What do you look for in a Camp knife ?

pitdog

pitdog

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
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Just wondered what kinda tasks you all expected your Camp knives to perform and what kinda size and shape you all used as your Camp blade ?

I think this one from JK knives must come close to my idea of the perfect camp companion...tough enough for making kindling, great edge geometry for making fuzz sticks, plenty of finger clearance for cutting food stuff and a pretty good knife to have at hand when there are wild critters close to camp !

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j williams said:
Thats a great lookin nessie Pit. Hows it chop?

I need to order me another JK......
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Sadly that ain't mine buddy although I'd like to think that I may gather the funds for one in the future !

It's John's interpretation of a Hudson Bay model, I'd guess from the shape and stock( 3/16") it should chop great !
 
Ahhhh!!! Ok, i remember readin bout John doin one of those now! My mind has been off lately. :o

Loks great though!! Good all around camp/ camp kitchen blade. At 3/16 I bet its SAVAGE in the woods for all tasks. :thumbup:

When I think camp knife, I tend to think big. 6-10in blade, thick stock, and a no frills appearance that screams to be used. I scored me a Ricky Fowler Camp Knife recently off the exchange with a 10in blade. Cant wait to get that sucker.

Johns HB seems to fit the bill for a great camp knife. VERY NICE. :thumbup:
 
I love that Hudson Bay model. Just ordered one. :thumbup:

For me, a camp knife is a blade that gets used for everything except food prep and delicate tasks (for those things, I have my EDC). It needs to be rugged, large enough to chop or - dare I say it - baton, and have a comfy grip. Edge retention is important, as I don't like having to touch up my camp knife too much during an outing. My camp knife gets used for fire prep, shelter making, trail clearing, and fish dispatching. Although I have a bunch of options, I keep coming back to a BK-9 when I'm on a serious multi-day outing.

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All the best,

- Mike
 
I usually have a hawk or hatchet for light chopping and my camp knife (currently) is a Koster Nessi. From splitting kindling and making feather sticks for fire, to food prep and utility, this one handles it well and is light enough on my belt to go unnoticed.
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The camp knife is a weird concept to me. they tend to be around 7-8'' and are generally on the thicker side. I personally don't use anything in this range very often, as I never really enjoy using them. Shaping wood with them is quite a chore, chopping with them just dosent seem worth it, whittling with them is generally dificult. So, I guess, for me, the perfect camp knife would be a leuku, they are long enough to do some light chopping, they are thin enough to handle like a small knife, and they are great wood carvers and can clear awy brush pretty well. So, not really a camp knife 'per se' but, It would do the things a would need to do in camp, and, with the addition of another tool or two, it would make a good all-rounder' set up. Just my opinion though.
 
Love that Monster Nessie.

For me its been a BRKT Canadian Camp Knife..mostly fire prep and a little shelter building. As been noted food prep and finer tasks fall to an EDC or smaller fixed blade, most recently mine has been a BRKT Kitchen/Utility.

How do you like that Hudson Bay?
 
The Hudson Bay is superb. It has a fine edge and point for skinning and sticking, yet does a fine job as a chopper. It is the original camp knife design, after all.
 
pitdog said:
Just wondered what kinda tasks you all expected your Camp knives to perform and what kinda size and shape you all used as your Camp blade ?
Click to expand...
For me, the perfect camp blade should be first and foremost a good slicer. Not too thick (I consider 3/16 inch about max, I want a knife not a sharpened crow bar!), of medium length (4.5-5.5 inches), and with a comfortable "five-finger" handle. I'm not hung up on stainless or carbon steel, as I think there a good steels to be found in either catagory.

My choices change from time to time, but my current favorite is the Spyderco Hossom Dayhiker:

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For me the perfect camp knife is the leuku.
Mine has a 8,5'' blade.It's very strong - it handles chopping and battoning without any problems ;) It's a real beast at chopping.It's also lightweight.It's scandi grind (well it has a micro secondary bevel...) and it's really good at whittling.Making notches and fuzzsticks is easy.
 
"Camp Knife" can mean anything from a Boy Scout pocket knife to a giant Khukri. I expect a camp knife to be able to chop wood for a fire or shelter, but some would only use an axe for that. For me, a camp knife should have at least a 7" blade. I always carry a pocket knife for the smaller cutting chores. A camp machete or axe and SAK can handle most any cutting or chopping chore a camper is likely to encounter.
 
A camp knife to me is about 4-5 inch blade and 1/8 to 3-16 inch in thickness. I don't consider a camp knife a chopper but something that can split kindling and do food prep and various whittlin' chores.
 
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