Trail Knife?

[absolutindian]

There are probably almost an immeasurable number of knives that may suit your needs. What you need to do is decide what your personal needs are and start narrowing it down based on characteristics. Everyone on WS&S will have their own opinion, but their opinions will be based on their own personal needs, which will not necessarily match your own.

A mistake I often see is someone with no woods or trail experience that thinks that if they get the "right" knife, they'll be set and ready to go. Go out with whatever you have now, get the experience, and begin to formulate your own criteria for a knife that will serve you well. After all, it'll be a knife you will be using, not someone else.

 

[dawsonbob]

It's been a Becker BK-2 for me for a long time. Pair it up with a Vic Farmer, and I have all I need.

 

[SilverFoxKnows]

There are probably almost an immeasurable number of knives that may suit your needs. What you need to do is decide what your personal needs are and start narrowing it down based on characteristics. Everyone on WS&S will have their own opinion, but their opinions will be based on their own personal needs, which will not necessarily match your own.

A mistake I often see is someone with no woods or trail experience that thinks that if they get the "right" knife, they'll be set and ready to go. Go out with whatever you have now, get the experience, and begin to formulate your own criteria for a knife that will serve you well. After all, it'll be a knife you will be using, not someone else.

Some of the best advice I've ever heard.

Frank

 

[dboles]

Good question to ask.As you see you will get a different answer from each member.You will have to sift through what you read and figure out what may or may not work for you.AND you may end up purchasing a couple knives in the proccess-a good thing right.
We and Im no exception have our favourite makers.Right now I have a few models from DP Knives.the last one I bought from him is his camper model.Been carrying it and using it and IM very impressed.
This one has cherry burl scales
OAL is 71/2 inches

Have a looksee at his webpage and I think you wont go wrong on one of Doug's knives OR for any other knife maker you find on these pages for that matter.Fine bunch of folks on these here pages.
Good Luck on finding that perfect knife and please let us know what you come up with
Dan'l

 

[dawsonbob]

There are probably almost an immeasurable number of knives that may suit your needs. What you need to do is decide what your personal needs are and start narrowing it down based on characteristics. Everyone on WS&S will have their own opinion, but their opinions will be based on their own personal needs, which will not necessarily match your own.

A mistake I often see is someone with no woods or trail experience that thinks that if they get the "right" knife, they'll be set and ready to go. Go out with whatever you have now, get the experience, and begin to formulate your own criteria for a knife that will serve you well. After all, it'll be a knife you will be using, not someone else.

I'll second — or third — this as being excellent advise. What works for me, partially through familiarity with my knife, may not work for you at all. The terrain you operate in has a lot to do with it, too.

I've been doing this "Bush" thing for over fifty years, and I'm still experimenting with different pieces of equipment. Keep trying different things until something feel right, standardize on that, and move on to the next thing.

 

[pitdog]

How about something like this one that Mark Wohlwend is making me:

 

[Col. Cornelius]

Howdy,

I have used and recommend all of the following:

RAT (now ESEE) - RC-3 or RC-4 (1095 carbon Steel) Drop Point
Bark River - Aurora, Fox River (A2 carbon Steel) Spear Point/Drop Point
Buck 119 Special (420HC Stainless Steel) Bowie Clip Point

It all depends on your budget, what style you like, blade length & shape, handle material, and steel preference.

 

[H-Minus]

Ka bar USMC. Tough enough, big enough, and lightweight enough.

 

[mdauben]

I saw this in another thread and thought I'd ask you guys. What's a good, semi-indestructable, not too big not too small, fixed trail knife?

Carrying on trails.

In a sheath. Leather preferably.

Can't really go wrong with a Mora, good quality, good desings, inexpensive very popular outdoor utility knives. About the only downside is the plastic sheaths that they all come with. If you want to step up a bit, a more traditional puukko style knife is a possibility. Generally cost a bit more, but they usually come with leather pouch sheaths. For something a bit more contemporary looking, a Cold Steel Finn Wolf or Finn Bear might be a possibility. Any of these can probably be had for less than $50US.

If you are prepared to spend in exceess of $100US, there are a large number of nice choices in upper end production knives (BRKT, ESEE, etc) and the less expensive customs (look through the makers forum here).

 

[Macchina]

I prefer a Falkniven F1 or S1. The F1 is excellent for general use around camp if you are alone or in a small group. If food prep is to be done, the S1 is great. I carried my S1 last year when we took a bunch of inner city 5th graders hiking for a few days and I used that thing to cut salami and cheese around the fire, open tons of food packs, make tent stakes, cut rope for games, stir the macaroni, make marshmallow rosters, etc.

Other knives I've personally carried on the trail and would recommend you check out are:

RAT RC-4
Bark River Bravo-1
Benchmade 190
Mora 746 (carbon steel, rubber coated handle)

I like a 4-5" blade. I don't chop or baton with my knives, only cut stuff. I find I use my knives a bit much for a 3" blade to stay sharp for a week. Anything over 6" is generally built to be used for more than cutting (chopping, hammering, escaping from a helicopter cockpit) and the knife starts to become difficult to cut with.

 

[Shotgun]

How about something like this one that Mark Wohlwend is making me:

You sure do like the fattys don't ya Pit?

Another thing you may want to consider is what you want the knife to do. There's no point in getting a big chopper if you don't chop and there's no reason to get a Bushcrafter if you don't do any carving and notching. When I first started out all I needed was a chopper but the more I learn about traps and other bushcrafty skills the more I want a carver. So now I carry both.

 

[Shotgun]

Scrapyard SOD, Scrapper 6 AND a BK7 AND 9 for me.

Fixed it for ya.

 

[theamazingdrew]

Fixed it for ya.

shotgun what part of OR are you in?

 

[mneedham]

I actually have a model I call the trail knife, but it's a personal definition.

A trail knife, I think, is a jack of all trades, so I tend to prefer- depending on environment- a 4.5 to 7.5 inch blade, generally light enough and thin enough for food prep work, but tough enough for casual batoning and light chopping.

taking a look at the more common WSS custom makers is probably a very good bet (do we have a list?). Import leukus and larger puukkos are a favorite around here, also.

While I don't want to open the can of worms too far, I'll add some of what I consider to be design condiserations of a trail knife:

1.ability to slice foods reasonably well

2.Nimbleness and ergonomics of the handle allowing fine work

3.light chopping

4.light batoning

5.whittlin or carving

6.critter defense


3,4 and 6 argue in favor of the 5-7 inch blade range, as does 1 to some extent. The rest argue for a large handled, but short bladed knife in the 2.5 to 4 inch range. Keeping a longer blade at a fairly thin spine and will a good slicing geometry and a well fitted handle offsets a lot of that- a larger blade that's designed properly can handel the small tasks safely and efficiently.

I would go with this one... I've been eye-balling these for a while!

 

[adaman04]

For a good general purpose knife I like the ESEE 4 (formerly RAT RC-4).

 

[Mannlicher]

Hmmm. This isn't really good for me. I'm not in the market. Just was looking to hear what y'all thought were good trail knives. I don't have specs for this thought project. My bad.

One thing you might do then, is to just start going through the threads. I bet there have been fifty or more knives mentioned in the past month or so.

This is what I'll be carrying for the coming weekend. Three days in the woods hiking and camping.

 

[tsacain]

I really like my becker necker for a trail knife. I have it angled sideways on my belt so the knife is horizontal to the ground.

 

[Raymond1000]

Bernard R. Mason’s book Woodsmanship is basically instructions for running an old fashioned (© 1945) lumber camp. I’m inclined to accept his definition of a Trail Knife as a traditional one.

The camper’s preference in brush cutting is the Trail Knife—an oversized hunting knife with a 10 inch blade, carried at a sheath on the belt. This is really a combination of knife and hand-ax, capable of cutting brush, felling saplings up to several inches in diameter, and splitting small firewood.

 

[Rotte]

What's a good, semi-indestructable, not too big not too small, fixed trail knife?

Ahh, the proverbial Goldilocks knife......

I really think it's a matter of personal preference. Peanut butter can be spread with so many different knives, you'd be amazed. Decide on a size you like (4-5" blades seem handy to me, but 3" might be more convenient for you), a blade shape you like, and contact one of the great makers here on Bladeforums.

Easy as stealing a bear's porridge and bed.

 

[Rotte]

I actually have a model I call the trail knife, but it's a personal definition.

A trail knife, I think, is a jack of all trades, so I tend to prefer- depending on environment- a 4.5 to 7.5 inch blade, generally light enough and thin enough for food prep work, but tough enough for casual batoning and light chopping.

taking a look at the more common WSS custom makers is probably a very good bet (do we have a list?). Import leukus and larger puukkos are a favorite around here, also.

While I don't want to open the can of worms too far, I'll add some of what I consider to be design condiserations of a trail knife:

1.ability to slice foods reasonably well

2.Nimbleness and ergonomics of the handle allowing fine work

3.light chopping

4.light batoning

5.whittlin or carving

6.critter defense


3,4 and 6 argue in favor of the 5-7 inch blade range, as does 1 to some extent. The rest argue for a large handled, but short bladed knife in the 2.5 to 4 inch range. Keeping a longer blade at a fairly thin spine and will a good slicing geometry and a well fitted handle offsets a lot of that- a larger blade that's designed properly can handel the small tasks safely and efficiently.

Hey, that sounds like an Alaskan!