Recommendations for Camping and Cooking Knife?

Best I ever saw (admittedly with less than Michelin rated eyesight) was the Talmadge Tactical Kitchen Knife, a collab between Joe Talmadge and Trace Rinaldi.


If I ever spot one for a better price than that one, I'll end up with one.

But I just don't camp/mince/dice enough to need a half-thousand dollar weenie stick sharpener.
 
ferider said:
That will happen anyways. At the core of the OP is a good question: what’s a good all around camp + cooking knife. Many “what’s the best knife for …?” questions on BF are missing the cooking aspect;
It will always end up a compromise, but it’s interesting to see what people pick and why from the application perspective.

Besides what people cook, more than how fast they can slice an onion, the compromise will depend on how people camp.

1) unless you are vegan :), what’s the heat source ? Open fire place, gas stove or even oven/micro-wave that do exist in some campers.
2) besides cutting board, what’s going on with dishes ? Pots and pans, how do you cook and serve, etc.
3) how many people do you cook for ?
4) what do you drink ? Do you have a fridge ?
5) can you shop the day you cook ?
5) if you hike/camp/hunt, are you weight limited ?
Etc.

There is a reason why a chef’s knife set has more than one knife. So even without the camping aspect, the single cooking knife question is interesting.

So - IMO - the question should be constrained a bit, instead of insulting members contributing to this thread. And not because your knuckles might touch the cutting board.
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Now that the OP's gone, I feel better about contributing.

Someone already mentioned it but the Canadian Belt knife is a great camp kitchen knife, albeit I'm not as surr about the Grohmann version. I had a custom made one with a thin FFG blade and longee, 4.5" blade. The canted blade gave knuckle clearance, thd blade sliced well without wedging produce, the length fit well on a small cutting board, and the handle was big enough and blade stout enough to handle basic camp tasks like fire prep, cutting roasting sticks, and some crafting. Wouldn't want to build a shelter with it though.

Hudson bay style knives work well if you thin the blade. The profile is good, many are just too thick. I had one from John K in 1/8" that was great for food and camping as it was a really tall blade and very neutral handle shape. I think F fishiker has that one now after I designed something that works well for me for thay task. It replaced the CBK also.

For stock options, I actually like the overall feel of the esee 6hm. The profile is there, just needs a little thinning. I've been waiting to see if they come out with one in S35Vn like some of their other knives.

My bush camp and bush brute models are what I like, though. I ran a thinner batch of the brutes and they slice really well and still held up well to lighter camp tasks. AEB-L is a great option for such a use as it holds a fine edge well but the blade is also tough enough to hold up to rough use. May need to strop it between shelter building and dicing veggies though.

The CBK I used to use. Did well for several years before designing my own. Had the sheath made by Makael Makael so it stayed clean in a pack. Cut a lot of meat with that one. I had the tip clipped for a finer tip compared to the standard CBK design. I believe Crag the Brewer Crag the Brewer designed something similar that looked even better.
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Bush camps
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My personal favorite and current choice for a camp kitchen knife, the bush brute (right).
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I've used Kephart styles a lot and do really like them, but I like the increased belly more, whereas the Kephart's lower tip is a better bushcraft blade.

More recently, I've really like a tall petty madr of 5160, a propee kitchen cutlery piece. But, it would not do well with camp tasks, the edge is thin and I would want it for crafting or fire prep. It's a just a very good, packable size. For the 3oz it weighs, maybe another for a basic edge cover, it wouldn't be much to take it along. I might this camping season. The 5" Kephart for size comparison (JK Mud Turtle)
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Velitrius said:
Best I ever saw (admittedly with less than Michelin rated eyesight) was the Talmadge Tactical Kitchen Knife, a collab between Joe Talmadge and Trace Rinaldi.


If I ever spot one for a better price than that one, I'll end up with one.

But I just don't camp/mince/dice enough to need a half-thousand dollar weenie stick sharpener.
Click to expand...

That reminds me a bit of the TM Hunt trade water. Probably another good option for the OP, if he could track down a stainless model. My smaller yuma is 154cm, so maybe some stainless tradewaters are out there. My tradewater is O1. Both are very nice many purpose knives.
 
Ratatoskr said:
bikerector bikerector what are the knives with the "K" stamp you posted? I see them every now and then and never know whose they are.
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That's JK Knives JK Knives stamp. He's retired from knifemaking now, but used to put out a lot of knives and was known for his willingness to do customers' custom designs or adjust his designs to customer's requests.
 
Wish the OP was still here. I found his answer on Kickstarter! Behold the Kuuk.
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