recommend me a starter all in one knife

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Janne

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Feb 10, 2016
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Mora is a small town where they have produced a traditionally designed knife, since late 1800's. Several factories that eventually merged into todays business called Morakniv (one word). This name means 'knife from Mora". Not many people cared which of those old manufacturers made the actual knife they bought, all were called " Mora kniv" (two words) which means 'knife from Mora'.
I suspect that the knife manufacturing started in Mora as the town is close to a steel manufacturing town called Sandviken.
They all used steel from there. Morakniv still do.

Not all Moraknivar (pluralis) are ugly. Look on the traditional ones called 'Classic' ( several models) or the even nicer model called Classic Original.
Beautiful, very affordable allrounders.

If you like a beautiful classic nice knife, they do have one.
Called 'Lapplander' which is a very nice model. Designed in the 1970's or so?

I carry my knife (when out and about, in nature) on my belt. When fishing around my neck. When fishing from a boat I have one( for safety) tucked inside the suit, around my neck, plus a couple around the boat,

I have a knife in each car too.

Models vary, but the last few years I tend to favour either an Orange handled (+ orange scabbard) serrated S/s bladed Mora. A little bit more difficult to sharpen, but I love it.
Or the Mora 2000. Love that blade form, and the handle is super comfy.



For cleaning and deboning fish we use a Frosts Fish knife ( large wide blade) and for removing the skin a Frosts filleting knife.

Frosts knives are another line you should look into. Made by Morakniv, but more for professional use. Same excellent s/steel.
 
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Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
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Well, in that case here's a couple of other things to whet your appetite.:)

I have long fancied these. They are both by very well-known and highly regarded makers. The first is a Skinny Semi (I know) by Gene Ingram. The blade is about 3 1/4" long and the about 3mm thick. So, a nice neat slicey thing for most jobs. Listed at 250USD on his site. He'll make it for you.

The second is a Lakes, made by Alan Wood. It is a knife he said he designed to answer to most of the things you'll need to do when canoe camping. Blade is about 4" long, I am guessing here, and 5mm thick. Cost possibly 250GBP, though I just saw one for sale second hand at 300GBP .. so maybe a bit more. Again, he'll make it for you.

There is also a maker, Stuart Ackerman, who periodically produces a terrific thing called a Serrata in cast stainless steel, a seldom seen process, but a terrific knife.

Once you get in amongst this stuff, really you don't stand a chance :)

A while ago there was a knife called a Rasul ... if you ever see one, don't think. Just give the nice man your credit card.

Ingram-Skinny-Semi.png


Wood-LAkes.png
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Billy-o, do not pervert his common senses..........

He might end up like us!

I have collect three things:
Swedish art glass by Edward Hald.
Knives.
Watches, mostly Pilots time keepers 1914 - 1945.

I have a very understanding wife.
( Was she not understanding she would not be my wife! :) )
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
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Oct 6, 2003
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Bedfordshire
If you want a knife that will be used on canoe trips, I strongly recommend get something with a stainless blade. The Moras and many of the other Scandinavian brands use Sandvik 12C27, which will do. Sure, there are better steels, but little better at the price point, much less so readily available.
Helle and Karesuando are the next step up in price from the Mora, and have the wood handles and little more aesthetic appeal.
I too would recommend the Mora to learn on.

I could tell you to get a plastic sheathed knife with a synthetic handle, but there is a romance to leather and wood, and you may not find the limits of those materials even when you are canoeing, although the odds are much greater than if you were camping, hiking or bimbling about all on dry land.

I make knives so I have more than I would if I were buying. Speaking of sheath knives I have bought six or seven, of which one was a Mora and three Hultafors. The Mora is a loaner knife that I can let beginners use and not fret about. The Hultafors are all for craft work, one is just for leather and another is just for whittling in the shop.

If you really want to dice with both fiscal and matrimonial danger, start thinking about making knives rather than buying them!

Good luck!

Chris
 

Billy-o

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Apr 19, 2018
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I used to have one of your knives C_Claycomb. Bought it off you direct from BB, I'd imagine. Lovely stainless drop point - I am thinking ATS34 (sound plausible?) - flat ground 3mm possibly. It was a while ago. But with this amazing handle. I was going to suggest the Spyderco one you did to the OP but that was more of a bushie wasn't it?

Do you still make them?
 

Janne

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Feb 10, 2016
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I buy Mora knives when I see them on ’special deal’ in Norway, then change the handles.
Sometimes I change the firm or length of the blade.
Iam still unable to do any leather work.
Have been doing woodwork now for 50+ years.

I usually give away the finished knives to friends and family.

I am trying to find a way to create a cork block ( from wine corks) so I can make a floating knife.
 

Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
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Canada
I have seen stacked cork handles, but I think they must be made form cork floor tiles or something, reconstituted stuff anyway. Never seen a proper cork handle, except on an old barrel knife I had, but that wasn't a very big bit. I do have a thought that maybe I saw a Puma one, but that is a dim recollection.

Do you think it would actually float?
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
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McBride, BC
Yes, they do. I had a cork-handled folder which would float with 1/2" above the water.
That meant a really big fistful of rough cork to make it happen. Damn near like a cork net float.
Built a storm shelter with it at the west end of The Lake of the Dead (Cree = Nipew) in '65.

You would be far better off in this day and time to laminate slabs of the high density plastic foam bottle corks.
Make a big thing and shave it down like any wood carving.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
The commercial cork handled knives float well. Used to have one, but the cork disintegrated, exactly the same way fishing rod handles do.

I can not get cork tiles ( have searched) but plenty of wine corks here.
The tourists drink like fish. Per capita ”we” drink most wine and champagne in the world. Not me, though.
The turistas twist the statistics.

Cork handle on a knife is really nice for people with baby soft hands ( like me)

I need one to strap to my survival / flotation suit. The arrangement I have today is not satisfactory.

If I overturn the boat, we might need to cut ourselves free the fishing lines.
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
The Morakniv I like at the moment is called Morakniv F Serrated.
Orange and black handle, orange sheath. Half of the blade has serrations. This years summer three day trip, food free, I did with son and wife (!) I made toothpics, tent spikes, created spoons and forks, kindling, larger wood bits. Even did something I never do, did some batoning.
Cleaned small fish ( grå sej in swedish), a couple of baby flat fish, some beautiful trout, harvested blue mussels, lots of limpets, cut some wild greens.
Opened some sea urchins to get the egg sacks.

Dug out a wood splinter from a finger after some fine tuning of the limpet damaged tip. My finger.

Did not lose it.
Can a knife get much better?
 

Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
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Canada
People here look at me weird when I eat limpets ... in fact they talk to me weird too ... like it is illegal or at least bizarrely eccentric :)

I remember having a couple of great holidays on an island, Sipan, couple of hours boat trip Dubrovnik in the Adriatic ... pretty idyllic then, early 2000s ... everyone was into eating things straight out of the sea. I felt very comfortable in my skin there :lol: I'd love to go back there some time. Fantastic fishing off those dozens of tiny little uninhabited islands.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Now we are venturing into Off Topiclandia.....

Me and sin have been enjoying limpets a couple of years now. It is weird they have not been accepted as msinstream food, not even by the modern avant garde chefs.
Raw, the muscle is chewy but sweet, delicious with that acidic plant that looks like a small clover leaf.
We even tried it with a few drops of lemon. Nice!
Quickly cooked - chewy, buy a nice, fresh sweetish sea taste.

The last time we cooked them was that we added them at the last minute we boiled some foraged blue mussels.
Even wife liked them!

Wonder how many people here have tried them?
Once you learn how to collect them it is easy. Not easy on the knife though.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
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McBride, BC
Limpets on my west coast are little. Stupid to use a fancy knife to pop them off the rocks at low tide.
They do not farm well like clams/mussels/oysters do. The shells are good for trades and carving add-ons.
Eat them with sour, under-ripe thimble berries. Raw or steamed, I think they are good.
My charming partner thinks they are bugs with no legs = slugs.

I cannot believe that there is one knife that is supposed to be able to do all in the field and in the camp.

You need a camp basher and a cheap hatchet for camp wood work.
You need a worse field basher knife for digging and prodding everything else. Big enough to hammer in tent pegs????
You need a fine knife which is a pleasure for food prep.
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
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Bedfordshire
I used to have one of your knives C_Claycomb. Bought it off you direct from BB, I'd imagine. Lovely stainless drop point - I am thinking ATS34 (sound plausible?) - flat ground 3mm possibly. It was a while ago. But with this amazing handle. I was going to suggest the Spyderco one you did to the OP but that was more of a bushie wasn't it?

Do you still make them?
Yes, I made four in ATS34, all with Micarta handles. It was a while ago. I do still make knives, but not often. The Spyderco Bushcraft / BCUK model is O-1 tool steel and was meant to fill the gap left by Wilkinson Sword. Its a good knife, if a little heavy with its thick G10 handle and full tang. I tend not to recommend it if only because doing so seems self serving! I would not recommend an O-1 knife to a beginner who wants to use the knife for canoe camping.

The more recent Proficient model is a very nice general purpose knife design, it was meant be less of a wood carver and more of an all-arounder, but the materials used make it expensive and move it towards an enthusiast's purchase rather than something for someone just looking for a simple tool. As a slicer the S90V is pretty amazing, stainless too, but it isn't easy to sharpen.

I am still a great fan of flat grinds for all around outdoor use. Also a fan of convex edges. More so than I am of single bevel Scandinavian grinds. I have talked to too many people trying to learn to sharpen who have trouble with sharpening Scandi grinds to believe the assertion of bushcraft trainers that they are easier to sharpen than other grinds.


I think somewhere among the tangents about skinning beasts and eating invertebrates, the OP asked about how people carry their knives, whether they are always carried on a belt. People carry them in a lot of ways, including just leaving them in their pack until needed. Tends to depend on where you are, what you are doing and most of all, what you are wearing. Wear a jacket and a buoyancy aid and accessing a belt sheath on your hip can be awkward, especially from seated.

A lot of people carry light weight knives (Moras, hidden tang, light wood or plastic handles) on a cord over their head (call it neck carry). There is the risk of getting the cord caught and strangling oneself, but it doesn't seem to happen often, judging by how many people do it. Less of a risk if you are wearing multiple layers and the knife is tucked in between them. One can set it up to have a break away link somewhere in the loop, for full safety.

Another variation is the baldric style carry, which may not always be an accurate description for how the sheath is mounted, but close enough. The cord or strap goes over the head and one shoulder with the knife riding somewhere to the side. You can attach a monkey fist style knot to the end of the sheath and tuck that into a belt so that the sheath doesn't flap around. The cords can be set up with double fishermens knots so that the length is adjustable for neck or shoulder carry, or even to go around the waist.

The waist belt of most back packs will interfere with belt carry too. You can get around that by having a dangler sheath that drops the knife on a short length of webbing or cord to dangle below the belt level.

There are lots of options, and there are some good threads around, here and on Blade Forums, of different methods of carry. Check Song of the Paddle too, that is a canoe forum and there is a good deal of cross over.
 

richy3333

Full Member
Jan 23, 2017
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101
Far north Scoootland
If your looking for a starter knife maybe go into Grahams in Inverness and look at what they have for sale If memory serves me ok, they usually have a reasonable selection of knives to look at. Not your specialist, custom made stuff, but something to get you started.
 

Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
1,981
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Canada
The more recent Proficient model is a very nice general purpose knife design,

Is there a thread, pictures?:) (Oh, found it)

You should get an OBE for the handle on that ATS34 one you made. Does the Proficient have the same one?
 
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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
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Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Whichever knife you choose, chose one where the steel is not to hard.

Learning to sharpen one of these modern, ultra hard steels is a pain.
Around 58 HRC or thereabouts is fully sufficient.

I personally am not a fan of blades that are ultra hard on my outdoor use blades. I like to be able to whip up a decent edge using various materials, quickly.
 

Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
1,981
975
Canada
Not easy on the knife though.

I use a screwdriver, an oyster shucker or just a rock .. trick is to sneak up on them otherwise they just glue themselves down and you end up smashing the shell, which is no good for either party :)
 
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