What knife do you take into the woods?

I carry my double rig of a BRKT Gameskeeper with green fern fibermascus scales and a matching BRKT Mini Canadian. That and a LM Wave are about all I ever take for cutlery in the great outdoors.

Anymore, if I want branches and other obstacles out of my way, I swat them aside with a stick rather than chop up the countryside like I did a decade ago. Or I just go around berry brambles in the first place.
 
Usual camping gear:

Granfors Bruks Hatchet
Victorinox Trekker
Fallkniven F1

Occasionally I rotate the F1 out for some other fixed blades. Waiting for the new Swamp Rat Bandicoot LM.
 
Backpacking, I take a Swamp Rat Bog Dog. Camping, I tried the Tracker out and it was a bit gadgety for me. The Swamp Rat Camp Tramp works well. Day hikes I have an old Camillus folder I like to carry. I use a Grohmman #1 for collecting mushrooms or plants.
 
Thanks for all the replies. A friend of mine who doesnt care much for knives was asking me what I was reading and when I explained to him he started asking why anyone should have to carry weapons. Kind of a over board pacifist type. I was explaining to him that to me there are some knives that are tools and others that are clearly weapons. Everything I have read here so far seems to me like a very wisely chosen tool for any number of possible tasks that may come up in the time spent in the woods. Something like an Al Mar Warrior though feels to me like clearly a weapon, something that I would never expect anyone to take into the woods as a tool. And yet, people who dont really encounter knives on a regular basis seem to miss that point. I just thought I might add that.


Rameshacklee O B
 
One of my Parrish Survivors, with the custom sheath that has a pocket for a LMan Supertool 200. ATR in pocket
 
If I was still ambulatory enough to be walking in the woods again then I would probably carry my Fehrman First Strike + a Dozier Arkansas Toothpick(at least until my Model-6 gets here). Or I might carry my Trident Oberland 01 plus the smaller Trident TCFM 02.
And then again it might be one of my CRK Green Berets, or one of my Neil Roberts Warriors, but then again I might even carry my Busse Satiin Jack Limited Edition+ a Dozier in a horizontal carry.

MANNN! this is just confusing me....I EDC a fixed blade or two everyday and a couple of smaller ones too....so I guess it would be whatever I have on at a given time.

Ciao
Ron:jerkit:
 
It depends. If I'm just wandering around out back, either or both a Victorinox Rucksack or a Spydie Endura. Hunting, it's the Rucksack plus a Grohmann No. 1 Original Design, a Grohmann Mini Skinner, and a Gerber MultiPlier 400. If I'm going camping, the Rucksack, frequently the Endura, a Becker BK-9 and occasionally a Cold Steel Rifleman's Hawk.
 
I honestly have'nt been back in the woods for a while, so my choice of what to take would depend on if I was hiking or just camping. A Gerber multi tool and my Camilus USMC pocket knife are a must. Latly, my excursions have been in the high deserts and foothills thereof, and I usually take my Relentless Knives M-4 Bounty Hunter and a Buck camp hatchet, but I just got a Guild Knives tomahawk for my future exploring.
carl_s_knives_009Small.jpg
 
I carry either my Cold Steel Trail Master or my Western bowie. I like the big ones because I can use them to clear trails or other camp stuff.
 
I go with something light, like a SAK or Spyderco Calypso. If heavy chopping looks like it might be needed, I'll take a small hatchet, but times I might need one are very rare.
 
Most of my knives are Spyderco. I usually take one of the Salt models if dayhiking, fishing and kayaking. I just recieved a Bark River Slither in a giveaway, but to me , its almost too nice to use. As far as fixed blades go, I have a Fallkniven A1, and a Spyderco Temperance, but I'm looking at getting a Bark River Northstar with micarta handle. I think Bark River makes a great knife and the choice of handle materials is amazing. For camping and backpacking trips I'll take the Northstar when I get it along with a serrated Salt.
 
Navy issue Camillus (K-Bar type). It's a mini machete for clearing brush. Lots of brush in the northern NY State woods.
 
I carry either a BRKT Sandstorm or a BRKT Teddy.
 
Spyderco Military and Victorinox Dutch Army knife (with glow-in-the-dark lanyard).

Day hikes entirely this summer. Wildlife preserves & Columbia River Gorge (where the mighty Columbia cuts right thru the middle of the snow covered Cascade Mountain range, read climbs).

oregon

PS: Gorge "brave-ometer" walk across the Bridge of The Gods (in Cascade Locks), surface made of expanded metal, see the Columbia roiling far below you as you look at your feet. Introduces you instantly to any, previously unknown, fear of heights.
 
Lately I've been camping one/month with my son's Boy Scout Troop and a few times a year with my family.

I carry a fullsize Rittergrip clipped on my pocket (other times I EDC a mini-Rittergrip in the same pocket), a Leatherman Charge Ti with a nylon sheath in my daypack, and where allowed (not allowed on Scout Council properties) I carry either a Becker Crewman BK10 or an Eriksson #748 mora in my backpack or duffel bag. I'll loan out the Mora for kitchen use if needed, but none of the other knives get loaned out.

Right now my son carries KaBar Dozier Spear Point folder clipped in his pocket and a Victorinox Stayglow Climber in his daypack. I've promised him that when he earns his First Class Scout rank I will give him a LM Wave as a reward.

At the last campout my son loaned his KaBar to a Scout who'd forgotten his knife at home. The other Scout when on to load the knife to one of the dads (not a leader) who used it to try to pry out a lodged telescoping tent pole. I saw the Scout loan it to the dad and was horrified to see him wedge it into the pole. The dad commented that it was a real nice knife and it was only then that I recognized it as my son's knife. I wasn't happy about that. Luckily it didn't snap off the point - only chipped it up a bit. I cleaned it up on a Sharpmaker with the diamond rods and it sharpened up real nice. Hopefully my son learned a lesson about loaning out knives - just don't do it.

Ken K.
 
Rameshacklee O B:

Thanks for all the replies. A friend of mine who doesnt care much for knives was asking me what I was reading and when I explained to him he started asking why anyone should have to carry weapons. Kind of a over board pacifist type. I was explaining to him that to me there are some knives that are tools and others that are clearly weapons. Everything I have read here so far seems to me like a very wisely chosen tool for any number of possible tasks that may come up in the time spent in the woods. Something like an Al Mar Warrior though feels to me like clearly a weapon, something that I would never expect anyone to take into the woods as a tool. And yet, people who dont really encounter knives on a regular basis seem to miss that point. I just thought I might add that.
Click to expand...

Sometimes it's necessary (or at least, reasonable) to carry a knife into the woods that shares many features with a weapon. Common sense should prevail, of course, and - as always - use and intent mean just as much as design and form. I think you'll find that the line between what makes a good combat utility blade and what makes a weapon is often blurry, particularly because the primary use of most 'combat knives' is utility as opposed to weaponry. Take the Becker BK-9 (or BK-7) for example: it is billed as a 'combat bowie,' and is certainly large and strong enough to fill a combat role (actually, it's probably too large for most combat roles ...). BUT, these very features make it a reliable deep woods blade, and I have used mine as such for a few years now. The only combat it has seen is some aggressive baton use. The mini pouch on the sheath could hold a spare pistol magazine, but in my case, it holds a nice little 'Cody Lundin-style' mini survival kit. To me, it is a reliable tool. If I were swinging or brandishing it at fellow backpackers, it could justifiably be considered a weapon - but so could a SAK.

Of course, there are plenty of blades out there that are primarily designed to be used as weapons, and have specialized features for this purpose. You could conceivably go out into the woods with a punch dagger, stiletto, 'last ditch' backup knife (like the KaBar law enforcement models) or other such instrument, but if you put it to any serious use, I think it would become abundantly apparent why these sorts of objects are not ideally suited for common outdoors tasks. I believe that a reasonable person would realize this and self-correct their carrying habits.

Ultimately, my point is that in a world where knife carrying has become increasingly embattled, we enthusiasts seem to have a duty to educate neophytes about the uses and misuses of knives. Rather than simply proposing that such and such a blade is a weapon and ought not to be carried into the woods for that reason, I would suggest informing your colleague as to what features a good outdoors blade has, and why a dedicated weapon (as identified by its form and design) might be an inappropriate choice for camping / hiking.

To get to the meat of your initial question, I have settled (for now!) on carrying a Darrel Ralph Delta 5 drop point with partial serrations with me on most wilderness outings these days. I had a terrific time making the kit, and the knife has a very personal touch for me. The blade is unbelievably sharp (great for most cutting and eating tasks) but with a thick enough spine that it could baton in a pinch. The serrations (an experiment that I probably wouldn't repeat if I were to assemble another) are actually quite useful for cutting fishing line in a confined area. I carry it in a CRKT M60 drop sheath because I often spend time sitting in a canoe or boat and I find that some traditional belt sheaths can poke one in the side in these situations.

Here's a recent picture of my Delta 5 on a fishing trip in Muskoka.

Delta5_IrvineLakeSmall.jpg


All the best,

- Mike
 
Most of the time I go walking in the woods or camping I just carry a sak and a slip joint pocket knife. If I need to go with something heavier duty I have a Ontario 12 inch machete around the camp or in my pack.

A pocket knife takes care of most of what I have to cut. For self defence I use a Smith and Wesson revolver.
 
BK10 or Schrade Deerslayer on the belt, Kershaw Outcast on my pack, Gerber multi 600 in the pack.

cheers
 
The 2 knives that I have with me all the time anyway are my Benchmade 805s and my 721s, so they would go with me "into the woods". I'd also take my Spyderco Temperance FB with me, if I was going "camping", and maybe my (SS) Cold Steel Trailmaster if I felt I was going to be "in the woods" for awhile.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top