Knife to get girlfriend interested in bushcraft / outdoors

[clich]

Get her a bk5 and tell her to get back in the kitchen kidding of course. but id recommend the 15.

 

[K9-Handler]

Get her a bk5 and tell her to get back in the kitchen

We think your opinions in that regard might be...shall we say..."tainted" these days???

 

[tradewater]

That was a great suggestion on the mora. The 15 is my wife's favorite but she always has her 14 with her as well. A 14 with zytel handles is hard to beat for a first knife.

 

[Greybush]

And remember, whatever you buy make sure you like it as well...that way if she hates it, you score a new knife! You can really boost your collection this way....

And yes, a mora would be an awesome try out knife...ease her in, and if she starts to take to the outdoors, hook her up with something a little nicer..

 

[pialia]

I can't speak to what you're gal would prefer, but for me a Mora was my perfect first knife. I treated it like complete trash for 7-8 years, leaving it wet in my tackle box for years without the thought of rust even occurring to me. Now that I've got into knives on a whole different level, I took it out, polished it up and sharpened it and it's good as new

I say get her something very basic, as from personal experience there's no way I would appreciate anything more expensive/fancy than a Mora enough for it to warrant the jump in price when I got my first. 3-4" blade length is still all I use, if I need something heavier I just turn to my hatchet(soon to be a HI khukuri!). I wouldn't get her a monster of a knife that's capable of batonning a tree trunk in half For a knife I still prefer good balance and maneuverability over a all-in-one type knife.

Hope that helps you decide.

 

[GODSPEED TACTICAL]

That was a great suggestion on the mora. The 15 is my wife's favorite but she always has her 14 with her as well. A 14 with zytel handles is hard to beat for a first knife.

THIS! Awesome knife, very practical..... useful, comfortable to use. The 14 makes alot of sense to me. This thread needs more pics too

Eli

 

[1066vik]

get a pair of 14's -- and the aftermarket scales -- then you will each have one orange and one black scale & will be less likely to misplace the blades.
tweeners are good, as are mora's -- you might check out the robust in that line.
My wife had her choice of a multitude of blades and she picked a leatherman wave w/leather belt pouch and a black Izula with electric blue cord wrap.

 

[randori]

Initally, I guess what I was looking for was which Tweener blade would be best for a novice in terms of ease of use. I know that there isn't much difference, but there are differences. With the 14 and Mora so highly regarded, it makes the decision tough. I talked with her more about it today and it looks like she wants to go with the BK16 as a woods knife with a BK11 as an EDC knife. I'm still going to pick up a few of those Moras though. I'm interested in them.

First knife handling class will be next month. Gonna teach her feather sticks and some easy primitive fire techniques.

 

[medcommander]

I cannot stress enough that the first thing which you should be considering should be items which provide necessary comfort. In my opinion a sleeping bag, firestarter, shelter, and ground pad are WAY more essential than a knife. By using these items you can replicate all the tasks which you need a knife for, and can often provide a superior product without the large calorie expenditure.

Now before anyone gets mad let me say that I'm indeed a knife addict and I think knives are an essential part of any kit. When trying to meet her needs I think the best idea would to sit down with her and discuss what she wants. Determine...
1. What she needs her tools to accomplish?
2. Are their any weight constrictions?
3. What is her preference?
4. Any experience you or her may have?
When looking at this list you can decide whether a Becker, machete, axe, Mora, etc... is the best approach. I also suggest that you let her handle any knife before you buy it, for you will find that what fits you often will not fit her. Also remember that it's not enough to simply buy her a knife, you also need to show her how to keep it sharp and how to use it properly. A fingerless girlfriend does for a good time not make...

Finally remember that the point of being in the outdoors shouldn't be to survive, but to enjoy nature and find intrisic value in life. It simply takes a few twigs start a fire and a few moments to make a memory.

-MC

 

[brewcitymike]

How about getting her a Remora I would think the BK11/14 is a pretty standard choice if she really wants a becker(if not screw her) Just kidding I too think a mora or the condor bushlore would be a great starter for a girl, and condor also has the bushcraft basics, nessmuk and the rodan. Or you could consider a Gerber big rock camp knife or gator, or a cold steel roach belly(nice scandi grind). And don't forget the Esee 3/4

Roach belly

condor nessmuk, bushlore, rodan and bushlore and bushcraft basic

gerber gator and big rock

 

[brewcitymike]

And another decent choice would be the SOG Field Pup or Seal Pup or maybe the Aura camp knife which is a bit big but has a handle that would probably fit girl hands well.


Of course a Becker will still be the best quality, but some of these other ones might feel better in her hand. I doubt she wants a skeleton handle and once you buy scales for an 11/14, you could have bought a Condor, roach belly and a mora...just something to think about..give her a few options to play with and see what she like the best w/o hurting the wallet.:thumbup:

 

[tyr_shadowblade]

It doesn't need to be a Becker, but it should be comfortable in the hand, sharp, compact, and able to chop with. One of my exes was interested in survival training and I ended up getting her a Himalayan Imports "Pen Knife" which is similar to a Thai enep. Condor makes one, and they are sometimes available cheap on eBay.

 

[randori]

I cannot stress enough that the first thing which you should be considering should be items which provide necessary comfort. In my opinion a sleeping bag, firestarter, shelter, and ground pad are WAY more essential than a knife. By using these items you can replicate all the tasks which you need a knife for, and can often provide a superior product without the large calorie expenditure.

Now before anyone gets mad let me say that I'm indeed a knife addict and I think knives are an essential part of any kit. When trying to meet her needs I think the best idea would to sit down with her and discuss what she wants. Determine...
1. What she needs her tools to accomplish?
2. Are their any weight constrictions?
3. What is her preference?
4. Any experience you or her may have?
When looking at this list you can decide whether a Becker, machete, axe, Mora, etc... is the best approach. I also suggest that you let her handle any knife before you buy it, for you will find that what fits you often will not fit her. Also remember that it's not enough to simply buy her a knife, you also need to show her how to keep it sharp and how to use it properly. A fingerless girlfriend does for a good time not make...

Finally remember that the point of being in the outdoors shouldn't be to survive, but to enjoy nature and find intrisic value in life. It simply takes a few twigs start a fire and a few moments to make a memory.

-MC

I agree with these recommendations, however her goal is to become as self reliant as possible. She's done car camping and basic campground stuff before and she is an avid angler, however she's never been afforded the opportunity to do the stuff that I do or learn the stuff I've learned. I have extensive experience with minimalistic camping (survival if you will), so it's just a matter of passing on knowledge. She wants to do the "Man Woman Wild" thing that the Hawke family has a show on, if that helps.

As far as knife knowlege goes, she knows which end is the dangerous end. Thats about it. I plan on starting her off with simple camp based tasks with a full kit and gradually taking less items and increasing her responsibilities while I oversee her progress. I'll consider it a success when she can make a hammock out of natural cordage with a canopy from natural foilage. Along with that, identify which plants can be used in which ways to repel mosquitoes and other critters and starting a fire with nothing more than some dry wood. The goal is for her to know these things, use them as a hobby, and never NEED them due to being prepared. Thats what we've decided would be our "fininsh line" for lack of a better term.

With respect to handling knives, her statement is simply "I don't know what I like because I've never done anything. I don't know what comfortable during use is." Therefore I'm having to fall back on my knowledge. I absolutely love Becker ergos on knives, which is the main reason I posted to this forum, but have seen some great recommendations outside of the Becker line that have caught my interest. Ultimately, it may boil down to which one is pretty. I need to show her pictures of Clich's stuff

Thank you for the advice. It's well recieved and appreciated my friend

 

[Moosez45]

I think its great that ya'll wanna do this together. My wife and I have been doing something similar for a few years now.

It all started with Out of the Wild. We watched the entire first season, and it got her asking questions. Can you do that? Why is that a bad idea? What do you mean their knife sucks? Where did you learn? And then my favorite, Can you teach me to do that?

We started very much like you are, but I had one advantage, a whole cabinet worth of steel for her to choose and play with, until she settled on the one she wanted.

Once she got the hang of the basics, I opened the cabinet, told her to pick whatever knife she wanted, it was hers.

My cabinet houses alot of knives, from $10 Moras to $600 customs. And tons in between.

She picked the Camillus US Pilot survival knife. She wanted it modded first, and a leather sheath as well.

Then, one day she grabbed the Kabar MKI with the kraton handle. I was informed that I would be getting her one of those.

So, I did.

Moose

 

[mrn8]

I'm more into Moose's method than any other. We have started to do a lot more camping in the last couple of years. As my knife collection has grown and I've just used them around the house, camping, and hunting, it's been a natural progression from "who cares" to "oooh, show me how to do that". If you can get out in areas that you can use your bushcrafting skills with her, just ask if she would like to help / join / whatever when you are working on things.

Of course, she'll probably want the BK9, so just go ahead and start big, then work your way down to the more sensible blades.

 

[randori]

Well, she picked the tweener. More specifically, she picked MY tweener. She was politely told that she should get a new one so that she could mod it her way to make it uniquely hers. She bit on that. Whew. I'd hate to have to find a new girlfriend!

So I'm picking her up an FFG BK16, brand new in the box. We are both going to order some wood scales and leather sheaths soon as well. She wants "Pretty and bad ass," so that means I need to email Jim62 and Skystorm when I gots the cash.

Along with that, we're planning on a simple trip to my duck camp next month. There she her training will begin.

I picked a good woman. She picked a Becker!!

 

[Captain Airyca]

Good stuff! My sister and boyfriend both picked a 16 recently for their first good blade.

 

[Moosez45]

Good to hear, Randori.

She made a good choice, for sure.

Moose

 

[GorillaFeet]

brewcitymike> Or you could consider ... a cold steel roach belly(nice scandi grind).

I'm by no means an expert (my first BKT is on order), but I'd recommend against the Roach Belly. I was looking for a relatively inexpensive fixed blade knife to recommend for some of the boys in my son's scout troop, and I found the grip on the RB to be too slippery for my own use, much less someone with less experience handling a blade. My solution was to wrap the handle in some 1.8mm cord.

I also picked up a Mora Classic 2. The red paint on that was also too plasticky and slippery, but a little work with a propane torch and wire brush took care of that.

You may not be able to see it in the picture below, but the blade on the Mora seems to be a bit thicker than the Roach Belly, and overall the Mora just feels more solid and dependable. As others have suggested, I think the molded grip Mora would be a reasonable and inexpensive way to go.

 

[K9-Handler]

As far as knife knowlege goes, she knows which end is the dangerous end. Thats about it.

You mean there's more???