what 3 knives would you bring on a long backpacking trip?

[bill_G]

i would stick to what you have. thats a great combination. to save a few ounces more....maybe get a titanium LM.

 

[Ron53]

Vintage Knives or Winchester Moose pattern pocketknife
Breeden Knives 4" Pathfinder
Custom "chopper" forged from an old horseshoe rasp, 8" blade and sheephorn handles

That ought to do it for me!

Ron

 

[koyote]

Assuming not an axe-

SAK outrider.

3-5 inch fixed blade WSK or BC or whatever yu want to call it.

6-9 inch blade lightweight chopper. I'd stick with a good balance, light blade, 1/8 or 3/16 spine. Something like a traditional leuku pattern that gives you good KNIFE performance and has some capability in chopping and defense.

Edges are important, The SAK can be mated with a blackie collins pocket wheel sharpener dealie and once "trained" will do nicely.

For the fixed blades i'd either go both scandi, both convex, or one of each. Touchups with a strop, convex can be sharpened using sandpaper on the smooth side of the strop, and a small medium grit stone works well for the scandi. Medium because you can fine it up with the strop placed on a flat hard surface.

 

[koyote]

Any good knife with a blade long enough to hit the bottom of a peanut butter jar. Just one is needed. I used to cary a SAK, but since then I carry a fixed blade knife. Turns out it is more practical for my needs.

I carry both, all day every day- in the shop and out.

The fixed blade is more useful as a knife, but there are occasional times when I want that little bit of stainless for gooey or whatnots. The SAK shines, though, in the extras:

SAK Outrider- USABLE saw blade, ambidextrous scissors, can and bottle openers, eyeglass screwdriver, tweezers, corkscrew, etc. I regrind the tweezers to a slanted point.

 

[Cpl Punishment]

Since we woke this thread from the dead. . .

I usually carry the "Cpl Punishment duo" (my take on the Nessmuk Trio) of a 20" HI Ang Khola and BRKT Aurora.

To add a third, it'd probably be my SAK Rucksack, primarily for the saw and tweezers.

 

[raybadge]

I've never used anything other than my Mora while backpacking, and I seem to use that all the time for something.

When I plan to do some backcountry fishing, I take a real needlenose pliers to remove the hooks and cut them if necessary.

When I need to cut food, I just do it in my bowl, although I've been thinking of replacing my bowl with one of those oregamie things for an easier cutting platform and to conserve space.

 

[VoxHog]

Three knives for a long backpacking trip? I guess that I'm hiking a lot and want to keep things as light as reasonable and still cover all my bases.

I'll go with:
1. Victorinox OHT (utility)
2. Busse Boney Active Duty (detail work)
3. Swamp Rat Satin Battle Rat (chopping, brush clearing)

 

[BarberFobic1992]

If you are looking for the ultimate value, then id do the 14'' Fiskars, Mora Craftsman in triflex, and a Vic farmer.
out of things i have and not looking at value, Koyote Bushcrafter, old u.s made schrade stockman, and my trusty Gransfors Bruks small forest axe.

 

[Bushman5]

I'd take my kabar khukuri, becker BK7, and CS Pocket Bushman

though knowing me, i would cache many sets of 3 knives along the trial in advance, just so i could have three different knives every day or half day.

edit; if i was building shelters (hidden) along the trail for my own use, i'd pack my Husky 61 chainsaw, ILTIS OxHead single bit felling ax and a grub hoe/pick, as well as a small folding saw too

 

[CDRules]

Wow, a lot of people picked huge choppers or axes. It would be funny to see someone hiking the PCT with an axe strapped to the back of their pack.

For me I would probably bring only one.

A small folding knife with a sharp blade for cutting my summer sausage and cheese weighing no more than a few ounces.

 

[dougo83]

Three knives: I would take my SAK Tinker, A light Fiskars saw and a Mora

 

[nodh]

The three knives that I bring outdoors are as follows:
Fallkniven H1. It used to be a F1.
Leatherman Fuse. It has a knife in it My EDC.
Bahco folding saw. Not really a knife.
Victorinox something. In my gadget box.

I sometimes add a Sissipuuko M07 and some axe or something.

 

[nodh]

The three knives that I bring outdoors are as follows:
Fallkniven H1. It used to be a F1.
Leatherman Fuse. It has a knife in it My EDC.
Bahco folding saw. Not really a knife.
Victorinox something. In my gadget box.

I sometimes add a Sissipuuko M07 and some axe or something.

 

[collecter]

What do you bring on your backpacking trips, and what 3 knives would you recommend for me?

For recommendations for me: emphasis on lightness and durability - and little emphasis on aesthetics. Backpacking trips for me are either 2-3 day affairs around SoCal, and the occasional 1-2 week trip in the high sierras. Lookin' at doin' the PCT, too. So lightness is very important. There's going to be no shelter-building and low levels of wood-chopping in any but the most extreme emergency scenario. I've got tent, camp stove, and most places around here you're limited to gathering wood - no chopping down trees. There are typically many, many trout to clean every day.

The trips are getting hard enough lately that I've gone from watching every ounce to watching every tenth of an ounce.

Right now I'm packing a leatherman, a spyderco salt I, and a Frosts Clippper mora thing, but am open to change.

Recommendations?

Thanks so much.

-thi

This is a really old thread but I'll play along. The OP is in SoCal which has some limits as far as fire building. Fire is pretty much banned, not even charcoal bbq'ing in the woods and no camp fires for most of the year so a chopping tool is not required. It's so hot that you wouldn't bring a hatchet even if were allowed to chop some wood to make a fire.

So, no chopping but we like light weight...

1. BM 550HG - clipped to the pocket.
2. Vic Farmer - carryed in from pocket and attached to the belt by a lanyard so you cannot loose it.
3. this is mostly as a food knife and for cleaning fish. The 550HG would work great but this one is fixed blade, still very light weight and cuts real well, it isn't very exciting but I love it...Beretta Loveless zytel hunter. Carried in backpack.

I'm in SoCal and those three are what I use.

 

[beckerhead]

SS Mora Clipper
Leatherman Wave
FRN Byrd Cara Cara

The Wave is the boat anchor I know, but the trade off in tools is worth a few ounces to me. The Byrd is very light, and has a full size blade, and is very sturdy. The Clipper, well c'mon it's just a great featherweight, light to medium/ heavy use bushcraft knife.

"IF" I had a Byrd Wings it would bump the Cara Cara in a heartbeat.

 

[Sharp Eye]

BRKT northstar (light capable 4" fixed blade)
Leatherman Skeletool
Buck Hartsook in PSK(a really small backup knife)

 

[jds1]

These two will take care of most needs and don't weigh much either.

Jeff