in one of RM's books he says that in an ideal world bushcrafters shouldn't be carrying a knife at all until they've learned how to do without one, i'm not sure that i completely agree, but he has got a good point. one theory of bushcraft is that it's all about getting nature to provide for you, some of the true purists would say that means that you should be able to get everything you need from nature. unfortunately it's pretty much impossible to walk naked into the woods and find everything you need to live so we compromise, we wear clothes, carry a shelter and a sleeping bag, cooking pots, water bottles, food, stoves etc. etc. once we've got all this kit why do we need a knife? shelter, food, fire, water, all sitting in my rucksack ready to go, none of them need cutting up, they all work fine as they are. i think what you should be doing is looking at the bushcraft skills you'd like to learn/practice and working out how to do them without a knife. that way, in a couple of years when you've learned some real bushcraft skills, you can tell all the rest of us iron age men with our obscenely technologically advanced cutting tools about it and watch us all cry.
cheers
stuart