Questions re: bushcraft knives

[kamagong]

I was wondering if you guys could clear something up for me. Is there an accepted definition for a "bushcraft" knife? Is it a full-tang, scandi-ground knife with a spear point blade? Or is it like the bowie (i.e., a type of knife that is not easily defined).

The reason why I'm asking is because I was recently gifted with one of the Spyderco Bushcraft seconds. I have been curious about bushcraft knives and I want to know if this knife is representative of the type. Are they always this stoutly built?

Here are the shots of my new knife since I think threads are better with pictures.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Myal]

as far as I know , there is no set in concrete rules for what makes a bushcraft blade

however there is a kind of bushcraft movement from the UK I believe where some guy wrote a book thats more o less gospel over there for bushcrafty type people and he reccomends the kind of blade you have as being a good bushcraft blade .

you will probably find 2 rough schools of thought , one is that you need a propper bushcraft knife to do bushcraft .. or it just ain cricket .. errr bushcraft

and the other is more like yeah I got to do this I have a knife thatll do th ejob , Im gunna do it .. dont matter what it is I used to do it .

you did score a sweet looking knife tho , I see them spoken higly of a lot , tho I never owned one myself

 

[digdeep]

Don't think one can define "bushcraft knife" exactly although the Spyderco knife that you show is a typical example. The person Myal is referring to is Ray Mears and he has a bushcraft knife of his own design which sells for an astronomical sum of money.

From my observation the blades are usually around 4", lack any substantial finger guard and try to be an all-round basic woods-use knife. With that being said, you may be opening up a can of worms here because the term "bushcraft knife" is so ambiguous and controversial.

By the way, your Spyderco example is very nice and was discontinued by Spyderco because of flaws in the scales and were nicely discounted because of it. Wish I had gotten one when they first came out. They now come with a G-10 handle (which I do have.)

 

[kamagong]

Thanks guys.

You should've seen this knife before I cleaned it up. The scales were shrunken and cracked and I scratched the blade up a fair amount during sharpening. I recognized its potential though and because it was a gift I went to work. I filled the cracks with some CA and applied some Tru-Oil to the scales. A little bit of elbow grease smoothed everything out. I cold blued the blade to improve its appearance. She looks pretty good now (good thing too as I can't stand an ugly knife).

 

[Brian Andrews]

I just typed up a long reply to this and it got nuked

The reason I think this topic is so controversial is that "Bushcraft" means something different to everybody. How can you possibly decided what is a good bushcraft knife, when everyone is doing something different with them.

To me, "bushcraft" means making things with natural material. That usually means green wood, lots of carving, bark removal, that type of thing. If you have not had a chance to see Mors Koachanski work with a knife, the guy is amazing. He has an excellent video called Sticks as Tools and Implements. The only places I know of that you can get it is directly from Karamat Outdoors and from Bens Backwoods.

He is doing exactly that in those videos. Cutting spruce, removing bark, drying, bending, making snowshoes, pack frames and that type of thing. It is a great video. For that type of thing, I really prefer a thin scandi grind, and obviously Mors does to as he uses a Mora all the time.

I believe it was Mors that influenced Ray in his knife style and choice, but for whatever reason, Ray ended up going with thicker stock when he had his made. So of course, that is all the rage.

So, that is what "Bushcraft" means to me. I do not think that most people are doing those sorts of things. THere is nothing wrong with it, but I think "Bushcraft" just gets applied to any skills or activities that you do in the woods. Cutting bamboo, batoning knotty oak, making natural shelters, etc.

So, you can see how nobody can really define something when the target changes, and people seem to get upset if you disagree with their choice. When in reality, if you were doing the exact same things as them, you would probably choose similar

Overall, I guess my point is don't worry about "defining" what you like. FIgure out what the stuff you do 99% of the time, and choose a knife style, length and grind that is appropriate for that. I always choose my knife for the 99%. If the 1% does happen, my knife will do it, but maybe not be optimal at it. IF you keep saying "what if" you will keep changing your knife decision until it no longer does well what you wanted it to in the first place

B

 

[Diomedes Industries]

It took me a while - but Brian's last paragraph is correct as I see it.

TF

 

[parbajtor]

The 4 big names in bushcraft (over here anyway) are Lofty Wiseman, Mors Kochanski, Ray Mears and Bear Grylls. Lofty, Bear and Ray were influential in designing specific knife shapes for UK Bushcrafting (actually they went to well known UK knifemakers to make knives to their design). Alan Wood created the Woodlore for Ray Mears, Rob Bailey adapted his S4 Raven for Bear Grylls (until Bear went for his own brand with Gerber) and Ivan Williams (scorpion knives) produced the Lofty Wiseman Bushtool. They are all fairly similar 4", full tang blades, scandi ground no finger guards. Some are spear point some are clip point. The lack of finger guard and the relative thickness of the blade is to make batonning and shelter building a bit easier. The lack of finger guard apparently helps prevent the knife jamming up when splitting kindling. The scandi grind is for "ease of sharpening in the field". The spyderco bushcraft is essentially a Woodlore with a more ergonomic handle shape. I think that for "bushcraft" itself, there are specific requirements for specific environments and these obviously change the kind of knife best suited to the task. Usually you need two cutting tools for bushcraft, in Central America these might be a machete and a folder, in Sweden an axe and a mora, in Finland a leuku and and a puukko, in the UK a folding saw and a woodlore. Don't get too hung up on the kit, knowledge is far more important.
That's a nice knife you have there and now you've put the work in, it should serve you well. It a shame there were stabilization issues with the spalted slabs and you seem to have got lucky with the cracking around the lanyard hole which was the most common problem. That's the trouble with natural materials, they do move. But the feel (to me) is worth the extra care requirements.
The nessmuk and the smatchet could also be described as "bushcraft knives" as that was their design purpose.

 

[kamagong]

Good stuff.

Overall, I guess my point is don't worry about "defining" what you like. FIgure out what the stuff you do 99% of the time, and choose a knife style, length and grind that is appropriate for that. I always choose my knife for the 99%. If the 1% does happen, my knife will do it, but maybe not be optimal at it. IF you keep saying "what if" you will keep changing your knife decision until it no longer does well what you wanted it to in the first place

Funny you mentioned that. Like most here I have a bunch of knives. I have three that I really like to use -- a puukko, a drop point hunter, and a criollo knife. The puukko is scandi ground, the drop point convex, and the criollo flat ground with a convex edge. I'd be hard pressed to anoint one knife, or even one grind as superior to the others. They all work well and when I pick one to use I do so in anticipation of what my activities will be. For a dayhike, my typical outdoor activity, I usually bring my puukko because I'm traveling light and the puukko package is so comfortable.

That's a nice knife you have there and now you've put the work in, it should serve you well. It a shame there were stabilization issues with the spalted slabs and you seem to have got lucky with the cracking around the lanyard hole which was the most common problem. That's the trouble with natural materials, they do move. But the feel (to me) is worth the extra care requirements.

I prefer natural handle materials by far. I have one knife with a micarta handle, and it always leaves me feeling cold. It's a nice knife otherwise, but I can't help but think that if the handle was a nice burl wood I would enjoy it much more. I don't have any problem with the extra care needed for stag or wood; since I'll end up having to sharpen and oil the blade anyway it's a small thing to put some Tru-Oil or mineral oil on the handle once in a while.

 

[Barrabas]

Overall, I guess my point is don't worry about "defining" what you like. FIgure out what the stuff you do 99% of the time, and choose a knife style, length and grind that is appropriate for that. I always choose my knife for the 99%. If the 1% does happen, my knife will do it, but maybe not be optimal at it. IF you keep saying "what if" you will keep changing your knife decision until it no longer does well what you wanted it to in the first place.

Very well said, could not agree more. The only thing I would add, is that one of the most important qualities of a go-to field knife, (or any knife for that matter) is how comfortable is it to use for the 99%, and can you use it for prolonged amounts of time without discomfort? Steel quality, overall construction can be magnificent, but if it does not have the right ergos, and you are going to use it for what it was made to do, you'll be looking for one that does..

The definition of a bushcraft knife to me is, good steel, full tang resiliant construction, and a handle I can use without concentrating on anything other than the task at hand.
That Spyderco looks like a great blade which has all those charateristics, but only you as the owner know for sure if it is right for you, hope it serves you well.

 

[Shotgun]

The scales were shrunken and cracked

Were you able to fix this or did you just put new scales on? I have a HI Kuk with shrunken scales and would like to know if there's a good way to fix them.

And yes that knife is what most people would call a "bushcraft" knife.

 

[kamagong]

Were you able to fix this or did you just put new scales on? I have a HI Kuk with shrunken scales and would like to know if there's a good way to fix them.

I don't know if I "fixed" it, but I resolved the issue to my satisfaction. I filled in the cracks and gaps with CA and sanded them down flush with the scales. The good thing about the Tru-Oil treatment is that it gave the CA a brownish color, so the repairs almost look natural at first glance. The tang is still proud of the scales, but I radiused the corners so that they are no longer bothersome. I guess that I could've gone all out and replaced the wood, but the knife as a whole is still sound and I didn't see the point in all that extra work.

 

[MountainBilly]

Just wanted to add that the Spyderco BushcraftUK was designed by the BushcraftUK forum so it's about as "official" as it gets.

 

[Shotgun]

I don't know if I "fixed" it, but I resolved the issue to my satisfaction. I filled in the cracks and gaps with CA and sanded them down flush with the scales. The good thing about the Tru-Oil treatment is that it gave the CA a brownish color, so the repairs almost look natural at first glance. The tang is still proud of the scales, but I radiused the corners so that they are no longer bothersome. I guess that I could've gone all out and replaced the wood, but the knife as a whole is still sound and I didn't see the point in all that extra work.

It's probably obvious but what is CA?

 

[kamagong]

Cyanoacrylate AKA superglue.

 

[Shotgun]

Cyanoacrylate AKA superglue.

Thanks.

 

[Wolf_1989]

Do you have a knife you take out in the woods, that you can use for just about anything? That's a bushcrafting knife.

 

[ChapmanPreferred]

Kudos to whomever gifted that knife to you! Well done on the TLC you gave the knife to help it last longer and be more functional. I think your knife would easily be considered a bushcraft knife. With continued care, I'm certain you will have a friend for life in that knife. I also hope that you sent the gift giver a silver or gold coin in return.

 

[Bo T]

It seems to depend on what you are comfotable with. There are posters who have taken a cheap WalMart kitchen knife and used it for bushcraft. (there are several threads on Old Hickory knives).

 

[Mannlicher]

in the end, a 'bushcraft' knife is what you happen to have with you when you do tasks in the bush.

I have always felt that a Scandi grind, 4 inch blade was perfect, until I bought one of Brian Andrews' knives. It is not scandi, the stock is not thick, but it processes wood like a chain saw, handles kitchen tasks with aplomb, handles dead animals easily, and just plain look GOOD.
As many have said in the past, "it's the carpenter, not the tool".

 

[OwenM]

I was wondering if you guys could clear something up for me. Is there an accepted definition for a "bushcraft" knife?

Depends on how you look at it. There's a style of knife referred to as a "bushcraft", and then there's whatever knife you use for bushcraft.
The bushcraft style with a scandi grind happens to excel at processing wood. The zero grind makes for an edge that has a very low included angle, which is better for shavings, shallow cuts, etc. BUT it is at a relatively high angle for a primary grind, and thickens quickly, which makes it wedge wood apart very effectively relative to the stock thickness, so you get the best of both worlds if your use is limited mostly to processing wood.
Personally, I don't care for scandis as general purpose utility knives, but if I was getting into doing a lot of bushcrafty stuff, I might very well get another to do it with.