long term camping question.

Silas

Silas

Joined
Jul 22, 2004
Messages
2,628
I was hoping you guys could help me make up my mind so I can go ahead and place an order. Your going camping for a month or more, If you want to
be lost or stranded in this scenario, be my guest. Your in charge of building
the camp and what ever other camp chores you want to add. You had to
choose between useing either the Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri or the Ontario RTAK knife? Now you can have other knives for eating and whatever, but whichever of these two knives you would choose would be for building the camp, clearing brush, firewood, ect.. These two knives are around the same price. I 'm not sure how much the Swamp Rat knives are but if their right around the 100.00 dollar range and there is one of those that you would rather choose let me know. I guess the choice will be between the three of those knives,depending on how much the Swamp Rat is. Thanks in advance.
 
Easy answer, Swamp Rat for reliability, cutting / chopping performance, and solid handle ergonomics and security.

-Cliff
 
I'm with Cliff on this one; go with a Swamp Rat knife.

The Cold Steel kukri may be a lot more of a pain to field-sharpen than the RAT-7 would, so if it were just between those two knives, I'd have to lean towards the RAT-7.

My opinion...for what its worth. :p
 
As a limited field test of a Desert Rat yesterday I built a lean to shelter with a tarp, paracord, and the DR. It easily and comfortably chopped one four-inch aspen and two three-inch saplings, limbed them, cut sections of cord to tie the framework, chopped six hard juniper (cedar) stakes, whittled points on the stakes, and pounded the stakes into the ground. The DR didn't come shaving sharp, and I used it just as it was. At the end the tan coating showed use, but the edge seemed to be about the same as when I started.
The nylon sheath the Desert Rats come in has a small accessory pouch, I've got a diamond hone in it & used that to touch up the edge last night at home. It's sharper than it came now.
I thought the knife was moderately ugly at first, it's growing on me. The balance and heft is great, and your arm will give out before your hand will with that handle in extended chopping. The handle's moderate angle in relation to the blade is more comfortable for me in chopping than a "straight" blade/handle. Easier on the wrist, and a very good design feature. I got the Desert model because the tan handle won't get quite so hot out in the sun as a black one in warmer territory.
I'd trust this one for long & heavy use, and I like the differential heat treatment.
I was originally going to pound the stakes with a rock, but decided the DR should be able to survive it & tried it. Not a lot of knives either big enough or tough enough to give me confidence in doing that.
The Desert/Swamp Rats costs a little more than $100, but they're worth every penny & probably easier to re-sharpen for most people than a khukri design. Also more versatile in general non-chopping uses, I think. You could dig better with the Rats than with a khukri if you had to, for instance.
Some people on the knife forums have indicated inconsistent heat treatment with the RTAKs, and Ontario has been mentioned as being very good about replacing them, but you have to get back to town to call them about it, and if the knife doesn't hold up 90 miles from nowhere when you need it, that could be an irritation.
Denis
 
I took a 7" Camp Tamp on a one week survival trip in July 02, The knife perform beautifully. I split fire wood, build shelters, dug out roots. Swamp Rat makes a great heavy duty blade.
 
Thanks for the info guys. The Swamp Rat it is. I feel a must in doing research on something before I buy it(from past mistakes), and this place is
the best kind of research I have seen. When you come in here you get feedback from experience not hearsay. Now to look for a Rat.
 
Why would you want a big clumsy thing like that. For your purposes, (cutting down saplings), wouldn't a simple hatchet be a lot more effective?
 
For clearing brush, felling saplings (and especially limbing boughs), etc., a long blade with an efficent edge geometry is better than a hatchet. The hatchet works better for splitting and chopping through thick woods.

-Cliff
 
pest-ilence,
I love Scandi "Mora" Blades with a Small Ax or Hatchet, but that combo doesnt work for every sitituation. A good 6-7" blade can be choked up for fine cutting and also is great for chopping and spliting.
 
I never thought about the geography thing I guess. (Around me its mostly big hardwoods so we only see a lot of brush on the edges and in clearings.) I always thought those kukri things the Nepal people use looked like a machete hatchet hybrid maybe one of those would work.
 
Fox,
It's the 9-inch Desert Battle Rat.


Silas,
I'm interested in a good blade (or several, for various purposes), but as a tool and not for collecting. I don't buy a big knife and then go look for something around the house to cut down with it. I know my needs, and a couple of projected needs for worst-case applications. I acquire knives for specific functions, and the primary use for a knife for me is to cut. The seven or eight big knives I have among the group will cut as a primary function, and chop as a secondary function. If I know I'm going to be in camp and chopping, I'll have an axe or a hatchet in camp. Around the house, I use pruning and lopping equipment to remove unwanted tree growth.
A big knife for me is a piece of insurance far from home or camp where I may need (MAY) to chop wood for a fire or a shelter, and it can also do many of the cutting chores of a smaller blade. It has a more dual purpose capability than either a small knife or a hatchet.
A big knife fills a niche, and where I'm going and how I'll be travelling (truck, ATV, or foot) roughly determines what type and size of blade I hang on my belt.
The Desert/Battle Rat is an impressive knife. One thing I've learned over several years of buying tools (and other things) is that money spent on the best is never wasted. You get quite a bit of tool from the Swamp Rat people.
Denis
 
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