Modern Kephart & Nessmuk Trios

Last one "just for fun" but adheres to the trio standard: GB SFA, KaBar, and swiss army.
 
My buddy, Bud Siniard, Upland Leather, made that one. He usually makes sheaths and holsters. That was actually his very first one and I'm very happy with it. He's making one and a sling for my American felling axe soon. We will modify the collar a little on that one but his work is high quality.
 
ugar-6 said:
Last one "just for fun" but adheres to the trio standard: GB SFA, KaBar, and swiss army.
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In regard to the Kabar

Camping and Woodcraft
The conventional hunting knife is, or was until quite recently, of the familiar dime-novel pattern invented by Colonel Bowie.
Such a knife is too thick and clumsy to whittle with, much too thick for a good skinning knife, and too sharply pointed to cook and eat with.
It is always tempered too hard.
When put to the rough service for which it is supposed to be intended, as in cutting through the ossified false ribs of an old buck, it is an even bet that out will come a nick as big as a saw-tooth—and Sheridan forty miles from a grindstone!
Such a knife is shaped expressly for stabbing, which is about the very last thing that a woodsman ever has occasion to do, our lamented grandmothers to the contrary notwithstanding.
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neeman said:
In regard to the Kabar

Camping and Woodcraft

The conventional hunting knife is, or was until quite recently, of the familiar dime-novel pattern invented by Colonel Bowie.
Such a knife is too thick and clumsy to whittle with, much too thick for a good skinning knife, and too sharply pointed to cook and eat with.
It is always tempered too hard.
When put to the rough service for which it is supposed to be intended, as in cutting through the ossified false ribs of an old buck, it is an even bet that out will come a nick as big as a saw-tooth—and Sheridan forty miles from a grindstone!
Such a knife is shaped expressly for stabbing, which is about the very last thing that a woodsman ever has occasion to do, our lamented grandmothers to the contrary notwithstanding.
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It’s too bad the Kabar is such a bad design.

Somebody remind me.

Back in WWII, why did we design the knife?

Why did we issue it?

Why didn’t soldiers throw the useless things away? :D
 
neeman said:
In regard to the Kabar

Camping and Woodcraft
Click to expand...

This is why it's in the "just for fun" catagory. I can baton well with it, carve a "little" with it, and do camp chores "decently" with it. However, it is for backyard or car camping mostly. My JW Bush Knife is pretty good for deeper in the woods but honestly, that LT Wright will probably be my go to until I get my ML Kephart or a good puuko. The KaBar isn't a horrible knife but I wouldn't trust my life with it deep in the woods. Then again, I'm not a big fan of a one tool only. I like a small axe, belt knife, and a folding saw personally.
 
daizee said:
Because they didn't have anything better and it's pretty good for stabbing?
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An example of a knife you don’t throw away because it’s good for stabbing and you have nothing better is the Sykes Fairbairn. It was a pure killing tool. The GIs hated it. For utility work it was almost useless until it broke. Then it was completely useless.

They called the Kabar Mark II a fighter utility. That's because soldiers found it useful. It was a useful pattern not least because it was based on the Marbles Ideal.

By WWII the Ideal had been a Marbles best seller for forty years. Teddy Roosevelt used an Ideal. So did Robert Peary. Charles Lindberg flew one when soloing across the Atlantic. Admiral Richard Byrd carried an Ideal. It was used for camp craft, skinning, butchering, shelter building, farm work, and general utility. Forty years a best seller.

When the Marines patterned the Mark II on the Ideal, they picked a winner.
 
I've gutted and cleaned fish, skinned small and medium-size game and done a hundred things around the campsite with a Kabar/Mk. 2. Although at times a smaller blade would have been a little more "user friendly," I never found the Kabar wanting. The blade stock is really rather thin for a knife its size. Quite a utilitarian design!

Just my $0.02 worth!
Ron
 
Raymond
This thread is about Kephart trio
The quote from him was about the bowie
So it is not about what you think about the knife
It is about what Kephart though about a bowie as woodsman knife
 
the Ka Bar is not a bowie imo, but rather a large utility knife. Kepharts opinion doesn't apply to it. I was issued a Mk2 and used it for 2 years, good knife .
 
neeman said:
Raymond
This thread is about Kephart trio
The quote from him was about the bowie
So it is not about what you think about the knife
It is about what Kephart though about a bowie as woodsman knife
Click to expand...

Nessmuk has been bad mouthing the Bowie for over a century, and nobody is allowed to disagree with him? Bullshit. I disagreed with Sears about the Bowie when I first read his book. I disagree with him now.

I’ve already posted about my breaking from the Nessmuk Trio because a hatchet in the woods is too dangerous for me. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/973648-The-day-the-hatchet-stopped Nobody objected to that. Indeed, this thread contains other examples where the Nessmuk Trio consists of big knife-small knife-folder. Nobody treats that as sacred scripture.

If I have committed unacceptable thread-drift (Though I can’t see how or why) I will correct myself. But somebody has to explain exactly what I’m doing wrong.
 
Actually, if you go back and read the OP, this thread is not about the Kephart trio. Instead, it is asking to see people's current and "real-world" trios, based upon the notion that both Kephart and Sears put forth of having three tools to cover your outdoor needs.

You're fine as far as I'm concerned, Raymond, and seeing this devolve into a debate about the efficacy of the Ka-Bar (or whether it's a "Bowie" or not) seems unecessary. If it works for you, then great - I'm always interested in seeing the variety of tools people use, and why. :thumbup:
 
sams said:
the Ka Bar is not a bowie imo, but rather a large utility knife. Kepharts opinion doesn't apply to it. I was issued a Mk2 and used it for 2 years, good knife .
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It’s hard to know what “Bowie” Nessmuk had in mind. Ever since the Sambar Fight, and certainly in Nessmuk’s day, any big knife of any design might be sold as a Bowie.

Sears published Camping and Woodcraft before Marbles developed the Ideal. Let alone before the Marines morphed it into the Mark II. So he wasn’t talking about them.

On the other hand…The Ideal and the Kabar are not Bowies? I think not. They both fit into the Cowboy Bowie category.
 
Smithhammer said:
Actually, if you go back and read the OP, this thread is not about the Kephart trio. Instead, it is asking to see people's current and "real-world" trios, based upon the notion that both Kephart and Sears put forth of having three tools to cover your outdoor needs.

You're fine as far as I'm concerned, Raymond, and seeing this devolve into a debate about the efficacy of the Ka-Bar (or whether it's a "Bowie" or not) seems unecessary. If it works for you, then great - I'm always interested in seeing the variety of tools people use, and why. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks, Smithhammer. I’m okay with dropping the issue if everyone else does.
 
As of now mine would be a BK16, GB SFA, and a Rat-1 or SAK Trekker. This topic has me wanting to buy more toys though!
 
day hike earlier today:

082_015_zpstzxyz9xm.jpg
 
I hope it's not too late to add my trio.

Actually mine is not a trio. With this set up I really don't feel the need for a third component. The boy's axe is a pre-war Maine axe from King Axe and Tool Co. The knife is a Huntsman SAK that I made my own with sambar stag scales. With this set up I can process larger and smaller game, carve everything from traps and spoons to paddles and build shelters. In fact this size axe is perfect for cabin carpentry.

IMG_20150708_1405141_zpstm8bkwip.jpg


IMG_20150708_1407231_zpsnb4syiny.jpg
 
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