Why waste time and energy Batoning and Chopping??

[Limaed]

Its worth noting how easy it is to get blinded by the sales blurb particulary if your new to a subject. This film from Cold Steel dosn't actually seem to tell me a great deal about the SRK's ability as a Survival and Rescue Knife sure its a tough blade but ive no idea how it would perform in any genuinely useful tasks: http://www.coldsteel.com/srk.html
From what ive read the original Carbon SRK was a good blade however the marketing on the film is very much selling it as a combat blade IMO.
I shared a room in Afghanistan with a Royal Marine who carried a big survival knife, it seemed lost on him that he might want to carve wood, dress game etc. Tasks I think would have been pretty difficult with the knife he had. I think the knife just lived on his webbing to impress his mates, ive no doubt he would have loved the SRK film.

 

[santaman2000]

It is definitely an over-hyped sales pitch. It does however give a good description of the knife. Not one I would choose. It's too small for combat and definitely much, much smaller than a proper butcher's knife to process a deer. It is a good size (particularly the thickness) for a survival/general purpose blade and devoid of the unneccessary Rambo-ish flare. that said, It's not exactly an "impressive" knife. Rather plain, almost a Boy Scout knife.

 

[Bushnoob]

So it seems this thread has finally taken a good turn around lol. So I guess now might be a good time to ask a question while people are still reading this thread, rather than make another.

You are placed in the middle of the Canadian backwoods for example, and you have the choice of two sets. Which would you rather bring and why?

3 knife system. 2-3" neck knife, 4-5" bushcraft knife (scandi), 6-9" heavy duty blade with about 5mm thick spine.

or

A 4" long, 3.5mm thick, scandi ground bushcraft knife, or A 5" long, 4mm thick, flat ground "Survival knife" (Feel free to detour off of the description a bit, but please do explain and a Laplander folding saw.

 

[santaman2000]

Qualify that just a bit more please. Plopped down for how long?

 

[Xunil]

I'm going to get picky

I have a place in Ontario and when wandering on or around it I'd be as happy as a pig in a wallow with a single small knife. A slip joint folder would be enough, since there is an abundance of easily gathered material to build debris shelters and fires from if I need or want to. Anything bigger would just be a bonus

In the rainforests of British Columbia I'd want a very, very different combo.

Your

placed in the middle of the Canadian backwoods

covers quite a bit of ground and some seriously huge climate variables, not to mention the duration of the intended visit. A wander for the day or weekend would be fine with little or no kit, but a week or two hunting the backwoods or an unexpectedly long trip out due to whatever reasons...

I'd probably go for your 3 knife system as a broadbrush selection that can cover most circumstances and plan on taking two of them.

If you have a 2 - 3" knife you don't need a 4 - 5" knife (or vice versa) provided you have the heavy duty blade you mentioned with you. In theory, if you have the big knife you don't need the other two at all, but I'd take one anyway (better safe than sorry) to guard against loss, breakage, stupidity and so on.

Over here in the UK I prefer a saw or small axe with a small, thin, and sharp slicing knife.

Different climate, different requirements, circumstances, and use. There is no ideal - just what works best for you which, more often than not, will have someone else saying "you do WHAT ?!?!?" and "you carry WHAT ?!?!?" and similar variations on the theme....

 

[Bushnoob]

Well for the length of time is unpredictable

As if the situation isn't already unrealistic enough but let's just say you are going into an ideal boreal forest. You have the summer nights go down anywhere 5 to -1 degrees C. 50/50 for the rain or sun on a normal year. Which carry option might you be most comfortable with on you. This isn't a real choice but what might you choose right off of the bat.

I just do this to see if people find a knife more reliable than a saw. Which its design might be differing from knife to knife. Of course if I was going into these conditions I would take all I could. Small hatchet, folding saw, large knife, smaller sized bushcraft knife. What about you? What might you carry, but let's not do the felling axe and bow saw combo, lets just carry somewhat light. We will only say that you are in this situation for the time it takes for a search in rescue team to find you. They can find you better/ faster if you try to help them of course, so don't just expect no matter how you play this out a helicopter will just pick you up

Just something fun to write about but thank you for participating =)

Oh an lastly, on a 7 day trip into an area like the Canadian backwoods would you make sure to bring a large knife with your normal pack even if you already had a saw and an axe? Just in case?

 

[Nagual]

I guess it's like all other kit, you take what you think you might need, and learn from it. Having never done anything like that myself, I'd probably take a folding bow saw, a smaller folding saw like the laplander or silkie, and a knife or two - one small for camp stuff and a larger more robust one for 'doing things'. Or a chainsaw and whatnot or a harvester and forwarder to really set up camp... but I think thats taking it to extremes ?

 

[santaman2000]

I usually take at least 2 knives wherever I go so that's a given. More likely in this case 3 knives; a small pocket knife, a Buck 110 and a 5" or larger sheath knife. The sheath knife has always been some variant of a Bowie for me but lately I've been wanting to try a Puma White Hunter and was remeinded of that recently in another thread. I just cain't justify the cost. I would also have an axe of some type. If I were just out for a week or less camping (and had no reason to suspect the upcoming need for rescue) it would probably be a hatchet or hawk; if I suspected something more dire or possibly if my reason for being there was of an expedition nature, it would be a heavier axe. I probably wouldn't take a saw unless I was planning an extended stay or I was leaving it there (as in a pre-stocked hunting/fishing lodge or similar type lodge/semi permanent camp))