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Free Market Mambo posted:Buy an inexpensive mora knife, stainless unless you use it often/take care of it, throw it in your pack along with a lighter. You will thank me, internet person, later. This, except in carbon, and the care needed is not a huge amount. Clean it, put some oil on the edge and it'll be fine. Let me get this out of the way: I own a knife store. That said, you don't need to spend an arm and a leg to have a great camping / bushcraft / survival knife, but a knife is an essential item that should be on you at all times when camping. Cody Lundin did multiple seasons of Dual Survival with the Mora Classic 1 around his neck, and this is a knife that retails for around $14 - http://www.moraofsweden.se/construction/classic-1 Get a decent carbon steel fixed blade. Try for something with a full tang if you can. Recognize that it's a knife, not a pry bar, or a hammer, or whatever else. You aren't going to be ninja killing enemy troops with it, so avoid the giant rambo knives. Likewise, don't buy huge machete style knives unless you actually need a goddamn machete and are hanging out in South America or other tropical environment. Ounces add up to pounds and pounds equal pain when you are humping your equipment. Get something small enough that you can clean small to medium game with it. If you use your head instead of trying to be a moron, a decent small fixed blade will handle 99% of your misc vaguely knife related camp tasks. I get people coming in my store constantly going "I want to buy this $300+ survival knife I saw on a TV show / in a magazine and I want it for bushcraft or my bugout bag or the zombies!!!" and think that's going to work out for them. Meanwhile they don't have a means to purify water, or know how to build a fire, or whatever. Get a decent, under 4" fixed blade. Kit up the rest of your gear. Then when you have the rest of your survival stuff sorted, come back and buy something better. The difference between a $250 and $50 knife aren't going to matter so much to a novice, so save the rest of your money and spend it on other essentials - water, shelter, pack, fire, medical, compass, etc. Knife, compass, map, personal medical kit and personal small survival kit, all are "First Line Gear" that you want with you, on your person at all times. Picture the worst case scenario where you fell out of a boat while white water rafting or you lost your backpack to a bear or some stupid bullshit. One of your moron friends burned down your tent and campsite. A flash flood hit the area. Whatever. My personal recommendation is a Mora Bushcraft.- http://www.moraofsweden.se/adventure/bushcraft-black I like the ergonomics of the handle and it's not big enough to be inconveniently heavy or bulky. If you lose it, big deal. If you prefer stainless, here's a bright orange version - http://www.moraofsweden.se/adventure/bushcraft-orange They are coming out with a full tang knife called the Garberg later this year that looks ok; didn't speak to me when I handled it but it'll probably sell pretty well. If you wear gym shorts hiking and don't have an actual belt, you can look at neck knives like the KaBar Becker 11 or 14, or the Condor Fidelis, or the Tops Tibo If you have more money and want a decent knife you can hammer on, look at the Ontario RAT 3, or KaBar Becker 16 (my personal favorite) - http://www.kabar.com/knives/detail/166 - Street price on these is still under $100 and they have 1095 blades which is a workhorse carbon steel that will hold up if you give it a minimal amount of care. The Benchmade Steep Country has S30V stainless and is available in black or orange and retails for $115 Once you have a street price over $100, the return on investment starts dwindling pretty quick, and you run into people who aren't actually using their tools but want something they can brag about owning. That isn't to say that there aren't great knives over $100. The thing is that there's nothing magic about knives, it's all materials science and construction technique. 1095 steel is 1095 steel so when you have a 1095 knife from one company that is selling for $90, and one from another that's $160 and they are virtually identical, what are you paying for? Often times it's the name. If you are going to pay for a premium, make sure you are paying for materials, and not someone's ego, and always pay for steel first - S30V, S35V, CTS-204P, CTS-XHP, S90V, M390, etc. Make sure it has a decent handle: G10, Micarta, Dymondwood if you like that stuff, rather than Kraton or other bullshit. Make sure the construction is solid, don't buy some bullshit hollow handle garbage that you saw on QVC or at Walmart. Look at the Benchmade Bushcrafter, or the ZT Hinderer Field Tac or the Chris Reeve Nyala, but really there's a ton of great stuff out there. Just buy quality.
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May 14, 2016 20:40
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Free Market Mambo posted:I have a fellkniven A1, I regret the purchase. Great knife, but at that size, why not have an axe. Learn axecraft and be a happy woodsman. fallkniven f1 is basically an overbuilt mora made of vg10 stainless and $100 more knife than most people need . the a1 is pretty much a combat knife, which is fine if you are carrying a pistol on your first line gear but overkill for everyone else A mora and a small estwing or gransfors or wetterlings or condor hatchet is a good pairing
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May 15, 2016 01:41
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Oh I forgot - buy a silky saw, specifically the Pocketboy: http://www.silkysaws.com/Silky_Saws/Folding-Straight_2/Pocketboy-170mm-Saw-1007#sthash.wWNcBvZc.dpbs This thing is unreal. A couple years ago there was a downed tree on the trail about 100 yards from our campsite - it had easily 6"-8" branches. After setting up camp and getting comfy in my hammock, I watched people struggle over it for the rest of the afternoon and early evening - because of the terrain features (it fell across & down in a draw / hill) people couldn't easily just walk around it. The next day I decided to attack it early in the morning and spent about an hour and a half clearing the large limbs off and breaking it down into chunks. i had the trail cleared before breakfast and it was much much easier to for people to get through after that. I usually use it for breaking down deadfall for campfires, it goes right through wrist sized limbs with a quickness and is great for making leantos or other shelters. I'm debating getting one of these: http://www.silkysaws.com/Silky_Saws/Folding-Curved_2/Bigboy-2000-XL-Teeth#sthash.pl3RFf02.dpbs or this one: http://www.silkysaws.com/Silky_Saws/Curved_2/Zubat-330mm-Handsaw-1608#sthash.N1go3i49.dpbs
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May 16, 2016 17:27
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