Folding Knives

[Mungo]

I made the mistake of using my Folding Laguiolle knife camping once, and in a hurry to life a pot from the fire, tried to lift it with the blade of my knife (first mistake) but putting the weight of my knife on the back of the blade - which promptly folded over and almost removed my fingers - quick reactions saved me. I've sworn only to use that knife for fine work, pocket stuff... but camping - a Mora or a good sheath knife.

My advice - if you have a folding knife, ensure it is a lockblade, and a good quality (AKA pricey) one at that.

cheers,

Mungo

 

[steven andrews]

A folding knife with a good lock (I favour Benchmade and Spyderco...and Chris Reeve..and Al Mar ) is more than capable of any task that I will do in the woods. I don't carve and would use a saw or hatchet for cutting wood, however there is a lot of fallen wood that is easily snapped where we camp, so a saw or axe wouldn't get much use.

That said, it's nice to carry a fixed blade because it feels more...romantic.

 

[Doc]

I suspect the reasoning behind Ray's statement can be summed up in one word: batoning.

It is often necessary to split wood - for example, to obtain dry firewood, to get small diameter firewood, or to make tentpegs or other small items. If you do not have an axe with you, wood can be split with a knife and an improvised baton.

I guess this could be done with a folding knife in an emergency, but it puts a tremendous strain on even the best mechanism, and is likely to damage the knife over time.

A full tang fixed blade of 4-5mm thickness, on the other hand, is ideal for batoning - hence the Woodlore knife.

If you have an axe available, I'm sure a folder is all you need.

 

[EdS]

Sheeps foot folders are useful as when using the point you are forcing the knife open not closed.

Must find a decent knife with clipped point, sheeps foot (like British army knife), can/bottle opener and cork screw - perfect folder rucsack knife for me .

 

[Landy_Dom]

I suspect the reasoning behind Ray's statement can be summed up in one word: batoning.

It is often necessary to split wood - for example, to obtain dry firewood, to get small diameter firewood, or to make tentpegs or other small items. If you do not have an axe with you, wood can be split with a knife and an improvised baton.

I guess this could be done with a folding knife in an emergency, but it puts a tremendous strain on even the best mechanism, and is likely to damage the knife over time.

A full tang fixed blade of 4-5mm thickness, on the other hand, is ideal for batoning - hence the Woodlore knife.

If you have an axe available, I'm sure a folder is all you need.

I agree.

I would say if you have an axe, you don't need a heavy knife, and therefore a folder would probably be fine for the lighter tasks (using the axe for the heavier carving and splitting). If you don't tend to carry an axe (like me) then the easiest way to split wood is by battoning (I use a folding saw to cross-cut). Having said that, I do carry a SAK, mainly because of the scissors / can opener etc (it's my every day carry, due to the legality of carrying the sheath knife).

Common theme running through all this though, is know YOUR limits AND know your TOOL's limits.

Dom.

 

[stephendedwards]

Perhaps he's had an epiphany. On one of his videos, he uses a slip joint knife to whittle a matchsafe from birch bark and of course, the slip joint figured prominently in the video on building the birch bark canoe.

Indeed and he sells the british army pocket knife - I have one - not from Ray and it is a quality item but needed some work to get the edge sorted initially. Tough, stainless no nonsense

Stephen

 

[BushTucker]

erm, m I the only one with a Jack Pyke 440 stainless??
I also use a hatchet, a reshaped J.Marttiini for skinning.

Think I may need new kit but it all works just fine for me.