Last knife for my hiking package?

Macchina

Macchina

Joined
Apr 7, 2006
Messages
5,215
When I hike, I hike for a while. I like to have everything in my pack to make the camping part of hiking fun and worthwhile. I currently carry a Wetterlings hunters hatchet, a carbon Mora, and an SAK (always in the pocket). I bought a RAT-3 to carry as well, but the grip was too wierd for my hands. I thought about an RD6, but I already have a chopper. What other knife should I add to use around camp? I'm thinking about a 4-7" full tang blade (D2 is preferable) that is geared towards medium cutting tasks. A leather sheath would be nice. How does the TAK-1 compare to the RAT-3? Price is a concern (under $80).
DSC01278.jpg
 
looks like you pretty much got your bases covered bro....but a becker crewman looks like a nice piece..I always wanted one and seems to fit your criteria.
 
I agree with Riley, I'd be happy with your setup. The only thing I'd consider is replacing the hatchet with a large fixed blade (I'm thinking 7 inch to 11 inch blade here) because carrying both would seem redundant to me. I'd just go with what suits your preferences and environment better. For instance I feel it's easier to baton wood into splits than chop it, but many would disagree with me there.
 
SOG Hunter Revolver has a built in saw and leather sheath; makes an excellent all round camp knife.



- Frank
 
I thought about an SAK with a small saw as my EDC SAK. I even looked at that one you recommend Vivi.
 
I use a sak as my edc its a victorinox fieldmaster has all the usual vic sac tools but also has a saw, scissors and a phillips head screwdriver I keep it on a pocket lanyard with a small led light it's a combo that is tough to beat. I picke the sac up at the instawares websight for around 20 bucks
 
Instead of another fixed blade, add a Vic OH Trekker w/saw. A bit big for pocket carry for some, but will most definitely serve you well.
 
I would add a small folding hand saw with extra wood blades like a Gerber hand saw with a locking blade.

Also VIVI I like to split wood with my knife than a axe for hatchet. There is more cutting surface with my knife 7.5" vrs my Gransfors which only has a cutting edge of 3".
 
michaelmcgo said:
I thought about an SAK with a small saw as my EDC SAK. I even looked at that one you recommend Vivi.
Click to expand...

I have a Farmer I EDC sometimes, but I've thought about replacing it with that model I linked to. The small blade looks great for detailed whittling and carving, something I enjoy doing next to the fire. Only reason I haven't made the switch is the small screwdriver on the Farmer is used a lot to tighten up my skateboard. :)

Sicily, that's how I look at it. I take a kuhkuri, which I feel chops as well as I need but can also be used to baton to great effect. I actually prefer the downward slope for batoning because it seems to make keeping the spine level an easier task. I plan on ordering a nice 20 inch axe or so from ragweedforge for some comparison to the kuhk, but I don't see myself switching over to it as my main chopper.
 
I've found that the weight concentraion of a hatchet makes it more ideal for chopping. I have not chopped much with a knife though. sicily02, why do you need 7.5" of cutting surface to chop? I only use about 3" of a big knife when I'm chopping (I'll grant you that for many other chores, a big knife beats a hatchet).
 
The concentrated weight does lend an advantage to the hatchets and axes with many chopping tasks, but when it comes to clearing trails or cutting vegetation, anything of that nature, a long fixed blade will excel. I think what Sicily was talking about with blade lengths was that if you prefer to baton the wood into sections rather than chop it, the long edge of a fixed blade is more practical than the few inches an axe will give you. I just feel a long fixed blade is more versatile, which is why I carry one, but either works.
 
IMHO, the midget saw blades that come on a SAK are too small to be useful. a small folding 9 inch saw can weigh in under a pound, and are FAR FAR more efficient at cutting. You need a saw blade to be three times the width of the material being cut to be really effective. Otherwise you are just recutting wood chips over and over again as they are not cleaned out of the Kerf on the fore and back stroke. I like your package. I would prefer another knife to the SAK as they are not my cuppa tea, but with your other choices I would have to say it should work.
 
To answer your RAT question (or try to) - I have a RAT3 and RAT5 (the TAK is almost the same size as the RAT5) and there is a considerable difference between the two, once you factor in the extra inch and the 3/16" on the RAT5(or TAK). I think you'll like the TAK if you're looking for something just a little more substantial than the RAT3. I have a RAT7 in that 3/16" D2 and its a pretty substantial knife. The linen micarta grips are nice as well (as you know). I personally like the RAT5 a whole lot, but if you want D2, then the TAK is for you.
 
Ontario TAK, Rat-7....Even though the seven has a seven inch blade, you can still do good work with it because of the finger choil, and it comes in D2.
 
michaelmcgo, here is what I ment about using a longer knife to split wood with. In this pic I have a log with my Doug Ritter MK3 which has less than a 5 inchs and my Chris Reeves Project II which has a7.5 inch blade as you can see the longer blade makes it easyer to strike the longer knife with a baton and drive the knife down the lenth of the log. I hope this explains what I said about splitting up small logs.
101_0098.jpg


Take care all:D
Bryan
 
Hello all, After I posted the pic with the two knives in the log I decided I did not like it so am putting these up instead. These pics show more of the blade to strike when batoning a knife down and through a log so here they are.:D

101_0107.jpg


101_0108.jpg


Here are the knives pounded half way down the logs as you can see there is a lot more blade to strike with the bigger blade. I really enjoy doing this while sitting next to my campfire and splitting small logs down to where they will be about half an inch thick, I will next make fuzz sticks to use for the next fire in the morning.

101_0110.jpg


101_0109.jpg


Take care all,
Bryan
 
Guntotin_fool said:
IMHO, the midget saw blades that come on a SAK are too small to be useful.
Click to expand...

The SAK saw is the preferred tool for precision cuts (such as notching traps.) For felling giant redwoods, the Fiskars slide-out saw weighs just a few ounces. I now carry both.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top