My trip to America! What knife to bring?

Ryan Sumner

Ryan Sumner

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Mar 17, 2013
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This Wednesday I'm heading out from Australia, and traveling to America for 41 days. We're flying into LAX, and after spending a few days at LA, we're going to travel up the west coast spending time at San-Francisco, Portland and Seattle. After that, because we're 21 years old and can't hire a car, we're taking a bus tour through Montana, yellowstone, Jackson/grand Teton, south to Flaming gorge, the Arches NP in Moab, then monument Valley, Grand Canyon and to Las Vegas, before heading down to LA to fly out home.
I'm sitting here with about 36 Hours till I leave, and I'm getting pretty excited! I've been sorting out forms, and various odds and ends for the last few days, but still haven't decided what knife to bring. There's too much choice, believe it or not, (I am a knife knut, after all ;) ) but I think any of the options I've narrowed down to should work well.


(sorry for the bad photo, there's not much light to work with)
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I've been going back and forth between wanting to bring something fairly replaceable, and something that will have the memories of the trip put into it. I know I should just bring a cheap SAK or rough rider, but I think a lot of us are weird like that.

As I'm going with a friend, and considering the size of a lot of American meals, I'm fairly certain we'll have to half a fair bit of food. I'll need a second knife if I choose the Queen peanut (Queenut?), or the swayback jack.

I could probably get by with the Erics jack for food, and it would excel at most everything else. The sodbuster, GEC powderhorn and Opinel will be great with food and most other tasks, but are slightly bulkier than Eric's jack.

The other "spanner to the plan" is that I'll probably check out a few knife shops, and probably Ross Cutlery in LA within the first few days. I can't imagine myself leaving there without a knife! :D
I'm not sure how large their collection of traditional folders is, but at the very least I want to buy a spyderco for using in the vineyard I work at, back home.
I'm sure a Spydie can handle halving a sandwich, but it's still a much better job for a classic slipjoint (or friction folder!)

My thoughts so far have been to bring the peanut paired with the Opinel, or the SBJ paired with a knife I buy in LA. The powderhorn and Erics jack seem to be the hardest 2 to replace, but are both great options, and the Sodbuster is fairly cheap/ available to replace but I would still feel fairly bad, as it's the only knife I have won in a giveaway here on BF. (A Markesharp giveaway, of course.) The soddie has the advantage of having a belt pouch, which will keep it from being lost.


I definitely need to hear some advice! How likely is it for my knife to be 'lost' in transit?
If you were in my shoes, what knife would you choose?

Sorry for the Long rambling post, I tend to go on a bit. (also, not helped by it being 3:30AM, I wrote this because I couldn't sleep, but at least I'm tired now! :p)

Thanks Guys!
 
I would bring a SAK like you said. You have some nice pieces and don't want them stolen. While you are in CA,(removed non BF dealer reference) is a good place to stop for some nice slipjoints. What will Australian customs let you take back home?
 
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Whenever I travel by air, my knives that have any sentimental value stay safe at home. I usually bring a couple SAKs especially the tiny ones for the scissors etc. and a lower cost slippie or two. Have a great trip! Sounds like you've got a lot of beautiful sights to take in.
 
I'm not 100% sure with Aussie customs, I have seen typical 'tactical' knives with linerlocks commonly sold at camping stores in abundance, (ussually very bad quality, and very expensive for what they are).
I would imagine anything with 2 edges, a spring assist, switchblade or balisong would be prohibited, though I wasn't planning on buying any knives like that anyway.

I'll definately have to check out (non BF dealer member) if they have a range of slipjoints, thanks for the tip! (Do you know about what they would have in stock?)
 
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As stated above, bring something you don't mind losing (or have confiscated). Also, be aware of knife laws. They change from city to city. The Eric's or the case sway back should be safe just about anywhere.

Ross cutlery is pretty good. You never know what they'll have. Decent amount of slippies, but not huge. Try to go when it's not too busy - the owner is full of knife stories.

Sounds like an epic adventure, I'm sure you'll have a great time! Try not to donate too much in Vegas!
 
sitflyer said:
Whenever I travel by air, my knives that have any sentimental value stay safe at home. I usually bring a couple SAKs especially the tiny ones for the scissors etc. and a lower cost slippie or two. Have a great trip! Sounds like you've got a lot of beautiful sights to take in.
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What he said!!!

We've been doing some traveling ourselves, and going by air, I always leave my treasured knives home and pack a SAK or other easy to replace pocketknife. Luggage gets 'lost' or delayed while the baggage handlers go through it. Don't take anything you're really attached to.
 
Well, since you'll be in Portland you should plan on dropping over to the suburb of Hillsboro (a short drive) and visiting Knivesshipfree.com - one of the dealer members.

(And a SAK is never a bad choice...)

Welcome to America!
 
What a fantastic adventure! I'd go with the Sodbuster and an SAK (Pioneer or similar). That'll duo will take care of any tasks you are likely to encounter on such a trip.
 
Good advice I think, take a SAK, and buy yourself a nice souvenir of your trip :) Have a great time :thumbup:
 
I vote for the opinel or the SAK and pick up something on the trip. One..or two nice something aha. Enjoy your stay here
 
Ryan, sent you a PM. Make sure to read it before you leave.

If anyone lives along Ryan's travel route, it would be kind of you offer assistance if he should need it. That's quite a journey he is undertaking and things happen.

Thanks all!
 
I vote for a SAK pioneer. It'll handle anything you might need to tackle here while on your joiurney. Plus if it's confiscated, your not out a terrible amount. For your buddy, I'd say either another SAK of your choice or a sodbuster.

Ryan
 
Woodrow F Call said:
Buy a knife while you are here. :D
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This is what I recommend as well, then you don't have to worry about it getting stolen out of your bag. You can have one knife (or knives!) with all of your trip memories and then either risk the flight back or mail them to yourself.
 
You can't go wrong with a SAK Pioneer and a SAK classic. Between the two you'll have all of the tools you may need on your travels. SAKs are a very easy to replace and are pretty much non-threatening to non-knife people, etc. Then I'd pick up a couple of knives to bring home! You will be seeing some spectacular sights and it sounds like an epic trip. If you can squeeze it in a side trip to Yosemite National Park would be well worth it ( not too far from San Francisco, maybe 4 hours max).
Have a great trip!
 
Opinel & SAC then pick out something nice to get here. Welcome & enjoy our country, we're kinda your cousins after all.

Tom
 
Have a safe and good trip Ryan. My tip -take less knives and clothes and take more money. The exchange is crap at the moment but with that in mind the prices in the states are less than here for most things.
Spot on about the prohibitions. Pen knives are fine ,Huge bowie knives,machetes all OK. Although you must declare them on both of the forms they give you on the plane before you land back in OZ.
Just so you are aware =this is what happened to me and wasn't any fun at 0600 hrs with the family at customs and immigration in Sydney after an 18hr flight from UK. a few years ago. We had made bows with a guy called Dave Budd in Devon using primitive technology. These came through in the luggage in a 6ft cardboard carpet roll tube. Taped up and hardly likely to be missed by anyone. I ticked the boxes that said wooden products but not weapons(not wanting to draw undue attention to myself). We got to the checkpoint and the woman wanted to see in the tube. When she saw the bows and arrows she freaked and called a bloke over who said I should have declared them .I did says I. There then ensued a most pointless and frankly irritating conversation about the structure of the forms which I had not completed to his satisfaction. In the end I had to say -look mate are they illegal? No. Can i bring them into the country? Yes. Thank you.
If you do buy a swag of knives stateside just declare them and try to surf through customs behind a wave of Japanese men with golf clubs.
Oh yeah the 2 forms are Customs and Immigration -2 separate gov departments with fingers in the pie -pretty much explains it.
safe travels.

You can always post them home fedex or something -preferably to someone who is home when they get here.
 
Bring a SAK and the awesome looking Opinel! Should have all the bases covered there. Nothing too expensive to get lost either.

America is a HUGE continent. Make sure to come back and see some more! There's so many different ways of life, climates, geography, history, etc. One could spend a lifetime exploring it all. I hope you enjoy your trip!
 
I love the Sodbuster, but considering some of the places you'll be going I feel like it would be good to bring a locking blade, so I would probably opt for the Opinel and SAK combo.
 
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