Work horse and fine detail work 2 knives combo

D

Dansvidania

Joined
Aug 14, 2014
Messages
3
Hi everyone!

This is my fist post and I would like to start thanking you all because I have been reading for a while now and the amount of information you provide to the community is frankly overwhelming.

I guess one could say I am an hiker/camper since I enjoy travelling by foot. Lately I have been trying to figure out if I would be able to take advantage of some bushcrafting knowledge and tools to reduce the amount of gear I have to carry in my backpack, both because I enjoy the bushcraft philosophy and because I found a light backpack and a set of skill making me able to take advantage of renewable resources could make my travelling experience even more enjoyable.

This said, my cheap 4" stainless steel knife is not cutting it any more (partially intended pun) and I am looking for a couple of knives to complement each other for the range of tasks that constitute bushcrafting.
I should mention that I am more or less a complete knife noob, and since I hate wasting money which is a resource I am not overflowing with, I would like to avail myself of your knowledge to spend my money on a couple of knives that will be in service enough to be worth their money.

As in the title, I'm looking for an honest work horse for my batoning and maybe some very light chopping, to couple with a fine pointy knife, possibly to keep on my neck, able to make notches and some wood carving.

So far my candidates and relative doubt and concerns are:

Kabar BK2 - I fear it could be too thick and unnecessarily heavy duty. Is there a slightly thinner alternative to this knife?

Mora Bushcraft - I like the kind of blade, but I would be more comfortable with a full tang knife. Also I intend to customize the handles and it appears to me that Mora knifes do not make it the easier of jobs.

My maximum budget is the equivalent of about 260 dollars, but unfortunately here in Italy knifes appear to be more expansive than in the new continent.

Thank you all in advance for the guidance
Dan
 
Last edited:
I think you would be set with a ESEE-6 and a Mora #2. Total cost of about €104
 
Check the DPx HEST and HEFT lines--fixed and folder if you want a matching pair.

Also, for a finer blade, I use a KaBar Acheron with one of my khukuris. I was surprised I like it.
 
Thank you guys, I am really digging on the ESEE 6: even though in Italy it costs around 140 € alone it looks like it's worth it. I was planning on spending more on the small knife than the work horse, but I am not able to find such a combination.

As for the neck knife the closest thing so far has been the Mora #2: the Izula is way too expansive for me to to couple with the ESEE 6 and the Acheron has a blade shape which would be complicated for me to sharpen in the field. I think I set my mind on a scandi knife for the one i'm going to carry on my neck, both for performance and ease of sharpening. Anyway I would still like it to be full tang, so my search is not quite over yet.
 
Bark River knives are just amazing, but also way out of my budget. Apparently US made knives are very expansive here in Europe: both Aurora and Bushcraft models cost around 300€ here. Now that I know they exist I am honestly a bit upset that I cannot afford them.

So apparently the ESEE 6 is the way to go as far as work horses go, noted. The victorinox is not what I am looking for for many reasons, the most important of which is that I am not comfortable with folding knives for anything more than opening letters and packages. It would be ok if I needed the tools, which I might, but I would not consider it a knife to do some woodcarving with. I am looking for something more like a full tang 3-4" puukko. But it seems that I'm out of the price point for that.
 
Hard Knocks said:
Esee 6 and Izula 2 might be hard to beat in the price range.
Click to expand...

I'll second this ^

The '6 is so well balanced it feels light for its size.

I'd choose the Izula over the '2 though, with the small handles the longer blade feels 'off' to me.
 
Kabar BK2 - I fear it could be too thick and unnecessarily heavy duty.

YES. IMO. Had one; a moose.

I highly recommend a fixed blade from Survive Knives. I've had a GSO 3.5 and GSO 4.1...excellent. The 4.1 or 5.1 may be perfect for your woods needs.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top