Ideas for forest fire fighter knife?

it would not be the gerber for me by a long shot, although anything in the becker line is outstanding and will serve you well.. ymmv
 
CWL said:
Machete would be more useful than a 7-9" blade if you will be using it for brush clearing.
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X2, my thinking exactly but it tends most people are only wanting a knife parse, If you do buy the BK9 it will split, chop and do everything you want and comes with a small knife in sheath that is fairly decent slicer for food once you touch up the blade a tad..

bushcraft for me is:
14" bolo machete
bk7 or esee4
folding saw

or to be perfectly honest you only need a machete but it has to have a point so bolo style is out..

look at it like this, if you're looking to spend $100 you can buy a nice tramotina/marbles/ontario machete and a BK7, maybe even a folding saw. you're set..
 
Anyone ever hear of a D9 Cat? If you want to clear brush for a firebreak in front of a burn, you don't want to screw around with machetes and you want something a lot wider than a few feet.
 
I'm going to go ahead and recommend every single knife that ESEE produces along with a quality machete of your choosing. :]
 
About the leather handled KaBars... leather will and does get ruined while fighting fires. Just too hot and causes it to shrink... and not in a very flattering way.
 
What about a kukri? One witha twelve to fifteen inch blade should serve well I would think.
 
I'm sure all the anti-Ontario fanboys will jump all over me on this one.[/QUOTE]

LOL, I bet your correct!!! :eek: ::thumbdn: Tooooo funny. ESEE all theway.:thumbup: Way Better and made by great people, Period.......!:D
 
I have fought a few fires as part of a wildland crew. I would choose a good pocket knife. If you are hiking it weight and where to put stuff is always an issue, and I would load heavy on the water (for drinking). A crew will always have in it's possesion a pulaski, axe, hoes, shovels, and maybe a chainsaw. This should cover most of the concerns in the OP.

This also goes for a truck crew.

Just my $.02

By the way if you showed up with most of the suggestions so far you would be laughed at.
 
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David66 said:
I have fought a few fires as part of a wildland crew. I would choose a good pocket knife. If you are hiking it weight and where to put stuff is always an issue, and I would load heavy on the water (for drinking). A crew will always have in it's possesion a pulaski, axe, hoes, shovels, and maybe a chainsaw. This should cover most of the concerns in the OP.

This also goes for a truck crew.

Just my $.02

By the way if you showed up with most of the suggestions so far you would be laughed at.
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Finally somebody that sounds like he has actually been on a burn. I once showed up on a fire with a new 4-inch fixed blade on my belt. The Area Forester thought I was nuts even though he was carrying a 4-inch blade folder. The District Forester, also carrying a 4-inch blade folder, defended me and let me go ahead a carry it that day. But I didn't do it again. The only thing worse than being called a Mall Ninja is being called a Woods Ninja! :)
 
I served for some years as a volunteer firefighter in a small rural community. As with our soldiers, some sort of multitool is the most useful thing for its weight that you can carry besides the gear provided by the department. I never needed a big knife on wildfires.
 
When I worked as a forester I got good use out of a Martindale Golok. That and one of those Swedish brush axes (the ones with the replaceable blades) coverd all bases a chainsaw couldn't. :):thumbup:

I was only on fire duty once and that just involved some feverish felling with the chainsaw to widen the fire break.
 
The OP said he wants it as a camping tool as well. If this is purely for fire fighting business a classic Ka-Bar is outclassed by machetes on power and reach, while also outclassed by multitools on range of utility.
 
BK2, ESEE6, or RD6 for mid-sized knife
ESEE4 or RD4 for slightly smaller
Izula, BK11, BK14 for unobtrusive pocket carry but still very functional.

Buck 110, CS American Lawman or Voyager, Spyderco Endura or mil, or any of several Kershaw blades all give you a solid folder in the 4" range as well.
 
I carry a leatherman and a spyderco endura on the line. the leatherman is on my belt for engine duty, but usually resides in my line gear. endura is always clipped in my pocket. My line gear rides too low to have a belt knife.
 
There are no forests on the island on which I live - unfortunately!

Our wildfires generally involve Gorse:



I don't carry a fixed blade, although I carry a 551 Griptilian in my firejacket and another Benchmade Axis Lock in a pouch on my uniform belt.

I use those knives for many fireground tasks, but if I had to recommend a fixed blade for clearing small brush, camping and hiking it would be a stainless Mora - probably the HighQ Allround. However, I wouldn't recommend using it as a hammer.
 
forester316 said:
I need a fixed blade that can be extremely versatile some what along the lines of the Gerber LMF II or the Becker bk7. This will be used from anything from clearing small brush, hammering, camping, and hiking. Thanks for the help open to all sugestions.
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I would opt for an M43 from Himalayan Imports or their competitor Khukuri House Handcraft Industries, alternatively a Sirupate with a 13-15" blade from either of them would do well also.

In the Sirupate case, you can replace the Chakmak burnishing "knife" (which has no edge, it's just used for smoothing the edge) could be replaced by an extra fine half-round file or a ceramic sharpening rod. I found I had room for both in the space vacated by the Chakmak. I use the Karda as it was intended, a small utility knife for things too delicate to use a very long bladed knife with. Both the M43 and the 13" Sirpute will weigh about 2 lb. with sheath and associated goodies. M43 is a better hardwood chopper, Sirupate is better for lighter, more flexible materials (brush, grasses, etc) but does fine on chopping with the longer blades (above 12" or so).

-E
 
Don't get the gerber LMF. i got it and am really unhappy. the blade steel is gerber's "mystery steel" which is not so great, it is too heavy (11.4 oz), expensive $140.00, the sheath is horrible. you need two hands to get the knife out of the sheath, it is bulky, and has a lot of straps and crap hanging off of it. the knife also has a lot of unnecessary features like a plexiglass breaker, and holes to lash it to a spear. i don't think that you would be coming across any plexiglass in the forest :) overall the knife has a lot of unpractical features and is not worth the money. all of this is from my personal experience with the knife.
 
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