Big knives

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,855
3,270
W.Sussex
Here are three that might qualify
top …..Guy Stainthorp Boar Hunter
Middle….Competition Cutter
Bottom….Stainthorp Bowie
A Frontiersman by Richie66

Lovely stuff DD, I know that Richie66 knife, pretty sure that’s Johns big cutter.

I‘m not sure, but I think I’ve met all four of those knives at various meets over the years, maybe not Guy’s, which is sleek and excellent looking.

Cheers for getting us away from production stuff. :)
 
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Oct 23, 2021
6
3
61
Newark
I've gone through the similar thought process with large knives....bought into the skrama as a one tool type option,great chopper and acceptable at smaller tasks but didn't quite do it for me. It's my garden beater now.
I've a Becker bk21 kukri, silky big boy saw and hultafors trekking axe for fixed camp type chores. Never subscribed to the small blade option but that's just me bucking the norm !!!
Big knife (bk21) does all I need, not into whittling or Carving, and leatherman surge covers my other needs so far.
I've got various bushcraft axes, tomahawks, condor woodbuster, spyderco province and other bushcrafty knives but each time I generally pick the bk21 as a go to big knife woods processing/camp tool.
Hope this helps and doesn't cause too much contraversy !!!!
 

ANDYLASER

Nomad
Mar 27, 2004
260
72
SOUTHAMPTON
Had many big knives in the past. Big isnt always useful, but can be "comforting". My biggest now is a Lionsteel T5. Plenty macho enough for anyuse I can think of.
 

MikeeMiracle

Full Member
Aug 2, 2019
321
170
47
Northampton
Love my Skrama also, it is marketed as that "one knife" that can do it all but like most big knives their main purpose is chopping. As much as I love mine I bought it as I assumed it could replace a regular knife and hatchet combo. Yes it "does the job" but it's very much a case of "jack off all trades, master of none." As such I do not really carry it anymore and it now lives in my bedroom as a self defense weapon if the house gets broken into.
 
Oct 23, 2021
6
3
61
Newark
I think my thought process with the skrama was influenced by too much hype on you tube with a bias by our friends across the pond who have a totally different set of priorities to those of us in the uk. Their hype for battoning with a knife is verging on the ridiculous
etc..... Use of an axe for that purpose , the rest is by personal choice and individual requirements. As I mentioned previously,my go to is my kukri as I love using it,is it the best tool for each job,hell no, but my smile during use is priceless,or insane????
 

Robson Valley

On a new journey
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,669
McBride, BC
Decades back, most fruit juices in North America were put up in steel cans, possibly 48oz and so forth. Your 3" nail trimmer isn't going to open one of those. A camp hatchet would do the job if you could control a couple of nicks in the lid. Otherwise, a stab and a twist with a Bowie clone and there's no mess and the cans are opened. I had a big pig of a knife for tent pegs and juice cans, exactly that. Show me how to split the sternum of a bull moose after a successful hunt.
Fast forward, it isn't necessary any more to have a big knife with all sorts of easily punctured packaging. I've got a 3" Kershaw (1980?) that does what I need.
 

johnbaz

Nomad
Mar 1, 2009
322
43
Sheffield, england.
www.flickr.com
I made a couple many years ago at work, Not sure if they're big knives or short swords though..
5FDEVWy.jpg

u5sLWj5.jpg

Gv3AeqW.jpg


The last big one I bought was a 'Remember the Alamo' type that I recall ogling for hours on end in a cutlery shop window on West street back in the early 1970's!!
36xKqnB.jpg


John..
 
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Harold Godwinson

Tenderfoot
Mar 11, 2023
61
48
59
Cornwall
I only own three big knives.

Skrama seax, which I think is a fantastic tool, I have found it more useful than a small axe. Sadly I usually go through areas where there are a lot of people and a skrama strapped to my ruck would not go down well. In fact I am thinking of selling it as I just cant use it up and around Dartmoor.

MOD Type D - original model not the new ones. Not as good as the skrama but it will at least fit in my haversack or ruck. Might sell that too, who knows?

Billhook which I use for work, beat up old thing but its a work horse..

Personally, I'd love to be able to take out just the skrama and a whittling knife, no need for a saw or hatchet and a smaller fixed blade or folder but as I say I just don't get the chance on public land. Over winter when the faint hearted aren't on the moors I do use it on occasion and that's why I can say how good it is.
 

TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
10,980
4,092
50
Exeter
I only own three big knives.

Skrama seax, which I think is a fantastic tool, I have found it more useful than a small axe. Sadly I usually go through areas where there are a lot of people and a skrama strapped to my ruck would not go down well. In fact I am thinking of selling it as I just cant use it up and around Dartmoor.

MOD Type D - original model not the new ones. Not as good as the skrama but it will at least fit in my haversack or ruck. Might sell that too, who knows?

Billhook which I use for work, beat up old thing but its a work horse..

Personally, I'd love to be able to take out just the skrama and a whittling knife, no need for a saw or hatchet and a smaller fixed blade or folder but as I say I just don't get the chance on public land. Over winter when the faint hearted aren't on the moors I do use it on occasion and that's why I can say how good it is.
Can i ask what you do for work??
 

Tiley

Life Member
Oct 19, 2006
2,364
377
60
Gloucestershire
I have an Orford Eban Parang as my 'large knife'. I bought it at a time when a number of folk were advocating a parang as the ultimate cutting tool; now, I use it in my ongoing war against the brambles in my field and little else. Yes, it works well but, unless I find myself in the jungle or tropical rain forest, I don't suppose I'll ever fully appreciate its versatility. For me, the truly versatile cutting tool comes with a 10-11cm blade - nothing larger.
 

Keith_Beef

Native
Sep 9, 2003
1,399
281
55
Yvelines, north-west of Paris, France.
I made a couple many years ago at work, Not sure if they're big knives or short swords though..
5FDEVWy.jpg

u5sLWj5.jpg

Gv3AeqW.jpg


The last big one I bought was a 'Remember the Alamo' type that I recall ogling for hours on end in a cutlery shop window on West street back in the early 1970's!!
36xKqnB.jpg


John..
Hmm... a knife shop on West Street... Mortons?

I went in there perhaps four times in my entire life. Last visit was with SWMBO and we came out with two pairs of A. Wright scissors.

The time before was before I even knew here, and I came out with the owner's Joseph Rodgers army electrician's knife. The file and wire stripper blade is marked J.R. 1989 (broad arrow) and with a NATO reference number 910-5285.
 

Potatohead

Full Member
Jul 1, 2020
239
115
49
Surrey... near a tree :)
Whenever I muse over the “only one knife” quandary I always end up looking towards my Skrama 240.

Once I got the hang of it and how well the balance shift works with the hand-and-half style grip between choppy stuff and close work I would say it’s a good jack of all trades. For a single carry.

I use it as my preferred when I’ve got the fire pit on the go.
Less bulky chopping/splitting/kindling etc. easier to control than my hultafors

Would it replace my axe? No. Doesn’t chop like an axe
Would it replace my TRC South Pole? No. Not as nimble.
The carbon steel holds an edge well enough and sharpens easily enough in the field. And has been pretty bombproof so far. 3 years in on my first one and no issues.

I’m not certain how well it would do the skinning part of your criteria though. Could probably choke up on the end to get maybe a bit of control but there’s not a lot of belly to the blade and the point is low.
The balance would feel well off but in a pinch it might work but wouldn’t be pretty lol.

2EE168D5-240B-4B23-8CB3-E1B7773A54BC.jpeg


Maybe considering a Chris Caine tool or similar shape might work better for your particular set of criteria?
 

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