In an effort to relive some of the best times of my life

I

ieraseu

Joined
Nov 6, 2007
Messages
186
Some of the best times of my life were spent out camping, hiking and or backpacking. Every weekend I would grab a backpack full of gear and head out to explore somewhere different. Sometimes with friends, at times with people whom were little more then total strangers, and at times even alone. All anyone had to tell me was “let’s go”……. I didn’t need even a second to think about it.

We would not visit public campsites or designated trails or anything of that nature. We would just find a place to park and trek out miles and miles into the middle of nowhere with that type of adventurous spirit that it seems only the young posses. Often we would go on road trips across the country, pulling over and spending nights in any secluded wooded area that looked suitable to us.

In this way I traveled back and forth across the country in my late teens and early 20’s. I would make a hand written list of places I wanted to see on notebook paper, and cross them off once I had been there.

Looking back, those were some of the best times of my life. The memories of those days, the people I met, the places I saw, still haunt me today. In an effort to relive some of those memories, and recapture some of that same spirit of adventure, here I am.

I have spent the last few days reading and studying knife and gear reviews in preparation of my forthcoming adventure. In order to keep weight down (since I will not be hiking near established campgrounds, and therefore will carry all food and water on my back), I am considering a single fixed blade knife that I hope will cover all of my needs.

The knife should be tough enough to perform all typical camp duties such as chopping or splitting wood, in addition to performing fairly delicate cutting tasks such as food preparation or carving. I also want it to be tough enough to be able to handle prying bark or pieces of wood off trees, opening wooden crates or puncturing cans of food should the need arise. I am considering the following knives:

Swamp Rat Chopweiler
Swamp Rat M9
Ranger RD 7 or RD 9
Scrap Yard Dog Father
Fallkniven A1
Himalayan Imports Ang Khola (12" or 15" model)

If you like, please feel free to advise other knives that I should consider, or give feedback on the ones listed. This knife will not be a ‘showpiece’, or bought to be resold later at a profit. It will be used and abused in difficult field conditions. Thank you, and I appreciate all the great information that I have already soaked in because of this forum.
 
Fallkniven A1
but would add some type of SAK or tool (Leatherman or I like SOG) for the food prep and small tasks :)
 
No one knife can do it all and those are some high priced little puppies you're looking at. I have an alternate plan. I know weight is a consideration but i really think you'd be better served by a set of tools rather than just one. for instance
1. Mora - around $10 from ragweed forge and will do for just about anything that needs cutting.
2. A good light ax - whatever brand you like.
3. as banned said either a SAK{victorinox not wenger they're evil} or some form of multi-tool.
Just my opinion. good luck with the visionquest and let us know how it comes out.
 
Welcome ieraseu. I expect others will suggest plenty of alternatives, but from your list I would lean toward the RD-7. It would do all you want at a very reasonable price, Justin is a good guy to work with and you can even get it modified a little to better suit your needs.

With all the experiences you've had, I can only wonder what you've used up till now?
 
I would go with a fiskars axe (lightweight for backpacking) and a mora, or fallkniven f1. But out of the choices you listed I would go with the Fallkniven A1 paired with a fodlign saw (bahco laplander or kershaw folding saw) and a Victorinox Farmer.
 
Blue Sky said:
Welcome ieraseu. I expect others will suggest plenty of alternatives, but from your list I would lean toward the RD-7. It would do all you want at a very reasonable price, Justin is a good guy to work with and you can even get it modified a little to better suit your needs.

With all the experiences you've had, I can only wonder what you've used up till now?
Click to expand...


Thank you for the welcome. Yes it was a good amount of experience, but over 10+ years ago and to me seems like a lifetime ago. I do question my physical ability to handle those same tasks today. You know that saying, when you're young you can do everything all wrong, and still have it work out 'just right' in the end.

That's how it was for us in those days. We carried impossibly heavy packs, and just made it through with the virtues of youth and boundless energy. I'm not in terrible shape now, but I could not carry the same amount of weight, for the same distance today. I really need to be realistic about the weight I can carry since water is very heavy and so is food, and I think I am going to need more of it then I did back then to keep up my energy levels.

As far as equipment, back in those days I usually carried an 'e-tool' in combination with a leatherman. I used the edge of the e-tool for rough chopping tasks and the muli-tool just for cutting or opening cans or bottles. At times I carried fixed blade knives.....but they were typically the cheapo variety (as you can imagine I did not have a lot of disposable income), and they were basically fine for cutting tasks but not great for chopping or prying or rough use.

I do plan to carry an SLR camera and lens because one of the regrets I have is that back in those days I never took pictures. So all these memories I have are just in my mind.......I can't show them to anyone else or share them visually. So this time I will make sure to have a camera with me. I plan to start of slow and sort of gage my physical limits, and then work up from there. I hope to do a backpacking trip through Europe eventually.
 
I think you have some really good choices there. I would steer you away from an axe/hatchet, as they aren't as useful in many different scenarios as a knife. The khukuris are the best choppers, but harder to master.

How soon are you going and for how long?

PS - I envy you!!!! :D
 
I would definately suggest some type of swiss army knife or multi-tool. They are infinately useful, and swiss army knives, for the most part, are light and take up little space.

pete
 
I'd choose a folding saw over a hatchet any day.
And from over forty years of hiking, climbing, hunting I prefer small blades over large.
Have a great trip.
 
+1 on the saw. Those things can go through thick wood a hundred times faster than most big camp knives, and even work better than an axe in some situations.
Of the knives you listed I'd take whichever has the finest edge. After that I'd go with the stainless steel of the Fallkniven (unless you are willing to take a good supply of oil with you).
 
Thank you for all the advice given, no doubt that the more opinions I consider the more informed decision I will be able to make. A folding saw sounds light enough that I could probably add it without too much difficulty.

For the question asked earlier, I plan to start out with some fairly easy 3 day hikes in a few weeks. I am starting out fresh since I have been basically living 'big city life' and working out of an office for the past ten years. Therefore I have zero outdoor gear at this point.....no tent, no sleeping bag, no pack. I anticipate a lot of physical fatigue early on since it has been so long since I've engaged in this type of activity. Hopefully my body will adapt quickly and I'll be able to move on to bigger and better things. Europe seems like a really exciting place to visit in this manner, and I think I would greatly enjoy an extended trip there.
 
Hey man, good on ya' for making the leap back into the brush. I am actually facing the same scenario myself, although in a much shorter scale. I'm only 20 now, and i used to hike almost EVERY day when i was a super youngin' (middle school and early high school).

I sort of got sucked into the whole party-scene once I discovered the joys of women and drinking - and put my constructive hobbies aside. Now i'm getting back into hiking and camping and this site(in just about 2 weeks) has provided me with plenty of great information - on knives and hiking in general.

I would suggest you pick up a Mora knife. There is a big range of them, but they are all under $30(hell, mine was under $10). And once you sharpen them, they are really great performers. I grabbed a carbon steel 'clipper' model and it works so well. The mora 2000 model looks even better though. Knives are truly 1 product where you don't have to spend a lot of money to get something that is really effective - it's a refreshing fact I've learned. I'm actually waiting for an opinel to ship to me, another cheapie(10 bucks) that i've heard great things about.

If i were you i would grab a Mora(whichever fits your fancy), and a decent quality SAK(swiss army knife). You could have both of these for less than the cost of any of the knives you were originally looking at. And you would be just as well off(in my opinion, better off) than with just 1 pricey fixed blade. You would have way more versatility(huge when you are traveling light), and you aren't as 'shit out of luck' if you misplace one along the way(I travel a lot, and it happens - more than people admit)

On a different note, i wish you well in your journey to go back to your roots. I'm on a bit of a 'finding myself' mode right now as well - and i hope you have better luck at it than i have thus far
 
I've heard good things about Mora knives. They are well respected as far as cutting ability and being able to hold an edge, although I do think they are probably not ideal for rougher tasks such as chopping or batoning through wood or being used as a make-shift pry bar. Since they are so affordable I may get one and put it through it's paces in some capacity. Maybe even as a kitchen knife.

Funny thing about women and their effect on men. You know when lion cubs reach adulthood, they will instinctively leave the pride and become nomads. They wander around the plains for several years, sometimes linking up with other male lions before they settle back into becoming a member of a pride.

Sometimes I think it's the same for human males. We tend to 'wander off' and seek adventure or excitement, but often we come back and settle into a more stable and safe type of lifestyle. However, once we do settle......some of us have a difficult time forgetting those days of 'running free in the plains'.

We go on with our somewhat boring everyday lives, but often we find ourselves silently daydreaming of wild adventures backpacking in distant lands, climbing mountains, and the thrill of experiencing new cultures and people first hand.
 
Swamp Rat Chopweiler
Swamp Rat M9
Ranger RD 7 or RD 9
Scrap Yard Dog Father
Fallkniven A1
Himalayan Imports Ang Khola (12" or 15" model)
Click to expand...

I have four of the above, the Chopweiler, the Dog Father, the A1 and the HI AK.

For what you are describing I really like the Chopweiler. It is a great blade in the hand and can chop very well for it's size.

The DogFather, in my opinion is too large for a "do it all" knife but is my #1 choice for a dedicated chopper that can also do other things. The choil is square and it is not very easy to choke up on the blade. The Res C handle is very comfortable. Most effective with a wrist snap.

The 15" AK is a monster. Best chopper if you have good form and use your entire body in the chopping motion.

The Fallkniven A1 is a great knife. It is a slim and beautiful design, I like my knives a bit meatier so this is not my first choice. Based on how it feels in my hand (I have not tried to chop with it) I would not think it would in the same chop-capable arena as the other three; batoning would be fine. A bonus on this knife is that it is stainless, so you won't need to worry about oil with this one.

My recommendation, pair the Chopweiler (or the RD7, also a great knife) with a small tool like one of the following and you are good to go. :)
- Fixed knife (Busse Game Warden or Active Duty)
- SAK (Victorinox OHT)
- Multi-Tool (Swisstool Spirit)
- Folder (Sebenza Small Classic or Strider SNG)
- neck knife (Swamp Warden) and you are good to go.
 
It's hard to go wrong with a set-up like an RD-7 and a quality multi-tool like a Leatherman :thumbup: This'll give you portability, durability, a couple of blade options and styles, and small tools for other tasks.

If I'm waaaaayyy out and am heavily relying on tools, I like this trio:
- large knife
- multi-tool
- small, light, thin-bladed knife for whittling/food prep

The further away from civilization, the relatively heavier weight I'm willing to carry in tools to help me survive and thrive. Two other major assets are a folding saw and a small camp shovel. If you've got a tent and sleeping bag, a simple trowel will suffice for digging needs. If you're building your own shelters, I like Cold Steel's camp axe. It's an excellently functional size, very strong, and even has a belt sheath available. Best yet, it sells for under $20 on the 'net.

One maker of excellent fixed blade knives is John Greco, in Kentucky. His web site is: http://www.grecoknives.com He uses 8670 carbon steel and, from my experience, does an excellent job heat-treating it. It holds an edge very well and gets incredibly sharp with not much effort. I use a portable coarse/fine diamond hone to sharpen with.

And, speaking of sharpeners, don't forget to take one with you!
 
After considering some of the advice offered here, I am going to narrow it down somewhat and eliminate some of the larger knives in my original list. The top candidates now are the Chopweiler, Fallkniven A1 and Ranger RD 7. I did have a look at the link above for John Greco custom knives, but I think the price is probably above what I want to pay at this point. They look like really nice knives though.

I do own two leatherman tools that I use in an urban setting. One I leave in my car for emergencies (I've changed dead batteries using the pliers a few times). The other one I take with me to work in my briefcase where I occasionally use it for light cutting chores or make use of the pliers or screwdrivers. I could bring a pair along to use in combination with a larger fixed blade knife without much problem.

I do plan on using a tent, although I am willing to experiment a bit with building shelter to see if I can do a satisfactory job. If so, it would be a nice weight savings to leave the tent at home and just carry a poncho or something of that nature.

As far as a shovel, I will probably opt to carry a garden digging tool in order to save space and weight. A folding saw seemed like a good idea that is also lightweight, so I will probably bring one along as well.

My goal is to be as barebones as possible with gear and have most of the weight be food and water. This is sort of the opposite of what I used to do when I carried huge and heavy packs, but I think it will be more enjoyable for me this way if I am covering a lot of distance.

I'd like to thank everyone for the input received thus far.
 
AHGAR. You picks are about as smart a recommendation as he could get. I could do very well with a lite hatchet or Hawk, The Mora Carbon Clipper and the Vic SAK. Capability to spare.:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top