Jack of all trades, or specialize?

[jackknife]

I also prefer a master of most.

Growing up with a scout knife and later the army issue 'Demo' knife, I'm just too used to having a moderate degree of versatility in my pocket knife. In a dedicated knife I like the two blade jack and the three blade stockman. But the 2 layer SAK's can't be under estimated in day to day handiness. If I could only have one single knife, it would be a scout pattern.

 

[cortopar]

There is no such thing as a “do-it-all” knife.

With that said, there is such a thing as “do-over-99%-of-the-tasks-I’m-likely-to-encounter-on-any-given-day” knife. A Victorinox Compact is that knife for me.

I have a Sven saw that I occasionally find useful, but if heavy duty wood cutting tasks are called for I’m bringing a chain saw.

Me too. A hatchet or small forest axe is my, “I’m not using a knife to baton kindling, and limbing some deadfall might be useful on this trip” tool. If it’s a firewood trip, I’m bringing a chainsaw!

In a dedicated knife I like the two blade jack and the three blade stockman. But the 2 layer SAK's can't be under estimated in day to day handiness. If I could only have one single knife, it would be a scout pattern.

My last knife to go would be a stockman or two bladed jack, although I recently bought a stockman pattern with an awl/punch instead of spey. That may turn out to be the most versatile for my normal needs.