Rat 4 on its way

RC-4 is an awesome choice for hiking or backpacking. I have taken it with me during both activities and it enjoyed the trips just as much as I did. =)
 
The RC4 is a great choice for hiking. My favorite is the RC5 for hunting and woods bumming.
 
abolt2 said:
i carry a knife at work, so why would'nt he carry one hiking?. a knife is a
tool it has multiple use's. prepping fuel for a fire, making lunch. i guess
you were not a scout ( be prepared).
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I was never a scout, but IMO, being prepared means having everything you need and nothing you don't, which is the reason for my question about his purpose for carrying a knife while hiking.

I hike the hills several days per week (prime lion and rattlesnake country), year in year out (60+), never been lost, never had a reason to build a fire on a hike, never been attacked by anything, once SAW a lion, walked around LOTS of rattlesnakes.

If I am going to be out all day, and I want to prepare lunch on the trail, I might carry a small folding knife, but my RC-4 would just be dead weight for hiking, so I don't find it particularly useful for my style of hiking.
 
gwlee said:
I was never a scout, but IMO, being prepared means having everything you need and nothing you don't, which is the reason for my question about his purpose for carrying a knife while hiking.

I hike the hills several days per week (prime lion and rattlesnake country), year in year out (60+), never been lost, never had a reason to build a fire on a hike, never been attacked by anything, once SAW a lion, walked around LOTS of rattlesnakes.

If I am going to be out all day, and I want to prepare lunch on the trail, I might carry a small folding knife, but my RC-4 would just be dead weight for hiking, so I don't find it particularly useful for my style of hiking.
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sorry gwlee, just sounded like you had something against packing a knife
while hiking.
 
I am glad you have made it all that time without something happening, but what happens the 1 time out of a million you actually need it? I think this is the point they are looking at. I look at it like worse case scenario the extra weight just helps in the workout ;)
 
abolt2 said:
sorry gwlee, just sounded like you had something against packing a knife
while hiking.
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No, but I have something against carrying any form of dead weight. The distance, altitude, and elevation gain provide sufficient training effect for me.

I find that small folding knife (~3. 0 oz, 3.4") much more USEFUL for my style of hiking as well as being much lighter and easier to pack than my RC4, which I consider to be a specialized knife.

For some people, hiking is an excuse to play with their favorite toys, and there's nothing wrong with that approach to hiking. If so, your favorite toy is a good hiking toy and who cares what the toy weighs.

I tend to pack hiking gear (tools) for the job that I expect to do most of the time rather than that one-in-a-million chance, so I don't carry knives built to slay dragons when I expect to slice apples and spread peanut butter. In 60+ years of hiking from the Arctic to the Australian Outback, I have never encountered a dragon, but perhaps I have been unusually lucky, and I am getting complacent in my old age.

If I am going to be sitting on my butt most of the time, I don't mind bringing a bit of extra gear just in case, but not when the miles are many, the elevation is high, and I am the donkey. For this reason, I also often carry a knife at work, but don't carry a knife when hiking unless I EXPECT to use it.
 
Thanks, guys, and in all deference to you, gwlee, is sounds like you are the real deal, an I respect yor good advice. I am not a serious hiker, just a weekend warrior for now, not going longer that 2-4 miles an then only when I go camping with the family, so I do like just to have a good blade around for general purposes be it on the trail, at the camp site or just want the feeling next to me, so weight is not an issue right now. Although, you are right, I will not need a dragon slayer knife around, I have been reading and posting enough to realize bigger does not mean always better, in my case anyway, for camping. I also use my Swiss army knife alot too, probably more so than a bigger knife still stuck in the backpack in the trailer. I do have a question for you, more common sense, since you have hiked all over the world......when you get ready for the hiking season and you are selecting your gear, how long does it take you break in a new set of boots and do you try to get them broken in way before you go? Lastly, how did you like te Outback?
 
cbach8tw said:
.....when you get ready for the hiking season and you are selecting your gear, how long does it take you break in a new set of boots and do you try to get them broken in way before you go? Lastly, how did you like te Outback?
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I live in CA and hike year round. My gear is always in the car. In Summer the days are longer, so I can hike longer and more often, but there's not much getting ready for the season to be done.

Weight is always a concern to me, so I now prefer to wear trail running shoes rather than hiking boots unless it's snowing, the trail is extremely wet (rare) or the hike is longer than 15 miles and rocky, so I am still getting wear out of a pair of medium weight, all leather, hiking buts that I purchased about 10 years ago.

In buying boots, I've learned that if there's any doubt in my mind about whether a boot fits, it DOESN'T FIT; when a boot fits, there's not doubt that it fits. These boots fit well from the start, so my feet adjusted to them in two or three hikes. If I haven't been wearing them for a while, it takes another 1-2 hikes for my feet to adjust to them, so they don't get used much.

The Australian Outback is great. When it's Winter here, it's Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. I used to live in Perth, WA, and last year, I spent a month hiking, fishing, and visiting old friends near Darwin, Northern Territory. I am planning to return for a month about this time next year.

Enjoy your new RC-4.
 
RAT PACK 512

This is my 2 cents lol I went back and forth with what I was going to use the knife for the most and after careful research and feedback from other owners I went with the RC 3 MIL because as hunter the RC 3 is more easier to use inside of the deer when gutting and possible skinning. Next I plan on using it for hiking and camping and want to be able to sport my knife comfortably inside or outside my pack, but all and all you made a great choice.
 
Gwlee, thanks for the great advice and sharing your adventures, I hope you have a great time wherever you go. Best of luck to you also, Deerhunter, on getting the 3. I am not a hunter but I do like to hear all the tales of my friends who do hunt. I think the RATS will serve us well.
 
Any RAT knife is a great knife to carry depending on what your doing size might be an issue. I love all of mine and cant ever decide which one to take hunting with me, all of them do a great job. RC3, HEST, RC4, RC6 IZULA, I think I'm just going to carry all of them wherever I go. My belt is gonna be heavy.
 
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