Where do you go to use your knives?

Into the mountains! I'm lucky to have "wilderness" within half an hour of driving.

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I use my folders every day for work, but when I'm in the woods, I always have a fixed blade.
Talladega National Forest on the Pinhoti Trail.
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Loaded down to rough it for 2 nights in the woods.
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My wife humpin' it with me.
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My very well-missed BHK Forest Trail
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The spoils of sitting by a campfire.
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Fire is the heart of camp
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Upside down fire ready to be lit for dinner.
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Frayed jute twine on top of fatwood shavings
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I use folders for work, and for everything else. When I camp, I just add a hatchet. Given that, I don’t seek out knife specific time. I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but I haven’t done it.
 
I use a folder at work, in city out of city or where ever needed. I've used a 4 inch blade to cut a sub sandwich in public for my kids. I get some weird looks but then laugh when there kid asks for there s to be cut and they use a plastic knife. I live in Tucson,az and where surrounded by 5 mountain ranges. also can take a 30 min drive and be out in the wilderness. making fires is the usual issue. there's usually always a campfire restriction going on.
 
Hmmm interesting thread. I have lived in the Boreal forest, the bald prairie, and currently something in between. No matter where I was I just had to seek water. Either a river, creek, or lake and I could usually find little private spots to play. Some spots were within city boundaries, some an hours drive away. Some spots looked like twisted ugly rats azz scrub brush semi trees. But I was still able to have a little fire and maybe some tea or noodles. In a perfect world everything would be perfect, but the world is far from it. So I find my spectacular or very plain little oases of peace where I can. Out of town the bigger tools come with me. In town or closer to people I throttle my exposed knife use down. I often use a metal detector in remote areas and I've been finding the little cold steel special forces shovel to come in handy for multiple uses.......... Time to dig my old Ti Emberlit out again, it's been a while !
 
not2sharp said:
Can you share the name of the park with us. I hope that we can put use this thread to put together a list of suitable destinations.

n2s
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Another addition to your list would be Daniel Boone National Forest. My property line connects to it. We can hunt, fish, hike, and camp in most areas. Some areas require the purchase of a daily pass such as Natural Arch or Yahoo Falls, which are only 20 minutes from my house, but most are open to anyone at anytime.
 
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I don't normally seek out knife testing places, but if I did, just about any forest preserve would probably do. A someone else said, people don't go off the paths.

Have to REALLY watch for poison ivy though.

I will admit to using most pocket knives for food prep at every opportunity though. :p
 
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not2sharp said:
But, now with the holidays coming up it occurred to me that if a younger member of the family were to ask to borrow and use a knife I wouldn't know where to send them to test it.
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Before letting my kids "test" knives, I taught them how to handle them. I started them both off with Opinels because they lacked springs of any sort so less chance of accidental closure due to weak fingers and clumsiness. I then moved them both to slip joints of various sorts and later, to lock backs. They've also been taught how to handle knives in the kitchen regularly. We also keep a fire pit in the back yard, so they get regular practice with making kindling in support to the various camping trips we take. I also think whittling and small wood working skills are useful and I taught my kids the basics using back yard sticks. If we had no access to sticks, small wood working projects in the kitchen would have worked just fine.

Most of the articles and videos that people post shows them chopping up miscellaneous stuff in their back yards. I used to hike, backpack and camp when I was younger and it wasn't a problem then, but it seems to be getting harder to find public land where you can find and harvest wood or even build a small fire.

Then there is the whole issue of hiking into a state or federal park with a khukuri or machete sized blade hanging off of your pack; I am less concerned with kind of stares you will be getting these days than I am with the possibility of confronting real law enforcement issues.
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I think there are several things going on here. Top of the list is that large knives aren't necessary for hiking and backpacking because fires aren't necessary. Seeing big knives hanging off of somebody's pack isn't uncommon because of law enforcement issues so much as it is simply not needed. In teaching my kids outdoor skills, I've taught them how to light and manage camping stoves. My daughter can light pretty much any white gas stove - my son most. Both know their way around canister stoves and both are comfortable with alcohol stoves. IMO, its a critical outdoor skill, just as tent/tarp craft is and just like managing modern clothing systems in foul weather. My kids both carry knives in the woods and both know how to light fires should the need arise, but as a matter of course, they don't rely on knives for fires because they don't rely on fires.

I'm a big knife fan and a fan of big knives. I'm also a big fan of firearms. But when on hiking trails on public lands, I see the open carry of large fixed blades in the same way as I see the open carry of firearms. It's massively unusual and, to my eyes, it's just a half-step away from provocation and brandishing. On maintained trails, there's just no need for having quick and regular access to a big knife, so my interpretation is that its there to send a message to me and other people. Obviously, if the trail is not maintained and there is a need for access to a cutting tool as a part of moving around, that's another story all together.

IME, the ecology of public lands varies dramatically across the country, as do the rates of usage. I give a lot of credence to the local regulations of a public land based on localized management goals of local managers. What works in west Texas and in central Maine will be different. A lot of public lands I've been to get so much use that land managers often discourage open fires and harvesting of wood. If you've ever seen a backcountry campsite stripped of undergrowth and pock-marked with poorly maintained and trashed fire rings, you can understand how and why these restrictions come into being. But I've also been to places that can sustain and allow for fires.

Lets face it; most of us live and work in dense urban areas and simply do not have access to private forested areas, and many public areas are not as knife friendly as they once were.
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This isn't my experience at all. I always carry a knife in pubic forests. It's usually in my fanny pack or in my backpack. Size and type varies depending on trip ranging from a 3" folder to a 7" fixed blade. Once in camp or a rest stop, so long a my knife use fits within what is expected and legal in that area, nobody says boo about it. I regularly use fixed blades for making fires on public lands and it's easily tolerated. But hiking down the trail with Buck Reaper hanging from my pack straps -- there's just no need for that and people would have the right to be suspicious of me if I did.
 
Therom said:
I usually use my knives for EDC tasks and for work in the house or in the back yard

I am lucky enough to have some woods around and I can take the time to make a walk and try my knives on something different

However I usually carry/use sub 4” blades and not machetes
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Same here. Around home, shop, and yard. But the most use is with the Victorinox Fibrox kitchen and filet knives, although they don't qualify as EDC knives.
 
I'm very blessed, I walk to a lake around the corner from me that has woods all around it. I can take a 15 minute ride to Jordon lake wildlife refuge, or go to the Haw river. I took some pictures a while ago, but I'm having trouble posting them.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
But the most use is with the Victorinox Fibrox kitchen and filet knives, although they don't qualify as EDC knives.
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Going slightly off-topic, I have the three knife set of these, and I just love them:
  • 10" chef's knife
  • 4" parer
  • 10" meat slicer
Top value, and they seem to hold their edge pretty well, when I sharpen them properly. (Sharpmaker, not the cheap and fast V-groove sharpener)
 
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