Questions re: bushcraft knives

[Sulaco]

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. .

This is exactly what I was going to type. "Bushcraft" is a label and so for most folks, it refers to a certain type of field craft, using a certain style and design of knife. But for most of us, we can certainly get by using whatever solid outdoor knife we prefer for our "bushcraft"ing.

For me, bushcraft involves a lot of wood processing primarily, and other field craft such as food prep, camp chores, etc., secondly. My primary bushcraft knife is a Scandi grind because it works so well for wood processing.

If I knew I was just going to be doing a bunch of food prep, I'd take a flat grind knife instead.

 

[schmittie]

For what it's worth, I don't exactly agree with some of the other opinions of a 'bushcraft knife'. Yes, many kinds of knives will work, but let me explain.

If I was in need of a fillet knife and walked into a outdoors/fishing store and requested a fillet knife and got as an answer from a salesman 'a fillet knife is whatever knife you like to use for that', I would assume the individual has no idea what he is talking about. If I am shopping for a fillet knife then I want a narrow blade with a sharp point in a thin enough stock to be flexible for cutting around different kinds of fish and removing the rib cage, etc.

If I was shopping for a 'hunting knife' I would be looking for a blade with lots of belly and less of a pointy tip. That design is useful for field dressing and skinning.

If I were on the lookout for a carpet knife or a linoleum knife, well you get the idea.

Yes I do believe that there are some outstanding knife designs that work well as an all around blade. My Fiddleback Hiking Buddy was great on my last trout fishing trip for cleaning and skinning trout. But at the end of the day, I still reached for a fillet knife to get all the meat without needless waste. My experience so far has taught me that there ARE knives that excell at their specific task. So for me, a 'bushcraft' knife will stay a spear point, full tang, 4" blade, scandi ground of carbon steel. Sure there are other knives that I can carve with, make traps, drill a hole, etc. But if I am trying to define a 'bushcraft' knife, it is not just ANY knife.

Does that make sense to anyone else or am I out on a limb, alone?

You have quite a sweet knife btw. I regret selling mine often.

 

[neeman]

More than 45 years ago, I was taught Woodcraft in Boy Scouts in England

Fire building, all the different types from above the ground alter fires to baking mud for ovens
Dampers, bannocks, knots and pioneering with 6ft ash staves
Tracking, canvas tent, lean to's, knife and axe
The Boy Scout Handbook called all those skills Woodcraft

And when we got our Knife and Axe badge, we went a purchased ourselves Sheffield Rogers stag handled 5" bowie sheath knives
And a Camper (scout) knife on our belt
And both knives were very sharp and work very hard
And were extemely good

But none of this was 'Bushcraft', because the word had not yet been invented

For me what ever knife works is the knife to use, without getting stuck in the marketing fashion
Don't get me wrong there are some lovely Bushcraft knives out there

 

[Shotgun]

For what it's worth, I don't exactly agree with some of the other opinions of a 'bushcraft knife'. Yes, many kinds of knives will work, but let me explain.

If I was in need of a fillet knife and walked into a outdoors/fishing store and requested a fillet knife and got as an answer from a salesman 'a fillet knife is whatever knife you like to use for that', I would assume the individual has no idea what he is talking about. If I am shopping for a fillet knife then I want a narrow blade with a sharp point in a thin enough stock to be flexible for cutting around different kinds of fish and removing the rib cage, etc.

If I was shopping for a 'hunting knife' I would be looking for a blade with lots of belly and less of a pointy tip. That design is useful for field dressing and skinning.

If I were on the lookout for a carpet knife or a linoleum knife, well you get the idea.

Yes I do believe that there are some outstanding knife designs that work well as an all around blade. My Fiddleback Hiking Buddy was great on my last trout fishing trip for cleaning and skinning trout. But at the end of the day, I still reached for a fillet knife to get all the meat without needless waste. My experience so far has taught me that there ARE knives that excell at their specific task. So for me, a 'bushcraft' knife will stay a spear point, full tang, 4" blade, scandi ground of carbon steel. Sure there are other knives that I can carve with, make traps, drill a hole, etc. But if I am trying to define a 'bushcraft' knife, it is not just ANY knife.

Does that make sense to anyone else or am I out on a limb, alone?

You have quite a sweet knife btw. I regret selling mine often.

I think the problem with your example is that a filet knife is designed to do one thing, filet fish. It pretty much sucks at anything other then that. A "bushcraft" knife on the other hand is more of a general use knife that depends on what the person does in the bush. The reason many different blades would work is because people have different needs for the knife. I personally have absolutely no need for the knife posted in the OP so to ME, it's not something I'd use in the bush and hence not a "bushcraft" knife to me. Though it's thought of as the classical "bushcraft" knife. The reason I'm using parentheses is because the word itself means different things to different people. To some "bushcraft" means cleaning and skinning animals and not drilling holes, a task that would be better suited to something like the nessmuk knife which then would make a nessmuk a "bushcraft" knife.