Knives of the pro's

woodsmoke said:
Marion, You took the words out of my mouth. I did write that column for TK and interviewed maybe 12-15 pros. K-bars and Moras topped the list with SRKs just behind. Very few used custom or high end knives. Interesting how guys with military backgrounds tended to favor bigger knives. Bushcraft/ hunter, trapper types mostly opted for Moras.
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Dan - Good to hear from you. Our discussions could do with your seasoned perspective.

Marion
 
Congrats on the marriage and I would love to read that article. I hope somebody posts a site where I could read or buy that issue.
 
Thanks guys, but let's not derail this thread. : )

I will definitely try to pull those issues out, and post the conclusions.

Marion
 
woodsmoke said:
Marion, You took the words out of my mouth. I did write that column for TK and interviewed maybe 12-15 pros. K-bars and Moras topped the list with SRKs just behind. Very few used custom or high end knives. Interesting how guys with military backgrounds tended to favor bigger knives. Bushcraft/ hunter, trapper types mostly opted for Moras.
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Woodsmoke, thanks for that input. I find that really interesting data. I'm no expert but that mirrors my own experience. I did fine for over twenty years, through the military and in the outdoors, with an SRK and sometimes a Kabar as my main fixed blade. After one long outing I wondered if there was anything better and searched for "Busse" on the internet, because I had seen them in an old law enforcement catalog I had. I stumbled upon Bladeforums, and here I am much more educated and much poorer.

After all that I'd still say the SRK (and even the Kabar) are fine knives, but I'm not going to trade my Busses, ESEEs, or Barkies back for one:D
 
XMP said:
Woodsmoke, thanks for that input. I find that really interesting data. I'm no expert but that mirrors my own experience. I did fine for over twenty years, through the military and in the outdoors, with an SRK and sometimes a Kabar as my main fixed blade. After one long outing I wondered if there was anything better and searched for "Busse" on the internet, because I had seen them in an old law enforcement catalog I had. I stumbled upon Bladeforums, and here I am much more educated and much poorer.

After all that I'd still say the SRK (and even the Kabar) are fine knives, but I'm not going to trade my Busses, ESEEs, or Barkies back for one:D
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Well said.

Marion
 
I used Cold Steel, Gerber and Schrade for decades.... now, I strictly use the finest customs knives you can get, period.:o:thumbup::D
 
From my Cody books, it seems he likes to use the Mora #1 I believe ( red wooden handle,sans guard.) I haven't seen Dave use a multi-tool, but I haven't seen all his vids. Mors is a fan of those as well.
 
In several of his YouTube videos, Dave Canterbury carried an Ontario RAT3 around his neck. Some other videos showed him with a long-bladed TOPS (I forget the exact model). I also saw him use a Mora Clipper a few times.

As for multi-tools, he seemed to favor Gerber.
 
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DC carried a leatherman core, and he carried this, and he carried that, and I think if we think about, the "experts" carry a lot of different knives just like the rest of us...

:)
 
But maybe, just maybe, there might be a pattern forming?

I mean sure, some of these people carry expensive knives but it seems that a lot of them use basic knives as well.

For these people chopping concrete doesn't seem to be high on the list of things a survival knife should be capable of.

I bet if a survey was to be made of professional fishermen (trawlermen) I doubt that most would have a Spyderco H1 blade. They would see knives as being disposable items and the risk of loss would be too high to invest money in an expensive knife.

The fascination we have with threads like "just one tool to survive, which one?" seems strange when the pros always seem to carry a range of tools.

Tool choice seems to be fairly universal in that when in the rain forest, they don't chop away with a hatchet or axe, and when in the frozen north they don't slash away with a machete (nothing wrong for those who choose to do either, experimentation is a key component of life and being different to others is fun).

When in high humidity and around salt water they choose stainless steel and man made handles. I keep wondering why I've never chosen a belt knife like that to be my travelling companion? Fashion I suppose!:o

Open the question out a little and ask "what backpacks do the pros use?". How many of them have a $300 pack? How many of them own a tiny little go faster Maxpedition bag, that you struggle to put anything inside of it so you have to buy more pouches to stick on the outside?

Yet when we come to the internet and the forums we can see how fashion, consumerism and jumping on the bandwagon can give a different impression of what the essentials are.

I'm not trying to rag on anyone, I'm as guilty of this as much as anyone else.

Life is too short, we all work hard for our money. We want to spend that money as we see fit, to some it's a £1000 golf set, a set of super duper speakers for their car or for me expensive fishing tackle.

In this age I think it's vital that there are people who still have the skills to make knives and other custom kit (fishing rods, musical instruments etc..), that not everything in life has to be made in a faceless factory in the far east.

It's that just sometimes I think we make our purchasing decisions more complicated that they actually need to be.

I'm waffling now, sorry!

Johnny
 
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At The Tom Brown school, at least the times when I went before and after his tracker knife was available, the Mora was recommended and available at the supply store there.
 
kgd said:
Jeff Randall claimed a few times in their forum that the only RAT-designed blade he carries is the RAT-1 folder (from Ontario) and that he is always bringing fixed blades of different design into the bush for reviews. I think last year he put out a thread asking people to recommend which knife he bring (that he had never used before) for the upcoming Jungle training that year. If I recall correctly, he ended up with a Bark River Bumble Bee.
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He carried the Bumble bee to test it out...I never followed up on the review..I think it was in TK magazine
I think he's packing a Benchmade something or other 930/940 or whatever...he use to pack a Almar2K daily,but mainly a Folder of some sorts and a machete :D
 
The Huaodani that we stayed with in the Amazon almost universally used a machete. Many carried smaller knives, but all had a machete.

I consider them experts as they live it 24/7. BUT, that is jungle.

Doc
 
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