TK Magazine "Wilderness Knife"

So much depends on your location, terrian, weather and the amount of time you are going to out. With the weather being the biggest determining factor. That last trip we went on, the "Bare Bones" overniter was a prime example that a folder only don't cut it. (no pun intended) Although it was warm during the day, it got cold that nite and alot of us ended up next to the fire. Granted, we didn't have sleeping gear but it still showed on that particular outing a saw and a large fixed blade was necessary. Or saw and an axe. On a winter trip, it would be foolish to think you can get by without the proper tools.
Scott
 
Forgot to add, I have a Dozier Wilderness knife on order and have full confidence that it can handle anything I would throw at it. :thumbup:
Scott
 
Gossman Knives said:
....On a winter trip, it would be foolish to think you can get by without the proper tools.
Scott
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Scott,
Maybe I'm taking this out of context but I don't think it's foolish to think you can get by... you should always be able to get by. I do think it is foolish to intentionally put yourself in that situation.

Rick
 
Rick, I agree but if it is a planned trip, why not be prepared. That's what this forum is all about.
Scott
 
Gossman Knives said:
So much depends on your location, terrian, weather and the amount of time you are going to out. With the weather being the biggest determining factor. That last trip we went on, the "Bare Bones" overniter was a prime example that a folder only don't cut it. (no pun intended) Although it was warm during the day, it got cold that nite and alot of us ended up next to the fire. Granted, we didn't have sleeping gear but it still showed on that particular outing a saw and a large fixed blade was necessary. Or saw and an axe. On a winter trip, it would be foolish to think you can get by without the proper tools.
Scott
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True. I can get by with around a 2000cu in pack in summer but have to go up to at least 3000 in cold weather.
 
I see all sides. I realize that you could go wolderness bumming with a 2.75 inch scandi grind necker and probably never miss the larger blades.

I also have a lot of fun chopping with much larger blades- and they do come in handy. It's not that you CANNOT survive without one, but there's something to be said for being able to do big work.

I have fallen in love with a middle size- the 5-6 inch blade, very broad and fairly thin. I can baton, choke up for fine work, do just about anything without fear of not having enough - and not drag my pants down.

There are definitely reasons to carry the very small blades, and I'm rarely if ever without one. And there are reasons to carry the larger blades. If you have the reason and know how to use them, it's fine.

I think the difference between a "greenhorn" large blade and an "expert's" large blade are the key to figuring out how and when, and what to do with, large blades.
 
Zaner01 said:
With modern gear, freestanding tents, dehydrated meals in tearable plastic packaging, etc., I think it's entirely possible to go out on a backcountry trip and never use a knife once. This seems to have created the mindset that a belt knife is unnecessarily heavy, and at most you should carry a little SAK.

I recently flipped through a book on backpacking that said that carrying anything more than a 2-1/2 inch folder is a sure sign of "a greenhorn."

All I can say is, that's a strange thing to feel superior over.
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Let me guess - it was written by that *&^%))(&* Cliff Jacobson.

Doc
 
coaldigger said:
[QUOTE

I can make due with a small a knife or no knife at all, but would never intentionally set myself up to get "stuck in the middle".

Swallow your ultralight pride and pack safe.

:thumbup: I agree 100% 'Ol Bud ! Better to have & not need than to need & not have ;) I always have & always will carry at least a good midsized fixed blade on my belt ( not counting whags in my pockets & my pack :D)
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I agree too. I saw a thread on an Ultralite forum that said people who carry knives feel that they have to conquer the forest and the more you know the less you need a knife. Sure there ARE times in the summer even where I live where I don't even UNSHEATH my knife unless I'm just playing. But my experience has been the opposite of this guy that said that. The more I learned how to work with nature the more a knife became useful. "Hike your own hike" says it all.
 
Gossman Knives said:
So much depends on your location, terrian, weather and the amount of time you are going to out. With the weather being the biggest determining factor. That last trip we went on, the "Bare Bones" overniter was a prime example that a folder only don't cut it. (no pun intended) Although it was warm during the day, it got cold that nite and alot of us ended up next to the fire. Granted, we didn't have sleeping gear but it still showed on that particular outing a saw and a large fixed blade was necessary. Or saw and an axe. On a winter trip, it would be foolish to think you can get by without the proper tools.
Scott
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Scott, your are going to hate me for this, but I must disagree, while the fixed blade was nice and convenient, we could have just burned lots of smaller logs or burned them differently. We would have been fine! I stayed in my little cubby away from ya'll and got a good six or so hours of sleep. It didn't rain and that wood would have burned fine without the fixed blade knife there. Now, I'm not saying your fixed blade wasn't convenient. But we used it because you brought it in....are we going to have to do the folder only trip again and really press the rules that no one bring a fixed blade, especially a ultra tough one like a Gossman! :p


OK, I've said my peace. That was a nice editorial though.
 
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I like my Dozier Wilderness knife just fine and have no intention of batonning or prying anything with it. The knife has a real nice heft to it. Real solid!
 
Joe, no problem buddy. I guess to each his own. For me, I practice preparedness and I will carry what ever I need to make sure I'm comfortable while out. I don't mind the extra weight of a fixed blade or axe.
Scott
 
The Dozier Wilderness Knife is one savage hunk of Bob’s awesome D2. :thumbup:

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I would agree that there’s not much this knife wound not handle.

Now realize that Bob worked with Steve Dick in creating this tool, so it is in many ways the knife Steve wanted.

That said, it’s not the big tough chopping tool that some of us like to use when honing our wilderness skills. :cool:

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"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike
 
Gossman Knives said:
So much depends on your location, terrian, weather and the amount of time you are going to out. With the weather being the biggest determining factor.
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I definitely agree. Weather, the other gear you are carrying, and how 'wild' your 'wilderness' is.

In most places, Id consider the AT suburban wilderness- you can be pretty unprepared and unknowledgeable and not get yourself killed. Try that in other places, and the search team is going to have to come find you.

But I mean come on- let's be honest, we carry knives primarily because we like them not because we need them every time we go out. As someone else said, that's enough justification for me.

I don't carry a 4" fixed blade each and every time I go hiking because I will need it and couldn't make do with a smaller knife - but because a) I like it and want to carry it b) that 1 time out of 20 that having it makes my life easier than if I had a smaller blade.

And I love that Dozier Wilderness.
 
Cross thread post - mixed with 'Tell me something I don't know'....Hordes of newbie backpackers flocking to our parks humping their safety scissors :D :D :D

Khias - we need some drop leg safety scissor kydex!!!!!!!!
 
Let me start off by saying I didn't read the article...If we are talking about a 1 tool type situation in a winter environment than a medium to largish full tang fixed blade will do you well... That being said...people for 1000's of years made stuff work with palm sizes schards of stone...granted they had no choice... that was like the infi of the times... (i'm sure there where guys with sharpened bones scoffing the obsidian infi guys and vice versa) also there skill where much further developed than us today....I made it through mos of my youth with a buck 112 and a hardware store axe...and never went cold..
I think that any knife is "tough enough" for woods use if it is used intelligiently and within it's means... in most cases I'd be willing to bet if someone where truly lost ina real wilderness situation, the knife might be the only thing left to find. lol
 
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