What Knife?

[kai055]

Hey guys, been awhile since i have put a post up but have been thinking about wat knife/knivies people on here use, just becuase i have for the last couple of years been using a forst clipper knife and i love it, but my m8 brought this knife on evilbay for about 70 quid, but he only seems to use it for what i use mine for, you know small pieces of carving, making feather sticks, pegs simple things.

So what im just interested in is what knife u have and does it matter what u pay for the knife, or is it all about how u use it

 

[stickbow]

Hi There
For the last couple of years I have been using various Tora Kukri's for shelter building, felling small trees and general camp work and about 2 months ago I got my hands on a Tom Brown tracker (the big one) I have abused it a lot deliberatly and it is great for what I need it for. but a bit heavy although this helps when hammering in stakes and nails.
I must say that I collect knives as well so these are just part of the collection

 

[Siberianfury]

i use a kellam tundra whittler pukko, handmade in finland, carbon steel blade, takes and holds an edge better than anything ive had before and has a realy good high grind which cuts through wood like butter. the handle is curly burch and reindeer antler.
i payed about £30 for it but on the website its listed as $67.

very good knife, i would recoment to anyone.

the price of a knife dosent mean its good or bad ive used a mora for years and it is capable of doing anything my puukko can do, i just decided that i wanted somting a bit more eye catching but it was not essential. in short an experienced woodcarver with a cheap mora will be better than a non experienced user using a woodlore anyday.

 

[sandsnakes]

I have a number of knives including some Dave Budd ones. For general use I now us a Khuki House Churi and Kuhkri (Suripate with 12 blade rose wood handle) in place of an axe. I find increasingly that the only tool I need is the kuhkri, as it is a a sort of multitool blade being a combination of knife/axe/bush cutter/draw knife.

Both were very cheap and impressed a former CO of the Gurkas for the quality of steel.

Sandsnakes

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Fallkniven S1 for me- a bit more weight to it than the more frequently spotted F1 which allows you to grip further back on the handle and do light chopping/shortening. I find the longer blade a bit handier for battoning too. Convex bevel is a bit tricky to sharpen though, but i like it alot.

Still, if i'm heading off somewhere that i'm not planning on doing anything too hardcore, and may not need a knife at all, i simply chuck in a cheap and light Frosts Clipper instead.

I also use a genuine issue Golok (not those knock off shortened versions that seem to crop up on ebay these days) for other heavy duty tasks.

 

[Steve M]

I'm more concerned about the edge you can get on it, how easy it is to sharpen and how long the edge is kept. I'm using a clipper at the moment until I find something else that fits better.

 

[steven andrews]

As long as there is Mora Of Sweden there is no need to spend more than £10 pounds on a knife.

That said, variety is the spice of life!

 

[Bmatt]

As long as there is Mora Of Sweden there is no need to spend more than £10 pounds on a knife.

I recently read somewhere that Mors Kochanski said something to that effect. Something along the lines of, "If you spend more than $10 on a knife, you're wasting money." I tend to agree in certain cases.

I usually carry three main woodworking/processing tools in the field: a small fixed blade, a large fixed blade and a saw. My small fixed blades are always "cheap", but serve me very well. For a while it was a wood-handled Mora No. 1 with a leather sheath. I recently replaced it with a Marttiini "Black Lumberjack" that I picked up for 15 Euros and modified to suit my tastes (I'd post pictures, but can't seem to be able to..). Sure, I could go even cheaper, but I try to find a nice balance between having natural materials and a good price.

When it comes to the large fixed-blade choppers, I tend to spend more, because I have never seen a low-priced large fixed blade of good quality and natural materials that I liked and that could stand up to the abuse. So I use an 85 Euro YP Taonta leuku (or a Roselli leuku) for that purpose.

My saw is a 22 Euro Fiskars 10" slider.

If your Clipper serves you well, go on using it until the blade is worn down to nothing. What matters is if it works for you.

 

[John Fenna]

For value for money for the tasks you are using a knife for - you just cannot beat a Mora of some sort!
After that you are looking at knives for heavier usages or paying for their good looks.
I use a variety of knives but if I am traveling light and want a good light weight all perpose knife it is a Mora for me!
Having said that - my main user is a Cherry handled Damascus Bushy - I think it would cost around 10 times the price of a bog standard Mora, does the same tasks, I can not get it any sharper than my Moras....bit it looks 100 times nicer!

 

[MartinK9]

For value for money for the tasks you are using a knife for - you just cannot beat a Mora of some sort!
After that you are looking at knives for heavier usages or paying for their good looks.
I use a variety of knives but if I am traveling light and want a good light weight all perpose knife it is a Mora for me!
Having said that - my main user is a Cherry handled Damascus Bushy - I think it would cost around 10 times the price of a bog standard Mora, does the same tasks, I can not get it any sharper than my Moras....bit it looks 100 times nicer!

Indeed it does John

 

[Hardworms]

I'm addicted to knives so usually to go into the woods with more steel than can healthily be carried (tend to go through the "what if I get involved in a plane crash between my house and work and NEED a jungle machete" thought process). But I agree that Frost's Mora is the best value-for-money knife you're gonna find. It's as ugly as sin, and the sheaths are useless, but spend £25 on a decent sheath and any mora you buy will subsequently fit it. The only criticism I have of them is that the edge is a bit fragile and they are a bit thin for my liking, which means that I can easily justify spending an extra £200 on something sparklier! (Trying to justify it to my wife is a lot harder!) All joking aside, if you want advice. stick with what you like; if you get to thinking you don't like the feel of the mora, or it's too long/short/fat/thin/heavy/light and you have a bit of spare cash lying around then try something else. Eventually you'll hit on a style of knife that really works for YOU. Or, if you're like me, many knives that work for you!
Better yet build your own and customise it. That way it'll fit your hand more closely than anyone's.