Light traveler's knives

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Sep 6, 2012
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I have a dream about the time after the covid 19 crisis. My dream is to gather a light package, something that I can carry on my person and travel. Not anything extreme, just walk, travel by bus, train and bicycle. Go see the backroads, see something of the wilderness while I still can, before I'm too old. Villages, forests, beaches and mountains, castles and small houses.

For that I would want a knife that would serve me in all kinds of sircumstances. So far during my travels before the covid I have carried with me usually two kinds of knives. One is small folder to carry in my pocket. A Victorinox alox pioneer has traveled with me a lot and served me well. I wish it had a corkscrew, but other than that it is fine. The other knife has most of the time been a longer single blade folder, but that leaves something to be desired. For durability and hygiene it should be fixed blade.

A travelers fixed blade should be light. The blade lenght should be 4-5 inches (100-125 mm) for food prep. Full flat grind is in my opinion needed for the same reason. Still it should have enough spine to be able to baton small firewood, so the spine thickness should be 3.5 - 4 mm, but more than that is overkill.

I have two knives that fit the bill more or less. The Brisa Nessmuk has been my do anything knife for some time. The scandi grind is not optimal for food prep, but it will do. I have also Brisa Trapper 115 FFG, that has seen little use. It has G 10 handles that need to be modified (I have sanded them to get more grip), but the stainless 12 C 27 steel makes it hassle-free, I don't have worry about the rust. I have convexed the edge and it slices very well but needs to tested on firewood.

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Nessmuk with Brisa Elver.
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Do you agree? If you have traveler's knife, show us!
 
I don’t know where you’re from, but where I live A 4-5” full-tang fixed blade wouldn’t be my idea of lightweight or a what I’d carry if I planned on using public transportation, or traveling in areas where I’d be a wandering stranger.

For me an Opinel immediately comes to mind, paired with an SAK of some sort.
 
I don’t know where you’re from, but where I live A 4-5” full-tang fixed blade wouldn’t be my idea of lightweight or a what I’d carry if I planned on using public transportation, or traveling in areas where I’d be a wandering stranger.

For me an Opinel immediately comes to mind, paired with an SAK of some sort.

Of course I would not carry a fixed blade on my person, but in my backbag. And the Brisa (Enzo) knives are surprisingly light for the blade lenght, because of the skeletonised tangs.
 
Very Pocketable and low weight 3 layer SAK Huntsman for the corkscrew. Also has a functional wood saw, and a handi-dandi scissors, that get more use than expected on wife/girl friend's loose threads, and wild/unruly hairs.
(suggestion: don't go after her loose threads and/or wild or unruly hairs with a knife blade.)

MORAKNIV Number 1 for the fixed blade, Choice of Carbone, Rosfre, and layered blade.
 
Put one of these in your pocket!
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More seriously, as afishhunter afishhunter suggested, this would be my answer to batonning and uncorking.
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Except I don't really like to twist my pocket-knife, so I like a dedicated corkscrew, and if I've got a backpack, why not?
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This is a favorite of mine because that's my local hospital on the handle.
For the fixed blade, in this day and age of paranoid trigger-happiness, I'd carry an obvious kitchen knife with a blade protector. They make them bigger than these.
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Except we're imagining better days. You can't go much lighter than this old Frost's of Mora.
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Funny sheath they gave it.
Or if we must baton, maybe something like this old Kabar.
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Or an H-15. Saber-ground, but very thin. Or my Grohman #1. Or my Jagdnicker.
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Except stainless make sense in this application, and so does plastic. The Frost's.
 
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Fascinating idea :cool: But I think I might just take a lockback to keep things very minimal ;)
Stainless of course, perhaps a Fontenille-Pataud locking Laguiole at 10.5cm you have to have some elegance on an extended tour.

Or this which arrived last week, not my usual thing but I've really taken to it. Otter/Mercator Copper handled lockback in stainless, also about 10.5cm but slim, no play in the blade or lock and I reckon fire curls cab be done- especially if there's birch, birch-bark (koivu/tuohi, eller björk/näver ;)) lurking about, bark is great fire starter and yet light. The Mercator has a small bail so belt or pack carry is in order and no scales to rust, foul up, chip or shrink.Hardy!

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I don’t know where you’re from, but where I live A 4-5” full-tang fixed blade wouldn’t be my idea of lightweight or a what I’d carry if I planned on using public transportation, or traveling in areas where I’d be a wandering stranger.

For me an Opinel immediately comes to mind, paired with an SAK of some sort.

This!

Since my wife and I retired, we've been spending our kids inheritance and traveling as much as possible. Key West fishing/partying trips, rafting on the Rogue river, trout fishing at Mammoth Lake in the Sierra Nevada's, road trips to and from Mission Viejo in Orange County California to include the Big Bend park in Texas, Pipe Organ park in Arizona, and some other places.

I've yet to run into any cutting that I needed a fixed bade for, no matter cleaning fish, preparing dinner over a camp fire. My SAK and the better half Opinel number 8 have done it. But while traveling by air, a SAK goes through in my bag and if I really need something else, I'll buy a cheap paring knife and dispose of it when we fly out. Easier if theres nothing in the bag for TSA to get bent over. We like to travel light, so a 16.95 SAK recruit from Academy , Dicks, Walmart, Bass Pro, or even mailed to where we'll be staying works out fine.
 
I have a Victorinox Officers model that had a corkscrew which I picked up on one of my trips to Europe as a pocket carry. It worked well. I have on older Puma I carried for 3 years when I lived in Bavaria. I also used to carry a Jagdknicker there with never an issue, even in the cities.

My last trip over, way back in 2011, I spent 3 weeks with nothing more than an overnight bag and traveled Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. It wasn't hard at all, and I'm dearly waiting to go back. I've had to postpone plans for 2 year now, and it's uncertain 2021 is going to be any better.
 
This would be my traveler's combo if I needed light weight with plenty of utility. I always carry the Vic Evolution Grip 14 multi-tool. The folder is a Fantoni Dweller in cocobolo and 19c27 stainless @ 1.8 oz. and 3.8" closed. The fixed blade is a ROSarms Fry II in birch bark and Russian 110x18 stainless @ 5.0 oz. (including the sheath) and 8.5" OAL.

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Fascinating idea :cool: But I think I might just take a lockback to keep things very minimal ;)
Stainless of course, perhaps a Fontenille-Pataud locking Laguiole at 10.5cm you have to have some elegance on an extended tour.

Or this which arrived last week, not my usual thing but I've really taken to it. Otter/Mercator Copper handled lockback in stainless, also about 10.5cm but slim, no play in the blade or lock and I reckon fire curls cab be done- especially if there's birch, birch-bark (koivu/tuohi, eller björk/näver ;)) lurking about, bark is great fire starter and yet light. The Mercator has a small bail so belt or pack carry is in order and no scales to rust, foul up, chip or shrink.Hardy!

I3Ejr8T.jpg
And an added bonus for these times
"After rigorous testing and evaluation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency registered copper alloys as antimicrobial public health materials. Frequently touched surfaces made from uncoated EPA-registered copper alloy materials continuously kill bacteria* within two hours of contact when cleaned regularly." :cool::thumbsup:
 
Alox SA Pioneer and either a Opinel or a Douk Douk. I would say a Mora for a fixed blade, or at least small fixed blade with a 3.5 to 4 inch blade, like the Manly Patriot, or smaller the LTW Frontier Vally or Enzo necker. What about the LTW Next Gen as an honorable mention? Lightweight stuff, some basic tools for your adventures!! If you need anymore things, a small BOB (Bug out bag) for the car or truck.
 
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