What role does a folder play in your camping/hiking/field usage?

[Herlock]

Hi. Also for me it depends very much what type of hike and which activities I am planning to perform outdoor .

90% of the times for me it’s “casual” one day hikes alone or with family. I normally carry anyone of my folders I have in rotation during the week. Note I normally hike in the Italian Alps, walking well marked trails and the occasional via ferrata. The areas are normally protected areas, very regulated when it comes to the possibility of lighting up big open fires or building shelters, wild edibles collection, hunting and fishing, etc. therefore these activities are rather "limited" for me. Also the trails are quite populated with other hikers, villagers, shepherds, woodsmen, etc., so we’re not really talking about deep wilderness and survival scenarios here. During these hikes a folder really does everything I need, from basic food prep to cutting cordages and pointing sticks, from basic fire prep to recreational whittling and carving. I never had problems with any of my folders, never had a failure and a good wash, rinse and dry it’s all they need when back at home .

The other 10% of my outdoor activities it’s what I jokingly call “country side leisure time”. Here is really when I can have some fun with the tools. We go out on countryside trails, mostly biking on gravel country roads on the hills up here or close to the rivers/lakes and we can have a barbeque or simply a bigger open camp fires going. These areas are normally not protected areas and the rules are more relaxed. Here I normally carry a folding saw or a small axe and a compact fixed blade (today mainly my Fallkniven F1) for more demanding wood processing.

This said, if I don’t know the area I am hiking in, the chances to get lost or be out of reach for days are high, I would pack a fixed blade vs. a folder but I recognize it’s more a psychological thing than anything else . I think the tool it’s a short 10 %, the skills and mind set are what makes the difference .

A couple of my stoutest folders:

 

[Steve6387]

... Chopping may be fine.
Would you trust that lock up to open 1/2 dozen cans or stab thru ice?
I would not....

I don't remember any times I've been camping and used a knife blade to open 1/2 a dozen cans or to stab thru ice. What type of camping are you doing?

 

[b2edhmep]

My folder would play the same role camping or hiking as it would as my EDC. It's in my pocket every day so it would be there when camping or hunting. When camping I would have multiple blades for different tasks. Such as a hatchet or ax for chopping, a machete for clearing light vegetation and fixed blade knives for cutting. When hiking, I would leave the ax and hatchet at camp, and carry the machete, a small to medium fixed blade and of course my EDC folder. I would not baton with my folder or try to clean a squirrel with a machete. If I destroyed a fine folder by hitting it with a chunk of wood, I would say I failed the folder not the folder failed me. There are specific tools for specific tasks, there are tools that perform many tasks. There are no tools that perform all tasks.

 

[Zombie411]

Hunts Tomato sauces' annual company camping trip to Antarctica... of course.

It was a sincere question.
I would not feel comfortable stabbing at any hard/tough surface with any folder.

 

[The Zieg]

This subject has been hashed out here, too:

http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/traditional-knife-for-survival.1502176/

Zieg

 

[ToneGrail]

How do you guys clean your folding knife prior to prepping food when you're backpacking out in the woods? I know I wouldn't use my knife to cut up food when it's been sitting in my pocket with other EDC items like money, flashlights, etc. I suppose washing it beforehand and putting it in a plastic bag might suffice.

I've heard of guys whipping out a folder to cut up steak instead of using tableware. I think that's unsanitary, especially with wide bladed knives like Spyderco's where a large portion of the blade is not covered by the handle when closed and touching the inside of the pocket with leg sweat, etc.

 

[Jisatsu]

I took two folders with me on my last camping trip. Because it was a camp trip and I actually was using my knives, I took two cheap knives. I had a sogzilla for light wood processing (used it for shaving wood and light feather sticking) and used a cheap SRM with 12c27 for food prep. I used a hatchet for splitting and chopping, and didn't feel the need to use a fixed blade for anything else. I know a lot of guys swear you need a fixed blade for outdoors work, and honestly if I was going to be camping for more than 2 nights, I probably would have taken a fixed blade with D2 or 1095 steel to handle the wood processing, but really I didn't need it.

When I'm doing extended camping I usually just take an ESEE Izula in place of the sogzilla if that helps.

 

[Jisatsu]

How do you guys clean your folding knife prior to prepping food when you're backpacking out in the woods? I know I wouldn't use my knife to cut up food when it's been sitting in my pocket with other EDC items like money, flashlights, etc. I suppose washing it beforehand and putting it in a plastic bag might suffice.

I've heard of guys whipping out a folder to cut up steak instead of using tableware. I think that's unsanitary, especially with wide bladed knives like Spyderco's where a large portion of the blade is not covered by the handle when closed and touching the inside of the pocket with leg sweat, etc.

I use a second folder for food prep and use good ole water and soap to clean the blade before and after use. I like to use a non-coated satin blade for food prep as it's easier to clean.

 

[The Zieg]

How do you guys clean your folding knife prior to prepping food when you're backpacking out in the woods? I know I wouldn't use my knife to cut up food when it's been sitting in my pocket with other EDC items like money, flashlights, etc. I suppose washing it beforehand and putting it in a plastic bag might suffice.

I've heard of guys whipping out a folder to cut up steak instead of using tableware. I think that's unsanitary, especially with wide bladed knives like Spyderco's where a large portion of the blade is not covered by the handle when closed and touching the inside of the pocket with leg sweat, etc.

I'm not so fastidious. My own sweat probably carries fewer bacteria than my own mouth and anyway, it's my sweat. EDC items aren't really a big vector for germs (OK, money, yeah, but I don't carry cash in my pocket when out on a hike) and my own hands are certainly more bacteria-ridden than my knife any given moment, so if I can clean my hands I can clean my knife.

Typical use would be to gut a trout, rinse off fish and knife in river, cook at camp, wipe knife on bandanna or jeans, eat cooked fish with sooty fingers, wipe hands on same bandanna, rinse cookware with sand in river, fold up knife and put in pocket, sleep well. Never been sick in camp in over 40 years of outdoorsmanship. Always boil or filter water for drinking, of course.

Zieg

 

[Ruso]

Folder plays a backup role. I always have one clipped to the pocket during camp as I would any other day.
Fix blades and other tools take the primary roles.

 

[NapalmCheese]

How do you guys clean your folding knife prior to prepping food when you're backpacking out in the woods? I know I wouldn't use my knife to cut up food when it's been sitting in my pocket with other EDC items like money, flashlights, etc. I suppose washing it beforehand and putting it in a plastic bag might suffice.

I've heard of guys whipping out a folder to cut up steak instead of using tableware. I think that's unsanitary, especially with wide bladed knives like Spyderco's where a large portion of the blade is not covered by the handle when closed and touching the inside of the pocket with leg sweat, etc.

I carry hand sanitizer and have an immune system. If my knife was used for something particularly gross I'll use hand sanitizer to wipe it off. Otherwise I wipe off the pocket lint and let my immune system take care of the rest. You are bombarded with germs all day long, every day of the week. Your hands (if you aren't constantly washing them) are covered in filth and absolutely disgusting.

Despite common wisdom and crypto and giardia are often passed by drinking untreated water, they are more often passed person to person by people with poor outdoor hygiene. Think about that the next time you ask your buddy to hand you a plate.

 

[Joe_N]

I car camp so I'm not worried too much about weight. I will usually carry 2 or 3 fixed blades, a couple of folders, an axe, and a saw. I also carry some Lexan eating utensils that includes a knife. Probably 90% of the time I use my Buck 303 for every I do though occasionally I will use the Lexan blade to spread some peanut butter but its main use is to stir my coffee in the AeroPress if I'm not making cowboy coffee. I use the little Buck to cut all my cordage and most anything else I need a knife for. I also use it for food prep and if it needs cleaning I wipe it off with a paper towel. The only time I break out the bigger knives is when I may do some wood prep but I rarely do that. I have started using gas stoves so I use very little wood.

Where I camp they don't allow you to cut trees or even pick up downed limbs so I have little use for bigger knives but I always carry them just in case.

 

[ATJ999]

Simple quick cutting tasks. When I get down and dirty, or hard use, I take out the fixed blades.

 

[BD_01]

Typical use would be to gut a trout, rinse off fish and knife in river, cook at camp, wipe knife on bandanna or jeans, eat cooked fish with sooty fingers, wipe hands on same bandanna, rinse cookware with sand in river, fold up knife and put in pocket, sleep well. Never been sick in camp in over 40 years of outdoorsmanship. Always boil or filter water for drinking, of course.

I carry hand sanitizer and have an immune system. If my knife was used for something particularly gross I'll use hand sanitizer to wipe it off. Otherwise I wipe off the pocket lint and let my immune system take care of the rest. You are bombarded with germs all day long, every day of the week. Your hands (if you aren't constantly washing them) are covered in filth and absolutely disgusting.

^^^^Yup. This is pretty much me. I've taken to carrying a small dropper bottle with rubbing alcohol in my backpack, mostly for first aid purposes. I'll use it to clean something particularly nasty before it approaches the ol' pie hole.

 

[Zombie411]

^^^^Yup. This is pretty much me. I've taken to carrying a small dropper bottle with rubbing alcohol in my backpack, mostly for first aid purposes. I'll use it to clean something particularly nasty before it approaches the ol' pie hole.

Multi task... A bottle of 151* serves many purposes.

 

[Therom]

For short/recreational trails I usually just take a good folder like my ZT0350

For longer 2/3 days camp i have my Esee 4 as a fixed blade and i take a SAK and my PM2 as back ups be used for smaller tasks at the camp when I may not have my fixed blade on me

 

[unklfranco]

I used this SAK Camper until I left it behind in the hotel room I took this picture in. Now I use a stainless Mora for food and a Case Trapper for any feather sticks or carving.

 

[tradja]

For 500+ nights of long-distance hiking, I've mostly carried a SAK Classic and it was fine for every task I encountered. Since then, I mostly carry a small fixed blade neck knife in the woods and nothing else. I occasionally bring a Bk16 on car camping trips, but almost never carry a folder in the mountains anymore for all the reasons you describe (gunk in pivot, no real need to conceal, hard to clean, hard to dry, weaker compared to similar size/weight fixed blade).

For short day hikes, trail running, or days at the beach, I mostly prefer my Dragonfly Salt.

 

[maximus83]

For 500+ nights of long-distance hiking, I've mostly carried a SAK Classic and it was fine for every task I encountered. Since then, I mostly carry a small fixed blade neck knife in the woods and nothing else. I occasionally bring a Bk16 on car camping trips, but almost never carry a folder in the mountains anymore for all the reasons you describe (gunk in pivot, no real need to conceal, hard to clean, hard to dry, weaker compared to similar size/weight fixed blade).

For short day hikes, trail running, or days at the beach, I mostly prefer my Dragonfly Salt.

Yeah tradja, I hear you. This is about where I am. I totally still love my folders and carry them 99% of the time. But when actually in a camping/backpacking situations, though I'm not OPPOSED to bringing one of my folders like the Spydie PM2 or my ZT 0561, I've found it isn't even worth the trouble anymore (although I totally get the folks who say still carry a folder as a backup blade or for fine cutting tasks). It isn't the weight, as they're fairly light, it's more I just get tired of cleaning them and how fussy they are around the locking mechanisms, because I use my knives hard and they get dirty. Maybe it's just me being lazy and not wanting to clean folder internals all the time. But the good news is that for me, the fixed blade and folding silky saw literally do everything I need in the Pacific NW region. Honestly? Sometimes I don't even need the saw either. I WANT to find stuff to cut with my various blades, but as a modern urban dweller trekking into the woods for short forays, I'm hardly Jeremiah Johnson. I could get by, easily, with a single 3" to 5" fixed blade and nothing else, 100% of the time. In my vast laziness, I've even quit lugging along a multitool, although I would definitely still take one on a LONG backpacking trip. Even the saw is just convenience for short trips of a few days or less.

I also get the aspect folks will sometimes bring up, that bringing extra blades for us Knife Knuts is just plain fun. Agreed. You bring the extra blade sometimes--not because you NEED to--but because you WANT to. I've definitely been there. A few times I've lugged along my Condor Golok strapped to my pack, or my big ole' ESEE Junglas. Those things look borderline silly on the trail and people stare at you a bit, but they are seriously fun to do some wood chopping with, and to test yourself and learn what kinds of fine cutting tasks you can manage with a giant blade. So, I totally get the fun aspect and just lugging things along, because we CAN.

 

[xICEMANx]

I prefer fixed blades for outdoor use. I carry a folder because I always do, but they see little use, more of a back up.