Most of the time I will be carrying lots of blades because I want to get a broad scope of relative performance. Often this is beyond 25 lbs of steel. However if I was to forget about that and just pick blades to use :
Light work:
A custom from Phil Wilson in CPM-10V. A blade just over 4" in length made from 1/8" stock with a distil taper, ground to a very thin edge. This is easily the best low stress cutting blade I have, there is nothing even close to it. I am currently looking for a replacement and have in mind blades from; R.J. Martin, David Boye, and something else from Phil.
Heavy work :
Busse Battle Mistress, a 10" blade, .275" stock, INFI steel. As with Phil's blade, there is nothing close it I have seen in its geometry. It is very strong and tough and has a nice cutting geometry. It is weak in two areas ; the handle is not that ergonomic and the blade should be dropped relative to the blade. As a replacement I am looking at the new BM which addresses exactly those features, and a couple of custom bowies.
Really heavy work :
A 22" Ang Khola from HI. This is about 4 lbs and will fell wood easier than the BM and has much stronger point penetration, both due to the extreme blade drop. It also works much better as a makeshift maul. I don't even know where to look for a replacment for this beast of a blade.
Misc :
A SAK Rucksack, because sometimes people are not knife friendly and a "tool" is preferred. I don't see a directly better blade. A Micra, I don't see a better replacement either.A Leatherman Supertool, which may be replaced by one of the new Gerber multitools.
Currently what I have open :
A thinner blade than the BM with a bit more length, basically a machete. It should be light enough to have a decent fatigue rate but still strong enough to handle high energy impacts into hardwood. Stock can't be any thicker than 3/16", and should be as thin as possible with a full grind, convex preferred.
-Cliff
