Knife recommendation - My life may depend on it.

D

DARKHAVEN

Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
6
Hey everyone,

I'm gearing up to make the 2167 miles Appalachian Trail Trek and I am looking for the right knife to take with me. I need something versatile, sharp, and as close to indestructible as I can get. I'm going to be using it solid for 4 months, for everything from cooking and preparing food to bayoneting wood for fires, to a little (hopefully very little) hammering, to maybe self defense. I currently have a few knives in mind, but I am completely open to recommendations. I'm looking for a fixed blade of 5-8 inches (the blade, not the whole knife) and my limit is $150ish. My front-runner right now is the Benchmade 156 CSK with its D2 blade (I've read good things about D2 here). I'm also considering the SOG Gov-Tac, and Cold Steel Outdoorsman (I like this one too, VG1 San Mai III). Please let me here your thoughts and thank you in advance for your advice.
 
look at the ontario TAK's and RTAK's. very good knives IMHO.
i have the TAK1 carbon and it takes a very good edge. D2, i have read, can be a little on the brittile side and is more difficult to feild sharpen. i have a benchmade 211 in D2 and love it, holds an edge for a redally long time. as long as you dont abuse your blade too much it should be fine in D2.
some call the TAK's 'sharpened prybars', should last 100x longer than 4 mths.
 
You can also check out the Bark River line and Ranger Knives.

Look at Scrapyard Knives and Swamprat Knives, too. The SwampRats will be at your upper end for price, but they are rock solid high performance knives.

There is a Swamprat Forum right here around the corner...:D

I'd recommend Busse or Strider, but they're just too pricey for what you want.
 
A couple of Cold Steel Bushman and a Ranger RD9 would be the ones I'd grab in that price point for such an adventure. Have fun!

Matador-
 
Since your life may depend upon it ..... why this $150 limit ....

Enough said, I don't want that guy with the turtle pic giving me more points ...
 
I did the AT twice with nothing more then a SAK climber and an old 2.5" blaze orange Kershaw lockback, this I wore around my neck on a lanyard. A comparable knife now days would be a Ka-Bar Dozier.

Large knives will draw looks since aa lot of the trail is close to towns and rec areas. Plus I always though that carrying a large knife can induce defensiveness and aggression in people. This is something you don't want to do when walking up on a shelter that a bunch of people have decided to use as a alcohol-fueled party palace.

When it comes to self-defense...common-sense is your best implement. If you come to shelters or campgrounds and you meet wackos or weirdos, just keep moving and make a cold camp further up the trail. Although in general I found on the trail, even when you came across the wildest bunch of partying hard cases, most had some respect for what you were doing and shared what they had with you and let you be.
 
Edit: I retract all huge chopper recommendations for wisdom from tomcrx and Bob W.
 
Note that most recommendations you'll get are choppers, since 7-8" starts the chopper range, after all. You are complementing it with a smaller, 4-5" blade, right?
 
How about the SOG that changes blades by flipping from a straight edge to a saw - I forgot the name.
 
That's their Revolver. The blade's a bit short for what the OP had in mind, not to mention that a pivoting knife would obviously not be as strong as a fixed-blade.
 
There was a topic on another knife-related forum from someone who through-hiked the Continental Divide Trail. Their knife was a small custom fixed blade, not a combat-style knife, but a usable classy-looking tool. I bet by watching the "For Sale by Maker" section you can find something suitable in your price range. Bark River makes some small fixed-blade knives that are top quality, in your price range, and that you'll treasure long after the hike is completed.

Personally, for backpacking I carry an AG Russell Hunters Scalpel. 0.8 oz, fixed blade, hard locking sheath, and cost $20. I wear it in my pocket with the lanyard around my belt so it can't get lost and it's always handy. In the past I've also backpacked with an Opinel and a BuckLite. All of these easily performed every cutting task ever encountered.

More backpackers carry a SAK than any other product, although Leatherman-style tools are popular also. The tools could certainly come in handy at some point, although I would prefer a fixed-blade for cooking since it'd be hard to get the food out of the cracks of a folder.

A few years ago there was a magazine survey of people who had actually completed the AT that included a wide range of questions, including gear choices. I don't recall whether or not the survey included knives, but you might find something similar by browsing the backpacking/outdoor online forums.

I have friends that completed the AT, but I don't know what sorts of pocketknives they carried. I'm reasonably certain though that they wouldn't have carried anything unnecessarily heavy nor anything that resembled a weapon or military knife.

Lots of good suggestions so far. Pay extra attention to people like "tomcrx" who have actually hiked the trail.

Good Luck on your trip!
-Bob
 
Thanks for the responses, based on this and what I read on this thread, here are my thoughts:

I need a 7-8" blade for chopping. As for the blade material, D2 and 1095 are the mains, but I've read many on this forum feel 1095 is the best for a knife of this size (with D2 chipping, etc). Please comment.

As for my second knife, the smaller 4-5", are you guys recommending I make this one a folder, or still straight blade slicer?
 
If you want a small indestructible fixed-blade that excels at all tasks, look to the Fallkniven F1. This is a forum favorite for a functional, main-duty fixed blade.



fkf1blackmicartadc2.jpg

Fallkniven F1, 3.8", VG10 steel, $100.


If you need to chop, bring a light hatchet instead, and not have something that looks weaponlike.
 
Sounds like you need a Busse, they are pretty well over your limit, but for a situation like this I think they are the best knife you could ask for.
 
Wasn't there recently a negative review thread about the Fallkniven F1? I'll have to look it up, and thank you for the recommendation.

One knife I'm pretty interested in now, since everyone recommends Busse as top notch, Scrap Yard Knives (http://www.scrapyardknives.com/knives.htm) Street Scrapper 4 seems to be the right size and its got Busse INFI steel. How can you beat that? Maybe that's a good choice. My only question about this knife is, since they use Busse scrap, do they remelt or ruin the temper remaking these from scrap? I wonder, I'll have to email them.
 
If you are considering the Cold Steel line, I suggest you look at the Master Hunter and the SRK (Survival Rescue Knife) models. I have both, as well as several other Cold Steel models, and I am happy with them. A small to medium size fixed blade knife with a small hatchet makes a good combination.
 
I need a 7-8" blade for chopping.
Click to expand...
You should check with long distance hikers, particularly those with AT experience. I doubt you'll need to chop anything while backpacking; I never have.

-Bob
 
Check Fallkniven S1 (Forrest knife) very light and sturdy. Looks like a cheap knife (good for the sheeple) but is one mean cutting and stabbing machine):
 
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