What's a good wilderness knife combo?

R

rogerschrisj

Joined
Apr 8, 2010
Messages
294
It's the new guy again. I am trying to come up with a wilderness knife combo. First I need an all around do all knife. One that will handle almost any task I thwow at it.(Sort of my "if I only had one knife" blade) To that I want to add a companion knife. Since the first will be a bigger blade the companion knife will be a smaller blade reserved for smaller more tedious tasks. So far I am looking at the RC-6 and the RC-3(or H.E.S.T.) Oh yea make sure you give me some reasons why your combo suggestion is a good one and make sure they are ESEE knives. Thanks everyone!
 
I think you’ve got the right idea, a 6 and a 3.

I started with the 4 as my multi-task “if I only had one” ESEE. From there it was 3, Izula, 6.

We were all newbies at one point. Welcome to the madness.
 
For the biggie I would say go with the Junglas or the ESEE lite machete. This gives you a large blade for chopping batonning etc. Making shelter building fire wood cutting etc easier. My preference would be to the Junglas.

Back that up with the ESEE4 or ESEE3 or HEST. I prefer the ESEE4 due to its being a bit thicker (it helps the knife fit my hand better). This smaller blade gets all the mundane tasks and detail work thrown at it.

RAT PACK #103
 
I still Opted for the ESEE6 & ESEE3 Set up :D
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A beater and a slicer-something that can take a nuke and still hold an edge (RC5 or a similar SERE-minded knife) and a thin bladed scandinavian ground knife for detail work. Depends on the price range, if you want to go cheap a Condor Rodan and a Mora 840 would be pretty ideal, up from there is a Becker BK2/BK7 and the RC5. As far as slicers go, check out Fallkniven, Koyote, Fiddleback and some of the other custom makers in the forums. That's my personal preference. Something like this...
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Other popular slicer designs are the basic Nessmuk model and the Canadian belt knife, although there are plenty of basic drop point designs with thin flat grinds that will get the job done as well. I personally find that a scandi puuko offers the most useable blade in the smallest amount of space-massive belly, good working point and alot of flat useable blade area to boot. I find this is pretty ideal for a two knife setup.
 
My bushcraft carry is an RC5 and leatherman multitool. This won't work for everyone, though - if you want a chopper, get a machete or something like that - some prefer a hatchet and something small like a mora.

I just got an Izula, so we'll see where that fits into the mix. I have a lot more small knives than big ones... I tend to squirrel them away in places where I may be caught needing one regardless of my EDC.

Since you're on the ESEE forum, you'll likely get a lot of recommendations for ESEE products - they are excellent, of course, but there are other options as well - you're better off with the right knife for you rather than the knife everyone tells you to get.
 
I like pairing a fairly large knife with a folder. These days its either an ESEE-6 or BK-9, with a Spyderco Military in the pocket. If I'm anticipating processing a bunch of wood, I'll often toss a folding saw into that pack as well
 
IMO a ESEE 6 + the HEST.

The HEST has the prybar + is thicker. And most important: A beer opener :thumbup: :D
 
It depends on what you plan to do in the woods. "All-around" can mean different things to different people. If any blade will do in a survival situation then what's best is to look at the tasks you will be performing and find the right tools for those tasks.

I don't hunt or catch food in the woods. I eat freeze dried food in pouches. So I don't need a knife for "food prep". I also cook on a Trangia stove, so I really don't need a knife for fire making. I DO like to make a fire when I can and carry tools to do that. A folding saw, a large fixed blade and a pocket knife work fantastically for me.
 
machete, Either the esee lite machete or a condor
with either a fallkniven F1 or a esee-4/hest
combo worked out well for me.
 
I love that piggyback sheath setup. I've lusted after a set like that since I saw a similar Trace Rinaldi setup in a Ron Hood vid.
 
beef said:
I love that piggyback sheath setup. I've lusted after a set like that since I saw a similar Trace Rinaldi setup in a Ron Hood vid.
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Didn't look anything like the bottom one in this pic did it?

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:D

I'll be camping with Ron and Karen next weekend.
 
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