small blade

RescueRiley

RescueRiley

Joined
Mar 22, 2006
Messages
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I have an affinity for small and medium sized blades....no offense to the large blade lovers...my question is if ALREADY equipped with a large chopper, and a SAK in the field what's the smallest sized fixed blade you'd feel comfortable when in the bush...Seems to me (just thinking out loud) that if your chopper is doing all the heavy work than your fixed blade is doing mostly light stuff food prep, whittling, cord cutting, etc...I feel like I might be able to get away with a smaller fixed blade, any thoughts????what about the rest of you?
 
Since my big blade needs are covered with a machete or a BK-7 I normally carry a Livesay NRGS neck knife or a Mora of some type. Lately my Mora has been a triflex craftsman and I'm very happy with it. I don't like the guardless Moras for wilderness use, visions of lacerated fingers don't do me good. YMMV. Mac
 
I would take an ax for chopping, not a big blade... and probably a Leatherman instead of a SAK (unless the corkscrew was called for;) ). As for a small blade, a Marble's Fieldcraft, a Mora, Roselli Carpenter's knife or Bark River Woodland would do.
 
I like the RAT-3. I've also committed to making the BRKT Mini-Skinner my next knife purchase.

The smallest blade that I'm comfortable with is the smallest one I have. That is: a BM210TK that goes around my neck every day. It's razor sharp and I'd count on it to do just about anything I asked of it. Blade length: 2-1/8"
 
I got a Howling Rat LM a couple of weeks ago and I can't seem to put it down. I prefer a hatchet myself although I haven't really given a large blade a try. If I only had the Howler in a survival situation I think I'd make it out okay.

I am interested in some of Bark River knives too. For your question, I prefer 4-5 inch but I wouldn't feel underknifed with a 3 incher.
 
I like the Mora blades. I prefer the Eriksson Mora 2000, but also have the Eriksson 711 and Frost 760 and they are both great knives.

When I've used the Necker to get a good feel for it, I will probably add it to my list of favs.
 
The largest blade I ever take into the wilds is a 5" and my usual edc of choice only has a 4" blade but I feel this is about the minimum I would trust !
 
Over the past couple of years I've been leaving my fixed blades home. For heavy duty I have my 12 inch Ontario, or my 10 inch golock shaped thing I made out of a 12 inch Martindale. My pocket knives do most everything else. A sak soldier or tinker, a stockman or some other traditional knife like an Opinel number 8 or 9. Maybe a Case sodbuster in CV.

I mean, really , I'm not Emerial making a three course gormet meal out there. How much blade do I need to open a pack of Ramen noodles and an envelope of albacore tuna from one of those packs it comes in now? Or slice up some of my homemade jerky to add to a Knorr soup mix?

For me a pocket knife and a 10 to 12 inch bush blade takes care of it all.
 
Personally, I have a large frame and large hands. I recently purchased a Fox River (been jonsin' for one for over a year) but was disappointed to find the handle too small for my large hands. I gave it to Mrs. Q for her trunk PSK. So my advice is to always hold a knife before buying a knife. Subsequently, I purchased a Gen 1 Howling Rat (4-inch blade length?) and it is perfect for my hands. However, I think I'll pull the Fox River from Mrs. Q's trunk and substitute the Howler and put the Fox River is our main first aid kit. In a pinch Mrs. Q will be better off with a larger knife and the Fox River will serve well in our first aid kit as it's a fine fine cutter.

So +1 on the Swamp Rat Howling Rat with a bit of advice on the side.

Perhaps more to the point of the topic question: my opinion is 7-inch blade first, then step down to a 4 or 4.5-inch blade.

Q out
 
I usually have a 4" - 5" blade and a hatchet. If I carry a bigger knife like a kukri I'll have a decent quaity 3.5" - 4" utility blade in it's scabbard.
 
I have been leaning toward smaller to medium sized fixed blades lately. One of my all time favorites is still the Becker Crewman. You couldn't call it small, but it's still compact and a great tool. I just recently got a Benchmade CSK, and a BM Ritter fixed. Haven't really used them yet, but the designs seem like they will be great field blades.
 
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