The perfect knife .

K

Kevin the grey

Joined
Aug 26, 2005
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When I go into the woods I will try to bring the best tools for the task at hand . Machete , hatchet , knife .

Is it not we who are the perfect knife ?

I am a novice in the woods . I find the more I try the less I concern myself with the perfect knife . I think we all of us or at least quite a number of newer members of the woodsy community search for the perfect knife in the belief that the knife will make up for our lack of training . This is not an absolute . If you have a fifteen hundred dollar damascus steel hunting knife you can do a very great deal with it . It proabably will take more of the abuse we subject it to in our prying off what could be coaxed out .

I still enjoy lopping this and that with my C:S: kukuuri machete and my Fiskars axe . I still drool over my buddies fifteen hundred dollar knife . ( He knows how to use it and appreciates its fineness .)

I also know a reasonably good fifteen dollar Mora knife and a twenty five dollar Garrant axe will test me more than I test them . I still have my Garrant axe of 16 years and I quit on my childhood Mora . It did not quit on me .

The long winded point I am trying to make is get out there and chop , split , baton ,swipe , lop ,whittle and slice away . don,t do more than you are able and I guarrantee you will do more than you are able to do now .
 
Having a good batch of skills to call on, can eliminate the need for a knife altogether. But I sure do like playing and working with the sharpies. They make life fun and soooo much easier.

If you use a wide variety of knives, you'll learn to appreciate the right tool for the job and what fits you well and what doesn't. But you will also learn how to adjust and vary your techniques, so they take advantage of the abilities of the knife or other edged tool that you are using, without destroying the tool.
 
longbow50 has some good points.

I am, by far, not a master backwoodsman, but I do like to play. This weekend I am going to try and use on blade exclusively for all my tasks - a newly acquired RS6 WSK. I am going to try to do as much as possible with this piece. As I am not going to be the only person on this trip, I am also packing a Leatherman Wave, a hatchet, a take down saw, and a Mora knife. I always try to have a back up plan, and in this case, a back up to a backup, since we'll be on an island.

I guess I never had in mind to search for the one perfect knife. I have used a bunch of different things, and have found what works for me in different situations. But just because I know what I can use, that doesn't stop me from buying and trying different things. I view the WSK design as a multitool, rather than a perfect do-everything knife. I am very excited to use the Red Scorpion Six - Blades WSK.

And Kevin, to answer a question you posed, we ourselves aren't the perfect blade per se, but when the chips are down, we can possibly be the best tool. Improvise, modify, adapt, overcome. Keep playing and practicing with a variety of sharpies, or even no sharpies. It can only hurt if you're not careful. :)
 
hikeeba said:
longbow50 has some good points.

I am, by far, not a master backwoodsman, but I do like to play. This weekend I am going to try and use on blade exclusively for all my tasks - a newly acquired RS6 WSK. I am going to try to do as much as possible with this piece. As I am not going to be the only person on this trip, I am also packing a Leatherman Wave, a hatchet, a take down saw, and a Mora knife. I always try to have a back up plan, and in this case, a back up to a backup, since we'll be on an island.

I guess I never had in mind to search for the one perfect knife. I have used a bunch of different things, and have found what works for me in different situations. But just because I know what I can use, that doesn't stop me from buying and trying different things. I view the WSK design as a multitool, rather than a perfect do-everything knife. I am very excited to use the Red Scorpion Six - Blades WSK.

And Kevin, to answer a question you posed, we ourselves aren't the perfect blade per se, but when the chips are down, we can possibly be the best tool. Improvise, modify, adapt, overcome. Keep playing and practicing with a variety of sharpies, or even no sharpies. It can only hurt if you're not careful. :)
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ive been oogling those RS6 WSK's Please post a reveiw or something of it. Im a big fan of the WSK design. :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
razorsdescent said:
Thanks again aaronjay. :thumbup: your a real helpful dude, :D
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LOL...ahhh, thanks :o Had many here help me out when I needed info, just trying to "pass it on". Sorry Kev, didn't me to hijack you. :)
 
I'll post up my impressions of the RS6 Predator next week. Now, Should i do that here, as it is a WSK and related to this forum, or should I post it in the Knife Review forum?
 
Lord save me from literalists . L:O:L

Like I said it is not an absolute . Can you honestly tell me that some people don,t buy extra knives/axes and whatnot due to a lack of confidence in themselves ?

This is not a direct comment upon anyone here and I hope it wasn,t taken that way . My purpose was to suggest that it would be better to have a lot of experience and a few knives than a lot of knives with no experience .
 
Yep I don,t have that many . About fifty pounds or so . I enjoy the variety as well . I haven,t used that Garrant axe in years . Its kinda like an old workhorse I put out to pasture . First axe I learned how to throw .

If you wanna hear a little something ? I was chopping wood out front when I heard some sneaking around out back . I just carried the axe in my hand . No thought of it as a weapon . The electric guy was busy taking my electric meter away . I told him he musta made a mistake as I was up to date . He put the meter back without a sound . Unusual for them as the electric company around me think they are billionaires .(Hey wait a minute , they are . L:O:L)

Anyway it wasn,t till later I remembered the axe . Maybe thats why he was so agreable . L:O:L
 
I think each of us has in their mind "the perfect knife" as either one that fits our particular uses or lusts of the moment. I go with the notion that experience is far more preferable to any knife if the choice is to be made.

On seperate occasions over the years, I have dressed a deer with a broken coke bottle, a sharpened fire hardened stick, a 2" pen knife, and a flake of flint, each tool having it's nuances in performing the same task, each working equally well when pressed into service because of necessity. In the end, it was the user of the tool that made the difference, not posession of "the perfect knife".

Now, "The Prefered Knife" has a much more definate meaning, though again, it is as individual as knife users and their tasks. For large game hunting and general woods running, I prefer a 5 1/2" trailing point thick spined 1095 carbon steel blade with a serpentine handle, my old standby Schrade Walden 165OT Woodsman. When hunting small game or fishing, I prefer a smaller 3 1/2 skinner, the 152OT Sharpfinger, also in 1095 carbon steel. I often carry both and switch off their use when dressing large game or doing camp chores. Both are my preferred knives, neither is perfect for all tasks.

But as I have learned, neither is indespensible when the most important tools, the brain and experience are employed.

Codger
 
I given up on finding the perfect knife. Unlike many folks, I prefer small knives. (A knife is simply a tool for me...never studied self-defence methods with knives.) In fact, I now look primarily at folders with 3 inch or shorter blades. The knife in my trekking pack is a Spyderco Mini-Manix (blade just a fraction over 3"). I also carry a Vic 111mm with a saw and locking blade in a small on body kit.

Perfect knife? ...not even looking for it anymore... it doesn't seem to exist.

And I used to be a steel snob...I got over that too.

:)
 
Codger I have not heard of a trailing point . If I get the idea it is a point that wouldn,t get in the way when dressing game ?

Not that I have cleaned that much game . If a point is predominant on a knife I tend to make sure it is extremely sharp so as to need to utilise as little effort as possible and so not have it slip or go where its not supposed to .

My skinning knives tend to have quite the belly on them so I can use that part without employing the point except when needed .
 
Here is one from my collection with custom wood scales. It was a factory sample.

A couple more earlier ones from my collection. These had flatter sabre grinds while the late sample had a hollow grind.

Codger
 
So a trailing point is higher than the spine . I guess it serves the same purpose as extending the belly .

Darn nice looking knives .
 
Yep... I agree with you Kevin. Like Pict/Mac said in another post, the most important part of the knife is the guy hanging on to it.

Perfect knife? Perfect woman? Will we ever stop looking and thinking 'I wouldn't mind that....'
 
Coote I will never find the perfect woman .

At least not by voice as she would be silent ,

At least not by reputation as she would be discreet .

and not by a longshot if I keep this up . L:O:L
 
Kevin the grey said:
LCan you honestly tell me that some people don,t buy extra knives/axes and whatnot due to a lack of confidence in themselves ?
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It is fairly common for people to buy gear to make tasks easier. For someone starting into knives for outdoors work I would rarely recommend a jump right to the far high end because it actually takes a fair amount of skill and experience to appreciate them fully. As a basic kit I would start off with something similar to :

1) Martindale Golok
2) #840 Mora
3) Scrapper 7
4) Fiskars 14"

There are many alternatives to those but they are all easy to obtain, relatively inexpensive and fairly forgiving especially to a beginner. Those four tools will cover a huge amount of ground, from light brush, detailed carving, heavy utility and thick wood chopping.

-Cliff
 
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