looking for some advice

teddyashe

teddyashe

Joined
Oct 29, 2009
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A little back-story:
So i've got this big backpacking trip planned for the first 2 weeks of September. A 12 day hike thru Denali National Park in Alaska. Some of the most beautiful landscapes in the country. However, parts of the park are referred to as "grizzly alley." Also, during this time of the year the bears are gearing up for the upcoming months of hibernation. the catch - the fact that Denali National Park doesn't allow firearms (so we've been told). There have been some changes in laws recently to allow firearms in national parks but I don't think they are all encompassing at the moment. At the moment I am limited to a couple measly cans of bear mace.

Long story short I am looking for an ass kicking knife to take with me. Granted I realize that if a grizzly bear is close enough that I have to use a knife - I'm pretty much screwed. But what if... There are other predators out there that a knife could defend against and possibly save my life so it still seems somewhat practical to carry a decently sized knife out there. And grizzlies arent nearly as aggressive as say a black bear or wolf. If anything - maybe I'll be able to sleep soundly?

What I've narrowed it down to based on price to size to quality:
ZT 0100
or
Kanetsune "oh-wazashi" http://japan-blades.com/recommend/sale/3927.html

I'd love to have a busse but the money just aint there. Which of the 2 would you pick or give me a suggestion (no higher than 300)

thanks in advance ( i did watch "The Grey" last week, maybe im freakin out)
 
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With this being Alaska and the good ol USA, can you carry at least a large caliber handgun if they don't allow hunting rifles in the park? I wouldn't want to embark on such a trip without a good handgun at the very minimum.
 
I mainly wanted to post to give you credit for using the proper term "advice" instead of "advise" like you normally see.

That said... I would recommend a Cold Steel Recon Scout in San Mai III steel. I have one and I love it. I am a big fan of convex edges and it's a lot of knife for $250ish.
 
Get whatever knife you'll enjoy using, because it won't be useful for a bear attack--bear-strength pepper spray is way more effective than anything, easy and lighter to carry and quicker to deploy. Plus, you'll probably want to use the knife after the 2 week hike, so think beyond Denali.

If it were me, I'd go for something bush-crafty--useful for making shelter and fire.

Cheers,
Daniel
 
I've been to Denali. You'll learn from the guides up there - the best option is to let the bears know your coming. They will get out of your way. Being loud, calling out as you walk, and generally giving the bears time to get away from you is the best option. What you don't want to do is sneak up on and surprise them.

Additionally - as you will also learn in all liklihood, black bears do eat carrion. They don't care if your dead. But black bears are very scared, and can be fought off. There are cases of 11 year old girls fighting off black bears with fishing poles. Grizzly is another matter. They do not eat carrion. You can play dead and they will not eat you. But you can't fight them off. They will kill you, plain and simple. You can distinguish between the two breeds instantly because the grizzly have a gigantic hump over their shoulders while the black bears are smooth.

While I was in Denali I had occasion to see a Grizzly. I actually saw quite a few, ranging from about 50 feet away to about 1000 feet. All in all I saw probably 20 bears? When I saw the bear from 1000 feet away it was on a hike. The bear decided to take a dead sprint towards us. I will tell you something - it covered distance far faster than I imagine that I could have covered that same distance. In fact, even from so far, it was actually moving so fast that it was rather alarming. I don't think it could have maintained that pace and it did eventually stop and head off in another direction.

Long story short : you cannot run. And when you finally do see bears up close and personal your going to realize a little bit of the futility of trying to knife a grizzly. The guide told me that he shot a grizzly with a .457 rifle twice and followed it bleeding a trail of blood as big as his thigh for 2 miles. Fortunately a little preventative care goes a long way. The bears don't want to attack you. Don't worry too much. Enjoy the trip - it is great out there.
 
+1, what he said.


expwmbat said:
Get whatever knife you'll enjoy using, because it won't be useful for a bear attack--bear-strength pepper spray is way more effective than anything, easy and lighter to carry and quicker to deploy. Plus, you'll probably want to use the knife after the 2 week hike, so think beyond Denali.

If it were me, I'd go for something bush-crafty--useful for making shelter and fire.

Cheers,
Daniel
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teddyashe said:
Long story short I am looking for an ass kicking knife to take with me. Granted I realize that if a grizzly bear ...
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I'm no biologist, but it seems that wild animals aren't any more threatened by "ass-kicking" knives as they are by "non-ass kicking" knives.

Bob the Bear: Hey, that human's knife is black coated, has a skull stenciled on it, and has "Tac" in it's name!
Stan the Bear: Run!

I'd get something lightweight and functional. Mora for example. You will use it, and you'd be just as likely to kill a mountain lion with that thing as you would be with any other knife.
 
expwmbat said:
Get whatever knife you'll enjoy using, because it won't be useful for a bear attack--bear-strength pepper spray is way more effective than anything, easy and lighter to carry and quicker to deploy. Plus, you'll probably want to use the knife after the 2 week hike, so think beyond Denali.

If it were me, I'd go for something bush-crafty--useful for making shelter and fire.

Cheers,
Daniel
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Beat me to it! :thumbup:
 
If you want a big old jungle chopper I'd look at the Scrapyard Sycko 911 or the BK9. I have no experience with the 2 you mentioned so can't say. I've been to Denali and saw Grizzly at distance. Then I went to a zoo where they had a 1000+ lb grizzly and saw him up close. A knife won't help. A better tactic is to keep the bear spray handy and use whatever knife you get to cut a long walking stick and sharpen one end. Useful for the hike and better than a knife against a large predator, at least it could momentarily allow you to keep some distance. Our guide carried a .454 Ruger in the park. Someone asked him if it was to shoot bears, he said no, it was to try and scare the bear.

Another thing I would put some thought into is moose. They are much more aggressive than bears. Our guide told us that if we saw a bear he would have us shout and wave our arms. He said if we walked up on a moose not to look for him because he'd be running thw other way.
 
Get a Himalayan Imports M43. The bear will still kill you but you will at least you'll inflict a rather nasty wound on it before it tears you to pieces.

Forget about knive as defense for a bear. You read over on the gun forums that very few guns are terribly effective in many cases...in bear attack. A 1000 pound animal is attacking you, probably from ambush ('cause you sneaked up on it, not it on you), are you going to be able to draw your weapon and hit the bear in a place that will stop it? No.

1 person in a million has any trouble with bears. Get a knife that you can use...HI M43 would still be real handy but WOW it's big...and forget about using it on a bear.
 
Here is the Denali firearms policy http://www.nps.gov/dena/parkmgmt/firearms.htm The short of it is, if you're legally allowed to possess a firearm according to federal law and the law of the state you're in then you're ok having one in a national park.

As far as I know guns are allowed in all national parks and an individual park cannot ban them. What they do say is that shooting them is prohibited so you can't go target practicing or hunting. If you're not allowed to shoot them it sounds like a defacto ban though but I guess the point is that if used defensively against a wild animal or human they're not likely to fine/prosecute you.
 
marcinek said:
Can one chop in a National Park like Denali?
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I wouldn't think so, not very much at least. Down here I think you're only allowed to cut something that's already down. That's just what I refer to those big honkin' knives as.
 
Bigfatts said:
I wouldn't think so, not very much at least. Down here I think you're only allowed to cut something that's already down. That's just what I refer to those big honkin' knives as.
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Thanks! I thought that was the case, and it has always made me wonder what the advantage to lugging a chopper in your backpack for 12 days through a National Park would be.
 
I should look into the gun laws a little closer. cause if i can bring my 12 gauge then I'll load that thing with slugs and problem solved. although it will weight 12+ pounds. But I still am looking for a blade that will make a grizzly piss his britches.

that kukri does look pretty badass
 
Carrying a loaded 12 ga- while effective- will get very old, very fast. Just carrying one on a day hunting trip gets old, and that's without carrying a pack and other gear you will have with you.
 
teddyashe said:
I should look into the gun laws a little closer. cause if i can bring my 12 gauge then I'll load that thing with slugs and problem solved. although it will weight 12+ pounds. But I still am looking for a blade that will make a grizzly piss his britches.

that kukri does look pretty badass
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You're more interested in trying to look like a bad ass rather than get good and practical advice from people? From my experience, the ones I've seen carrying all the "bad ass" gear are the ones lookin' pretty foolish.
 
Been to Alaska twice; Denali twice. The guides there recommend that you make noise as you walk, so you don't surprise the bears. If surprised, they will attack.
The best advice is to wear a necklace or bracelet with little silver bells on it, and to buy a whistle and blow it occasionally so the bears will hear you. Both of these items are widely available in the Denali gift-shop.
Grizzlies are normally more peaceful than the much smaller blacks, but in the fall the grizzly bears eat anything they can find, before they go into hibernation. You can help yourself by watching for bear-tracks in the stream-beds, mud or snow. The track of the grizzly is different from the black. The black bear's track is much smaller and the prints are closer together. The grizzly's track can be easily identified by its larger size.
Also, the grizzly's skat (crap-piles) will have small silver bells and an occasional whistle mixed among the berries and half-digested grasses.
Have a fun trip.
Sonny
 
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