survival knife for john muir trail

brendog10

brendog10

Joined
Apr 22, 2006
Messages
351
Hello,
I am going to hike the john Muir trail in august . It is a 211 mile hike starting from Mt. Whitney and ending in Yosemite which will take about 25 days to finish . I am wondering what knife to take. right now my choices are between a full sized Ka-bar with serrations , a puma original bowie , and a Gerber Big Rock Camp Knife also with serrations. however if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it .

Thanks,
Brendan
 
Those are all decent choices, just pick the one that feels the best in hand, also back it up with a nice Swiss Army knife. I like the Pioneer model, the saw is very useful.
 
I've done the Muir a few times. I would want to be ultralight! Nothing big and nothing heavy!

The Southern Sierra is pretty mellow in mid summer, except for afternoon thunderstorms. It could sleet/snow, but it doesn't stick. 25 days is 10 miles/day, so you won't have to kill yourself. Your chances of ending up in some kind of long term survival situation where you would need chopping tools, or a heavy knife aren't great. No fires above 10,000', but plenty of dead stuff everywhere for one in an emergency, below timberline.

Extra food is more important than anything else you can carry! Any extra weight should go for that, not hardwear. Are you going to get resupply, or hike it all the way through??? Put on a few extra pounds before you go. I always loose a lot of weight on a long trip.

For me, an extremely light Gerber saw, a small/light multi-tool, and my Emerson CQC-12 which goes everywhere with me outdoors clipped on my pocket....just because.
 
I don't know what that trail is like. Reconranger made some good points, but though the chance of you not ending up in a longterm survival situation isn't great, keep in mind that the chance is always there. Your knife will be the most important tool in the woods along side your resolve.
 
If you are in a group, you could carry a couple of heavier hardware items and spread the weight around. On a leisurely trip, you could try fishing to supplement your food, but don't count on it.

I just like to be ultralight, because it makes it so much easier to cover the ground. It makes more sense for me to just quickly walk out (like if someone in a group is injured or the weather turns bad), than sit there and try to survive long term in place.

When I was a kid, we took pride in carrying a 60-100 pound pack....I know better now! I haven't backpacked in a few years though. Now, I prefer to do light and fast day hikes (almost trail runs) from a base camp.
 
I'd take a BRKT Snowy River, preferably with a bamboo handle - nice and light! And back that up with a SAK, probably the Huntsman. :thumbup:
 
Mission MPK. Light- won't rust- durable. Down fall> expensive! Good luck.
Lycosa
 
Better listen to ReconRanger.

I'd carry the smallest SAK that had a can opener. To sharpen it, I'd get that $5 Gatco red plastic jig which holds the two tiny ceramic rods in an X pattern.

Put 35 lbs of weight in your backpack, walk 10 miles, and then decide what is too heavy. If you still like your heavy knife choices after 1 or 2 of these walks, then carry whatever you want that catches your eye. But if you are like EVERY OTHER backpacker, you may find yourself opting for a medium or small SAK (or equivalent).

Good luck in your endeavor. Beer goes down very well in the Sierras at 8,000 feet, whilst roasting fresh caught trouts in foil jackets, in the campfire.
 
On my good old philmont backpacking trips, we were forced to carry these horrible standard issue tents from philmont and all of our packs (keep in mind we were all 14~15 years old and skin and bones at the time) weighed about 60-75 pounds. So I would suggest packing light unless you really want to get some awsome calves. We came back with our legs looking like greek gods, no joke either. I had taken my leatherman at the time, and a SAK. That was before the knife addiction started.

I would recommend taking the F1 if you haven't bought your knife yet. $89.99 on ebay. Good reviews and great knife to carry. If you have the cash to burn, I would recommend a "waved" knife (spyderco or emerson has these) in case you have to pull out a folder with one hand in a quick pinch. For the money, there is nothing wrong with the Gerber Big Rock. Nice knife and inexpensive so you won't feel guilty about really breaking it in. I would recommend that you also have a folder in case you need it for the unknown.
 
I carried a Buck 184 for years when I was younger. This was about the size of a KaBar. Big knives are really a pain when backpacking. I rarely used it. My knife usage on the trail was usually best done by a smaller knife.
2.5 to 4.5 inches is really all you need. If you want something to cut wood with, get a leatherman type tool with a saw or a pocket chainsaw, they work much better than any knife saw back or serrations.

Read some survival expert recomendatons on knives. The vast majority do not advocate big bowie type knives. There is a reason for this.
Here is one usefull link to help you understand blade shapes, sizes, steels and whatnot.

http://www.equipped.org/toc.htm

Once there, go to the section on knives. There is a lot of info that you might not have considered.

Remember, you are backpacking the trail, so you already have 'survival stuff' on your back! You don't need a huge knife to survive.
 
I will definietly have to do a few 10 mile or longer hikes with a full bag to see how the weight is . also to anwser reconrangers question I will be resupplying . so I wont have to worry as much about food then if I was just strait shooting it.
 
I think I'd probably take a Mora, along with a SAK and maybe a decent saw. The Mora is featherweight. SAK lots of utility. And the saw generally beats chopping if one needs to cut wood. If I felt I needed something bigger, maybe a CS Bushman. I've known people who did the trail with only a SAK and never needing anything else. Not much need for chopping.

Sounds like fun. Wish I had the opportunity.
 
bob bowie said:
Those are all decent choices, just pick the one that feels the best in hand, also back it up with a nice Swiss Army knife. I like the Pioneer model, the saw is very useful.
Click to expand...

The Farmer is the one with a thin saw blade. The Pioneer has the same tools otherwise, though.
 
Bears will be an issue, but not so much in the back country as near the trailheads. You will need a bear proof container and/or hang your food at night.

We hiked once from Yosemite to Mammoth. We left a truck with camper behind in Yosemite, and then shuttled back to pick up the camper at the end of the hike. It had a skylight, and the bears had crashed it in and lived in there for a week. What a mess! Crap and vomit all over the place. We had to total it.....
 
Think about the things you're really going to need a knife for on your backpacking trip: Cutting tent or tarp strings. Picking splinters. Cutting moleskin. Opening food packs. Cutting cheese and vegetables.

Things you are ~not~ going to need a knife for when long distance backpacking while following no-trace outdoor ethics: Chopping. Sawing. Building shelters. Opening cans. Opening bottles. Harassing wildlife. Marking trees.

---------------

My choice would be an AG Russell Hunters Scalpel. 0.8 oz. and it's perfectly capable of every cutting task I've ever encountered in the outdoors. Plus, it has a lanyard and locking hard sheath.

They're out of production now, but I have some inside information on the new Hunters Scalpel. It might be available in time for your trip.

An Opinel would be great too if you could customize it to add a lanyard. Or a small SAK like the Solo, although my personal preference is for a locking blade. If you carried a more complete SAK with scissors and tweezers, then you could eliminate those items from your first aid kit, potentially saving weight overall. Any lightweight locking knife would be a good choice too - Mini-Griptilian, Featherlite, Delica...

There was a topic on another knife-related forum this year posted by a couple that hiked the entire Continental Divide Trail from Canada to Mexico. Their knife was a small custom fixed-blade. It ended up being a very good choice for them.

Good Luck!
 
Another vote for the F1 or an S1, and a SAK..plus some wet fine sand paper for stropping the knife edge (superlite)
Off the list but highly useful; a Petzel L.E.D. headlamp, worth its weight in gold..

P.C.T. 1973,1975,1980,2002,2005
J.M.T. 1979
 
We used to go backpacking in the area around Mt. Ritter. We would go in from Mammoth. I carried a SAK and a friend carried a small Puma fixed blade.

As others here have suggested you need the tools to repair your equipment and yourself, but it doesn't have to weigh much. Some of the guys would weigh
everything down to the ounce.

If you really want to carry a fixed blade I'd look at the Fallkniven F1, the Fallkniven S1, Benchmade 140 Nimravus, or CR Shadow II.
If I felt I must have a fixed blade on the hike I would likely pick the BM 140, mostly because I like its grip and the relatively thin blade.

These are all close to 6 ounces.
F1, 6 oz (3.8" blade)
S1, 6.7 oz (5.1" blade)
BM140, 6.2 oz (4.5" blade)
CRK Shadow II, 6 oz (4" blade with hollow handle)
 
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