- Joined
- Jul 6, 2007
- Messages
- 463
Seems like "bushcraft" is the knife term of the year.
Wikipedia defines it as: "Bushcraft is a long-term extension of survival skills. A popular term for wilderness skills in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the term was popularised in the southern hemisphere by Les Hiddins (The Bush Tucker Man) in Australia as well as in the northern hemisphere by Mors Kochanski and recently gained considerable currency in the United Kingdom due to the popularity of Ray Mears and his bushcraft and survival television programmes. Bushcraft is about surviving and thriving in the natural environment, and the acquisition of ancient skills and knowledge to do so. Bushcraft skills include; firecraft, tracking, hunting, shelter building, the use of tools such as knives and axes, foraging, hand-carving wood, container construction from natural materials, rope and twine-making, and many others. These are the kinds of skills well known to our ancient predecessors, many of which are still practiced today as an everyday skill amongst aboriginal and native peoples around the world."
Being more of a western US kind of guy, I'm guessing it applies to me more as "scoutcraft" or "woodlore", which wikipedia admits is really more "Native Americans trying to survive."
Since I have a bunch of knives acquired recently, many of which claim to be "bushcraft knives", I thought I should haul them out, test them, compare them, and generally try to entertain my 10-year-old with how much of my explorer days I can still recall.
Here are the choices, if I am to choose one knife to head into the wilderness with:
Randall #25-5 Trapper
Dozier KS-7 Wilderness (with a convex grind)
Busse SAR5
Adventure Sworn Bushcrafter
Fallkniven H-1
Bushcraft Northwest BCNW-O1
Blind Horse Knives Boattail Scandi
All would be decent choices for heading into any wilderness that I might have handy -- which means high country California/Nevada/Montana.
Let me admit up front, I didn't test the Randall. Unused Randalls are too expensive to touch, much less abuse. The rest of them I used to: make kindling, start a fire, carve tent pegs, weave/construct an evergreen shelter, clean a fish (I really wanted to spear the fish first, but didn't have time), and dress and prep game (well, a chicken getting ready for a bbq).
I did not "baton". My scoutmaster would never have allowed me to use a knife where an axe is called for. My wilderness mentor would never have allowed me to use wood thick enough for batoning, either... he felt that one should search for smaller wood for most if not all uses.
Here are my thoughts, in somewhat random order:
The BHK and the BCNW functioned about the same, though the BCNW has a strange handle shape. I'm sure that the BCNW handle is ergonomically superior, but I don't have ergonomic hands, I guess. I preferred the BHK boattail. Both have good steel, the scandi edges sharpen easily. They are, however, so small and light, that they can't chop. Maybe that's good.
The Fallkniven is wicked, wicked sharp. How they get that laminated VG-10 together, I don't know, but it works. Very easy to sharpen, too. Very comfortable handle. This is one of the knives I take hunting regularly, so I'm quite comfortable with it. The blade is quite full, though, making it a better skinner than a poker. I found it a little awkward in making/building stuff, but still manageable.
The Busse was a surprise. I included it because of its reputation for indestructibility, but it excelled in both balance and comfort. It is, however, heavy. This thing is perfect if the survival includes counterattack.
The Adventure Sworn is brand new to me, and I'm very impressed. The handle, the blade design, the grind... it's all good and damned pretty to boot! I need to use this thing some more.
Now another admission: the Dozier is my usual carry. I went into this thinking it's perfect, and I still do. It cuts like a dream, stays sharp, and is shaped for work. It's still a little large, though, for detail work. What I really need is a Dozier that can morph at will from a KS-3 to a KS-7 and back again.
No real winner, they're all good. But I'm currently packing for a couple of days teaching woodcraft to kids... and I've got both the Adventure Sworn Bushcrafter and the Dozier KS-7 on the bed, trying to decide...
Wikipedia defines it as: "Bushcraft is a long-term extension of survival skills. A popular term for wilderness skills in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the term was popularised in the southern hemisphere by Les Hiddins (The Bush Tucker Man) in Australia as well as in the northern hemisphere by Mors Kochanski and recently gained considerable currency in the United Kingdom due to the popularity of Ray Mears and his bushcraft and survival television programmes. Bushcraft is about surviving and thriving in the natural environment, and the acquisition of ancient skills and knowledge to do so. Bushcraft skills include; firecraft, tracking, hunting, shelter building, the use of tools such as knives and axes, foraging, hand-carving wood, container construction from natural materials, rope and twine-making, and many others. These are the kinds of skills well known to our ancient predecessors, many of which are still practiced today as an everyday skill amongst aboriginal and native peoples around the world."
Being more of a western US kind of guy, I'm guessing it applies to me more as "scoutcraft" or "woodlore", which wikipedia admits is really more "Native Americans trying to survive."
Since I have a bunch of knives acquired recently, many of which claim to be "bushcraft knives", I thought I should haul them out, test them, compare them, and generally try to entertain my 10-year-old with how much of my explorer days I can still recall.
Here are the choices, if I am to choose one knife to head into the wilderness with:
Randall #25-5 Trapper
Dozier KS-7 Wilderness (with a convex grind)
Busse SAR5
Adventure Sworn Bushcrafter
Fallkniven H-1
Bushcraft Northwest BCNW-O1
Blind Horse Knives Boattail Scandi
All would be decent choices for heading into any wilderness that I might have handy -- which means high country California/Nevada/Montana.
Let me admit up front, I didn't test the Randall. Unused Randalls are too expensive to touch, much less abuse. The rest of them I used to: make kindling, start a fire, carve tent pegs, weave/construct an evergreen shelter, clean a fish (I really wanted to spear the fish first, but didn't have time), and dress and prep game (well, a chicken getting ready for a bbq).
I did not "baton". My scoutmaster would never have allowed me to use a knife where an axe is called for. My wilderness mentor would never have allowed me to use wood thick enough for batoning, either... he felt that one should search for smaller wood for most if not all uses.
Here are my thoughts, in somewhat random order:
The BHK and the BCNW functioned about the same, though the BCNW has a strange handle shape. I'm sure that the BCNW handle is ergonomically superior, but I don't have ergonomic hands, I guess. I preferred the BHK boattail. Both have good steel, the scandi edges sharpen easily. They are, however, so small and light, that they can't chop. Maybe that's good.
The Fallkniven is wicked, wicked sharp. How they get that laminated VG-10 together, I don't know, but it works. Very easy to sharpen, too. Very comfortable handle. This is one of the knives I take hunting regularly, so I'm quite comfortable with it. The blade is quite full, though, making it a better skinner than a poker. I found it a little awkward in making/building stuff, but still manageable.
The Busse was a surprise. I included it because of its reputation for indestructibility, but it excelled in both balance and comfort. It is, however, heavy. This thing is perfect if the survival includes counterattack.
The Adventure Sworn is brand new to me, and I'm very impressed. The handle, the blade design, the grind... it's all good and damned pretty to boot! I need to use this thing some more.
Now another admission: the Dozier is my usual carry. I went into this thinking it's perfect, and I still do. It cuts like a dream, stays sharp, and is shaped for work. It's still a little large, though, for detail work. What I really need is a Dozier that can morph at will from a KS-3 to a KS-7 and back again.
No real winner, they're all good. But I'm currently packing for a couple of days teaching woodcraft to kids... and I've got both the Adventure Sworn Bushcrafter and the Dozier KS-7 on the bed, trying to decide...
