Recommendation for TRADITIONAL fixed-blade to use camping hiking

[jon_slider]

b) still have any bearing on the OP is???

This Emberlit stove has radically changed how I view the need of fixed blades in the woods.

OP: recommend a fixed blade to use camping

great photo! glad the twig stove has made you not need a fixed blade.

This JetBoil stove has radically changed how I view the need for a stick fire to boil water. And it won't leave you with a bunch of soot covered gear, it also works inside a vehicle or tent safely. ;-)

I recommend a Puukko as a fixed blade for camping.

I've decided to go for the Ahti Tikka for now.

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing your decision with a photo.

 

[BJE]

If I could start my collection all over, I would get a grohmann canadian belt knife and a mora or two.
If I had little more money, I would forgo the mora in favor of a nice puuko and the belt knife.
I will second picking up an old western brand fixed blade on the second hand market, I have had one for ages and it is top notch.

 

[GooberBoober]

OP: recommend a fixed blade to use camping

great photo! glad the twig stove has made you not need a fixed blade.

This JetBoil stove has radically changed how I view the need for a stick fire to boil water. And it won't leave you with a bunch of soot covered gear, it also works inside a vehicle or tent safely. ;-)

I recommend a Puukko as a fixed blade for camping.



Congratulations, and thanks for sharing your decision with a photo.

Thanks, & great looking puukko by the way!

ps: I hope this isn't going too much off-topic, but since you guys are talking about stoves; I used to take my little gas-stove everywhere for the past 20 years or so, along with a small folding bbq, but I got tired of carrying the fuel on longer trips and switched to a so called stick stove as well last year. I chose the Solo stove & pot combo myself, although you can't feed it as careless as the Emberlit it just needs a little bit of wood to bring water to a boil.

Here are some pics of the first use:

 

[SAK Guy]

If I could start my collection all over, I would get a grohmann canadian belt knife and a mora or two.
If I had little more money, I would forgo the mora in favor of a nice puuko and the belt knife.
I will second picking up an old western brand fixed blade on the second hand market, I have had one for ages and it is top notch.

The DH Russel/Grohmann knives are very nice but for half the price, you could get the US version in carbon made by R Murphy.

Own both Murphy and orig DH Russell/Grohmann in carbon and like them equally.

Have Moras too and would never be without one.

I have a problem....

 

[jon_slider]

I've decided to go for the Ahti Tikka for now.

Review here
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1151336-Ahti-Tikka-a-first-impression

 

[pinnah]

SAKGuy,

How do yo find the handles of Canadian Belt knives when working with wood? They look like they would be better suited for food prep and, perhaps, for game. But I would fear getting tired hands when, say, making shavings for a fire.

 

[pinnah]

OP: recommend a fixed blade to use camping

Yup!

Remember the movie War Games? Sometimes, imo, the right answer is d) none of the above. The only point (and it's a small one) I was trying to make, is that a fixed blade isn't *needed* for camping, depending on how you camp.

One problem is that "camping" is an expansive word with many meanings and without knowing more about the style of camping and the location, it's hard to make good recommendations.

This JetBoil stove has radically changed how I view the need for a stick fire to boil water. And it won't leave you with a bunch of soot covered gear, it also works inside a vehicle or tent safely. ;-)

Yup. Stoves are fascinating and directly tied to knife choice for camping, imo. Has a bearing on both the necessity of wood prep and also a bearing on food prep. I think if I centered my camping on a JetBoil, which by all accounts is fantastic for boiling water, I think I would easily get by with a key ring sized knife/tool (e.g. Vic Classic or butterfly type tool). I backpacked for many years with nothing but either a Classic or small peanut. For meals based on boiled water, the most you run into is the need to open packaging.

We prefer cooked in the pot meals on backpacking trips so in warm weather, I carry a modified Trangia which can handle a wide range of pots.

Supercharged Trangia Mini Base by Pinnah, on Flickr


Large Pot and Windscreen by Pinnah, on Flickr

We'll often carry hard salami and cheese and other things like that, both for lunch and to be added to the night's pot, so I prefer to have a knife longer than a peanut and definitely bigger than a key ring sized knife.

In colder weather, I move up to white gas for over night trips, but I'm increasingly impressed with canister stoves. Perhaps when this one wears out I'll replace it.

Svea 123 by Pinnah, on Flickr

The wood stove is proving itself primarily as a day hike/ski back up stove, where an unplanned night out might happen. It's in that situation where I see the value in keeping a stove burning for a longer time than any gas or alcohol stove will and this makes me more open to the weight value of a fixed blade.

But, we all go camping, no matter what that means, for fun. And if it's fun to carry a fixed blade, people should carry the funnest fixed blade possible.


I recommend a Puukko as a fixed blade for camping.



Congratulations, and thanks for sharing your decision with a photo.[/QUOTE]