Knife recommendation for niece to take on Appalachian Trail?

+1 vote for a Mora. If she shows some dedication and starts doing this regularly, then you can upgrade her knife but I say a small-med fixed blade is the way to go. Throw in a couple p-38 can openers, a fire-steel, a first-aid kit (with extra hand sanitizer to start fires with), and a compass and she should be basically ready to go!
 
My own use day hiking the AT.

SAK Classic- blade for splinters or making shavings. Scissors for opening packages. toothpick for the obvious. File/small blade screwdriver- mostly for untying tight or small knots.

SAK German Army- mostly on the trail if I am making a small fire or smoothing the hand grip on an improvised walking stick.

Folding Bahco pruner- for cutting said walking stick(deadwood) and also for clearing saplings or limbs that are across the trail. Just part of enjoying the trail to help with maintenance. A foursome of through hikers came upon me clearing the top of a fallen oak off the trail and really appreciated it as going through,over or around it with the packs would have been a pain.

I carry others but these are the ones I use the most.
Bill

A stainless Mora would also be nice- easy to clean, no nooks or crannys, just a dishwashing run after the hike. I do like scissors for packages when out as it reduces the chance of poking yourself. Yes, I am clumsy.
 
I would go with a SAK Huntsman, it should EASILY be able to handle most any task on the trail. Leave self defense for things specifically designed for that purpose, but I would definitely have that area covered as well....
 
SAK is fine for the trail, did you mention if she will be hiking solo? The second most usesful tool on a SAK for long distance trail hikes might be the leather awl. it can be used to stitch up rips in a tent or back pack, or even clothing.
 
ThriftyJoe said:
I'm still waiting for somebody to tell me something actually useful for backpacking on a SAK besides a knife blade, and maybe scissors for people who aren't used to cutting everything with a knife. I'm not saying SAKs are useless for other things, just not much better than a plain knife for backpacking. If you can get by with a Mora or an Izula as your only knife on a backpacking trip, why do you need all those extra tools *only* when you take a folding knife?
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ThriftyJoe, hey........................I'm not familiar with the AT but what I do know is that it is long and about 4 million people a year tread it. Of those most only do sections of it and all of them need to resupply in some form. The reason I suggested the SAKs [Bantam and Waiter] largely follows your reasoning that for trudging along a well used and well signed path a small single blade is probably more than adequate, but with the addition of two tools for off trail too. Given the penalty of the tin opener blade on the Bantam is not a lot, and that even stretching to the Waiter with a corkscrew too is still pretty darn small, it strikes me their potential is great.................... I know it's possible to go idiot on this stuff, you should know how I laugh when I see a grown man with a beer bottle opener built in to the spine of his knife, but opening cans without a proper tool is one of the most toe curling things to watch when it's not someone with much skill with fingers you care about. And sure you can open a wine bottle by driving in two pegs and twisting them about each other, but more common its to see folks trying to poke the cork through with a door key or something else inappropriate. The very nature of the AT either hiked long with excursions into town for something as simple as a can of pilchards to get a break from all that dried crap in a packet, or day hikes radiating from a serious of guest houses and B&Bs with a bottle of wine you aren't dependent on someone else to open, makes me think those two additional doodads in particular are worth the weight penalty because they are very hard for average people to improvise.
 
Egad, spreading peanut butter with a folding knife sounds like a recipe for a gummed-up tool.
A spreader is the right tool there, not a sharp blade. A nice lightweight wooden one would go a long way toward preventing knife abuse.

The Gerber multitools are nice, but heavy.

-Daizee
 
There's not going to be much in the way of routefinding on the AT due to the heavy traffic, so map, compass, and GPS are probably of questionable value. The part I've hiked in NC was about as hard to follow as a sidewalk.
These are the most popular guides used by thruhikers(who often remove the pages as they go, or carry it in sections) that cover the trail in its entirety, but I'm sure there is stuff available that focuses on whatever her locale is, too.
http://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-Trail-Data-Book-2012/dp/1889386782
http://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-T...ssociation/dp/1889386790/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_c
 
I think the izula is the best choice. Maybe a sak. If she is not a knife person than she might not really appreciate a knife the way a knife nut might.
 
Joe,
The poncho is indespensible- makes a nice squat shelter for ladies to step off the trail and have a pee as well as its other uses. My daughter and wife have appreciated the poncho a few times :)

I am sure you have things like emergency signaling covered but a couple of cheap and light items to help with that are a couple of chemlights and a disposibale orange hunters vest with some cordage. People twist and even break ankles hiking alone. Calling for emergency help gets people coming but the vest tied to cord and tied high as you can reach in a branch means you can lay back and rest while waiting for help. The chemlight serves that purpose after dark. During midweek, there are fewer people on the trail to assist.

In hot weather, I carry a crushable ice pack(it is heavy though)- good for sprains or being overcome by heat. In cold weather I carry a small alchohol stove and 6 ounces of alcohol, powdered hot choco and cup of noodles.

on the threat of assault, spray is great, hiking stick or trekking poles is not bad. I saw an ad for something runners use- a detachable "squeeler"- kind of a siren that has a feature where you attach it to a belt or band and when you yank the body of the device off and drop or throw it- it emits a really loud sound until it is reattached. I know help may not be close enough to hear it but a perp would get pretty upset if he thought someone might be near. If he had to go search for it to shut it up, creates separation and a chance to run. Just a thought------though nothing replaces numbers, having a friend or two is a better bet for a lady.

Bill
 
Mirrors have a lot of uses, including signaling in open areas, but not so much on the AT. There is a reason hikers call it the "green tunnel". A whistle and light strobe might serve better.
 
The strobe I suggest (light, inexpensive, multi-use) is a glow stick that costs less than six dollars at a big box store and weighs less than most flashlights. It can be used as a flashlight if she finds herself getting off the trail later than expected, such as if a planned hike get's interrupted by rain. It has a flashing mode too, though not as bright as a purpose-made strobe. Whistles (like the Fox, etc.) are common in the hiking world now. And sets of three blasts is recognized by most as a distress signal. They are small and unobtrusive until needed.

But we know that in the end, she alone will decide what to carry and what to leave home.
 
This vanity mirror usually lives in a jacket pocket. It weighs a bunch less than my heliograph. Fits perfectly inside an Altoids tin too. although I think it's better to rubber band a credit card to it. This one is from The Body Shop.
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Codger_64 is dead on. There are a few USCG approved strobes that us D Cell batteries. They are inexpensive- maybe a littl eheavy but i carry extra pounds around my waist everyday so I don't notice ;)

I have a couple of the US military strobes, I keep one strapped to handle on the pillar post in the suv in case of going unintentially "offroad " and down an embankment at night. Being pinned behind the wheel with the cell phone lying in the passengers floorboard would be a cruel joks! LOL!

Prayers that we never need these devices but it is a comfort knowing they are there....

Not that I would admit it..... but my daughter and I did get off the trail and took us nearly an hour to get back on it not too long ago. We were hot and tired, coming back down Dragons Tooth- the upper part with switchbacks. She was in lead and I was following, both admittedly watching only the trail in front of our own feet due to being tired and loose rock. She took an erosion trail at the end of a switchback which we followed nearly straight down the mountain for 10-15 minutes before realizing what we had done. Decision- go straight back up the mountain or diagonally across the face slowly climbing to intercept the trail. Since I knew the geography well there, we set diagonally across the face of the mountain. Had we not been familiar with the area, it would have been straight back up.
Just wanted to illustrate that stuff happens and you "can" get off trail. I still carry a map and compass... I doubt I could still navigate to find a note under a specific rock but I could get myself in the right direction to find a road.

Bill

Bill
 
This one, the Pelican 2130ir Mini Flasherled , is cheap, light (.56 oz) and easy to operate. Not USCG approved, but fully functional. And has an advertised 100 hr. battery life.

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If she will bother to check with a local hiking club that does the AT sections, she will find your recommendations to be spot on. Well, except those few that hike barefooted with nothing but a shower curtain and a granola bar.
 
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