good hiking/camping knife?

[keipow]

i'm looking for hiking/camping knife that is easier to hold than my leatherman skeletool. can folks give some suggestions?

things i am looking for:
easy to carry (sheath, clip hole/carabiner, or folding)
saw + straight knife, with usable length
doesn't hurt hand when using for a while
sturdy, good/decent steel

[GeezerSteve]

I carry a classic Mora knife for backpacking, overnight ski tours and high routes. If I want a saw for an overnight trip (rare, cuz I'm usually in the high country) I bring a 15" Sven Saw.

[XXX-er]

Those mora's are great cheap knives are they just plain steel or SS I don't recallr but I do remember my dad buying the Mora for 3$ yeah it was awhile ago

http://www.coronatools.com/folding-saws

I carry the 6" folding saw in my pocket for pruning duty at the ski hill

[leroy jenkins]

Knives with sawblades on them are almost always next to useless.

Those moras are nice. I am a HUGE fan of Condor at the budget pricepoint. Brazilian company that has been making machetes and knives for i think 80 or so years, they are good steel, well ground with a great edge from the factory, and CHEAP. They can sometimes be found on sale for stupidly low prices considering their obvious quality.

http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/CN7...Leather-Sheath

http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/CN2...Leather-Sheath

http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/CN3...Leather-Sheath



There is also the classic Ka bar usmc bowie. Mine has seen some SERIOUS abuse over the years and although it was never razor sharp even new, it will hold a decent edge for a long time.

This is a pretty cool tool, notice all three edges of the shovel blade are ground and sharpened like a knife blade.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-me...e=UTF8&index=0


I might also suggest a woodsmans pal type tool.

http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/CN3...Leather-Sheath

http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/CN3...Leather-Sheath

[CMSIV]

Anything by Benchmade.

[RedWolf]

What type of trips are you thinking? I almost never leave my Benchmade griptillian at home. I carry it most of the time day to day - it's razor sharp and comfortable even after years of use. If I'm doing anything more than a quick and light overnight/weekend, I bring my Cold Steel bushman along, too, and often a multi-tool just in case. The bushman is easily kept sharp, splits wood, dices food, and just about anything else I've ever wanted it to do, including digging in a pinch. Fucking tough blade and extremely useful.

[GeezerSteve]

Those mora's are great cheap knives are they just plain steel or SS I don't recall. . . .

Traditional Mora (and Frost, now owned by Mora) are carbon steel. You can now get Moras in SS. Some are laminated, some are not. Don't let the cheap price fool you: a $16 Mora knife blade holds a sharp edge better than most $100 poser knives. Full tang too. Scandinavian grind is very easy to DIY sharpen.

[IAlove]

If you must have a saw/ knife comba the TOPS Tom Brown Tracker or Tracker Jr. Is the only way to go. Sheath provides for multiple carry options and the knife is indestructible.

[XXX-er]

yeah plain steel is easier to sharpen than SS they were very good knives and easy to sharpen ... especaily for the price

[Hugh Conway]

Recently got a Mora which is quite nice.

For cheese and sausage an Opinel

[Kai]

It's difficult to get a reasonably sized knife with a usable/functional saw blade.

Probably better to split those two tools up. Get a regular knife, and a wire saw like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Rothco-8312-Co.../dp/B000E96CZ4

For an inexpensive fixed blade knife, the Mora recommendation is a good one. They are cheap and effective. There are better knives out there than the Mora, but you have to pay quite a bit more to get something that is of higher quality than a Mora.

For a folding knife, it's hard to beat the Chris Reeves Sebenza. They're very expensive, but they are very strong and light. The problem with inexpensive folding knives, is that their locking/folding mechanism tends to be weak, so it typically costs more money to get a quality folder than it does to get a quality fixed blade knife (which is basically just a single piece of steel with a handle.)

[slobmonster]

A few years ago I picked up one of these

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PR...-Paring-Knives

on a whim.

Then I bought two more. One stays in my backpack/camping kit, one is at home, and the 3rd is in my car. Best knife (for the $) I've found for sausage and cheese and nearly everything else.

[bouguer]

buy yourself a benchmade/spiderco and then carry a small gransfors burks. best of both worlds.

[keipow]

thanks folks

[DudeLebowSKI]

buy yourself a benchmade/spiderco and then carry a small gransfors burks. best of both worlds.

Good taste . My personal favorite!

Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe + Spyderco Paramilitary 2 or Benchmade 940 Osbourne or ESEE 3 or if I'm really feeling destructive ESEE 6

[mrburns]

I have had CRKT M-16, similar to this one....http://www.crkt.com/M16-10-EDC-Black...WKS-Combo-Edge...
that I got from SAC a few years back, it has held up really well and is great for fighting off grizzlies, cougars, etc while recreating in the woods. I really like the easy opening with one hand.

[Caucasian Asian]

I have had CRKT M-16, similar to this one....http://www.crkt.com/M16-10-EDC-Black...WKS-Combo-Edge...
that I got from SAC a few years back, it has held up really well and is great for fighting off grizzlies, cougars, etc while recreating in the woods. I really like the easy opening with one hand.

I carry a M16-14 or a large SOGzilla in my pocket every day. Sure, they're big and kinda heavy, but I've never found myself wishing I had a smaller knife.

[Beyond]

buy yourself a benchmade/spiderco and then carry a small gransfors burks. best of both worlds.

This; more generally, check out Benchmade. Not only make good knives, but also useful education on blade metals (so you choose an alloy that fits your uses/habits), opener design, handles, etc.

[leroy jenkins]

I have had CRKT M-16, similar to this one....http://www.crkt.com/M16-10-EDC-Black...WKS-Combo-Edge...
that I got from SAC a few years back, it has held up really well and is great for fighting off grizzlies, cougars, etc while recreating in the woods. I really like the easy opening with one hand.

I like the company, but I've been able to get the locks on some of their lockblades to fail and close prematurely. Pretty much a deal breaker. If youre going with a lockblade make sure you test the lock. I just about lost the last inch of my first finger once.

[GeezerSteve]

I carry a Benchmade Mini Griptilian as my everyday knife. I also have a folding Spyderco (gift) that I rarely use and a few other knives. My good bud/fellow ski tourist and high router has a bunch of knives, e.g., Benchmade (folding and fixed), Esee, Condor, CRKT, Kabar, etc.

But he and I usually each carry a lightweight 3/4 tang Mora knife in the high country.

I'm looking to get a bushcraft knife for camping in the lowlands and montane, but I have no good reason to carry a heavy knife on a high route, a ski tour or a mountaineering trip.

ETA: Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe is a beautiful tool, no doubt. So it my bud's Wetterlings. But you need not spend that kind of $$ for a decent camp axe. My Council Tool Hudson Bay camp axe (a gift from my bud) is sweet and made in America. Fuck yeah

[DeathVan]

Victorinox Utility Knife (4" serrated or not) with sheath
-light weight, reliable, inexpensive and absolutely practical



http://www.jmtackle.com/browse.cfm/k...ones/2,22.html

[coldfeet]

Idle question:

I understand a little the allure of classy chichi knives, but when hiking or backpacking, I just wind up carrying a swiss army knife. I rarely have to cut anything more substantial than paracord, moleskin, salami, etc - maybe whittling the occasional twig. What are you guys using them for - more substantial woodwork? (Dressing game would be another story.)

We covered hiking knives, and hunting knives in another thread, so what's a good skiing knife? (For climbing knives it's already settled - just take whatever they used in "Vertical Limit.")

[GeezerSteve]

On a longer trips, we always have one small multi-tool in the group. On longer ski tours, we have one larger multi-tool and a pretty comprehensive repair kit.

I used to carry a Swiss Army Knife, but found I never used some of its functions, e.g., a cork screw doesn't do much good on a week-long high route. And even the best SAK has only a small so so blade.

But the biggest advantage of a lightweight fixed blade knife (e.g., Mora) is the quality and function of the blade edge. I backpacked, ski toured and mountaineered for nearly 20 years before learned about the usefulness of a super sharp knife in the wilderness. SAKs are stainless steel (difficult to sharpen) and are just not very good edges for many applications. I now prefer a carbon steel blade, one that I can easily sharpen before a trip. One big advantage of the Mora is the Scandi grind, which is very easy and fast to sharpen to a durable and super sharp edge. A brand spanking new SAK blade is nowhere near as sharp and only gets dull with use. A super sharp knife comes in handy in many situations. I've seen guys trying to do field repairs on fabric with a SAK and failing miserably, then my bud or I give them a Mora and they get a fast clean straight cut and say "wow." Same story when a guy had to cut down a boot lug to fit a crampon. A super sharp knife can really help with some first aid too.

If you're using a biomass stove, e.g., Backcountry Boiler, and/or having small campfires (legal or illegal), a good fixed blade super sharp knife is very handy for whittling shavings. You can also do a bit of chopping and batoning. I wouldn't baton my $80 Benchmade, but pounding on a $14 Mora is no big deal -- and I have yet to hurt mine.

And, FWIW, a Mora weighs less than most SAKs.

[coldfeet]

This is a good point about blades. I had not thought about having to cut more substantial pieces of gear like your boot lug example. I forgot to mention also having an Opinel (carbon steel) which sharpens much easier than a SAK. The Opinel has no cachet but is nice in a classic way of everything you need and nothing you don't. Admittedly the real reason I like it is that my dad used one when camping.

I can see that on a ski trip, you want a multitool, and then the SAK functions are redundant. I rarely use the openers or corkscrew when hiking, but they have come in handy on reaching the car. Used to sneer at the tweezers, but they are occasionally useful here in spiny cactusland.

[Crass3000]

I like the leathermans with good tools. I used to have a few. One being the vice grip one. I'm sure they are still around but I can't find them. Andything more than a knife, I think you might benefit from a little saw and an army type shovel. Not sure what you are looking to do but if you have the weight for it you can't go wrong. Say if you were going canoe camping.