Knives necessary in the outdoors?

beef said:
Hi All,
I've been musing on whether a knife is really a necessity in the outdoors. First I think I should specify that I mean when day hiking or multi day backpacking....

...It'd be great to hear other people's take on this topic.
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A Necessity? Not always. I almost always carry one or more, but I can't think of many situations where on a dayhike or multi-day backpacking trip I would have died if I had not had a knife.

In the few instances where I needed a knife and found myself "sharps deprived", I was able to improvise a knife from natural materials quite well. Even a caveman could do it. And experimental archeology can be a fun challenge.

Of course, having a knife with you is more fun since it allows more creative "play" with your toys. And the more variety you have with you, the more creative you can be in imagining tasks to use them for.
 
mymindisamob said:
As to the thread title/question, for me the answer is a resounding "YES!".
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Knives are our most versatile tools, and they are usually small and highly portable. Why would anyone want to divest themselves of such a useful item? For a sunny walk in the park, you might not need one; unless, something goes wrong (and it could be something as minor as a loose thread), then you will certainly wish that you had one.

n2s
 
PayetteRucker said:
If you sit inside a tent all night boiling soup over a gas stove and sleep on a pad in a plush sleeping bag, what's the difference than doing the same thing in your house?
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;)I'll tell you what. You try it and tell me if you still think that way.:D
 
I'd rather carry a decent knife and leave half the other "I don't need a knife I have one or two of everything in my pack" gear at home. Can a knife be improvised? Sure. Can a good knife be improvised? No. And don't give me that jive about flint knapping, if you don't own that skill, its not going to help you. Can you get by without a good knife? Obviously, in most situations you can. I'd rather have a tool to help make a bad situation more comfortable than rely on "I can make it without one."
 
Seriously this thread is like asking crack addicts if a pipe and lighter is really necessary. Mac
 
wow 8 pages...what the heck, here's my two cents.

I think the OP made some interesting and valid points.
However...let me put it this way...I carry a knife every day.
Why would I take less than my EDC into the woods?

Also, btw if you read carefully the OP says he feels it nessasary to take a SAK.
That's a knife...So the actual post doesn't really jive with the title.
It really boils down to what kind of knife, which is a different question entirely.
 
I like to carry my knife and wish I don´t need to use it in some lifesafe task but always I find time to use it to do some buscraft tasksto improve them
 
John said:
... Can a knife be improvised? Sure. Can a good knife be improvised? No. And don't give me that jive about flint knapping, if you don't own that skill, its not going to help you. ..
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Improvising a cutting edge isn't rocket science. It doesn't have to be art either since it isn't going to be an accurate airborne projectile. It doesn't take much skill to find an already sharp flake of chert, flint or other stone. It doesn't have to be shaped like a modern knife and doesn't have to be hafted.

Without said "jive" skill, what will you do when your knife gets lost or stolen? Reach down and pick up a sharp rock, or strike two round rocks together to percuss off a conchoidal flake?

Like a more "refined" knife that resembles a modern one? Learning to knap and haft isn't beyond the abilities of most children, and certainly few teens can't master it. Sure, it takes a little bit of effort. But there is comfort in knowing that if you find a loose thread, you won't die if you've lost your knife.;)
 
Honestly, i did read much past the 1st page.
My personal belief is "It's better to have and not need then to need and not have."
 
Joben said:
wow 8 pages...what the heck, here's my two cents.

I think the OP made some interesting and valid points.
However...let me put it this way...I carry a knife every day.
Why would I take less than my EDC into the woods?

Also, btw if you read carefully the OP says he feels it nessasary to take a SAK.
That's a knife...So the actual post doesn't really jive with the title.
It really boils down to what kind of knife, which is a different question entirely.
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Hi Joben,
I don't think the SAK is necessary, just very, very useful. I mused whether it was necessary to carry a knife whilst hiking at all though.


I'd like to thank everyone for their imput and remind them that at no point did I suggest they not carry knives. I carry knives. No preaching was involved. I haven't been rallying against knives on a knife forum. I simply asked a question.
 
Nomad333 said:
Honestly, i did read much past the 1st page.
My personal belief is "It's better to have and not need then to need and not have."
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This is a statement that gets used a lot (for different items).... My only problem with this mentality is it poses many other questions regarding gear choices.

Do you carry.... a gun?... bear spray?... back-up blades?... GPS?... PLB?.... etc....

all those fall under the same category, IMO.



Rick
 
I don't leave home without a knife or multi-tool. I use it everyday. I say it's one of mans greatest tools and always carry at least one it's as important to me as anything else.
 
Magnussen said:
This is a statement that gets used a lot (for different items).... My only problem with this mentality is it poses many other questions regarding gear choices.

Do you carry.... a gun?... bear spray?... back-up blades?... GPS?... PLB?.... etc....

all those fall under the same category, IMO.



Rick
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Honestly, that's going far for my tastes. I also can't carry a gun (minor). Truthfully, just use common sense with other things, but I do believe that a knife is a must when in the wilderness.
 
Nomad333 said:
Honestly, that's going far for my tastes. I also can't carry a gun (minor). Truthfully, just use common sense with other things, but I do believe that a knife is a must when in the wilderness.
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You are right.... you have to figure legalities into the mix as well. For some, it is just common sense to carry a firearm into the woods... I don't... but respect their position.

motivator4416e98dee3bdece749aad9dfa.jpg
 
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jimh0220 said:
PS: To all the 'troller' accusers, screw y'all! Why not put a little thought into the question instead of your overused and pathetic attempt at an insult!
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This forum has been getting alot less friendly as of late.
"Troll!"
"Screw y'all!"
"Neener neener neener!"
Mature.:rolleyes:
 
I carry a knife everywhere, otherwise what the hell am I doing on this forum?
Now depending on what I'm doing it may be nothing bigger than my BRKT Aurora or Falki S1. but I'll always have it.
What is interesting is the people I go bush with will walk past half a dozen others to ask me for a knife or to cut something. My group have been stopped by people on National park tracks to see if we have a knife and twice when I have produced my Orange handled Aurora some one else someone in their party has asked why I carried a knife so big ( if they only knew what was in my pack lol) My reply I have to carry something this size to make up for all those who don't carry anything to help themselves.
There will always be those willing to let someone else carry the stuff they need and then bludge from them.
Beef I don't dispute they are people in the SES with the best intentions and are quiet serious and competent about what they do. But we have so many Mensa candidates in our local group that one of the blokes I work with pulled two of his sons out of SES cadets after he started working with me and started running into more and more SES rescue "experts" just in case their level of bush sense rubbed off onto his sons.
Our little in joke is if you get into trouble out bush you had better get yourself sorted BEFORE the SES get called in or you'll really be in trouble. Now maybe that is just my area but I'm quiet serious about it and have a dozen stories to tell about my encounters with them. Including the senior officer that drove into the work car park ( about the size of one side of a tennis court in a troopie ( Toyota troop carrier) and a 12ft trailer. An hour later of blocking the car park and 37 attempts at turning around refusing any help. He finally acknowledged the only way he was going to rejoin the very busy line of traffic on the road out side would be to disconnect the trailer, move the troopie around reconnect the trailer and then go. Why did he come into work to buy/order a $600 prismatic compass to have as a DISPLAY when giving a lesson on compass work. Idiot.
Carl
 
not2sharp said:
For a sunny walk in the park, you might not need one
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Yeah, but we all carry one, just in case!

I'd like to address Beef's OP (but paraphrase the hell out of it):
Can you go on a day hike and not need a knife? - YES!
When I go for a day hike should I leave my knife behind? - NO!

The thing is that for certain activities like a day hike you probably don't need a knife, though most of us will take one because we want to. But just because you 'probably' don't need a knife doesn't mean that you 'definitely' don't - look up the 2 words in the dictionary if you are confused.

I could leave the house without a knife or pants, but either way I'd feel a bit naked. A knife might just be a SAK or even less (I have a 0.2oz folding knife with VG-10 steel blade & titanium scales). On the 'General Knife Discussion' section of this forum there was a thread about cases of knives saving lives and someone posted an example of a woman that died because no one had a knife - this was in an urban environment with many people about including some that tried to help her (clothing caught in an escalator). I EDC a SAK & a Multitool even though most of the time I don't need them and don't use them - but just because 9 out of 10 days I don't need them doesn't mean that not having them on hand EVERY day doesn't matter. What if I don't have them on me on the day I need to use one of them? My EDC provides me with many useful tools including 3 plain blades, 1 serrated blade, a file, scissors, saw, pliers, screwdrivers, bottle opener, can opener, etc. Why would I not want a variety of useful tools available when I leave the house - at home I have a house full of useful stuff, when I go out I need to have at least a few basic tools available.

I do think that for a day hike a SAK is probably going to be enough - there are plenty of different models available and you could get one with the most useful tools for an emergency situation (blade, saw, file).

Of course for camping there are many more possible tasks for a knife and my BK-7 has capabilities that a SAK can't match. I would really like to have my BK-7 or BK-9 on hand if I was in a survival situation too, a strong full tang fixed blade that can chop or baton can also do many other tasks as needed with little worry about failure. There is a lot of psychological benefit to be had from being equipped with a knife that you know you can rely on!

At the end of the day it is up to the individual to decide on how much knife they want to carry, I would always consider a SAK to be the minimum in wilderness equipment and feel much happier with a solid fixed blade of some sort as well. Let's face it - unless I really needed to travel light I'll have a full tang fixed blade + Mora + folder + SAK + Multitool for my minimum knife equipment. Maybe I don't need all that - but can I be sure that I won't?
 
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