what traditional knives do you bring with ya in the woods/hiking/camping etc

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My usuals are a Fallkniven TK1 or a Serrata, coupled with some kind of scandi - a Roselli Carpenter

For pocket wear it is often a Spyderco ParaMillie or a Fallkniven TK4 - but I do like to have a stockman or a moose on me for Variety's sake.

Here's the only pic I could find of the Ontario RAT Cattle King - which is a great knife

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I'll put the Moose up later - A GEC in stag and 1095 - going to get anothr of these I think. It is such a comfort :)

Truth to tell, I have a bucket of trad knives and take out a lot of them a lot of the time :lol::D:D
 
A full sized trapper carried along with a sak has worked well for me.
Jim
 
yeah i still carry my Tinker in my front left
been carrying my becker necker in the right (its not traditional, but its a little fixed blade, 6 3/4" total, 3 1/4 blade)
and of course still have the vic classic on my keyring :P
 
When backpacking, a SAK Huntsman and a Mora

When mucking about in the woods,
A 4 1/4" Queen Cattle King or a 4" Queen stockman
A 3" to 3 1/2" pukko or a Mora
A folding saw
Sometimes a small chopper (actually a convexed meat cleaver that acts as an axe, machete) or a Hudson Bay 3/4 axe
 
Same traditional knives I carry everyday. If I am planning to spend a good deal of time in the woods (more than just one day) I might pack something a bit more robust than my usual EDCs, maybe a large stockman or full size trapper.
 
I just got back from a camping trip where I carried a Ka-bar USMC as my camp knife along with a Victorinox Farmer and Rough Rider barlow which are my EDCs. Also had a Wetterlings 19" axe along.
For a hike in the woods I'd probably just have my EDCs, the Farmer has a saw on it if I should need it.
 
When it comes to a slipjoint for general outdoor use I prefer trappers the spey blade is handier than one would think and can hold up to rougher task with ease and without the risk of tip breakage.
 
well, i'll be honest. the reason i am asking is that i have been spending alot of time in another sub-forum

seems like the guys in the traditional blade guys go much more minimal
whereas, these guys go out with 5-9" choppers

was wondering if the traditional guys went out for outdoor activities as minimal as it appeared compared to these other guys who take alot of stuff with them
not that i am downing anyone, just trying to get a perspective on folks habits
 
I am of the line of thinking that if I can do everything with my pocket knife when I'm in the woods then I won't need something bigger or stronger. So I usually just have one of my stockmans, my sak farmer maybe, and a small fixed blade at most. Though I do suppose if I was going for more than 2 nights I would bring a hatchet or saw just to make gathering large timber easier.
 
Bark River full tang Kephart or Leather stacked puukko as fixed blade. Folder, well... I am partial to GEC # 73's and #23 I have :D However, moose pattern would be very dandy in the woods. Very useful pattern and rugged.

Rsmith_77 said:
well, i'll be honest. the reason i am asking is that i have been spending alot of time in another sub-forum

seems like the guys in the traditional blade guys go much more minimal
whereas, these guys go out with 5-9" choppers

was wondering if the traditional guys went out for outdoor activities as minimal as it appeared compared to these other guys who take alot of stuff with them
not that i am downing anyone, just trying to get a perspective on folks habits
Click to expand...

Well, as for traditionalist, I'd say if you need chopper, you need good axe. There's nothing you can't do with right tools which is principle of Nessmuk-combo (axe, fixed blade and folder)... but for 5-9" category a good bowie or Ka-Bar USMC fighting knife might be the choice if you need chopping power but do not want to go for axe while maintaining traditional ways. And Ka-Bar USMC is very capable hard use knife.
 
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These guys often come with me into the woods.

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A Gränsfors SFA, a BRK&T Mini Northstar and a Remington Lumberjack two-bladed moose.

/ Karl
 
This is really a bad question for me. I have so many knives I try to use different ones. I have a LOT of favorites.

Becker BK2,7,9,14, Remora. AND a Gerber metolius for small easy work.

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I LOVE me some Ontario Spec-Plus series also.

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These are most of my favorite blades. They are all users. They are all my favorites.
 
My wife and I had a great forest hike today, and I brought along a couple of new knives - a Gene Wiseman hunter slipjoint in D2, and a Diamond J fixed-blade in 1095:

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Rsmith_77 said:
well, i'll be honest. the reason i am asking is that i have been spending alot of time in another sub-forum

seems like the guys in the traditional blade guys go much more minimal
whereas, these guys go out with 5-9" choppers

was wondering if the traditional guys went out for outdoor activities as minimal as it appeared compared to these other guys who take alot of stuff with them
not that i am downing anyone, just trying to get a perspective on folks habits
Click to expand...

I take a more minimal approach for a couple pf reason.

After a lifetime of outdoors stuff, including backpacking, canoe camping, and hiking, I never needed a chopper. I used to carry around a Randall 14 as my go-to knife, but after getting to middle age, I was cutting weight. I looked at all my gear, and gave a long hard thought to what I really used and needed. The big chopper went. It was replaced by a folding saw in both my kit and Karen's day pack. I love the light weight of the Fiskars sliding blade saw, and if I run into trouble, I'd rather do 30 seconds of sawing back and forth with little expenditure of energy than an equal amount of time swinging a chopper. I find a folding saw just has it all over a large knife. If I have to split wood, which I have done for a small fire, it's easier to saw halfway through the wood, then swing it against a tree and it breaks down the length of the wood along the grain. It's very easy to do this if you have a hand or arm out of action, or the wife or grandkid has to do it. The better half and I are no longer young, and we've learned to take it easy on ourselves and play it safe. Older hands with arthritis do much better with a saw than a chopper.

The other reason is, most of what I do in the outdoors can be done with a pocket knife. Opening a packet of food, cutting some spare tent pegs, peeling off damp outer bark to get to dry enough wood to burn, cutting a piece of twine to hang up a tarp if it rains, gut any fish I may have caught. Heck, I watched my dad get by with a Case peanut for most things. There's very few places in the lower continental U.S. that you have wilderness you can't walk out of in a day or two. Grandma Gatewood walked the whole length of the A. T. twice, with a gunny sake over one shoulder with a few things and a penknife in the pocket of her jeans. Collin Fletcher backpacked the length of the Grand canyon with a Victorinox classic. It gets a little ridiculous to lug a bunch of large sheath knives on a simple camping or hiking trip. A pocket knife and a fire source will do if you use that 2 pound lump of gray stuff between the ears, and a few very lightweight items in the day pack that only weight about a pound, if that.

The men I knew growing up, very rarely carried anything more than a pocket knife for general use, and a small sheath knife like a Case Little Finn for fish and game. They got by very well. But of course they weren't knife knuts with more disposable income than they knew what to do with, and obsess over the knives they carried. About 2 1/2 to 3 inches was a normal blade for them. If they thought they had to chop something, they put a hatchet in their pack. Kept it simple.

Carl.
 
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