Need help finding first knife

6shooter said:
Not 'disagreeing' per se, or questioning your experience, just curious if you'd had one break or fail somehow. I haven't, but I've heard of people who have.
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A few years back a buddy bought a batch of Moras and gave one to me and a few other friends for Xmas. We thought it might be fun if we did a little 2 day outing where we all brought the Moras instead of our usual knife selections ( I secretly kept a Busse BATAC in my pack anyways though hahah). On that trip I witnessed two failures, one while prying at a partially rotten chunk of wood, breaking at the tip. The other broke at the heel while splitting small wood pieces with the tip using a lateral twist movement(that one caused a pretty ghastly finger cut somehow). A month later another one fell to very light batoning, again breaking at the heel. I ended up with the two remaining and have just used them for some food prep on the occasions I actually go to a campsite. Had another buddy using one as a fishing knife kept in his tacklebox, think that one ended up breaking too, I dont recall how.

I think they are a neat little knife for the price but I cant see myself ever depending on one in the bush. I recommended some other choices to the OP so he could be exposed to something I consider to be more durable and also something he might take pride in and could show to his friends. You gotta admit, my suggestions to him were good ones :)
 
6shooter said:
The ones I'm referencing there would be ones within the same size/intent as a Mora. Koster bushcraft, ML kephart, spyderco bushcraft(not a custom, I know), that sort of stuff. I suppose I should rephrase what I said. While I'm sure those blades 'can' handle rougher use than a Mora, for what I use a knife like that for(wrist thick batonning, woodwork, food prep etc.), a Mora handles it just fine. I love my more expensive blades, but it almost hurts me a little that a $15 knife can do the same things as they can ;).
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I sort of thought that's what you meant, just wanted to clarify. I broke a tooth and then went on to a birthday party Saturday...then it abscessed very badly so dealing with a lot of pain one moment, and a fuzzy head the next... I have had the same thoughts concerning some really nice customs I have seen in thicknesses like 3/32. They're nicely enough made knives and all, but a little voice in the back of my head keeps saying couldn't I get the same functionality from my Old Hickory kitchen knives? I do hope to someday own a nice custom fillet knife and some nice custom kitchen knives, but for my field knives I want a minimum of 1/8" steel and really prefer 5/32 or 3/16.
 
I've been backpacking, peak bagging and ski touring for 30 years. Most of it in New England. Some of it in California. In all the trips I've been on, I've never once needed to rely on fire building to survive and never once needed to baton wood for a fire. (I do carry a folding saw and a knife just in case.)

Add to this, many, many, many people have hiked the AT and PCT with nothing more than a key chain knife or multi-tool.

Bushcrafting is great and I'm not knocking it in anyway. But the OP asked for suggestions about a knife suitable for general backpacking. Backpacking need not immediately equate to bushcrafting. In this light, an Old Hickory is not only adequate, it's overkill. A simple slip joint like a BSA/SAK will do just fine. So will the basic Mora that the OP picked up.
 
PharaohX3 said:
I think they are a neat little knife for the price but I cant see myself ever depending on one in the bush. I recommended some other choices to the OP so he could be exposed to something I consider to be more durable and also something he might take pride in and could show to his friends. You gotta admit, my suggestions to him were good ones :)
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I'm certainly not gonna argue with an ESEE or a Becker;). And definitley understood where your thoughts towards Moras come from.

mistwalker said:
I sort of thought that's what you meant, just wanted to clarify. I broke a tooth and then went on to a birthday party Saturday...then it abscessed very badly so dealing with a lot of pain one moment, and a fuzzy head the next... I have had the same thoughts concerning some really nice customs I have seen in thicknesses like 3/32. They're nicely enough made knives and all, but a little voice in the back of my head keeps saying couldn't I get the same functionality from my Old Hickory kitchen knives? I do hope to someday own a nice custom fillet knife and some nice custom kitchen knives, but for my field knives I want a minimum of 1/8" steel and really prefer 5/32 or 3/16.
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Gotcha, 1/8" seems to be my happy place right now, but I have a few thicker ones that I like as well. Hope that tooth heals up quick, I hate going for checkups, never mind stuff that actually hurts.:(
 
I've already ordered the Mora, it should be here by Saturday if i'm lucky, If not I will be waiting until next week. Just from reading around this forum it seems like many people like the Mora brand and I'm pretty happy that its going to be my very first knife. Although I have yet to receive my mora clipper, I am already looking to buy another, and the next one is going to be the benchmade 162 bushcraft siber design. Hopefully I will be able to order on friday. Thanks again everyone, you guys are teaching me a lot.
 
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