Light knives choice for hiking

[s7brad]

Esee is introducing the Izula 2 soon, half inch extra handle length with built in scales. I personally carry a 4.

 

[akennedy73]

I got this Ahti partly because I wanted a lightweight fixed blade for short hikes. It's only 3.5 ounces, and even with the sheath it weighs less than a Buck 110.

that's a beauty! :thumbup: where'd you pick it up?

 

[GhostWolf]

You mean the Style? Don't you miss the pliers? If I ditch the pliers, maybe just a fixed blade would be enough. Heresy?

The small Channel lock pliers with the algled head are what I am refering to. I bought mine off a Cornwell tool truck and they have bright orange handles. They weigh 1.5 oz. and are about 4.5 in. long.

 

[the rat]

I carry my Benchmade Griptillian every where and the axis lock is strong as i have seen on any knife and it only weighs 2.8ozs.

 

[hollowdweller]

I'm at work so I can't weigh it but THIS BLADEwith the birch bark handle is pretty light.

 

[facablade]

for me any MORA is light enough to carry when hiking ;-)

 

[kamagong]

that's a beauty! :thumbup: where'd you pick it up?

Thanks. It's an Ahti Juhla.

 

[tholiver]

Fixed Blades
Kabar Becker Necker 3.25 blade, 2.8 ounces
Rat Izula 2.5 inch blade (mine with wooden scales is 2.5 ounces)
Mora Triflex Craftsman 4 1/8 inch blade, 3.15 ounces
Enzo Trapper (in 01) full width tang 3.5 inch blade, 4.25 ounces

SAK/Multi's
Victorinox Sd Classic (has scissors no saw/pliers) 0.75 ounces
Leatherman Micra (scissors no saw/pliers) 1.7 ounces
Gerber Clutch (has small pliers no saw no scissors) 2.45 ounces
Victorinox Huntsman (scissors/saw no pliers) 3.4 ounces
Victorinox Compact (scissors no saw/pliers) 2.2 ounces
Victorinox Swisschamp (scissors/saw/small pliers plus much more) 6.75 ounces
Leatherman Juice CS4 (saw/scissors/medium pliers 5.45 ounces

Other
Fiskars/Gerber sliding saw 6 5/16s blade, 3.4 ounces

For me with SAK's/multi's (other than the blade) the scissors and saw are most important. If you can live without pliers then around 3 ounces is easy.
Adding pliers necessarily adds weight.
The Juice has better pliers than the Swisschamp but the Swisschamp has better everything else than the Juice, plus it has lots of extras the juice doesn't have.
Your Squirt looks good but i suspect it doesn't have a canopener, its a personal thing but i generally prefer to have a canopener! lol.

 

[JohnWayne360]

Forget light, take an RC-5!!!!

 

[lambertiana]

I have two backpacking fixed blades from Ray Laconico that work quite well. Both are 4" blades. The first is 5/32" O1, and weighs a little over 4 oz:

The second is 3/16" O1, and weighs a little over 5 oz:

As much as I like the Mora, these are much much better.

 

[defaultuser]

As much as I like the Mora, these are much much better.

Of course they are - no question there. One area I'm not overly impressed with the Mora is the edge holding, and robustness (but they're surprizing in that area; they can take a beating, especially the 510 and the like).

I think my best alternative for a knife with better edge holding is my small 2 oz. necker in S30V.

(Thanks for the nice pics - they're both awesome :thumbup

 

[defaultuser]

Your Squirt looks good but i suspect it doesn't have a canopener, its a personal thing but i generally prefer to have a canopener! lol.

Yeah, having a can opener can be handy if you have cans to open, which is not likely when light-backpacking
although I find the can openers on SAKs to work very well, It's not much harder to open a can with even a slip joint I did that many times

 

[shangchi108]

The Bill Moran, eh! Certainly didn't think about that one! Thanks...I'll look into this one

Keep 'em coming guys!

They make one with a blaze orange handle, now. I think that's certainly worthy of consideration.

 

[mmyron1]

I have both the Moran and Izula and they are both in my carry kit. The Mora is my back up blade and the Izula is always around my neck. I always seem to "over do it" when it comes to cutting tools though... I have always had 4 on me when I am out. One being my multi tool of choice on that particular day and my 3 blades.

 

[bkduckworth]

This Bark River Snowy River is a sweety!

It weighs right at 4 oz with kydex.

For a light hike I'll pair it up with a Vic Farmer in my pocket and a Sog Mini Pliar in the pack for gear repairs.

I don't have the weights of the Farmer and the Sog in front of me, but all three total less than 8 oz.

Brandon

 

[Pilot1]

My personal choices are:

Falkniven F1
Fiddleback Forger BRKT Production Recluse
ESEE RC-3

 

[Doc13]

CKC Belt knife.:thumbup:

Or any one of the CKC knives for that matter!!

 

[Boondock Saint]

I actually think your setup is a great choice. Ironically, the Mora 511 with a LM Squirt combo is something I've been contemplating trying as my minimum set up for a while.

 

[silenthunterstudios]

I've gotten my sharp stuff down to a Vic OHT Soldier, and my Gossman neck knife.

 

[LuckyC]

I have 2 Mora knives from Ragweed Forge. A #2000 and another one not on the site any more, but similar to a #765, with a 5" drop point blade. I also have an AGRussell Deer Hunter in D2 that I am fond of. The Deer Hunter has a 4" flat ground drop point blade in D2, VG-10, or AUS8 and weighs in at 3.4 oz, according to the web site. The AGRussell Hunter Scalpel and Bird and Trout are similar, only even smaller.