looking for a knife to take Mt bike riding

its viewed by many to be on the increase not only in California but in other parts of the USA. just because an attack does not result in death would not make people that are injured think its not serious. Assemblyman Maze Proposes Hunting Mountain Lions
Those living in Mountain Lion territory will receive no assistance this year in dealing with the growing menace. AB 24 has been gutted and now provides only that a study be commissioned to report on the problem.

Assemblyman Maze points out that ten of the fifteen verified mountain lion attacks on humans in California history have occurred over the past fifteen years. However, it is unclear whether this is due to an increase in mountain lion population and more aggressive mountain lion behavior, or to lack of prior reporting and/or encroachment of human development into mountain lion habitat.

According to the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), only about 3% of mountain lion siting reports result in a mountain lion being identified as an imminent threat to public safety and killed.

On the other hand, mountain lion attacks on livestock and pets have increased as more people move into mountain lion habitat, and as new development blocks wildlife corridors. The DFG reports receiving hundreds of reports annually of mountain lions killing pets and livestock. The number of depredation permits issued by the DFG has varied since the passage of the California Wildlife Protection Act. In 1990, 193 permits were issued and 71 lions killed. The number peaked in 1995 with 331 permits issued and 117 lions killed, but has decreased somewhat since then, with 231 permits issued and 115 lions killed in 2004.

AB 24 passed the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife unanimously on April 26th and has been referred to the Appropriations Committee for further review.


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some people believe that the protection of the mt lion has lead to this--- Mountain lion attacks on people apparently increased dramatically since 1986. For example, in California, there were two fatal attacks in 1890 and 1909, and then no further attacks for 77 years, until 1986. From 1986 through 1995, nine verified attacks occurred, an average rate of almost one per year. Attacks were numerous enough to form a support group for attack victims, called California Lion Awareness (CLAW; Outside, 10/95). When the lion population was smaller there were virtually no
attacks on humans. I think lions are interesting but it seems
the attitude of some wild life advocates is that it worth getting
a few humans killed to have more lions in the woods.
 
yah 1 outa 35 million may be the numbers ratio, but of that 35 million, only a small percentage goes into the areas that the lions live in, ie: biking and hiking. Even if its it's 1% of real population, that ratio changes to 1 of 350,000. Three of the main trails I ride at have lions, and even have signs posting that they are in the area, as a warning of some sorts.
 
Cobalt said:
or in place of all that you just carry a mini-gun and take down the forest a-la predator:thumbup:
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Cobalt said:
totally worth the look on the surviving animal's faces:thumbup:
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or get a horse like this

horse_lion1.jpg

mule_attacks_mountain_lion02.jpg


then the horse can give you a nice rug

lion05.jpg
 
jsigone said:
yah 1 outa 35 million may be the numbers ratio, but of that 35 million, only a small percentage goes into the areas that the lions live in, ie: biking and hiking. Even if its it's 1% of real population, that ratio changes to 1 of 350,000. Three of the main trails I ride at have lions, and even have signs posting that they are in the area, as a warning of some sorts.
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yes the way some act all 35 million have close harmless encounters with mt. lions.:p
 
Hi jsigone

I live north of you in the LA basin, and have been mountain biking here for the past couple decades. I ride mostly in the Santa Anas, the San Gabriels and the San Bernadinos.

I have seen mountain lions here, and seen plenty of tracks, including some fresh enough that the grains of dust were still falling from the sharp lines between the pads.

No bad encounters yet, but I always try to ride with a slower friend! (joke!)

Personally, I always carry a knife, not because I think I'm Tarzan and will quickly dispatch any lion that growls at me, but cuz I'm ornery and prefer to have a chance to at least give the lion indigestion when he eats me!

It's a bit above your price range, and a bit longer than you want, but I'd recommend a Bark River Slither, particularly the version www.knifeworks.com carries - it comes with a good fitting kydex sheath that can be attached to things like Camelbak shoulder straps. The design of this particular knife works very well for both stabbing and slashing. And it works fine for slicing apples and cheese, or making a fuzz stick for a fire!

Cheers!
Steve
 
I've been hiking in the So Cal foothills for 40 years. Never had any encounters.

The rangers say that to discourage cougars, "Look large, sound large, don't run away." If you run they will pursue. Better to stand your ground and yell.

Haven't had to test that yet. Hope none of us ever has to.
 
update:

I ordered a Boker Fixed SUBCOM and the all black SUBCOM Folder, hope to have them some time next week. I'll see how I can mount the fixed blade to the shoulder straps with it's stock shelth. Selling point for the Boker was the overall length, was about 2-3" shorter then all the others I was looking at, of course I gave up some blade length but it was a good compromise for me. I got both knives for under what I was looking to spend just on the fixed blade alone.
 
A guy my Dad used to work with killed a mountain lion with a Buck 110 he had in a belt sheath/pouch. However the cat mauled him to within inches of his life before he got the knife out/open and stabbed it. He was very lucky that he got it out before he was killed. Now he is faced with multiply skin grafts, reconstructive surgery to his face, etc, etc. My point is that you should carry a knife for trailside repairs, not fending off mountain lions, because by the time you even got it out, you would be mauled half to death. Any small folder in a pocket would work good.
 
better late than cat poo? really how can you say a knife is not worth carrying when it saved the guys life? a buck 110 would have been in a belt pouch, so a clipped blade faster to open one handed knife would have enabled the man to get steel into the attacking cat much faster. sure a pistol would have been great but not every state will allow legal carry. so I'd still rather have a blade than nothing.
 
What I ment was this guy was extremely lucky, the chances of someone else doing that are next to nil. I was just trying to make the point that it doesn't make sense to carry a fixed blade (which you may fall on and stab yourself) just for the purpose of killing a mountain lion when there is little chance of being attacked and if you ever were, an even smaller chance of actually killing the cat with a knife.
 
FLYBYU44 said:
What I ment was this guy was extremely lucky, the chances of someone else doing that are next to nil. I was just trying to make the point that it doesn't make sense to carry a fixed blade (which you may fall on and stab yourself) just for the purpose of killing a mountain lion when there is little chance of being attacked and if you ever were, an even smaller chance of actually killing the cat with a knife.
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if i was attacked by a mt lion i'd rather have something than nothing. theres little chance of me needing a pistol and folder when i hike but i wear them. better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them. a sheathed knife wouldn't stab you if you fell. that's the whole idea behind a sheath is to render the sharp blade harmless. no a blade may not be idea to fight back against a mt lion but it would sure be better than your fingernails. i'm the sort that even if a grizzly attacked me i'd still stick it till i was dead. why not?
 
FLYBYU44 said:
. . . a fixed blade which you may fall on and stab yourself . . .
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I've been carrying a fixed blade in the woods and hills for over 40 years, and never fallen on it and stabbed myself.

I think you're a whole lot more likely to fall off the side of a trail than to fall on your knife and stab yourself.

Be careful walking out there! Crawling might be safer, but then you'd look more like prey to the cougars.

Oh dear!:D
 
That's walking not ripping through the woods at 30mph on a mountain bike, I would be a little worried about having anything sharp on me in that type of stituation. I used to race mountain bikes so I know what type of damage you can do at high speeds just hitting a twig or something. When you can knock yourself unconcious with a helmet on then there is a good chance of the knife going through the sheath and stabbing you. I've sliced the back of my leg open to the bone on a chainring, which is far duller then a knife. Just not a chance I would take that's all I'm saying. And I never said that he shouldn't carry anything, I said he should carry a folder, which is what I carry all the time when I'm riding, it's alot safer.
 
i don't think a knife can go through it's own sheath that way. you would have to fall on a sheathed fixed blade that was held upright in a solid position to manage that IMO.
 
I ride on and off road with a Leatherman Wave with bit-kit and the folfer du jour. The leatherman has all the hex-bits and screw heads compatible with my bikes while the folder is there to keep my 4000+ day streak of carrying a folder alive....
 
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