Recommendations for farm EDC

I'm not a farmer but a regular outdoors man. To me, the perfect knife that is light enough to carry around all day while being heavy enough to chop branches is the SCHF42 by schrade. It is about 50$ and comes with a Leather sheath and a 1095 full Tang blade. I've had it for a year and it's still going strong!
 
Born and raised in a farm, in my opinion there's nothing better for choping than a good hatchet. Doing daily choirs I've rarly needed something bigger than my pocket knife.
 
Svord machete 12
Weight: 9.8 oz.
Length of Blade (inches) 12"
Over All Length (inches) 17 1/2"
Blade Shape Machette
Handle Material Polypropylene
Steel Specifications 15N20
Blade Thickness (mm) 2.3mm
Sheath PU Alloy Yellow

Svord farmers
Svord%20Farmer's%20Knife%20-%205%20Inch%20Blade%20Model%20FK2%20copy.jpg

Length of Blade (inches) 5"
Over All Length (inches) 10 1/4"
Blade Shape Farmer
Handle Material Mahogony
Steel Specifications 15N20
Blade Thickness (mm) 2.2mm
Sheath 3mm triple layer PVC with brass rivets and sharpener holder
http://www.svord.com/index.php
 
I think the Ontario spec ops line would do the job you want and is in your price range. I have several, and have been very pleased with them. Hold an edge well, easy to sharpen, tough.
In particular,

Ontario Spec Plus Gen II SP43 Fixed 7.9" Black Carbon Steel Blade

and Ontario Spec Plus Gen II SP47 knife, 6" blade

and SP6 with 8" blade. If you prefer Kabar type handle, this one is great, Ontario 8106 Freedom Fighter Knife .

I personally like the SP5, yet it has a 9 1/2 blade which may be too large for you.
 
A little higher than your budget, but take a peak at LT Wright knives and Battle Horse knives...they have varied offerings, are well made and inexpensive given the quality.
 
My favorite brush/branch whacker is the Condor Golok, but it is a bit of a lump to lug around for incidental use. I haven't tried the smaller Pack Golok, but that might work for you.

The Cold Steel Bushman is smaller and lighter still, but the 8" blade is still up for some chopping. Best of all, it's cheap. If it doesn't work for you, you are only out twenty bucks.
 
anonmlous said:
I'm looking for a fixed-blade EDC for use on a small homestead or hobby farm. I expect the most normal jobs will be of the hacking variety - small limbs, brush, etc. Maybe an occasional "dispatch" of sick or injured small livestock, such as rabbits or chickens, but nothing big. I doubt I'd ever need a knife for defensive purposes, but you never really know for sure.
Click to expand...

I think the choice depends on your lifestyle while at the homestead/small farm. How much acreage? Do you drive around in an ATV or jeep-like vehicle as a normal thing and you would just keep the blade inside the vehicle? It is sometimes uncomfortable to wear a big knife in vehicles. Or do you wander around normally on foot? How much wacking do you do or is it something you do for 5 minutes once in a while? Are you cutting larger stuff or smaller stuff as a general rule? These kinds of things would clarify your suspected need.
 
My hunting knife is a Spyderco Bill Moran. I think it would be fine around the farm. It doesn't weight a ton or look like a two foot bowie. It would just be a very sharp, easy to carry, EDC. Bill Moran was a very famous knife maker that partnered with Spyderco many years ago. I only wish he had a Delaware Maid engraved on his blades like a certain other famous fixed blade maker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7CEoW4EIMQ
 
Thanks for the suggestions (and please keep them coming!)

To clarify: This is not really a farm as much as a homestead (kind of like the Dirt Patch Heaven or jnull0 channels on Youtube). I'm not sure of the exact acreage for the areas I use routinely, but it's big enough that walking back for the "right tool" can easily be 25-30 minutes round trip (and no, I don't have a vehicle to drive around the property).

I always try to be well-prepared, but a lot of "incidentals" come up in this sort of setting. And although I definitely have plenty of specific tools for specific jobs, it would be nice to have an EDC knife for general purpose stuff, like light hacking (e.g., cutting down the odd sumac or two), splitting boards (e.g., making short stakes out of 1x4 ends), and sometimes pounding.

Basically, I guess I'm looking for the smallest knife I can find that will do very light hatchet work.

I'm under no delusion that it would be as good as having a real hatchet or machete, but then, the pliers and screwdrivers on my Leatherman Skeletool have been good enough to save me numerous trips back to the toolbox for the "real thing," and that's all I'm looking for in a knife right now.
 
My friend's a farmer. He carries a Case caliber small lock back. It meets all his needs and if it gets lost, it is easily and cheaply replaced.
 
So basically something more along the lines of a survival/woods bumming knife? You might look into the Becker knives. I like my bk7 quite a bit for that sort of thing, but it might be larger than you want to edc and falls a bit outside your stated budget. You might be able to find a used one on the exchange (or about anything else you might want if you're patient) that would fit your budget.
 
I would also recommend Condor machetes, I liked the the mini Duku parang machete or the Village Parang machete, get them from Baronyx here on the forums and he will get you a good one since Condor's fit and finish sometimes is off the mark.
 
anonmlous said:
Thanks for the suggestions (and please keep them coming!)

To clarify: This is not really a farm as much as a homestead (kind of like the Dirt Patch Heaven or jnull0 channels on Youtube). I'm not sure of the exact acreage for the areas I use routinely, but it's big enough that walking back for the "right tool" can easily be 25-30 minutes round trip (and no, I don't have a vehicle to drive around the property).

I always try to be well-prepared, but a lot of "incidentals" come up in this sort of setting. And although I definitely have plenty of specific tools for specific jobs, it would be nice to have an EDC knife for general purpose stuff, like light hacking (e.g., cutting down the odd sumac or two), splitting boards (e.g., making short stakes out of 1x4 ends), and sometimes pounding.

Basically, I guess I'm looking for the smallest knife I can find that will do very light hatchet work.

I'm under no delusion that it would be as good as having a real hatchet or machete, but then, the pliers and screwdrivers on my Leatherman Skeletool have been good enough to save me numerous trips back to the toolbox for the "real thing," and that's all I'm looking for in a knife right now.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the further situational explanation. This would likely be a 7" fixed blade like the BK-7 (smallest practical chopper), or perhaps the Condor Kumunga (10" blade). The Kumunga is actually a pretty nice functional knife although I wouldn't want to use for significant detailed cutting. The Kumunga is very easy to carry in the Condor leather sheath. It is half way between a machete and and a knife. I have both of these and would take the Kumunga in your situation.

Remember folks, it is EDC only around the property.
 
Last edited:
fiskers brush axe. i have an old short handled bill that is my most used tool here in my wooded homestead.
 
Like others have suggested, you might consider Condor, they have some nice knives in your price range that will do what you want like the Hudson Bay which can be a decent chopper, the moon shiner and moon stalker, also the swamp romper which comes with a dangler sheath. Another option is the cold steel g.i. tanto that was also recommend which is what I have used around my family's farm.
 
For the price point you mentioned I have no advice. If you added a 1,2 or 3 in front of your $65 you could pick up some heirloom quality knives which will be a joy to use and give you many years of use,
even with heavy use. In this scenario you could go for one of Jerry Busse's other brands like Swamprat. There is a model from that brand called a Ratmandu which is very popular and rarely see's any criticism at all. Tough as nails and the perfect size for general farm tasks.

Another brand that I am really interested in at the moment is TRC Knives. They have a model called a K-1 which you can buy in Elmax steel and choose either a leather or kydex sheath. The K1 appears to be an excellent little knife and is on my wish list. See link below and good luck!

Lawrie
https://www.lamnia.com/en/p/14448/k...90-fuller-lamnia-edition-survival-knife-kydex
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top