So what are your conclusions as far as knife selection is concerned. Is there a knife that you like the most? Are there features of this knife or that knife that you would combine to make a better knife?
Good question! Sure, I had my favorites at times. However, it was extremely generous of these makers to provide the knives to me for the hike. I have provided constructive feedback to the makers privately, but out of respect for the sponsors, have no wish to "pick a winner" on this thread.
That being said, and yours being an honest question, here are some general conclusions that I came away with. All are my HO and YMMV.
Size and weight are a trade-off: I greatly appreciated the larger knives at rare times, though they were probably heavier than they needed to be for this specific mission. Conversely, blades shorter than about 3" start to be limited in utility, such as requiring multiple passes to cut a bagel or apple. Please note that although I carried pairs (or trios) of knives on sections of this trip in order to maximize the miles on each one, I usually prefer to bring one knife on a longer hike. When I did carry a larger knife and a smaller knife, I used the smaller knife the majority of the time.
I still don't like leather: All of the leather sheaths except one remarkable specimen smudged dye onto my tan shorts over time, even when mostly dry. Also, one leather sheath got wet, stayed wet, and repeatedly rusted the blade within about 30 minutes of re-insertion. It literally took weeks to get the sheath dried out.
The nylon and kydex sheaths had no such problem. They could mostly be shaken, blown, or blotted dry. Failing that, the synthetics would dry in ~10 minutes of intermittent sun, while leather required prolonged absence of rain, snow, wet brush, or fords in order to dry out.
That being said, you can see from the pics that these makers are no slouch at leatherworking - I gained a sincere appreciation for the artistry of a well-designed and well-constructed leather sheath. OK, special props here to the Koyote Girl sheath: inherently ambi, outstanding materials, and elaborately artistic without being the slightest bit gimmicky or awkward. I should have Loc-Tited the chicago screws, but that's on me.
Knowledgeable knifemakers have good designs: (Surprise!) I can honestly say that all the knives for this hike featured excellent blade and handle designs. Certain shapes had their own advantages, from the strong bull-nose on Scott's UFK (PB jar and hard batoning) to the graceful needle-like tip on Murray Carter's modified Clave (surgery, detail work). Handles matched the intended use as well: Justin's beefy, blocky handle was secure during violent chopping and hammering, while the NWA's beautifully sculpted lines melted into your hand during medium-duty work.
Weight matters, but so do your hobbies: Even the heavier knives were a pleasure to carry and use. At the risk of being Captain Obvious, I like knives
and was very glad I didn't have to put that hobby on hold for the summer.
Any good knife is better than no knife: My thoughts here are starting to feel like splitting hairs. Not that that's a bad thing, since that's what we do on BF.
The makers that participated on this project are all respected, known makers. There are reasons for that. For the vast majority of my cutting needs this summer, any of these knives would have been completely adequate. I could easily have hiked the whole trail with any of them singly. They are all high-quality fixed blades. No, I would not want to baton kindling with a Maxam folder.
I have thought a few times since the hike about which one I would have chosen if I had to chose one knife for the whole hike. Honestly, during this exercise I get down to 3 "finalists" but don't get much further than that. Then I handle the rest of them, and suddenly they're all finalists again. Heck of a problem to have, I know.
Ultimately, I'm really glad I got to rotate them in and out, to get to know each one for hundreds of miles. For the next hike, I'd probably do the same thing.
Any knife is better when it's sharp: My field sharpening kit was a small white ceramic rod, a few sheets of wet/dry (initially just 2000, but ultimately including 400, 600, and 1500) and a small wood-backed leather strop with black and green Bark River compound on it. I wish I had featured this kit and my sharpening efforts more. Oddly, it is my only item of gear not pictured.
Some of the knives had a very obtuse edge and were difficult to really keep sharp with these limited tools, while the thinner grinds were much easier to maintain a really sharp edge. Those of you who may have followed my 2006 CDT knife thread on another forum might recall that I was not prepared to effectively field sharpen my blades, and this was a major disappointment. I did better this time, but there were times on the PCT that some blades just couldn't shave and I wasn't going to get them there with worn-out wet-dry.
In all humility, I'm a relatively capable sharpener with 3 main methods - convex (see sig), Japanese waterstones, and the Sharpmaker; but I'm no metallurgist -- keyboard, armchair, hobbyist, professional, or otherwise. However, independent of nominal RC, some steels/grinds just seem to respond well and sharpen right up, while others seem fussy and just won't take an edge. Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that a good heat treat is a primary variable in this phenomenon. My experiences this summer support that.
Carry: I had rarely belt-carried a knife before this hike, sticking almost exclusively with neck carry. This summer, I found right-handed belt carry awkward for resheathing and for the rare quick presentation. Obviously, this is not a criticism of any of the righty leather sheaths -
I'm the one with the mutation.
Long story short, though I gained an appreciation for belt carry this summer, specifically the larger knife that this method permits, I still generally prefer neck carry. Remember, I don't have a hip belt on my pack. With a hip belt, belt carry would be a hassle. It's also worth mentioning that I absolutely prefer on-body carry - a knife in or on the pack is inevitably out of reach (back at camp, in the hotel room, in the possession of the guy who stole your pack, across a creek,
down the creek, etc) when you need it.
I guess I still don't fully "get" rust: 
Some carbon steels rusted readily when wet, but others did so only very lightly or not at all. It didn't seem especially related to the alloy, but more to the surface finish (i.e. the rust appeared in the scratch pattern). But two knives in notoriously rust-prone alloys didn't rust at all, even with a satiny, almost bead-blasted finish on one. Similarly, some rust just wiped off, some rust came right off with the 2000 grit wet/dry, but other rust had to be literally belt-sanded out when I got home.
I sent one knife home clean after its shift, only to find that it had rusted while sitting out the rest of the summer in the box.
Another knife rusted repeatedly on only one side of the blade. Wet sheaths would sometimes rust knives, and other times not. In advance to the "wipe 'em off" crowd:
when it was cold, I wiped off the blades after use, but they always seemed damp. And when the sheaths are wet, there's not much you can do.
Sure, I could have carried an oily rag in a ziploc, but I'm sure this would have gotten all over my gear in short order. Besides, when I want to cut something, I want to draw, cut, and resheath, wiping on grass or a bandanna as expedient, but not dig out an oily ziploc and wipe the blade down.
At the risk of picking favorites (and please read this thought separate from the specific models featured on this hike), I would say that
my ideal knife for
this hike,
this summer, on
this trail, in retrospect might be:
- about 8"-9" overall
- made from relatively thin carbon steel stock with a great heat treat
- light satin or mirror finish (not generally a fan but rust sucks)
- convex edge, probably full convex or flat grind
- not too much belly
- spear point or semi-wharncliffe
- lightweight wood/CF/rubber? scales, perhaps blaze orange
- nicely contoured handles, like a "carry melt" treatment
- in a slim kydex sheath. Yeah, probably have to be a belt sheath at that size/weight
If I were to carry two knives -- as noted above, not my general style -- I might select something very much like the Ranger Afghan in mirror or coated (or a Ratmandu, or a Silky saw), and keep the smaller one to something like the specs above, but in the 6.5"-7.5" range, more pointy, and in neck kydex.
With the advent of neck kydex, I don't have any use for folding knives in the woods.
