What are you more passionate about: knives or the wilderness?

My knee-jerk reaction is to say for me the outdoors has much more priority over knives. That hangs with my intuition neatly. On second thought I think that's blarney. I think knives allow me to experience elements of the outdoors that wouldn't be anything like as accessible without them. They extend my capabilities and allow me more outdoor action. As such they aren't really separable to me in any realistic sense.

I think a good answer for me would be to use a parallel between someone that like birds and the case for binoculars. One certainly doesn't need binoculars to enjoy bird watching but they remove the need for a whole bunch of convoluted processes that may otherwise be required to get to the goal. Conversely there could be binocular-man, the salesman's wet dream and weekend Twitcher. He travels a bunch of miles every so often with the right equipment to pose with, adopts a swarming behavior like those at a flashmob, and ticks the bird off his list like a trainspotter. Most of the time he uses his binoculars to look out of a window at home. Then there's the guy who's out Birding pretty much every day. He's gone for a good solid workhorse pair of Zen-Ray, but there's a fair chance that he may not even use them on a particular trip, but that's fine. The birds may well be close enough and he delights just as much in identifying their songs as he does looking at them.

If I don't have to cut something with a knife that's as good to me as having an owl close enough I don't need binoculars to see it. Yet devoid of either knife or binoculars I might not have the access to the outdoor experience I want even if I'm stood in the middle of a forest.
 
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silenthunterstudios said:
...Not trying to sound any weirder than usual, but you can't get that calm "zen" feeling with a knife.
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Actually I can! I love working on my knives, making, maintaining and customizing them. For me sitting down with a good peice of steel and my sharpening stones is my "zen" time. :) I also find that blade related activities like hawk and knife throwing, and chopping to be very relaxing and theraputic.

...of course so is the outdoors (as long as the mosquitoes stay away) ,I just wouldn't enjoy it as much without a blade for some reason. Even if I don't use it.
 
For me it's not so black or white, I love being outdoors and truely enjoy all that nature has to offer, but knives have always been more than just a tool for me. I can't explain why, I have always been drawn to them, they are objects of beauty and function. I am always a little more comfortable with a knife on my belt or in my pocket.
 
Definitely the wilderness. I've been camping and living rurally most of my life.
I do however feel that having the proper tools lends to a feeling of self reliance that is important when a person ventures out beyond the comfort and safety of civilization.
 
My junk room used to have knives and sharpening stuff spread out all over the place. Those things have been minimized, and stored in drawers.
Now there's a couple of big tupperware containers, and a pile of hiking gear, little stacks of brochures from county, state, and national parks, a small collection of sweat-stained maps that have been folded a few too many times, and a few unused maps of places I've yet to see in ziploc bags.

Now I look at knives like I do a socket set. This fits that. I still have an interest in how, why, and what makes them work for different things, but it's basically a set criteria list for anything new, not something I sit around thinking about.
There's only so many different handle materials, blade and edge types and geometries, and things like that to explore. After a while you just look at a knife and know if it suits your use or your taste, and it comes down to personal fit. I have a great appreciation for knife design, and even get excited sometimes when I see one that really brings together a lot of features I like, but it's not a fascination for me any more.
Outdoors I see something new and interesting every time I look around, and there's no shortage of places I haven't been or seen to go look around in.
 
Living in England for most my life the only knife I used to carry was a SAK and I had always spent as much spare time as possible in the great outdoors.
It is only since moving to Canada that I can take big scary sharp stuff with me when I go !
 
I can't give a definitive answer. The emphasis varies between the desire to just go, and the desire to play with a new bit of gear, or exercise an old favorite.
 
I was in the "woods" for years before I discovered fixed blade knives. For me the woods came first, then the knives.... I like both now!
 
stingray4540 said:
I'm the opposite of you it seems. I often wonder what is the fun in lugging around 50lbs. of steel all day, and spending half the time cutting/chopping stuff just for the sake of cutting/chopping.
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haha... 50lbs would make for quite a few knives!

I do see a lot of guys who seem to be lugging around 50 or more pounds of extra bodyfat all day, and still do ok. :o As for me, I'm pretty strong and fit so adding an extra 10lbs of steel while out hiking doesn't bother me at all! :thumbup:
 
I'm far more passionate about the wilderness.

While I've always liked knives, I've only recently become a knife enthusiast. On the other hand, I have a deep connection to nature that goes back well over three decades to when I did my first backpacking trip at age 10-- a week in the Adirondacks. To this day I love spending time in the wilderness, and I do it as much as possible. In fact just this morning at 6:00am I did a one hour mountain bike ride in the local woods before I went to work. I saw a flock of turkeys, some deer, heard a woodpecker and got some great exercise.

Being on the bike was great and so is having a nice blade in my Camelback. But as much as I like mountain biking and my knives, I agree that they are just tools. Ultimately it's the call of the wild that keeps me coming back.
 
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beanbag said:
...In fact just this morning at 6:00am I did a one hour mountain bike ride in the local woods before I went to work. I saw a flock of turkeys, some deer, heard a woodpecker and got some great exercise.
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That does sound nice. ^ I wish there were more areas like that where I live! I have to travel by car to get anywhere worth seeing, and around here at this time of year the woods are so over-run with mosquitoes you can hardly breath, let alone relax. :(
 
For me the wilderness and knives are intimately related as cause and effect. The wilderness drives my interest in knives, so its primary and the knives are secondary. The wilderness is genuinely what I love.

However, for me that doesn't mean that knives are only a tool. They are a tool, yes; but they are also a symbol of what I love. That's why I'm not just satisfied with a Mora. I want knives that are aestically pleasing, beautiful, (to me), because they stand for and remind me of my passion. Maybe that is overly romantic, but its honest.
 
I've always had a passion for the outdoors. Doesn't matter if it is a remote place or the farm I hunt 10 minutes from my house. The fact is we like knives or we wouldn't be on Blade Forums. Like Big Mike said "they are tools", to use for different things we do while out in the wild. Could we get by without them, maybe but that is the fun part about being out there. It's not just the knives but all the other gear discussed here.
One thing about a knife, it creates memories, at least for me anyway. I get the most use out of my knives while deer hunting. I couldn't go into the field or woods without one. It is a necessary tool for when the animal is on the ground. I think big game hunters, especially those who hunt drop in on pack horse hunts that really depend on their cutting tools. No way you are going to move an elk without a knife/hatchet. When it's down it has to be quartered. So for me knives are a must with this type of outdoor activity. Camping trip, really not all that necessary but fun to play with.
Scott
 
wilderness, for me, you know when your hiking your but off sweating, and you finally get there and you see the view......you can't do that to a knife........jmo......
 
XMP said:
For me the wilderness and knives are intimately related as cause and effect. The wilderness drives my interest in knives, so its primary and the knives are secondary. The wilderness is genuinely what I love.
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+1 My thoughts exactly.
 
I believe in the woods I feel more at home. The knives I own are not all for the woods, though. If I was to answer based on that, I believe I would have to say that I am more passionate about the knives. However, that is not the way I really feel. I like to go to the woods and use my knives more then anything. Based on that, I believe I am about equally passionate.

Without the woods, I would still keep buying knives. Without knives, I would still be in the woods. In a sense, they are related, and they aren't. The woods only drives for more of a reason to obtain more knives (or other gear/tools). So, without the woods, I would have less knives, and in that sense, I am more passionate about the woods.

In the end, I believe equal is where I would stand at.
 
I love the outdoors and so have developed a love of knives. Knives that work well, hold an edge, fit my need.

I may be one of the few who find a certain beauty in a well used knife regardless of it's origin. A scarred up custom that's been enjoyed extensively appeals to me more than a safe queen of greater"value".

I joined this board not because I had a vast wealth of knife knowledge, or great skill at fitting up a beautiful work of art, but because I like to hear ideas from other outdoors peeps, learn more about the different blade steel, techniques of use or sharpening etc.
 
Im with Big Mike on this one.. people who meet me know that my one knife is a Mora. Would you belive it if i say that the only reason i actualy joined this forum is for the wilderness part of it... I find that there is so much knowledge on here about the wild that you guys are amazing. Oh yea i sort of like knifes too.. But knives dont like me.. They seem to cut me often right after i sharpen them. I know of one knife in particular that seems to dislike me the most.. I do have to watch my self every time i use it..

Sasha
 
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