Why the big knife?

For me the big knife and hatchet are great, I really like the BK 9 and the Tops OX-6 as a combo. There is just not much ground you can't cover with them. It's like having cake and eating it to:D
 
yea the BK9 and SOD just feel so perfect in the hand. fast cutting, light, wicked slicers and choppers.

for me a big knife knife = more wood chopped down with less fatigue than a tiny knife.
 
dextersp1 said:
The F1 is a 3 3/4" blade - on the large side for many - I use a 3" blade and others find under 2 1/2" and under fine.
So, why do you need such a big blade?
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dextersp1-Right on , answering a question with a question.


diferent people prefer different knives/tools. that is the ultimate answer to your question.

an axe for some, a big knife for others.

what does it really matter? Carry what you are comfortable with. End of discussion.
 
G'day go2ndAmend

go2ndAmend said:
.... I generally carry a fairly small fixed blade (F1) for my cutting needs and a small hatchet (GB Mini) for any chopping needs.
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Substitute the F1 for a H1, add a folder & you've got what I take bush :D

Outdoortools-1.jpg


To be honest, I really don't think it matters what a person chooses to take bush, as long as they know how to get the most out of the tools they take :thumbup:





Kind regards
Mick
 
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this is just it! one man or woman can use a massive chopper and wield it like a scalpel. Others can use a smaller blade the same way.

I for one can make paper thin slices of garlic with my Khuk or BK9/7/2, yet get a small slippie in my hand and those thin slices become chunks.
 
True enough.
I have a couple of large knives, but I honestly have no need for them, other than the delight of hacking deadwood.

For me, a 4" blade and folding saw do everything I need.
 
I have a little of both. When I was a kid, I loved BIG Knives. I figured (what I called then) a "survival knife" HAD to be big right?

But the older I get the more I have settled into something a little smaller. Up until last year my field knife was still LARGE... I carried a Knives of Alaska Camp Knife.

But then I got into Moras, and then eventually to found Rat Cutlery. I went with an RC4 for my new "lifelong... one... field knife". Well, then I got an RC3 (shorter blade) and now i am REALLY enjoying that size. I wouldnt call the RC3 a large knife at all.

So yeah, now here I am wanting another blade.. this time a more "traditiional" bushcraft knife... drop point... shorter blade. :")

Now, I say all that and must admit, just the other day I bought a Cold Steel Krukri just to try it out... Ive always wanted a krukri.... :) So... I guess I like a little of both. Im just learning that "the more you know, the less you carry."
 
Oh, I might add... I found a Corona folding saw a few weeks back.

Now that and a small-ish 3-4 inch blade would suit me fine in the forests of the South Eastern US for quite a while!
 
For me I carry a big blade, or several, for a couple of reasons.

Firstly I enjoy using them, what's the point of doing it if you're not having fun? Secondly the range of tasks I can do with a big knife far out weighs what I can do with an axe or small knife. Maybe that's a knowledge thing and if I learned some more skills I could do more with other tools.
 
My EDC's are a 16 inch machete and a Buck Alpha Hunter.
I'm covered.
I rarely take any of my other knives.
Well. I wear a custom bowie in a cross draw sheath when I go to a bar.:D
 
I'm surprised noone has mentioned the advantages of a big knife for potential self defense against bears and the like. For me , it's all a compromise as to how much & how far I want to carry the weight of my cutting tools. Where I hike, a mid-sized knife of 4"-5" inches, a Vic Farmer and a Silky saw are probably more than I'll ever need. An axe looks very heavy to me if I'm trying to keep my pack weight to 25-30lbs, and I have yet to take one on a major hike. I'm sure if I hiked in the thick of Northern Canada it would be a different story.
 
Very much depends on the big knife. I've got no use for great big fighters or fantasy military knives but big agricultural type blades are useful to me. Sometimes the optimal tools for me to make a nest is the pairing of my #2 golok and a pair of pruning shears. Some places at some times that is clearly not the case, as now. I'm just emerging from the end of my saw and ax season. Soon enough I will be into thrashing thorns, brambles, thistles, and especially harvesting ferns for bedding. And once again the #2 and the shears will rule if I don't intend to have an open fire of any real significance. A lot of the year I use a tarp and some sort of stove so loading up to chop big wood or doing much in the way of sawing is folly. I do better massing my resources on stuff I will actually use that can also do other stuff at a pinch. A golok does that better for me than a big butcher knife or a little machete because it has a bit more clout. But still, I would sooner take those than lug some behemoth of a knife that attempts to emulate what an ax does. .

I also like having a beater because it frees my personal knife to be a cutting tool and not be compromised by a need for enormous strength, or have a pallet knife type tip and so on. In short features that make a knife a pleasing cutting tool can be retained. The knife can be pointy for precision without concerns about tip strength. Similarly a pleasing taper can be had without any of that full thickness spine to the tip for toughness business. The cutting power of the CS Master Hunter springs to mind and so with the Boker that is my current favorite. Then there's blade thinness; I know there's a popular shpeel about “it all being in the geometry” when the overzealous thickness of some knives is mentioned but some of those have a width that doesn't really lend itself very well at all to turning in a cut. They often lose manoeuvrability. On that I prefer my personal knife to be quite thin with a distal taper and optimized for cutting only. With the rough work being taken care of with a big agricultural type knife I am free to have that without any concerns.

Here's a good example: If the fine convex offering below was mine I'm sure I'd tweak an extraordinary amount of cutting power from it, but I'd want something bigger for rough work to go with it. If I couldn't have that something bigger that fine little knife with all its cutting power would be precluded 'cos I'd have to pick something much more heavy duty. Something more pitched as a lumpen all-in-one solution that I detest. A big knife and a little knife frees me from all that and allows me to optimize the range.

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Depends on what you call a knife.

My most used (by far) combo is a Himalayan Imports 20" CAK, and an R-10 knife.
(CAK is the kukri)
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R-10 (about 5.25" of blade)
R102.jpg


Carried in this:
Quickdraw01.jpg


A lot of people think both of those are too big. BUT, the CAK does, in fact, outchop a similar length and weight axe. The edge I have on it works for everything from grass to hardwoods. I can choke up and do fine work or use the R-10.
 
I don't mind packing a light Machete like the 12 inch Tram. Big enough to get the serious work done, light enough to hardly know that you have it. Works as a light chopper and long blade knife. Put a killer convex edge on them and they are a great tool.
 
The Big knife is the most usefull woods tool IMO.
I like carrying a small 4'' knife,a big 8'' knife and a small axe - 19''.
I also take a SAK,a locking folder and a necker :D:D:D
 
I like a knife with a 4 inch blade for most tasks...I like a hatchet in the colder part off the year (October -April) where I will be processing much more wood for a fire that I rely on for heat as well as cooking and recreation.. in the warmer months I'll carry a 12 inch machete..Great for harvesting long grasses for projects.. more than enough strength for chopping and splitting, and great for getting out of briars..also Good for killing zombies
 
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