Best Bushcraft Knife

[Fire Starter]

Hi every one
I have just joined this fantastic forum and the one thing that puzzles me is people. People and their obsession with comparing knives and knife makers. Surly the knife is just the tool and its the person behind it that creates with it.

Would an incompetant driver of a small car be a better driver in a Aston Martin.

As a boy growing up I could not afford a knife so I reshaped and sharpened an old butter knife and happily carved with it for many years.

I recently read in one of Ray Mears book that and I quote 'In bushcraft folding knives are virtually useless ' WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH '.

I have carved and completed many different tasks using fold down knife for many years.

 

[innocent bystander]

Hello Fire Starter.
That's people for you. You should look on the BB forum if you want to hear about this maker, that maker, and frivolous torch collections. Some people like shiny shiny toys. I know. I'm one of them

And i also admit i would rather use fixed blade long term. And i own several folders. But to be fair to RM, he does say "virtually", so i don't think it's an outright dismissal...

But i klike your approach - it is closer to what BC is about isn't it...

 

[BorderReiver]

The "best" knife for any task is the one that you enjoy using.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Have to agree with both of you.
Any knife that does the job you want it to do and can reasonably be expected to last the duration of your time away from the means of replacing it, should be the ultimate item. Sure we'd all like to own a shiney, cool looking example from the best of the best, but in the end if a posh knife means you can't afford a good sleeping bag or other piece of kit, your enjoyment of the whole event is marred.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[simonsays]

The "best" knife for any task is the one that you enjoy using.

Or the one you have with you......

Simon

 

[Fire Starter]

Have to agree with both of you.
Any knife that does the job you want it to do and can reasonably be expected to last the duration of your time away from the means of replacing it, should be the ultimate item. Sure we'd all like to own a shiney, cool looking example from the best of the best, but in the end if a posh knife means you can't afford a good sleeping bag or other piece of kit, your enjoyment of the whole event is marred.

ATB

Ogri the trog

I have to admit - I find a flake of flint works wonders for me and keeps it's edge for the duration, I have one or two scars to prove it

 

[JimH]

Hi every one
I have just joined this fantastic forum and the one thing that puzzles me is people. People and their obsession with comparing knives and knife makers. Surly the knife is just the tool and its the person behind it that creates with it.

Correct. You should see the BB forum. We are exemplars of moderation and frugality by comparison...

Would an incompetant driver of a small car be a better driver in a Aston Martin.

Naturally not, they would merely be incompetent at greater speed, and attract envious gazes from the unenlightened

As a boy growing up I could not afford a knife so I reshaped and sharpened an old butter knife and happily carved with it for many years.

My first was a discarded sheath knife I found in the woods, de-rusted, re-handled (orange string ) and sharpened up, and which served me well...

...I think my dad found it and pinched it in the end.

I recently read in one of Ray Mears book that and I quote 'In bushcraft folding knives are virtually useless ' WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH '.

I have carved and completed many different tasks using fold down knife for many years.

Not without their limitations, though, in my experience. I love my Opinels for fine woodwork, cleaning fish &c, but most folders don't stand up well to batonning, as the pivot starts to suffer after a bit. Not an issue if you have an axe

I'm fairly happy with just an opinel and a hatchet for most circumstances. I do have a fair pile of shiny toys about the place, though. My old-style Mora is starting to take over from the clipper as my favourite, though, and they are the 2 cheapest fixed-blades I own!

Jim.

 

[addyb]

Q: What is the best survival knife?
A: The one you have with you.

Basically, it boils down to personal preferance, a knife that you are comfortable using. And so, if you are faced with a survival situation, the knife that you are carrying with you, the one that you are most comfortable with will be the one that you use.

Everyone has their own personal preferance about their choice of knife. Some people swear by the Parang. Others, an Opinel. I swear by a Victorinox, I'm completely comfortable with it, and I've never had any problems with it.

I don't think there is such thing as "best bushcraft knife." Don't you think that's kind of like saying "My rucksack is the best in the world," or "My Hiking boots are the best."?

Just use what you are comfortable with, and that's all a person needs to do!

Be well,

Adam.

 

[TAHAWK]

Q: What is the best survival knife?
A: The one you have with you.

Basically, it boils down to personal preferance, a knife that you are comfortable using. And so, if you are faced with a survival situation, the knife that you are carrying with you, the one that you are most comfortable with will be the one that you use.

Everyone has their own personal preferance about their choice of knife. Some people swear by the Parang. Others, an Opinel. I swear by a Victorinox, I'm completely comfortable with it, and I've never had any problems with it.

I don't think there is such thing as "best bushcraft knife." Don't you think that's kind of like saying "My rucksack is the best in the world," or "My Hiking boots are the best."?

Just use what you are comfortable with, and that's all a person needs to do!

Be well,

Adam.

FLODDER'S PARADOX: "If the knife you have with you is not the one you are completely comfortable with (or comfortable with at all), is it still the 'best'?"

 

[BorderReiver]

FLODDER'S PARADOX: "If the knife you have with you is not the one you are completely comfortable with (or comfortable with at all), is it still the 'best'?"

Why are you carrying a knife you don't like

 

[TAHAWK]

Why are you carrying a knife you don't like

Testing the old chestnut, "The best knife is the one you have with you," the issue was "best."

But to answer your very reasonable question:

> The "rules" bar carrying otherwise.
> can't afford it (or replacement for the one lost)
> Testing out a knife for some reason, you discover you don't "like" it.
> It's what was available at the time in the drawer/boot/box. You didn't expect to go bushcrafting.
> You liked it until it broke.

(Fire Starter's point taken. U.S. "Mountain Men" got by with what were, essentially, butcher's knives --- plain carbon with cheap wooden slab handles, not particulary hard, < 1/8" thick. We obsess over knives/blades. Ain't it grand?)

 

[bushwacker bob]

(Fire Starter's point taken. U.S. "Mountain Men" got by with what were, essentially, butcher's knives --- plain carbon with cheap wooden slab handles, not particulary hard, < 1/8" thick. We obsess over knives/blades. Ain't it grand?)

But if someone came along and offered them a decent modern knife,they would have jumped at the chance of 'better kit'.Just as we all do today!

 

[The General]

There are folders like my Strider AR that can handle battoning no problem. I think Ray is no where near as aware about what is available on the market as he thinks...

As an example 01 steel is easily outclassed by A2 Tool steel in every respect and yet he still harks on about carbon steel this and carbon steel that! A2 IS a carbon steel and it is MUCH better than 01. Ray is not as aware as he thinks...

Why is 01 so popular? Because its a good steel and very forgiving to heat treat and work. A2 is a more complex heat treat steel but holds a better, keener edge longer, is tougher, more stain resistant and just as easy to sharpen. In fact A2 is easier to sharpen, holds an edge just as well and is tougher than S30V.

I am not as good a bushcrafter, but then I don't claim to be.

 

[RovingArcher]

I sure do like my A2 NorthStar. The full convex grind, balance and over all feel make it a superb working knife in my opinion.

Any of the Mora's will out work a host of higher priced knives and I'm partial to the 2000 model, but also like Frosts clipper/SwAK blades. There's just something about being able to spend 10-30 bucks and end up with such great working blades.

I have to agree, that compared to a fixed blade, the average folder is lacking in strengh for many of the more strenuous tasks, but there are exceptions to that rule. Unfortunately, I havn't had the opportunity to use any of them.

Myself, I feel naked when my Victorinox Hunter SAK isn't on my belt. Nope, it's not strong enough to do many of the chores I'd ask a Mora to do, but if it were the only knife on me at the time, there are other ways to get to the heart of a piece of firewood.

 

[Marts]

IIRC on RM's recent DVD he uses folding knives to make birch bark containers...So not so useless after all

 

[Andy]

In Rays defence on steel I seem to think he states that any high quality tool steel is good.
I don't know what steel any of my carbon my knives are made of. I know what steel is used in my stainless knives. I know they all work though

 

[ESpy]

There are folders like my Strider AR that can handle battoning no problem.

OK, I have to confess I don't have many knives I'd be prepared to use *as* the baton...

Why is 01 so popular?

Because I can get hold of it! I'd love to use 1084, or 1095 or the like - but it really isn't as readily available as O1 in a known form. Still, it lends itself well to both forging and stock removal, even with hand tools. The likes of D2, for example, does NOT. No experience of A2, but I know Jim Hrisoulas has his MAD6 pattern weld - M2, A2 and D2 layered & patterned.

Added - urgh. With that much chromium, it is going to be stiff to forge by hand... I must post a piccy of a piece of D2 that someone forged too hot, too cold, too hot, too cold... It went like cottage cheese.

 

[Fire Starter]

[/QUOTE]Because I can get hold of it! I'd love to use 1084, or 1095 or the like - but it really isn't as readily available as O1 in a known form. Still, it lends itself well to both forging and stock removal, even with hand tools. The likes of D2, for example, does NOT. No experience of A2, but I know Jim Hrisoulas has his MAD6 pattern weld - M2, A2 and D2 layered & patterned.[/QUOTE]


Well - This exactly the kind of stuff I was talking about in my opening thread.

I rest my case.

 

[Omega]

Knives are addictive things… You start looking for a knife for bushcrafting, then for carving, then tools for chopping. After 2 years you realise that now you have more knives than you will use in your live, but cannot stop buying more. But you still will try to rationalise and try to explain your wife that it is not a collection, you need them all.

 

[BorderReiver]

Knives are addictive things… You start looking for a knife for bushcrafting, then for carving, then tools for chopping. After 2 years you realise that now you have more knives than you will use in your live, but cannot stop buying more. But you still will try to rationalise and try to explain your wife that it is not a collection, you need them all.

It's always an idea to ask how many sorts of knives are in the kitchen,and why it is necessary to have SO many different ones.

Works in discussions with NKP as well.