Looking for a utility/camp knife

L

L Brent-Hurst

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Aug 5, 2015
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Hi BladeForums,
As per the title, I am currently looking for a new camp knife that I can use on hiking expeditions, and canoe trips. I would like a fixed blade, preferably between 4 and 5 inches, that can be used for food and fire prep (maybe making some kindling) and other basic camp tasks. I already have a saw, an axe, and a large survival knife as part of my system, so it doesn't neet to be too beefy or heavy duty, and I would prefer a better slicing knife. While canoeing, I am obviously in a very wet environment, and often have to get out of the boat to wade through rapids or shallow areas, so stainless steel is a must. Currently, some options I have been looking at are the Survive Knives GSO 4.1 or 4.7 in CPM-20CV, the Bark River Bravo 1 LE in S35VN, and the Bradford Knives Guardian 4 (I can't decide on a steel, as I don't know enough about the differences between M390, S30V, and N690).
Thanks,
Liam
 
Have you looked at the Bahco Curved Blade Wrecking Knife? That thing's a beast & sounds like what you're looking for. Don't remember if it's stainless, but there's a Hultafors Craftsman that looks great. There are also Glock knives (again, a beast- but maybe a bit bigger than what you're looking for & not stainless). Oh, and all of these are under $40. You could also look into a Buck Diamondback or something similar- don't know how cheap it'll be, though.

Another option you might want to consider is trying to get one custom-forged. You could try Karambit.com, but be warned that things can get expensive real quick (for one thing, it seems that they order steel in bulk if it's not one they already have & I think it's only 154CM & titanium that they have on hand). That said, you could probably lay out all the dimensions as you like.

Food For Thought: I'd suggest going with something similar to a butcher knife with the overhanging blade & a top corner so it can slide along meat & bone without the point digging in- also maybe a bit of curve for putting more edge against your food. Basically, like the Nessmuck or the Butcher Knife from Habillus Bush Tools- only in something stainless. Titanium won't rust at all, but it's pricey.
 
All my camp/hike FBs are all carbon steel, yesterday was looking at the Spyderco Aqua Salt per H-1 rust proof but no experience with it.
 
Check out JK knives. He has a sub forum here. He's priced around or lower than bark river, and he was a pleasure to work with.
Here is my Tobys knife which is a tad smaller than you are looking for. Another plus for him is he will (reasonably) modify the dimensions and shape of all his current models without changing the price.
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I'm not going to throw a bunch of suggestions out there, the search feature can award you a plethora of info on the Knives your looking at as well as a dozen "survival knife" recommendations the past month or so.

I will say this though; m390 will slice the best, hold an edge the longest, but may sacrifice a bit of toughness to achieve those benefits (and will be toughest to sharpen).
N690 (almost identical in makeup to vg10) will give you the best stain resistence and afford pretty good toughness while being the easiest to sharpen, but will sacrifice some edge holding... S30V will give you a balance between the two in regard to edge holding, toughness, and stain resistance, and s35vn is often considered an improved, tougher, knife specific steel spun off of s30v and designed by knife makers, though I've seen mixed reviews on it whether it's actually an improvement or not. Some love it, some not so impressed.so the jury is still out.
 
Have you looked into any Fallknivens? They are all VG10, and regarded well. The only complaint against them really is that the VG10 can be a bit brittle if you're into chopping... however, you've already got the "big knife" tasks covered, so this should be fine for you.

There is also the Mora stainless line. They excel at the smaller tasks that you are describing, and don't break the bank (and whittle/carve like nobodies business). If it were me, this is what I'd be looking at, simply because they're my preferred "second" knife for camp tasks, they are cheap and easy to replace if you loose one in the water, and they come in a bunch of variations and colors.

I would also submit that you might check out knives in cpm-3v. It is "nearly" stainless, and with any degree of care it should work fine for you in that type of environment (as long as you're not regularly cutting underwater, etc).

Good luck :).
 
edit: Ignore, BK15 is coated carbon (should still work fine, but OP said stainless).

The Guardian line is fantastic, I've heard nothing but good things about Fallkniven and Survive, I'd suggest going for a 5"+ blade if you're really serious about preparing wood, 4" blade is hard to baton with.
 
I would have also recommended a Becker BK-15 and to leave it coated. The small section of uncoated edge that ground would stay rust free with some basic care and touch up sharpening here and there.

However, ruling the BK-15 out, I do not know you budget so there world could be your oyster but here are many choices including those already mentioned as well as Chris Reeve.
 
I sometimes have a hard time choosing, but I think my favorite 4"-5" fixed blade right now is the ZT0180. The steel is Vanadis 4 Extra. I don't know how that steel compares to the one's you mentioned in the OP, but giving it's first sharpening took a bit of work, so I would expect it to hold up at least as well as most others.

I just recently bought a Ka-Bar Dog's Head. It's a 7" if I remember correctly, and I haven't had a chance to use/test it yet. But the basic Ka-Bar Marine style is available in shorter lengths and rubberized grips for durability also. Only 1095 Cro-Van, so not a super steel, but I suspect I'll enjoy it just the same.

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I have looked into Fallknivens, but from what I've seen they're a bit too expensive for me. I would'nt like to go to far above $200. I had a mora last year and lost it, which is why I'm looking for a new knife. I thought that it was great for the price, but I would prefer something more substantial, and with nicer steel. Do you think that 3V would survive in an environment where it could be wet a lot (sometimes I am in above my waist in the water)? I would of course oil it and dry it off if it got wet, but I am still worried that it would rust on me. If so, I think that I would with the GSO 4.1, as the only reason I haven't gotten it is mixed reviews of 20CV
 
I already have an axe and saw to deal with wood processing, the only thing that I would have to do is maybe make a bit of kindling.
 
The Gryphon M10 (Google it; not available from a BF dealer) in full flat grind is VG-10 and TiNi coated, so it should do well for rust resistance and slicing. There's also the Spyderco Aqua Salt, which is H-1 and fully rustproof, although not FFG. There's also the slightly less expensive G. Sakai Sabi knife, also in H-1 (again, Google it). Finally there's the Ontario SK5, which is available both coated and not in 154CM, also as a FFG.
 
A Fallkniven F1 with Fallkniven micarta or Bark River handles (non-plastic). Very classy. Very useful.
 
I like the Mission MPS 10 Ti. It is light, corrosion proof, easy to sharpen, and a useful size and shape.
 
If you are considering the Bravo-1 (of which I have several), check out it's little brother, the Gunny - same profile, just a bit smaller, and perfect around camp:



 
When I was looking for a utility/camp knife, my standards were very much like yours. I bought a Benchmade 162 and have been very happy with it but, the grip does take some getting used to.

However, if I had to do it again, the Survive! GSO line would be at the top of my list. The Bradford Guardian series would be somewhere in the running along with the Benchmade 162. The now discontinued Benchmade Rant would also be under consideration. The Ontario SK5 offers a lot of knife for the money, so it too would be on my list for consideration.

Please let us know what you end up with.
 
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