What size do ya use the most ?

When I first started getting into knives, the 7" was my go to woods blade. Go big or go home, right?

Then it was a super thick, stout 5.25"... still large enough to baton with.

More recently it was a thin, light weight little 4" Mora. Batoning broke too many of my knives to continue doing, so I had no need for the excessive strength of a larger blade.

Lately, I've been rocking a 3" necker. I love the control of a small knife when cleaning game, which is my main knife task now (my axe replaced a big blade for my wood working).

Hm... I see a pattern. How much farther can I go!?!
 
G'day Pit

With the exception of my preferred fishing knife (with an approx. 4.5 inch blade) I really have no need in the bush for a blade longer than 10 cm (4 inches).

But then again, I can see the value (read this to mean I'm not scared of) a hatchet for the tougher jobs. :D

I have long since realised that other milages may vary :thumbup:



Kind regards
Mick
 
2.5-3". The only thing I need a larger blade for is chopping or splitting, and I don't do much of that when hiking.
 
I started out 30 years or so ago with a middle-sized blade (7 1/2" iirc), but always had a folding locker as my hunting knife (field dressing mainly). I added new iterations of that general size including machete's for awhile, but for my survival knife i didn't stray too far from that size.

Then in the mid-late 1980's came SERE (@ Company/Battalion level) and i learned the value of smaller, "more controllable" blades - in/around 4". This worked fine *except* when needing to "process wood" (interesting how terms develop over time) for shelter making or fires in cold/wet climates needs (batoning, etc).

Fast forward a decade or 2 and i've come full-circle PLUS. I've found a balanced approach works best for my style. I use a bigger blade 9 1/2" (CS Trailmaster) and a small blade - a Buck Paklite Skinner.

With these 2 blades i can do about anything i need in a *survival* situation. Whether it's just a bad situation i find myself in or as highly unlikely as it is - an honest-to-goodness EnE this blade combination allows me to handle any edge-needed task i can think of.

I've found that one middle-size blade sacrifices at both ends of the spectrum - for smaller tasks it does OK and at larger tasks it does OK, but doesn't excel at either. It's able to do most things, but usually at a compromise.

However, w/my Trailmaster i can do most bushcrafty tasks and all the fire-making tasks i need. With my Paklite Skinner i can do all the food prep tasks i need from field-dressing to butchering and if needed any bush-crafty tasks the Trailmaster is inconvenient for.

That's been my journey over the last 30 years and i'm pretty satisfied with where i'm at.
 
well, I am off to the woods for 4 days tomorrow. This is what is going with me.
The biggest blade is 6 inches. I use the smaller blades more though.
BladesforFrugals11-10.jpg
 
BEEN USING THE SIEGLE BUSHCRAFT A LOT RECENTLY
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THESE ALSO GET TAKEN OUT A LOT WHEN HIKING
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AND I USUALLY HAVE 2-3 CHOPPERS WITH ME TO BEAT ON AS WELL
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The BK-2 is a great knife. :thumbup:

BeckerCampanion2.jpg


Like NothingCoherent, I've been using smaller and smaller blades lately though. The latest is a 3.5" Laconico.

Laconico3.jpg
 
Bruce Culberson said:
This one was the 2nd knife I made and has a 3" blade:

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In the past few years I've used it to field dress two moose, two whitetails (one was caped & quatered), a mulie, ~ 2 dozen sockeye, and a few black bears. I like it so much I finally got around to making myself a new one that is a similar shape/size:

hunting2010029.jpg


This one is CPM 3 V with osage scales. I used it to dress, quarter, and cape my antelope a couple weeks ago:

hunting2010017.jpg


Bruce
Click to expand...

THat is a fine Antelope there.
 
If I have my 16" wetterlings 5", but if I can only have one knife 7"-8" for me. For me 7"-8" seems to be about right, not to big and clumsy for small tasks but can still chop and baton very well. Just my 2cents on it.
 
I mostly carry a 3-4" knife but I am mostly just doing day hikes and making a tiny little fire for lunch in a twig stove or something like that. When camping the weekend, I either prefer a 3" plus 6-7" combo or a 3-4" knife with a SAK and/or folding saw. I'm not opposed to bringing an axe, but I only really do so if I know I'll be base camping and will be making fire for part of the nights entertainment. A full sized, take-down buck saw in place of the folding saw is useful for the latter as well.
 
For most of what I do I use a 3-4" blade, which see about 90%+ of what I do.

I also carry a small folder and a folding saw, along with a big chopper sometimes.

If I have to build a shelter in a hurry, my first choice is a big chopper.
 
3"- 4" sheath knife normally but I've heard a lot of good things about the ESEE 6. I have one, just haven't the time to use it.
 
I have more in the 3" to 4" range than anything else. I find the 4" handy for a few task, or cuts, but 95% of what I do gets done with a 3 1/4" blade.
 
10"+ for me, with a small 3" knife for fine tasks. But the big guys get used a lot more for me up here. Typically you're clearing a path in my neck of the woods.
 
That I use most?
15" blade (HI CAK -- 20" OAL) or 10" Blade (Busse BWM).

My smaller knives get used more for eating and game prep, I tend to use my larger blades for everything else.
 
10-10.5 inch.
Junglas or Clax depending on mood.
Pocket knife for any detail work, but I generally don't end up using it.
 
I usually use 5-6" blade for hunting, but seem to end up using my 3-4" folders for most of the work. Now I carry a med. sized fixed blade with my BM 710 or Griptillian in the accessory pouch of the sheat. Maybe I should just shoot bigger game. :-)
 
2 1/2 inch is what I use the most. Izula or SAK Farmer. My trail hawk is 2 1/4 inch so even my choppers fall into that category.
 
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