Light weight knife for hiking - have to admit, it makes a difference.

I’m a fat old man and need every advantage I can get so on hikes and trail for me it’s a Buck 110 slim pro. It’s light, strong and comes with a pocket clip and I hardly know it’s there in my rfp. Canvas micarta handle and S30V clip point blade with thumb stud. There’s a S35vn model available and I have seen a drop point out there somewhere. I got mine on sale for under $65 last year and it has proven to be a tough and very capable knife. It’s not a knife to end all knives as the slim design while making for nice compact pocket carry is not for extended time usage. It’s a quick easy worker for intermittent use and a more moderate duty concerning ergonomics. Not that the knife couldn’t take heavy duty work but my old hands would cramp up after long hard use so that’s my limitations. In that case I’ll use a fixed blade with a more robust Ergo handle.
 
Spyderco H1 models are extra light due to no liners, just pick the size you are most comfortable with. A Mora is light and durable too and cheap enough to leave behind if you want to shed some ounces;)
 
Any Swiss Army Knife, Opinel, and a Mora or good medium fixed blade. That other fixed blade could be a Fiddleback prod Kephart or a Kephart of some kind. Jk is a good one too. If you are just going Walk-About to enjoy where your travels take you. The best tool is knowing how to use and what you can and cannot do with them.
 
I just gifted it away but the spyderco manix LW is another one that has treated me well on many day hikes. The ball bearing lock is very sturdy and the handle shape lends itself well to working hard when needed. The price is very tolerable as well, IMO.

The 3 main folders I played with for hiking purposes were buck 110 Lt (fave), manix LW, and cold steel goldeneye. I like my cold steel recon as well but it has become more of a self-defense option lately so I don't use it as much to retain the edge condition.

I still prefer small fixed blades and designed one with the concept of a lightweight but comfortable knife for hiking and fire-making. The knife is about 2.2 oz with osage scales, around 3.5oz with a basic leather pocket sheath (no belt loop).
 
jackknife said:
....Now the gear hounds think you need a 500 dollar outfit to go for a walk.
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$500, only when I have my camera gear with me and then it is more like a few thousand for a dayhike. But the purpose of the hike is to have fun and take pictures, not grind out a bunch of miles. Most of the other stuff is geared toward protecting the photo equipment, and myself in the event of weather (usually rain).
 
jackknife said:
Now the gear hounds think you need a 500 dollar outfit to go for a walk.
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Well, depending on the weather, its not hard to hit that $500 mark today. A good pair of shoes is generally $100 give or take. The Merrels I wear every day were about $90 I think, nothing fancy, just shoes....I have a pair of Bean boots for the winter, what do they cost now, over $100 I'm sure... A pair of jeans can set you back $40 or more these days, dress pants even more than that. Whats a shirt cost, $30, $40 or more today for something decent? A Carhartt shirt maybe $50... a Carhartt hoodie can cost $60, my Arborwear pullover was a bit more than that, its nothing special, just a heavy sweatshirt. How much does a decent jacket cost today? $100? $200 or more depending on what you have...I usually wear a Filson Cruiser in colder weather when out and about with the dog, that was about $275 years ago when I bought it, whats it now, $400 or so? If you wear a hat, how much did it cost? $20, $30, $50, maybe more? I have a very functional Filson tin cloth insulated packer hat that I wear all the time from fall through to spring. My wife calls it "that silly hat". Its not fancy, but its well made, waterproof and warm. Its also expensive, as is most any good hat. So, if you think about it $500 is not at all unusual or even unexpected.
 
Arathol said:
Well, depending on the weather, its not hard to hit that $500 mark today. A good pair of shoes is generally $100 give or take. The Merrels I wear every day were about $90 I think, nothing fancy, just shoes....I have a pair of Bean boots for the winter, what do they cost now, over $100 I'm sure... A pair of jeans can set you back $40 or more these days, dress pants even more than that. Whats a shirt cost, $30, $40 or more today for something decent? A Carhartt shirt maybe $50... a Carhartt hoodie can cost $60, my Arborwear pullover was a bit more than that, its nothing special, just a heavy sweatshirt. How much does a decent jacket cost today? $100? $200 or more depending on what you have...I usually wear a Filson Cruiser in colder weather when out and about with the dog, that was about $275 years ago when I bought it, whats it now, $400 or so? If you wear a hat, how much did it cost? $20, $30, $50, maybe more? I have a very functional Filson tin cloth insulated packer hat that I wear all the time from fall through to spring. My wife calls it "that silly hat". Its not fancy, but its well made, waterproof and warm. Its also expensive, as is most any good hat. So, if you think about it $500 is not at all unusual or even unexpected.
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I just bought a pair of alpacca socks for $50. I think I got price gouged.

It's weird all my dogs want to fight the socks, they never done it to other socks...strange.
 
Really going to depend on the local conditions. For me, I'd generally be pretty happy with just my bugout, vic rucksack or izula (though that backpacker pro is sexy) as my absolute lightest, but then when it comes to fire making, most of the wood here can be broken by hand, or destroys chainsaws. If I was covering off-track somewhere that leaving a trail was alright, then a lightweight machete, but honestly when the most common method of moving through the type of bush we have here is called "Lantana bashing" you either just push it aside, or in the case of the army, they throw the lightest guy into it, crawl over him, throw the second lightest guy..... and just smash a path. A little farther into the outback there might be room for something to baton with, but again so much of the timber is so gnarly or hard that anything bigger than a 3 inch blade is wasted effort. RC-3 or LT W nextgen, heavier, but both can take a beating.

Skills to pay the bills, you can carry a house-builder's tools, or carry a tarp. I know that to most here a couple hundo on a knife is nothing but that same price for some fabric is sacreligious. But at the same time, if the rules are arbitrary, they have to be questioned. Why even carry the knife, and what can it reasonably do in the area you will find yourself?
 
Houlahound said:
I had to shed a bit of gear during a pretty brutal hike recently thru steep country. I just felt very restricted and over burdened and didn't think I was going to make it out. Something I just never would have thought possible as a younger man.

What is your lightest weight knife or knife combo to carry for deep hikes??

How do you mount or carry them?
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Mora Kansbol
 
Arathol said:
Well, depending on the weather, its not hard to hit that $500 mark today. A good pair of shoes is generally $100 give or take. The Merrels I wear every day were about $90 I think, nothing fancy, just shoes....I have a pair of Bean boots for the winter, what do they cost now, over $100 I'm sure... A pair of jeans can set you back $40 or more these days, dress pants even more than that. Whats a shirt cost, $30, $40 or more today for something decent? A Carhartt shirt maybe $50... a Carhartt hoodie can cost $60, my Arborwear pullover was a bit more than that, its nothing special, just a heavy sweatshirt. How much does a decent jacket cost today? $100? $200 or more depending on what you have...I usually wear a Filson Cruiser in colder weather when out and about with the dog, that was about $275 years ago when I bought it, whats it now, $400 or so? If you wear a hat, how much did it cost? $20, $30, $50, maybe more? I have a very functional Filson tin cloth insulated packer hat that I wear all the time from fall through to spring. My wife calls it "that silly hat". Its not fancy, but its well made, waterproof and warm. Its also expensive, as is most any good hat. So, if you think about it $500 is not at all unusual or even unexpected.
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Guys who use a $40,000 truck to get within 10 yards of the local picnic table are not going to understand this. But they will still complain. LOL
 
Three lighter weight, but small fixed blades:

Enzo/Brisa Necker in 12C23
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GEC slicer in 440C and Moki Banff in VG-10
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The Enzo is the sturdiest of the three above, but still has good cutting performance.

The GEC is the lightest weight, but the blade stock is thin (it's sold as a kitchen paring knife, but I use it as neck knife while hiking).

The Moki is in between the other two as far as durability in an "extreme" circumstance, but with out weighing the two, it feels heavier than the Enzo.
 
-Bahco or Silky folding saw
-White River M1 Backpacker Pro (or another small, comfortable fixed blade)
-Leatherman Micra or SAK Tinker or Compact (for the tweezers/scissors/etc.)
 
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I don't do that long hiking stuff. Seems like it would be hard to beat a Morakin and SAK Lumberjack.
 
NelsonIII said:
Swiss Army Classic. All I need for hiking. I wont be cutting anything. Leave no trace.
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I’m betting that the Classic is the most-carried knife among lightweight hikers/backpackers. I recall back in the ‘90s(?) reading a book on hiking, where the author extolled the virtues of the Classic, then said he was considering “cutting off” the nail file/screwdriver blade because 1) He wanted to shave off even more ‘weight’ and 2) He thought the tool was useless. I can understand wanting to go lightweight, but there’s a point where it becomes ridiculous.

Jim
 
James Y said:
I’m betting that the Classic is the most-carried knife among lightweight hikers/backpackers. I recall back in the ‘90s(?) reading a book on hiking, where the author extolled the virtues of the Classic, then said he was considering “cutting off” the nail file/screwdriver blade because 1) He wanted to shave off even more ‘weight’ and 2) He thought the tool was useless. I can understand wanting to go lightweight, but there’s a point where it becomes ridiculous.

Jim
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That was Colin Fletcher, author of 'The Complete Walker' and the follow up books like "The Complete Walker 2' and so on. He talks about his 6 inch fixed blade he carried in book one, but by book two he had ditched the fixed bade as it was never used, and he'd bought the little SAK. He never used the nail file blade so considered cutting it off.

Fletcher was quite the accepted expert on backpacking, and did the solo hike the length of the Grand Canyon and some other pretty epic trips. He had quite a bit of knowledge of outdoor survival from him being a British Commando in WW2, and living off the land when parachuted into hostile territory.
 
When weight isn't a worry (most of the time I'm in the woods) I carry a Becker BK20, when I really need to pare down my weight I'll carry my Fiddleback Forge Bushfinger, and when I'm really trying to grind out the miles and am not intending to spend any amount of time camping anywhere along the way I'll carry my Morakniv Eldris.

I'll almost always be carrying a slipjoint or lightweight folder like my Spyderco Native 5, but those are such lightweights that they don't even count towards my weight totals.

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Houlahound said:
Hiking is not really the best word for what I do but it is the word everyone understands. I just find an interesting ridge to walk along or peak to head to and see where it all leads me. If I knew where I was going I wouldn't bother going. Not knowing where you are going makes it an adventure and getting out of a situation makes it a challenge you know you have to win.
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It also sometimes leaves those cool, dried up skeletons you see on old westerns. :cool:

I take my Basic 9 for bushwhackin’. It’s not all that heavy, and it’s worth it if I have to clear a path or two.
 
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