Best Bushcraft Knife to Buy?

[Erbswurst]

The 14c28n in the stainless Garberg is idiot proof in every point.

 

[blackwolf1]

I know knives,like opinions abound within these forums.
Here in the North East,USA I found a maker in New York State, Adventure Sworn, and he makes some fantastic knives. I have two of his,the Classic,a woodlore clone,and his Guide,a Nessmuk styled full tang. A little pricey but each a lifetime companion for sure.

 

[Erbswurst]

No, compared to the prices that people are willing to pay for such knives in Britain they are cheap.
Joker in Spain recently came up with an even more affordable Woodlore clone though. You are suddenly asked to pay only what it's really worth: 100 €.

Joker Scandi Bushlore Sleipner Stahl Lederscheide, 95,95 €

Joker Scandi Bushlore Nogal - Klinge mit Scandischliff aus Sleipner-Stahl - Fulltang-Bauweise - Griffschalen aus Walnussholz mit schwarzen Linern - Fangri

soeldner-messer.com

 

[blackwolf1]

I know knives,like opinions abound within these forums.
Here in the North East,USA I found a maker in New York State, Adventure Sworn, and he makes some fantastic knives. I have two of his,the Classic,a woodlore clone,and his Guide,a Nessmuk styled full tang. A little pricey but each a lifetime companion for sure.

Also,forgot to say,Schenk Knives,in Idaho,USA makes some great knives.
I have their "Cochise"knife designed by David Holliday,an instructor specializing in the desert South West. The blade is a little longer than my palm is wide,but I would not feel "underknifed"if it were my only blade.

 

[jaspat3]

Welcome to the Foum!
Now we are here already two Berliners.



You can get in Brandenburg -25°C in the night. If you look out of the window now it isn't so easy imaginable, but in can indeed happen, and -15°C is quite usual in most years, of course just for a couple of days in most cases. But we get here sometimes arctic and sometimes Russian winter weather.

So, you don't need to think about Alaska and Canada, Skandinavia and Siberia if we talk about survival knives. It can also become pretty cold at the Alexanderplatz!

In such weather conditions you will prefere a hidden tang knife, because your hand or even bare skin doesn't touch the steel of the tang. Would your hands be whet, whyever, you could freeze with your skin to the steel of the knife, also in the Grunewald.

That's why it is sensible for Germans to buy a knife with hidden tang after Nordic pattern.

You can carry in Germany legally a fix blade knife at the belt in daily life without a special reason that has a blade that is up to 12 cm, measured straight from tip to handle including the non sharpened ricasso if there is one, as usual.

(That point you have to look up yourself in the German weapon law because there are a few here less important details and especially I am no lawyer and am not allowed to give you any legal advice.
What I wrote above is just what I understood myself. But well, I am neither an idiot nor unable to read simple German textes.)

§ 42a WaffG - Einzelnorm

The strongest knives with hidden tang on the market that have blades under 12 cm are the Fällkniven F1, the Terävä Jääkäri Puukko 110 and the Morakniv Garberg.

So far I understood you are allowed to carry the Garberg in your rucksack in France, but not the Jääkari Puukko 110 or the F1 because they are too thick and seen there as illegal weapons.

So, if you want to travel around with your knife and carry it on your belt in Germany the Garberg is the best choice.

It is very robust but because the blade is not too thick it still can be used for food preparation. I wouldn't necessarily choose it to slice carrots but for usual German bread it works well for example. And a belt knife is also - if not mainly - used for food preparation.
I own the stainless version. After I received it I sharpened it with a cheap but new sharpening stone from the hardware shop and afterwards shaved my face with success. It holds the edge very well.
At YouTube you can find videos that show how much effort is needed to break it. Nothing is unbreakable but this knife is as good as unbreakable in intended use.
In my opinion you get nowhere else such a good knife for such a low price. The reason is that it is a really mass produced item, but a Swedish quality product.

I own the multimount sheath that includes the simple plastic sheath and these don't convince me at all, especially if you want it as a survival knife, because these plastic sheath options don't hold the knife really securely. You simply could loose it.
I recommend you to choose the leather sheath and the stainless version because the carbon steel version would rust in the leather sheath while carrying it in wet weather conditions, storing and especially if it got whet, what's not unlikely if you intend to go for canoeing in Mecklenburg or wherever.

If you want you can come along here and try out my knife and see how it fits into your hand. Sticks we have enough.

I offer you to show you how to sharpen another pretty similar knife properly with the most simple tools, a field stone for example but also with industrial made diamant / ceramic sharpening tool and natural as artificial sharpening stone.

I have a few others that you can compare, not so many fix blades though but some classical folders.

And you can also have a look at some other equipment if you like. I am a specialist for really affordable high quality outdoor equipment and can show you the good classical stuff and tell you where to get it as cheap as chips.

I use such equipment since more than 45 years and most of it is in daily use.
I mean, I know what I am talking about.

Mora Garberg Bushcraftmesser, Lederscheide

Griffmaterial/Klingenstahl: Polyamid/Sandvik 14C28N Klingenlänge: 10,8 cm Gewicht: 169 g

www.knivesandtools.de

This tool is in my opinion the best option for knife maintenance at home and in forest and field.

Fällkniven Diamant / Keramischer Schleifstein DC4

Kombistein von Diamant und Keramik; der Schleifstein besteht aus einem feinem Diamantstein (25 Mikron) und einem keramischen Stein aus synthetischem Saphir.

www.knivesandtools.de

You misunderstood, in France you are not allowed to carry any fixed blade knife, thick or thin, in your rucksack or on your belt. Same for a folding knife with blade lock system.

 

[John Shevchenko1]

What do you think of the BPS knife for bushcraft? They have one bestseller, I don’t know whether to buy it or not, it’s mostly carbon steel 1066

 

[C_Claycomb]

Which BPS knife are you looking at in particular, they have a wide range? What does your version of bushcraft place most emphasis on? For instance, folk in the UK tend to value wood carving above skinning/game prep and camp cooking, whereas in the US many more people include hunting in their bushcraft, so want knives that are more capable for skinning and meat cutting.

Personally, I tend to like a flat grind, not all that thin at the edge, which can be sharpened with a convex. I find that flat ground knives can be too thin just behind the edge - great for meat cutting and food prep, but unstable for running controlled wood shavings for feather sticks. I don't like a lot of the "Scandi" grind knives because they are either a bit too steep or a bit to thick stock (4mm?!? ), or both. I tend not to do so much wood carving compared to general camp work and food prep, very little game preparation and would emphasise wood over meat.

This also goes into handle selection, finger grooves generally get in the way of multi-grip change wood carving, but can be useful if you are working with skinning with cold wet hands.

I am not much of a fan of the simple carbon steels, partly because they are often run a bit softer than I like. My view is that now, with fairly easy access to small diamond and ceramic field sharpening stones, the justification of "easy to field sharpen on a river stone" is harder to make. Having used O-1 for years, I am now much more of a fan of the Sandvik stainless steels and AEBL.

 

[Herman30]

in France you are not allowed to carry a folding knife with blade lock system.

And yet France produces knives like Opinel with bladelock. I´m confused.

 

[wickerman]

casstrom woodsman great knife for not a lot of money

 

[Billy-o]

I very much like the Brisa 95mm Trappers and 85mm Elvers as sorted-out outdoors knives. The O1 Trappers I particularly like. And, I have a marginal preference for the flat ground versions (which are plentifully robust), over the scandi ground versions (which are more conventionally what you might think of as a bushcraft knife within the Mearsy philosophy).

I asked someone (Todd Kroenlein on BCUSA) to make a up a 'proper' version of the flatground trapper/elver - still in O1 - below. Love it, and he did a remarkable job of producing an extraordinarily adept outdoorser. Despite this, it didn't manage to displace the Brisas from their special place .

Others I can happily recommend - Falkniven H1, the KR Rasul, Hankala's Lastu, most things that Stuart Ackerman or Gene Ingram have made.

Hankala, Kroenlein, Ackerman

Trapper

Elver

 

[Preparedwoodsman]

I like the Jokes knives, the bushlord is a real beauty. not carbon but real high quality stainless
https://heinnie.com/joker-bushlord-firestriker-scandi-fixed-blade/

 

[Dan1982]

The Mora Garberg is my favourite all round camp/Bushcraft knife. It’s the knife I use more than any other and I have a couple of high end custom knives too. Affordable, easy to sharpen and will take anything you can throw at it. Maybe not the best for detailed carving but a fantastic all rounder. I’d recommend to anyone.

 

[Garnett]

The Mora Heavy Duty is my recommendation.

(I have an old Mora Robust which looks like it got renamed, and the new Robust Pro looks shorter and with a clumsier handle profile)

I can't see what more expensive knives like the Garberg offer for the extra £££.