What do you do with a 7+ inch knife besides baton anyway?

[GRIM 62]

I use my BK9 alot for yardwork,limbing big trees,chopping down saplings,ect.

 

[Chris Pierce]

Chris Pierce said
" I found that with a machete, a folding saw and a small axe that I can do all the wood prep I'll ever want"

That's the very reason for carrying a larger knife . You have 3 tools there to carry and still no knife . So you need to carry a forth tool . That's fine if you're in a Jeep or on a 4 wheeler , but not many people want to carry that much gear if they are hiking , backpacking or canoe tripping .

Doesn't everybody here EDC a folding knife? Even when I'm camping or hiking I'll carry a Multitool or SAK along with a one hand opener. Then Machete, hatchet and folding saw go in the pack. I don't always carry the machete, and sometimes I don't carry the hatchet either. And sometimes (mostly) I'll thrown in a 4" fixed blade as well. Like I said, it works for me. YMMV

 

[KnifeEnthusiast]

I use mine for chopping. Better for the blade because the forces are distributed differently. Only time I would consider batoning is if I had no option and my blade was too short to chop and thick enough to handle it. Even then I would do it carefully and strike the spine only above where it contacts the wood. As mentioned by other posters there are plenty of things you can do with a 7"+ fixed blade

Knifeenthusiast, how come you started another thread on nutnfancy/batonning when there is a similar thread still active? Seems pretty on topic to me

Well I started to write what I ended up using as my 1st post in this thread in the other thread and kinda felt it was going off the topic.
Whatever was going through my head at the time was pushing me in the direction of "aside from batoning what can you do with large knives?"
I just wanted to branch off go in a different direction, away from batoning.

So many guys have replied to the other thread with so many good responses that it makes a guy think. So I started up this thread.

 

[festerfromnzed]

I use this one for pig hunting...8inch blade....works well....FES

 

[brets-ftw]

flip burgers

after taking one of my cheapo 10" pakistani FB out to do this I feel its even more a valid reason

 

[Bufford]

Use them for bigger jobs, like clearing brush, trail maintenance, motivating past due accounts and the list goes on...

 

[crom]

I'm about to disassemble a bathroom vanity for garbage pick up with a Ranger RD7, it'll do well I am sure.

 

[unit]

I use mine to do just about anything. It is all about your personal skill set and style (talking about woods use). If you like big knives, you develop skills to use a big knife to do whatever you need done.

I whittle, carve, process wood, clear trails/brush, cut food, start fires (using spine as a striker), the list goes on. I carved this spoon a couple weeks back if anyone is interested



If anyone is REALLY interested (I can not imagine why, but anyway...) here is a link to a video showing more angles of the project...

 

[Zuluninja]

yesterday I was carrying an ontario rbs7 with orange g10 scales and orange kydex sheath I made for it; there's no way you CANT see the knife...the new guy at the pizza place I frecuent thought I was some sort of security guard that used my blade to chop off the arm of whoever pulled a gun out... LOL, kid did make my day!

Back on topic, if you like big knives and handle them you find out that you can use them pretty much for anything you use smaller knives for, except maybe clean your nails, unless said big knife has a slim point.

 

[Gossman Knives]

I like using big knives but the smaller sizes are more practical. I use it for firewood prep, on stick firemaking, chopping, batoning, making poles for a shelter when I use a tarp, use it alot during hunting season clearing trails, clearing green briars and brush when tracking a downed deer and butchering deer.
Scott

 

[bushidomosquito]

I put down, and field dressed this deer with the knife shown. I also used it along with a folder to process it and it worked well.

You put that deer down with a knife??? That reminds me of one deer season standing in line at Bass Pro waiting to pay for a box of ammo. There were two guys in front of me and the one at the counter was looking to buy a hunting knife. He'd had the clerk pull everything that was over 8" out of the case and spent forever fondling all of them before making his choice. The next guy stepped up and said he wanted a knife too. The clerk sighed and pointed to all of the huge knives that were out and said, "Will any of these do?" The guy said, "Nope. I'm gonna shoot my deer".

 

[fmajor007]

I use mine to do just about anything. It is all about your personal skill set and style (talking about woods use). If you like big knives, you develop skills to use a big knife to do whatever you need done.

I whittle, carve, process wood, clear trails/brush, cut food, start fires (using spine as a striker), the list goes on. I carved this spoon a couple weeks back if anyone is interested




If anyone is REALLY interested (I can not imagine why, but anyway...) here is a link to a video showing more angles of the project...

I watched your vid - that's some great work! As a plus, i'm wondering if that cedar smelled nice while you were carving? BTW, that's a *nice* Christmas present - what a great looking knife!!!

 

[powernoodle]

What do you do with a 7+ inch knife besides baton anyway?

Store them in a box. Honestly, thats the sad fate of most of my fixed blades.

 

[maximus83]

I don't personally use my large knives much, and in fact, have gotten rid of all that I had except for a Junglas, a 14" Condor Golok, and another beater machete. However, there is a lot of value in keeping up your skill at using a large knife, because...
a. A large knife can do virtually everything a small knife can do. And.....
b. A large knife can also do many things that a small one cannot do. For instance, a large knife can do some things a machete, an axe, a pry bar, and a shovel can do. Overall, this means the larger knife is more versatile in the total range of tasks it can perform.

The interesting thing is, because we live in a wealthy culture (where we can all afford multiple knives, other tools, etc.), and because we are usually not in survival or primitive backpacking situations where we can only rely on one knife or tool, then we usually don't teach ourselves to get by with just one tool for all or most of our tasks. We just use a smaller knife, or another tool (scissors, or axe, saw, or whatever) because it's more convenient. But maybe we should occasionally do a weekend camping outing or hunting trip where we rely on a single knife (probably a big one, if any chopping/wood processing will be involved) and don't allow ourselves to use other specialized tools, like different knife types, an axe, or a saw. It would be an interesting challenge, and good for practicing your survival skills, to learn to get by simply using a 7" to 10" blade, or a good all-purpose machete, for everything that you need.

I think I'm going to try just getting by with my Junglas, next time I go out backpacking for a weekend trip.

 

[unit]

I watched your vid - that's some great work! As a plus, i'm wondering if that cedar smelled nice while you were carving? BTW, that's a *nice* Christmas present - what a great looking knife!!!

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, that stuff smells amazing as it is being carved (and after). I generally soak them with oil when done however (it preserves color) and the aroma is basically cloaked at that point. I have done several of these cedar spoons and use them occasionally in the kitchen. I find carving them to be a great way to become comfortable with a new knife. This knife is fantastic for carving BTW, it is ground super thin behind the edge (for a knife this size...heck, for a lot of knives for that matter).

 

[The_Guide]

I personally cant imagine being in the woods without a large blade. The steel I carry is my Fehrman Hoodhunter, Peacemaker, and a BRKT modified wetterlings axe (20") and a sliky Zubat saw (not a folding saw, but a sheath saw with a 13" blade. Having the longer saw helps me cut larger pieces of wood.) IMHO, A good saw is the most undercarried piece of kit. A good bow saw is pretty easy to strap to a pack and makes wood prep infinitely easier. I like a large knife more for limbing, snicking small branches or saplings for shelters, planing, brush clearing etc... I almost always use an axe to split my wood, and a saw to go across the grain (felling and bucking) and i still find that my large knife gets a lot of use.

 

[maximus83]

Guide, I agree with you about the saw being an overlooked item. I always carry a folding Silky saw, and I use this FAR more than I've used other tools for chopping. If I cut my pieces right, usually I can minimize or eliminate the chopping I have to do.

A related point on saws, as a nice supplement (or even replacement) for large wood-processor knives: Have you tried one of the better quality hand chain saws, like the Chainmate Pocket Chain Saw? These come in lengths of 24", 36", and 48". I just ordered a 36", as they are apparently the sweet spot. Cool thing is, they are FAST, they can take out 12" diameter wood (more if you use the 36"), and yet they still fold up into a little 6oz pouch in your backpack. There are a number of these pocket and wire "survival" saws that are pure crap, but I think that a FEW of these, including the Chainmate, have got their act together and put together a very cool lightweight saw option. I've seen a few vids where folks even thread some paracord through each handle, then loop them up over a high branch and saw those down. Lots of creative ways to use these.

 

[maximus83]

By the way, don't know if anybody has already posted this link in this thread, but I didn't see it. Anyway, machete specialists has a cool page that lists 25 uses for a machete. A lot of these uses would apply well to larger knives, although in all seriousness, I don't think most 7" knives would be able to do a lot of these tasks, you'd have to be using something more in the 9" to 10" knife size for major brush clearing work.


http://www.machetespecialists.com/usesofmachetes.html

 

[thebrain]

I most often use a folding knife but when I know I will be outdoors for a while(camping or on my friends farm) I will carry a larger knife also ,I use it for most all cutting I can. Sometimes I find the need to dig in the ground or more often in wood (Mostly for spent rounds). I have used the spine to crack nuts,hammer,pry(I know), butcher animals larger than rabbits. I also like to know I can dull part of my blade and have some of it still sharp for later ,like if I have to cut metal like wire.

 

[kinskibrain]

I seldom carry anything but a 4 inch knife. You will find dry wood unless it's been raining for weeks. Even then you have options like f.e. using birch, which will burn even when wet. If I'm building a shelter or during winter when theres lots of snow I carry a saw and a small axe. An axe is far more powerful than any big knife. A knife is a cutting tool. For cutting I want precision, speed, safety and efficiency and for that you want a knife with a blade as long as the width of your palm.

For collecting I completely understand big knives, they're cool, but I don't understand the arguments for using them in the real world.