Traditional Farm/Garden Fixed w/Sheath?

steve-in-kville

steve-in-kville

Joined
Dec 25, 2001
Messages
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Not sure what I want, but I am looking for a belt knife, fixed, for heavy-duty garden use. I am thinking along the lines of the Kephart design, but something that I'm not afraid to get beat up & dirty. Perhaps a mini-version of a machete?

Must have wood handle and leather sheath. Biggest uses would be plant pruning, cutting twine, cardboard and the like. Something like this: http://www.baryonyxknife.com/nessmukknife.html

Any other ideas?
 
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I have a 10" mini machete by a Canadian firm called (?)Barteaux. Tough enough to dig with and sharp enough to cut with. I once used it to cut a swath through brambles to make way for a ground-penetrating radar drag. My impeccable form had something to do with my success, of course.
VfCK9MX7

Barteaux is or was American, I see, and I forgot you wanted a sheath.
I also use some of my rattier carbon kitchen knives, and a 69 cent Fiskars knife about the size and shape of a Mora, but with a non-skandi grind.
 
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Sounds like you are begging for a Condor. I have a Bushlore and a Kephart as well as a couple of machetes. The Bushlore is a gorgeous blade, but the Kephart is more versatile. My next one will probably be a nessmuk, just to see what it is like.

Condor's leather sheaths are excellent. You could pay as much elsewhere for just a sheath of that quality.

If you buy from Baryonyx, spend the extra buck or two to let him thin the edge for you, especially on the Kephart.

If you didn't have to have wood and leather, Hultafors has a swell heavy-duty beater knife. You might also take a look at Old Hickory to see if they have anything that would work for you, or that you could turn into something you liked.
 
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Get a 7 inch Old Hickory Butcher knife with a sheath for under 25 bucks and it will to all that you want.
 
I bought an old hickory paring knife last week and put it in an old filet knife sheath. It worked great yesterday while working on moving some plants and soil around. Anything bigger and I'm using a machete or mattock.

Connor
 
I've found this old butcher's knife useful in the garden over the past few years, but recently picked up a Condor Moonshiner, which has a lot more heft, and which I think is great value for money :thumbup:

 
Thanks for the replies. The Nessmuk looks promising, as well as the other suggestions. The Kephart may also find its way to the garden.
 
The good thing about the Condor Kephart is that it isn't so expensive that you'll feel terrible sticking it into dirt that likely contains small pebbles. However, give a thought also to the "soil knives" or digging knives from manufacturers such as A.M. Leonard. We have one of these:

http://www.amleo.com/leonard-deluxe-stainless-steel-soil-knife/p/4752/

Sturdy as all get out and good for cutting plant roots, but it's more of a sharp-edged digging tool than a knife proper. Same goes for the traditional Japanese hori-hori. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hori_hori

We considered a hori-hori, but ended up getting the Leonard knife because it had more ways of being useful.

While all three of these could be used for the same tasks, I think of the Kephart in a knife context, the soil knife for digging, and a machete for clearing brush. These are really three different activities, each with its own best implement.
 
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I say get the Condor because it's what you want right off the shelf. I use a 14" Tramontinas and made kydex sheaths for them. They do exactly what I want but I killed some downtime making they sheaths.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
 
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