What knife(knives) do you use bushcrafting?
- Thread starter Plainsman
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Oooh here we go! This thread is gonna be a big one! 
For me....
A Mora Companion HD (Carbon blade) or my SWC Woodlore. Deciding on which is simply a matter of which one I grab first off the shelf. But mostly, I carry the Woodie on my hip.
In my pocket is a Victorinox Rangergrip 79. This I use for food prep and as a back up knife.
I've carried this set up for over ten years now. Hasn't changed and I doubt it will.
For me....
A Mora Companion HD (Carbon blade) or my SWC Woodlore. Deciding on which is simply a matter of which one I grab first off the shelf. But mostly, I carry the Woodie on my hip.
In my pocket is a Victorinox Rangergrip 79. This I use for food prep and as a back up knife.
I've carried this set up for over ten years now. Hasn't changed and I doubt it will.
Agreed, this will be a big thread....
My collection is sizable and I rotate a lot of them, plus it depends on where I am and whom I am with.
At the moment I reach for three fallkniven TK2, knife research Rasul, and the benchmade pukko 200
The TK2 is brilliant in the kitchen...
When I am in a woodland with the family, I have a whistle, small fire steel and a opinel no 7, around the neck.
On my next bushcraft course I will likely bring my mark hill Woodlore, or the bark river aurora 2. With a Mora Companion HD as back up.
In all of these cases, I will also have a multi tool, either a swiss tool or charge/wave/surge/mut.
Apart from the moras and multi tools, I try not to double up on blades in the collection, but the benchmade pukko 200 I have 2 of, as it is brilliant.....and my most carried blade, apart from a multi tool.
My collection is sizable and I rotate a lot of them, plus it depends on where I am and whom I am with.
At the moment I reach for three fallkniven TK2, knife research Rasul, and the benchmade pukko 200
The TK2 is brilliant in the kitchen...
When I am in a woodland with the family, I have a whistle, small fire steel and a opinel no 7, around the neck.
On my next bushcraft course I will likely bring my mark hill Woodlore, or the bark river aurora 2. With a Mora Companion HD as back up.
In all of these cases, I will also have a multi tool, either a swiss tool or charge/wave/surge/mut.
Apart from the moras and multi tools, I try not to double up on blades in the collection, but the benchmade pukko 200 I have 2 of, as it is brilliant.....and my most carried blade, apart from a multi tool.
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When able to get and about i use a Mora Classic No.1 or an original Mora 511 (with the guard cut off) or a Hultafors HVK (with the guard cut off), a Victorinox Farmer or Hiker is usual pocket carry, but i do swap out for the TBS Boar or Wildcat folder when the whim takes me.
More often than not of late my day to day users are a Victorinox Hiker and a Mora Classic, i have some nice high end stuff, but they rarely get used these days as the Mora, Hults & Victorinox do everything i need them to.
More often than not of late my day to day users are a Victorinox Hiker and a Mora Classic, i have some nice high end stuff, but they rarely get used these days as the Mora, Hults & Victorinox do everything i need them to.
Can you please define "bushcrafting"? And if you do so by saying "going out in the woods to do bushcraft." Can you define what bushcraft is?
Can you please define "bushcrafting"? And if you do so by saying "going out in the woods to do bushcraft." Can you define what bushcraft is?
The same reason we are all here, of course!
Our shared interest in topiary.
I like my custom Griptilian folder or my Ritter Grip. I always have a SAK.
Fixed, I like 3.75 - 5" blades, flat ground, convex edge. Prefer stock under 1/8th but have a couple of Lion Steels that are thicker. Nothing does everything equally well. Spoon carving benefits from a pointier blade than cutting onions, and feather sticks like a thicker edge than slicing bread and carrots. As I do more wood work than veg cutting, I tend to like thicker edges with more defined bevels, even on otherwise flat or flat/convex grinds. Like fatter handles.
Spyderco Bushcraft/Proficient style. I have made several variants in addition to the manufactured ones.
Benchmade Puukko 200
Lionsteel M4 or B41
Fixed, I like 3.75 - 5" blades, flat ground, convex edge. Prefer stock under 1/8th but have a couple of Lion Steels that are thicker. Nothing does everything equally well. Spoon carving benefits from a pointier blade than cutting onions, and feather sticks like a thicker edge than slicing bread and carrots. As I do more wood work than veg cutting, I tend to like thicker edges with more defined bevels, even on otherwise flat or flat/convex grinds. Like fatter handles.
Spyderco Bushcraft/Proficient style. I have made several variants in addition to the manufactured ones.
Benchmade Puukko 200
Lionsteel M4 or B41
I currently use the same Enzo trapper I’ve had for about 14 years. Before that was a Bernie Garland (be interested to see if there’s still any about as I sold mine). I’m waiting on some custom work to come back at the moment though. To me that trapper will take some beating!
Fixed blade - cutting, batoning, butchery. Underwater knife fighting.
Pocket knife - cutting, sawing, tinkering, fixing downed space craft.
The SAK for all it's obvious uses and food prep, I also ground the bottle opener/screwdriver into a small chisel gouge.
The Mora, game prep, wood carving, some food prep, feather sticks and fire starting.
The Condor for light chopping, battoning and general camp use.
The most knife use I have had has been when visiting Sweden and Norway, hiking or canoeing. Knives were used to:
Most camping trips see a blade put to less use, but still needed for food prep, package opening, fire prep, simple utility wood cutting of tent pegs, pot holders and so on.
- clean fish,
- prep food,
- cut rope and cord,
- carve cooking utensils,
- carve craft projects in the evening,
- split wood,
- carve feather sticks for fire lighting,
- limb poles for shelters and cooking tripods.
Most camping trips see a blade put to less use, but still needed for food prep, package opening, fire prep, simple utility wood cutting of tent pegs, pot holders and so on.
I run the following with a little variety between them as the whim takes me
SAK Farmer x as edc literally the most useful combo of tools and the awl is located in a sensible place for us
Old school British army pocket knife (aka pocket anchor)
Field and steel Garcia nice as neck knife but robust to do all I want
Rob Evans bushtool bit meatier like it for winter as handle is better with gloves on
Mora classic No 1- got some history with this, took it on my second round of the hunter gatherer challenge and it performed exceptionally
SAK Farmer x as edc literally the most useful combo of tools and the awl is located in a sensible place for us
Old school British army pocket knife (aka pocket anchor)
Field and steel Garcia nice as neck knife but robust to do all I want
Rob Evans bushtool bit meatier like it for winter as handle is better with gloves on
Mora classic No 1- got some history with this, took it on my second round of the hunter gatherer challenge and it performed exceptionally
Depends on circumstance and mood. When I am just out on an ordinary country hike an SAK will suffice. When there is fire making or woodwork in the offing, my traditional 6 inch Bowie. For chopping and limbing my Bulgarian pattern lightweight bearded axe, or my 10 inch heavy duty Bowie, or my Condor Loch Nessmuk. For vegetable prep I have retired my Opinel no8 in favour of a Tod Cutler medieval peasants eating knife, if it was good enough for a medieval peasant it is more than good enough for me. Condor Loch Nessmuk is an excellent chopper, but the big Bowie is more versatile, it also has the heft for chopping but the grind is also good for finer work, so the two Bowies form a sort of Sheffield Leuku, Puuko combination. With me it is not just utility but aesthetics, if I have made the sheaths, and the handles and the brass hand guards myself, so much the better.
Here is a list of the knives I use regularly along with pictures so you can see them. I wrote an article for NatureOutside, "12 Bushcraft Knives You Should Own", and used my own knives for the pictures. Here's the link.
12 Bushcraft Knives You Should Own
- Woodsorrel
12 Bushcraft Knives You Should Own
- Woodsorrel
Thanks, @Chris! The California Buckeye is a tree endemic to my area of California. Its wood can be used for hand drills and its beautiful "horse chestnuts" can be used as an emergency food -- after a lot of work to leach the saponins and other terrible chemicals.
I worked with the knife maker to select the handle material from a local species. My only regret is that I requested two fiber liners in the handle (white and red). They make the handle a bit thicker than I wanted. But it's still a fun knife to use!
If only I had the knife skills to match the fancy handle...
- Woodsorrel
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