What blades really work in the woods

[Cpl Punishment]

From reading and looking at popsted pics, the answer is, undoubtedly. . .DAMN NEAR ANYTHING.

Yep, as long as the frapping thing doesn't break it'll work.
I may not like what you like <cough>Tracker, Pitdog<cough>, but it'll work. You may not like what I like <cough>big, heavy kukri<cough> but it doe the trick.

You can learn to use just about anything, you just learn to take advantages of its strengths, and avoid its weaknesses. I have a buddy who uses a big Rambo knife (literally, a Rambo II knife) for everything and just thinks it's the bee's knees. Most people here, want to vomit when they see one. Pitdog is tearing up the woods with that Tracker, which most want to vomit when they see one.
Guys on the Busse forum kind of laugh at how much I like those knives heat treated with a teapot, but hey, they work.

Point is, they all really do work, it's a matter of learning too use it. So maybe we (especially me, I'll be the first to admit it) could try and find ways to work with stuff we normally wouldn't like. Like if someone comes in and posts how great his Ka-Bar USMC is in the outdoors. Instead of pointing out that it's a poor slicer, the false edge makes it less desireable for batoning, etc. See if we can come up with ways to help them use it more efficiently?

Just using an example. I don't recall anyone being read the riot act recently for one of their choices, just trying to broaden my thinking, and maybe some others' as well.

Hope this makes sense, I feel my Vicodin kicking in. Time for bed.

 

[tknife]

Good point. there are a wide variety of tastes and a knife to suit them all. Most guys on here swear by Scandi ground blades, bu I've tried to love them too but am just not feeling it. But whatever workd from Rambo cleaver to the smallest folder, it's all good!

 

[comoha]

Interesting points! :thumbup:
I think I'll skin out a squirrel with a tanto, frost a cake with a Ka-Bar and baton my SAK through a fencepost just to make them work.

 

[jlouis976]

Interesting points! :thumbup:
I think I'll skin out a squirrel with a tanto, frost a cake with a Ka-Bar and baton my SAK through a fencepost just to make them work.

Thats kinda funny.......


This weekend I skinned a squirrel with my SAK and I flipped pancakes with a Ka-Bar.

 

[wintermute]

Interesting topic. A chef's knife can make a decent outdoor blade. It evokes scary images out of bad horror movies, but it's pretty similar to many "bushcraft" designs.

 

[Big Mike]

Knives are first and foremost cutting tools, and for most cutting tasks the actual size of the sharpened edge has little bearing on whether the knife will cut or not.

Sure we all have are own style of knife usage, but I think we understand the points of view that our fellow Forum Members espouse.

The important thing is to spend time using the knives you have, and to come to know their strengths and weaknesses;

...the more familiar you are with the tools you carry, the better they will serve you when you really need them. :thumbup:

 

[baldtaco-II]

I love seeing a diversity of blades, and as far as I see it the more the better. In fact, I switch off quite quickly when a fashion or fad sweeps through and it's all same old.

I'm not sure there is a sensible way of avoiding “pointing out that it's a poor slicer, the false edge makes it less desireable for batoning”, as it is an inherent part of the design. To “help them use it more efficiently” the design as a whole must be considered including the weaknesses. It is the facts we can establish from both the heads and the tails that enrich the picture. Similarly, I don't think it would be very nice to big-up a car because it can do 0-60 in 4 seconds whilst skimming over the bad news that it corners like a bus and needs constant refueling. I think that's a precarious path sketchy parents take to avoid hurting a child's feelings. I believe its all best off out there, warts and all, caveat emptor. If in the full understanding of the actuality the selection a person makes trumps those considerations because they want a movie prop knife or to carry a dagger in the woods then more power to them. I might include myself as an example of that, seeing as how I moved on an F1 that had superior steel and is no doubt a bit stronger than the 440C Boker I have retained for the tasks the F1 is good at. I just like the Boker better. In a more extreme case someone might want to go with a Tracker or a Smatchet, but they as well as I must be vigilant not to confuse facts with our own predilections. Yup, I'm definitely of the school of thought that says shake the tree and see what is left if you want to learn something.

As for “what blades really work in the woods”, I think that lacks sufficient granularity. Obviously most can be made to work at something useful before they fail. Our ancestors used stone, bone, and bronze .etc, so we are ahead already. I think the better questions are the ones that are relative; which designs work better at X, why is X steel better than Y at whatever, and so on.

Still, your question does touch on something I have wondered about a bunch of times. The “DAMN NEAR ANYTHING” thing has often made me wonder, “what exactly is it that X person would call a bad knife?”. Would it be the materials, the design, or the execution that would lead X to conclude a knife is rubbish. I know where one of the places I stand on that is; one that squirms in the dirty, greasy, bloody hand, that your fingers can slide up the over the blade on, that rusts readily, and is crudely constructed like a short stick tang poked in a bit of varnished broom handle ,yet others call them Moras and applaud them. And when I try to ignore the design thing and look at the materials it seems I have to dig down to something less than some 420 variant 'cos that gets applause too. Indeed, it does make one wonder how anything goes. I'll never ask the question though. And I'll never point out when I can see tool marks left on a knife, usually at the front end of the handle, underneath, for exactly the same reason. The emotions of others can be all to tiring a swamp to take the chance.

 

[tarmix101]

The last trip out to the Pasaten National Forest we packed to about 7000', and day hiked to about 10,000' all I took was my Silky pocket boy and my Vic Farmer. Never felt under knifed.

Wanted to keep weight to a minimum. We had rain, and thunderstorms all week, but managed just fine without a fixed blade. The saw was a MUST since I didn't carry a hatchet. As long as I have a saw or a hatchet, I feel comfortable with my Farmer. But thats me.....

 

[sicily02]

Cpl I hear what you are saying. It really depends on your skill level and what you really do with your blade. Pit dog seems to just love the tracker and your friend with his Rambo II knife. I do not like either of them. But they seem t work for them and that is what counts. Steven Dick of TK mag.
said in a couple of issues back that the Nessmuk knife is so praised and being such a great woods knife. But if you look back in the old store catogs of that eara you will not see anything that looks like a nessmuk. I was at book store last weekend and found a old like Wards catolog it was from like 1917 or so and I looked throuoght it at the knives and there was no nessmuck looking knife there. there was a lot clip point and bowies, the upswept blades with points like a lot of hunter style knives. I have made a few nessmuks and still have the first one I made and it sits I am not a big fan of that blade shape iether. But for some it works for them they think it is the bees knees as you put it LOL

tknife hits on a good point I think IF the scandi grind was so great every maker and every knife would have that grind on it. same with the hollow and the flat and chisle grinds. what works for one does not work for anonther.
But they all still cut, just differently. same with blade shapes and widths and lengths.
Great post Cpl, and just like you said we can all learn to use knives with this grind or that grind and see which works best for each of us. This is why this forum is such a great place to share and learn.

Bryan

 

[comoha]

I'll be the first to admit that I often choose a knife, not based on its all around usefullness, but on looks or a nostalgic feeling it gives me.
For instance, generally on this forum most folks prefer a drop point blade. Maybe they are more generally usable, but I'll grab a clip point everytime if given the choice. There's just something aesthetically pleasing to my eye about it. Plus, all the cowboys carried one in the old movies.
Is that a case of style-over-substance? Maybe. If we all chose knives based on pure useability, we'd all own plain Jane Kepharts with wood handles.

 

[andrew7978]

Interesting topic. A chef's knife can make a decent outdoor blade. It evokes scary images out of bad horror movies, but it's pretty similar to many "bushcraft" designs.

I took a survival class and the instructor used one. He was not nearly as into knives as us and he relied more on things in nature to do his job, but he made it work.

 

[wildmike]

I used a 6 inch forged stainless chef's knife that I picked up for my first year living outside. It performed well. My next knife was a Camillus Pilots survival knife which I scandi'd the edge on. It worked fantastic and still does. Then I was able to get my M-43 kukri from HI. Withthat fantastic blade I was finaly able to build a secure shelter so that I could get around during the day without carrying a backpack. These knives and the knowledge of their use allowed me to not only stay alive but thrive in a very tough situation, as well as to work my way out of it.

Knives are great tools, but the most important tool is your mind and how you use ti to solve problems.

 

[SilverFoxKnows]

Interesting topic. A chef's knife can make a decent outdoor blade. It evokes scary images out of bad horror movies, but it's pretty similar to many "bushcraft" designs.

That was THE knife in the Colonial/ fur trapper days. Look at the trade knives, they're basically kitchen knives- skinners and slicers. Pair it with an axe and you're still pretty well equipped. The gaucho knife is more or less a big chef's knife. Nothing wrong with that.

Frank

 

[HighDesertWalker]

The last trip out to the Pasaten National Forest we packed to about 7000', and day hiked to about 10,000' all I took was my Silky pocket boy and my Vic Farmer. Never felt under knifed.

Wanted to keep weight to a minimum. We had rain, and thunderstorms all week, but managed just fine without a fixed blade. The saw was a MUST since I didn't carry a hatchet. As long as I have a saw or a hatchet, I feel comfortable with my Farmer. But thats me.....

Sounds like an excellent two tool combo to me. (I've got one of each. ) Thanks for the pics. :thumbup:

 

[Sharp_newbie]

agreed

 

[Cpl Punishment]

I'm not sure there is a sensible way of avoiding “pointing out that it's a poor slicer, the false edge makes it less desireable for batoning”, as it is an inherent part of the design. To “help them use it more efficiently” the design as a whole must be considered including the weaknesses.

No, what I'm saying is, a lot of the time, ALL we do is point out the negatives (finger pointing at me. . .al;though I'm not the only one). Instead of just saying the negative, point out how to improve the basic design. For instance the Ka-Bar, you could advise to convex the final bevel to make it slice better (it does, I've tried it). For batoning with the false edge, leave it false, it'll work best if left unsharpened (to baton with), unless they want it as primarily a fighting knife, in which case, don't baton with it, lest they risk chipping the blade there. (I personally don't care how much the batomn is damaged, as it'd probably be goiog in the fire at the end, too.)

Still, your question does touch on something I have wondered about a bunch of times. The “DAMN NEAR ANYTHING” thing has often made me wonder, “what exactly is it that X person would call a bad knife?”. Would it be the materials, the design, or the execution that would lead X to conclude a knife is rubbish. I know where one of the places I stand on that is; one that squirms in the dirty, greasy, bloody hand, that your fingers can slide up the over the blade on, that rusts readily, and is crudely constructed like a short stick tang poked in a bit of varnished broom handle ,yet others call them Moras and applaud them. And when I try to ignore the design thing and look at the materials it seems I have to dig down to something less than some 420 variant 'cos that gets applause too. Indeed, it does make one wonder how anything goes. I'll never ask the question though. And I'll never point out when I can see tool marks left on a knife, usually at the front end of the handle, underneath, for exactly the same reason. The emotions of others can be all to tiring a swamp to take the chance.[/QUOTE]

See, and some of those things are subjective. Which is why I qualified my statement with "Yep, as long as the frapping thing doesn't break it'll work." You can make even cheap steel work, so long as you don't break it (here's where us being helpful comes in).

I just notice the trend (pointing them finger mostly at me again) to be critical of others' choices instead of helpful. Maybe more of a "mentorship" type attitude from the more experienced members (not pointing at me) -- which points out the bad, but also tries to promote the good, and ways to work around the bad -- rather than the internet trend of just criticizing.

Just so we all understand, IMO the most experienced members already do this, a lot of the rest of us don't.

Guess I just wanted a slice of humble pie and am offering to share it to others whop might think a piece would be good for them, too.

Ok, back to passing out. . .

 

[Fonly]

Yeah, and its not even fair to go after certain companys, bucause like it or not, good knives do come out. The gerber gator knives will allways hold a place in me, I used a folding gator for years growing up, it never once let me down. It I had a tool that didnt work well, I made the edge thinner.
I mean, growing up I didnt have much money, the first AMASING knife I bought was a gerber harsey hunter, Now I know there are better configurations with better steel but you get the point.

How about we make a packt as a forum, to still say what we think but keep the posts positive, I think that would make these 8 page long debates a little more "take-inable"

 

[RescueRiley]

flakes of obsidian seem to work for thousands of years... hate to say it but a mora will pretty much do it..throw in an axe or a nice machete and your golden

 

[hannibal lecter spyderco]

I would have to say interesting but there are limits. Cheap folders with questionable locks are just down right dangerous. A few years back when I was an active hunter. A fellow hunter was skinning with his smith and wesson tactical folder. " knife was very tactical looking made in china thing" Anyways some how his folder unlocked itself during the skinning process and ended up cutting his hand pretty badly. I've had my spyderco folder open up during car trip, which I was unaware of till I stuck my hand in my kit and cut myself.

Fixed knives even cheaply made china full tang ones, can be good bushcraft knives as long as you don't plan to do long term survival or baton with them. I've spent tons of hours making feather sticks with gf cheap kitchen knives while she watches chick flicks. "she likes it when I'm sitting next to her even though I'm not even paying attention" The key with cheap knives and soft steel, is keeping them sharp. One of the most important things in bushcraft is how to keep your knives or axes sharp. High end knives that are hard as a diamond tend to be much more difficult to sharpen than cheaper knives imo.

 

[kgd]

I can just post a collection of my knives, and then the MODs can sticky it.....And we will call it the 'reference collection'. Now you will have a benchmark by which to assess great knives. Then all posts can look something like this: 'Knife A looks pretty good and compares favorably to KGD's choice plate #2b. Thus, we conclude that KGD likes this knife and it has merit.........

Or you guys can just continue to flounder in your uncooth and disorganized ways


(I'm only partly serious )