Very cool setup, thanks for sharing.
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My large survival knife experience- Opinions Welcome!
- Thread starter ASharpCanadian
- Start date
Very cool setup, thanks for sharing.
That is my smallest knife/tools/fire/sharpener set up to date. It is cool & everything works VERY good. JIC you were wondering: Victorinox Huntsman in woodland camo, cheap 8 pack of lighters, XL Zermatt sheath w/sharpening rod (it actually works EXCELLENT too). Was uber tight fit at first. Put neatsfoot oil on inside of sheath-jammed the knife & lighter in-let sit overnight. Fits like it was made for this now !!!
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- Oct 22, 2012
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I say if it's not mission-critical as the kids say, just go with what you feel strongest about. An axe or a quality chopper will both work fine for a few days hiking or hunting, and if the trip is for enjoyment anyway, go with the option you get the most fun out of.
Personally, I'm in the axe camp, especially for more northerly climes and if you already have a Mora to handle most things. I am currently looking into a small, lightweight hatchet to replace a larger 28" axe I use now, something like the Fiskars hatchet. It is very cheap, has great performance (rivalling the vaunted GB), and is a nice match to the Mora. I believe this along with a folding saw would cover every reasonable need for wood processing for camping or hiking, while a quality 4" fixed knife would do everything else you would need a sharp edge for.
Of course, if you're in the market for a high-end piece, the GB is the cream of the crop from what I can tell.
Oh, and if you're on a fishing trip, a fillet knife wouldn't hurt!
Personally, I'm in the axe camp, especially for more northerly climes and if you already have a Mora to handle most things. I am currently looking into a small, lightweight hatchet to replace a larger 28" axe I use now, something like the Fiskars hatchet. It is very cheap, has great performance (rivalling the vaunted GB), and is a nice match to the Mora. I believe this along with a folding saw would cover every reasonable need for wood processing for camping or hiking, while a quality 4" fixed knife would do everything else you would need a sharp edge for.
Of course, if you're in the market for a high-end piece, the GB is the cream of the crop from what I can tell.
Oh, and if you're on a fishing trip, a fillet knife wouldn't hurt!
That is my smallest knife/tools/fire/sharpener set up to date. It is cool & everything works VERY good. JIC you were wondering: Victorinox Huntsman in woodland camo, cheap 8 pack of lighters, XL Zermatt sheath w/sharpening rod (it actually works EXCELLENT too). Was uber tight fit at first. Put neatsfoot oil on inside of sheath-jammed the knife & lighter in-let sit overnight. Fits like it was made for this now !!!
I was actually wondering about the sheath, not something one sees often. Thanks again.
:thumbup:
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- Nov 12, 2009
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Thank you! I am loving it so far. I will get it out for a hike in a few days and begin a review.
I have also ordered one that is about 1/3 smaller and in 3/16" thick 01 - otherwise it will be the same design.
John is taking orders for these, and one could order any scale material or pin treatment.
best
mqqn
I got out of the big knife fantasy because it simply won't do the job where you need it - prepping food for the cookfire. A four inch blade does that. Evan a Swiss Army for backup and personal care - scissors and a saw blade - pretty much does it.
Bigger depends on how the load is conveyed, for how long. If on foot over weeks at a time, or even as a lifestyle, temperate zone dwellers historically carried a light hatchet. As technology progressed, we eliminated at lot of the need to have firewood, but we limited ourselves to being tied to a source by depending on gaseous or liquid petroleum products. From what I have read about hiking the Appalachian Trail, it requires repeated staged replenishment. If you can't get butane or coleman gas at all, then what do you cook on? Firewood, which requires a hawk at minimum. Your fixed blade knife isn't something to endanger beating on when it might be all you have.
As for safety, I hear it a lot about hawks, but having done myself plenty of injury with knives, I feel safer cutting wood with a hatchet more quickly, with less exertion, and higher efficiency. If you want to baton, I see everyone gloss over the main point of it - you have to cut the baton, and you don't have one to help. If you do carry it, why not put a hawk head on it and have a better tool? Axes, hatchets, and hawks are wood cutters, knives are slicers.
What we have right now is a cultural infatuation with third world tools, and large knives are still used in tropical areas. They work there - but when you move to a temperate zone with sub freezing conditions, the vegetation is different, and a different tool is preferred. That's why our European ancestors imported a temperate zone tool they used in their forest land, and why the American native quickly adopted it. He had just as much opportunity to trade for saws and larger knives, but largely took on the metal headed tomahawk as the logical upgrade to the war clubs he had fashioned locally from root ball or stone.
Something to consider, as it is more more the quintessential tool of forest land in our past.
Bigger depends on how the load is conveyed, for how long. If on foot over weeks at a time, or even as a lifestyle, temperate zone dwellers historically carried a light hatchet. As technology progressed, we eliminated at lot of the need to have firewood, but we limited ourselves to being tied to a source by depending on gaseous or liquid petroleum products. From what I have read about hiking the Appalachian Trail, it requires repeated staged replenishment. If you can't get butane or coleman gas at all, then what do you cook on? Firewood, which requires a hawk at minimum. Your fixed blade knife isn't something to endanger beating on when it might be all you have.
As for safety, I hear it a lot about hawks, but having done myself plenty of injury with knives, I feel safer cutting wood with a hatchet more quickly, with less exertion, and higher efficiency. If you want to baton, I see everyone gloss over the main point of it - you have to cut the baton, and you don't have one to help. If you do carry it, why not put a hawk head on it and have a better tool? Axes, hatchets, and hawks are wood cutters, knives are slicers.
What we have right now is a cultural infatuation with third world tools, and large knives are still used in tropical areas. They work there - but when you move to a temperate zone with sub freezing conditions, the vegetation is different, and a different tool is preferred. That's why our European ancestors imported a temperate zone tool they used in their forest land, and why the American native quickly adopted it. He had just as much opportunity to trade for saws and larger knives, but largely took on the metal headed tomahawk as the logical upgrade to the war clubs he had fashioned locally from root ball or stone.
Something to consider, as it is more more the quintessential tool of forest land in our past.
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you can baton with an axe, buddy.
stabman
Gold Member
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- Sep 17, 2007
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My Junglas works fine for food prep in my experience.
It has handled whatever beating any sane human could dish out...if you're radioactive and green, it might be a bad choice.
I have found the opposite when it comes to hatchets; my large knives outdo any of the hatchets I have used, whether they were expensive or cheap. And that is chopping, not batonning.
But it's a personal choice. If someone likes hatchets, and they work for their uses, I say go for it.
For me though, I'll take a big knife every time...in fact, I do!
So I picked up a ratmandu a few years ago- has a custom kydex sheath with an attached esee pouch that contains a fire kit. I have made myself build/maintain fires with the ratmandu and its a decent batonning blade(though I have noticed that a longer blade would be better for this)
Something I'm finding however is that Im not using it....I bought a nice mora for 20 bucks and its doing everything
I still like the idea of carrying a big ass blade though. Its reassuring- In Canada especially it just makes me think "if we get lost on this hike/hunt and were stuck here I know that I will be able to get firewood"
So now I'm looking at esee's Junglas and gransfors bruks' small forest axe. About equal weight(including sheath) and comparably capable for what I want 'em to do.
what you folks think?
I had the exact same experience. I'm not sure how big a ratmandu is, but I feel like my rat 7 was in the same twilight area. I like having a small axe and a small-medium fixed blade. plus I always carry a folder. I've thought about going bushcraft style and carrying a folding saw on hikes etc, but haven't gotten around to it.
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I have a Kershaw Camp 10 and a VTAC Lagana Tomahawk. I used to have a Spyderco Warrior Knife made with H1 but sold it. I suppose it might be useful against zombies, or the human equivalent. The hawk is probably more practical than the Camp 10 for most stuff. Lighter and quicker. But I'm thinking I still need a smaller fixed blade, preferably out of something like N690Co, that's very corrosion resistant but also sharpens and holds an edge very well. And for zombies nothing works like a good ol' Claymore.
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Zombies must, in all matters, be taken into account.
creativeguy
Gold Member
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If I'm carrying a good belt knife, my choice would be the Small Forest Axe.
Not much I can't do with a combo like that. :thumbup::thumbup:
Nothing better at processing firewood then a small axe.
That said, everyone knows I love big choppers too.
Big Mike
+1 :thumbup:
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Why is it "the best choice"?
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I usually go with a 4" FB and a folding saw. But calling use of a big knife a "fantasy" is not respectful of what is simply another approach.
Food prep is frankly way down the list of priorities in a survival situation. Slices that are a bit wedgey because your knife is thick will not kill you. Lack of a fire -- in time - may.
Any tool can be broken by abuse, including hawks, saws, and the quintessential wilderness tool - the axe. It would be better to learn how to use the tools properly so you know their limits. No need to abuse a fixed blade in gathering and prepping wood any more than abusing a hawk. Some of those knives are massively overbuilt - hardly optimized for slicing but not prone to failure even when used to chop instead of as a wedge.
In the end, I guess you should use what you are comfortable in using. No need to introduce more stress into an emergency situation.
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Yup.
If I'm carrying a good belt knife, my choice would be the Small Forest Axe.
Not much I can't do with a combo like that. :thumbup:
Nothing better at processing firewood then a small axe.
That said, everyone knows I love big choppers too.
Big Mike
Yup.
Yup.
And yup. Truth be known, if you know what you are doing, a Buck 110 or a SAK will do quite nicely around camp. Fire wood? I have yet to see a forest that doesn't have all you can use just laying around.
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So I picked up a ratmandu a few years ago- has a custom kydex sheath with an attached esee pouch that contains a fire kit. I have made myself build/maintain fires with the ratmandu and its a decent batonning blade(though I have noticed that a longer blade would be better for this)
Something I'm finding however is that Im not using it....I bought a nice mora for 20 bucks and its doing everything
I still like the idea of carrying a big ass blade though. Its reassuring- In Canada especially it just makes me think "if we get lost on this hike/hunt and were stuck here I know that I will be able to get firewood"
So now I'm looking at esee's Junglas and gransfors bruks' small forest axe. About equal weight(including sheath) and comparably capable for what I want 'em to do.
what you folks think?
looking at the title, large survival knife experience , and considering the post content ,Id be inclined to point out that a survival knife is usualy a knife that does most things , but is not great for any of them , its a jack of all trades master of none , not a specialist tool as a caper , chopper etc .
from what I understand , your original knife will do both big and small knife work , but it just isnt as good as doing that work with a big or a small knife ?
If thats right , then you have a pretty OK survival knife , as a survival knife .
If you are chasing a woods bumming kit tho , then yeah , you should really be looking at a combo carry , small blade / large blade , or small blade / small axe if axes are your bent .
just my thoughts .
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I think all knife manufacturers that make anything other than the iconic Mora, be closed down. They have been defrauding the knife buying public for years.
Secondly, we should all be swayed by the apocryphal and anecdotal accounts of a few folks, and disregard any and all personal experience.
...........not.
Secondly, we should all be swayed by the apocryphal and anecdotal accounts of a few folks, and disregard any and all personal experience.
...........not.