What knife "system" do you use for camping?

No need for a big "survival" knife...

Mainly get yourself a good axe for felling trees with, and a good saw to saw it into more manageable pieces ... Then use the axe carefully, and split em for fire wood... no need to baton...

Get yourself a very good folder .. such as an Xm-18.. or strider to sit in your pocket for any tasks around the camp.. like food prep an those types of edc tasks...

Depending on how you intend to start your fires.. you can use ur folder to make some fuzzsticks.. or whatever the case may be...

axes will chop and split firewood for a LONG LONG time.. without needing to be touched up on the edge that is...
large fixed blade will easily need to be touched up after a good week of use out in the wild...
This is one of the biggest differences ... not to mention a lot less calories are used while using an axe as the job gets done in about 1/4th of the time once you get some experience with an axe...

Some will like to match the felling axe... with a much smaller hatchet... for the delimbing process, along with to help with processing any game, and what not... that is completely up to you...

Go out and see what your actual needs are... don't get sold by others...

at the end of the day.. if your sold on a large fixed blade to do the job... go for it.... since its only a recreational weekend of camping or what not... it's not really going to matter...

however if you were attempting a months stay out in the wild.. you'd be quite screwed if you batoned your blade right into the ground, which is bound to chip/roll or even snap ur edge..

One guy on youtube was battoning through a tree with the heavy bowie ka-bar... he was about half way through and the entire blade snapped into pieces... the company replaced it, but why take that risk? ..

later!
 
This. Plus a leatherman and maybe a folder.
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Kershaw Camp Axe, folding saw, Ranger RD9 (with a Gerber MP600 Pro Scout in the sheath's utility pocket), BM 551 H2O, SAK, and a Mora for food... might even have an Estwing 26" Camp Axe and Gerber Gator machete in the SUV, just in case.
 
I've got a house in the mountains I use as a base. I don't like cars or car camping, closest I get to that is bringing a horse. So I try to keep things light and compact. The knives might change, but it's usually a 4-5" fixed blade and a SAK with a saw. When I'm on horseback, I add some kind of chopping tool (khukri, golok. machete or more rarely an axe).

Last time I carried these:

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Cutting tools while camping.... I have been known to bring along a cross cut saw car camping where I know there is big wood around. But my usual is a bow saw or folding saw.

I always have a large SAK with me. What other knives I carry depend on the situation. If I just plan to spend the night in the woods, I'll have the SAK, a 3-4" fixed blade, and the folding saw. I do like to carry a larger knife at times for walks in the woods and fooling around. The BK-7 has moved into this role, but I still like to carry my Blackjack 125. If I know I will be chopping much, I'll substitute the Condor Pack Golok for the large blade and still carry a smaller fixed blade and SAK with me.

I have more choices now than I did years ago... thanks to BF and the folks here. :D
 
I've never really thought of it as a "system". I guess that is a modern use for the term though. I always have my stockman. It does most anything I need done while canoe camping. While I have never lost it, I realize it is a possibility so I usually have a backup in my drybox. That is either a lightweight Zytel handled single blade folder lith a Schrade SP-3 or a Gerber LST. Occasionally, if I know I will be fishing, Ill substitute an old Imperial Mil-K818 military knife which has a bail on it for securing to my PFD. If I am planning on keeping fish to eat, or hunting, I carry a small belt knife. Usually a Schrade Sharpfinger. I never bother with land clearing, felling trees or making cordwood, so don't consider an axe, hatchet or saw essential for my outings. In fact, I get a lot of satisfaction from surveying my campsite just before I shove off to be certain that I have left no sign of my ever having been there.
 
Well i carry my eka swede 10 and helle alden . And if i am going in to thick woods my kukri -machete but this is not often . On a day hike just my swiss army camp
 
Car-camping: a hatchet, machete, fixed blade knife on my belt/pack, and a folder clipped into my pocket.
Hiking: Larger (5 inches or better) fixed blade on my belt, folder clipped into my pocket, possibly a machete if the area I'll be hiking in warrants it

I have multiple little ring saws, and a couple of different folding saws I'll have in my pack at any given time as well.
 
HwangJino said:
Before I was obsessed with knives, I never took any!
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I did but the system I used was whatever I was carrying at the time. Same with the other hillbillies and river rats I was fishing or hunting with. I did see some expert knifework done filleting catfish and bass with some grubby, blunt tipped folder the owner probably didn't know the make of much less the steel it was made of. Surprisingly, nobody ever froze or starved to death.
 
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Just whatever pocket knife I happen to have at the moment, and a small machete. The little knife does the little jobs, like opening food packs and cutting cord, and the machete does the bigger jobs. I'v e actually found almost no use for larger folding knives and small to medium fixed blades.
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That's interesting Jackknife and in my reality, I seldom really need any fixed blade. In practice even when I have a small fixed blade on my belt, I usually grab my SAK for smaller chores. A sharp short machete is quite useful for my woods visits. I think using a fixed blade over a folder is something you just have to decide you're going to do and then do it. Even small fixed blades are stronger than folders (at least my folders), but there is this habit thing going on.... need knife to cut something... reach in pocket and grab SAK....
 
jackknife said:
Just whatever pocket knife I happen to have at the moment, and a small machete. The little knife does the little jobs, like opening food packs and cutting cord, and the machete does the bigger jobs. I'v e actually found almost no use for larger folding knives and small to medium fixed blades.
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Is that a peanut?
 
1. Mora Companion for most anything
2. Bahco Laplander folding saw for wood stuff
3. some kind of Multi-Toolish thing (Leatherman Kick or a big Vik with locking blade most of the time) for the tools
4. Any other knives I want to "play" with (got a new Khukuri I want to try out soon ;))
 
Always a Vic Huntsman or Farmer in my pocket. Up to a week at a time, I really don't need anything else.

I always vary the other knives that I carry, just for fun. I usually also have a stockman, since that's my favorite knife for cutting and whittling. They fit my hand better than anything else. I only use down/dead wood for my fires, and keep those small, so I don't need much for wood processing. Sometimes I'll carry a Bahco folding saw and a big knife or two for chopping fun/batonning tasks. Lately I've been playing around with some of the smaller (12 inch) machetes, I like them for some things, but haven't spent enough time with them to really form an opinion yet.
 
22-rimfire said:
That's interesting Jackknife and in my reality, I seldom really need any fixed blade. In practice even when I have a small fixed blade on my belt, I usually grab my SAK for smaller chores. A sharp short machete is quite useful for my woods visits. I think using a fixed blade over a folder is something you just have to decide you're going to do and then do it. Even small fixed blades are stronger than folders (at least my folders), but there is this habit thing going on.... need knife to cut something... reach in pocket and grab SAK....
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I got to that combo from a couple of experiences. One, I watched my father get by in life with just that combo. Dad was a city guy, with a job in Washington D.C., but he loved camping and getting out in the woods. His edc pocket knife was an old Case peanut he'd carried for many many years. But he kept that cut down machete close for all the things the pocket knife would not handle. He even used it as a ham slicer on a picnic, and a bread knife.

Then, many many years later, when our oldest son was grown and out of the house, he was working for a company that had an office in San Jose, Costa Rica. We were going to fly down to visit, and John made arrangements for us, (the better half and I) to go on a rainforest wild life seeing trip. He knew how much his mom and I loved prowling the woods with binoculars. So for some days we hiked on a guided trip in the Costa Rica rain forest, camping out at night in the set up camp sites they had. I watched the guides who all carried a short 12 inch machete and a nylon pouch on the belt that held a SAK and a Bic lighter. They guides did everything with those small machetes, including cooking and camp chores. The last night in the jungle, they put on a pig roast, and the pig was butchered, carved up, and served with a machete. That trip convinced me to simplify my cutlery. A small machete is a very versatile piece of cutting gear. It will handle light chopping, slicing, and a bit of baton work. And contrary to popular belief, there is a lot of hard wood in the jungle. Ever hear of tropical hardwood? Cocobolo, rosewood? The small machete will go through wrist size hardwood with a couple of chops if it's good and sharp.

If guides in the Costa Rica jungle do it all with a SAK and a small machete, that's good enough for me.
 
It all depends on what type of camping I am doing.

* Car / camper camping: Folding Saw + Hatchet + Buck 119 + MultiTool + Rat1 + mini tool kit.
* Back Packing / multi day hikes: Med or small fixed blade + multi-tool
* Day hikes: Rat 1 or Cryo + multi-tool
 
On a ranch I hunt and camp on I did a lot of mesquite and cedar clearing with a backhoe and it has an endless supply of brush piled up. If I remember to bring an ax I can cut some, it not I can usually find plenty of wood to stomp into pieces.

Theres time to unload bedrolls, coolers and other equipage and gather some firewood and theres time to hunt. Unless I planned the trip around bushcrafting, wood processing or basket weaving, there's not much time for that.
 
Izula 2 and SAK combo for me. Add a proper fillet knife if there's going to be some fishin'... :)

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-Brett
 
SawVivor and a large fixed blade. So far, I've yet to venture over the $100 mark for a camp knife, so I can only speak to the Kershaw Outcast and Camp 10. The Outcast has been a proven chopper for me, and I think the Camp 10 has an even better design for batoning.

And obviously a lightweight folder for food / light tasks.
 
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