blade along, it has been either a Mora Number 1 or Number 2, Buck 119, Western L66, or Ontario 499 "Jet Pilot Survival Knife".
Yes. All are stick tangs. I've never broken one yet.
Bow Saw.
Axe or hatchet.
I've usually been able to find enough twigs sticks, and small branches laying around for the camp fire, so normally don't have to baton any of my wood.
I do keep a light weight (less than a pound) wedge in my pack for the rare instances I need to split any wood.
I
never baton a knife.
I use an axe and the wedge for splitting wood. I was taught to use the proper tools for the job at hand.
Truth to tell, before coming to these forums, I'd never even heard of batoning a knife.
It just wasn't done where I grew up, or by anyone I've hiked, bicycled, hunted, fished, and camped with in the 7 or 8 states (plus the USVI) that I've lived in since graduating from high school.
("Bicycled with" would be to get to, into and back from the boonies for camping, fishing, hunting, and so on. Not just biking around town.)
