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Survival/Camping/Bushcraft fixed blade
- Thread starter LJTanzer
- Start date
not2sharp
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
- Messages
- 20,629
Will this include hiking, hunting, fishing, trail maintenance, building camp fires or shelters; will you be alone or in a group? What’s your targeted budget?
There is no ideal knife out there, but there are tools that work better for certain tasks. Sort that out and let us know so we can best help you.
N2s
Blue Sky
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2002
- Messages
- 3,564
Sound advice, the 12” Ontario is a workhorse and much handier than the 18’s IMO.If you really need to chop and baton, the smallest Ontario machete.
Pair that with a quality small fixed blade and you’ll be G2G.
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2016
- Messages
- 2,250
It really is hard to beat a good machete.If you really need to chop and baton, the smallest Ontario machete.
Pair that with a quality small fixed blade and you’ll be G2G.
Dozier Personal Utility
Dozier Slim Outdoorsman
That Dozier Personal utility looks sweet.
I think a basic steel is a good place to start and you can get some good practice at sharpening.
I can recommend something like an esee 6, buck 119, becker bk16, opinel #8-12, mora 511 or basic, a SAK with an awl and a little on the large side but a kaber extreme d2.
If you want to go custom i can recommend JD Custom Knives,
Tony Mont
and Good Knife Company.I would start with production first though and figure out what you like and need.
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2007
- Messages
- 1,736
Are you backpacking in or on horseback?
Is weight an issue?
You might consider a Chris Reves "Backpacker". Magnicut, not too large/heavy.
Hammer67
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2012
- Messages
- 11,014
Agreed. No need for further suggestions.
....and you should check out Architect blades.
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2021
- Messages
- 1,263
Asking for camping knife suggestions around here is a bit like throwing raw meat to a pack of hyenas. You'll get a lot of good suggestions. What knife best suits you on a trip is dependent on the activities you plan to do (shelter making, fire making, camp cooking, hunting, cutting paracord, etc.) and how far you're hiking into the bush from the trailhead. After anything more than a couple of days as Eeyore, carrying a good sized backpack, if there's a big sharp and pointy thing strapped to my pack that knife is getting a lot of side-eye looks if it isn't getting a ton of use. On multiple day hikes without a lot of knife use planned, I'll have a small folder and one person in the group will be carrying a multi-tool for kit repairs, unless I'm hiking into a base camp to stay there a while.
Multiple day hike and this pack is heavy, with minimal knife needs (cordage and food packaging): small folder like a Benchmade Bugout or Opinel #8.
Overnighter, with camp cooking: add a thin fixed blade like a Grohman No. 1, Enzo-Brisa 115 Kephart, or Cold Steel Slock Master
Want to do some bush crafty stuff but don't feel like hauling too much weight around: Boker Bronco Mini, Helle Viking, or Fallkniven F1
Want to go hardcore in the wild and have the trees tell horror stories about you afterwards to their saplings: there's probably a couple hundred knives that wouldn't be a bad choice, including: Battle Horse Battlelore, Casstrom Swedish Forest Knife No. 10, or Terava Jaakaripuukko 110. Also take a forester's axe, Silky Saw Big Boy 360, and/or Terava Skrama 240.
Multiple day hike and this pack is heavy, with minimal knife needs (cordage and food packaging): small folder like a Benchmade Bugout or Opinel #8.
Overnighter, with camp cooking: add a thin fixed blade like a Grohman No. 1, Enzo-Brisa 115 Kephart, or Cold Steel Slock Master
Want to do some bush crafty stuff but don't feel like hauling too much weight around: Boker Bronco Mini, Helle Viking, or Fallkniven F1
Want to go hardcore in the wild and have the trees tell horror stories about you afterwards to their saplings: there's probably a couple hundred knives that wouldn't be a bad choice, including: Battle Horse Battlelore, Casstrom Swedish Forest Knife No. 10, or Terava Jaakaripuukko 110. Also take a forester's axe, Silky Saw Big Boy 360, and/or Terava Skrama 240.
I have the White river 45 in 3V. It might be my favorite fixed blade in that size range, and I have a lot. Comfortable handle, good sheath, and they grind em thin behind the edge. It's a better cutter than a lot of knives in that category. It's also lighter weight than most, a plus if you're going to be carrying it up and down mountains.
