ultralight knife recommendation

Take a hacksaw blade the approx. size you want. Cut it to shape. File it down to “just right”. Sharpen the blade edge with a proper sharpening hone. Then wrap the handle area with tape or something.

Tin snips or even heavy duty scissors will give you a rough cut. You can file the blade to shape rubbing it on almost anything harder or more abrasive than the blade – try concrete, though a dremil will do the job better. And anyone planning on having a knife of any sort needs a good blade sharpener – use that to put your edge on. Leave the saw edge on the back of the blade is you want.

The weight will depend solely on the size of blade you cut, how you grind it, and the handle material you put on it, but it will be an oz or less.

It shouldnt cost more than $10 and an hour or two of work, using basic tools.

Good luck

http://www.agrussell.com/knives/by_type/folding/locking/a_g_russell_featherliteclip_point_blade_with_aus8_steel.html

Try this guy….I just ordered one….1.3 oz claimed wait in 2.5″ fixed blade. A little shorter than your 3-3.5″ but should be a nice, inexpensive just-in-case kinda knife. I have had very good luck with CRKT products.

http://www.knifeworks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1551

Steve

I’ve heard the mora knives are light and very good.

Here’s a similar thread. In the fourth post there’s a mention of a Victorinox paring knife with 3.25″ blade and weighing less than an ounce.

Re: paring knives. I had posted the paring knife. It is light, inexpensive and *sharp*, but best for kitchen and light cutting chores like trimming a piece off your pack or cutting line.

There seem to be several brackets for knives– heavy duty tools that are more on the survival end of things, general purpose knives like the Swiss Army or other basic folding knives, or light-as-can-be cutting edges, like the small blade in a Micra tool or the paring knife. I keep a single-edge razor blade in my survival kit as an ultra light and ultrra cheap cutting tool. Others have suggested scalpel blades as they can be hafted onto a stick for a small spear or knife. Why not one of each?

If I were going to use it to split wood or other heavy duty tasks, then I would want a fixed blade. The weight issue with a fixed blade is that you immediately add the weight of a sheath. I don’t know of any folding knives that I would want to use for prying, splitting or other tasks other than straight-away cutting.

Check out the SOG Micron. Its 0.4 ounces. Here’s a link, can’t vouch for the retailer:

http://www.buysog.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=0002MICRON

The Mora Laminated Steel (Swedish) knife ia a straight blade sheath knife that has a full tang 3.75 inch blade, wooden handle and holds an edge very well. With the sheath it weighs 2.5 oz.
They also make it in a high carbon model that can act as a steel for flint and steel. These are under $16 last I checked.

spyderco ladybug, serrated, locks, .5 oz.

excellent knife.

Not exactly what Christopher specified, but a very interesting knife for ultralighters: the “bird and trout” knife.

Eveidently there has been a tradition of making these small light knives for dressing fish and fowl in the field. The one made by Cold Steel pictured below is as about a Spartan as you can get (and 0.8oz). While surfing on this, I found a number of others that look just like a paring knife.

Try a miniature box cutter. Blade a bit over 1/4″ high, thin, very sharp, renewable tip, and for that matter a renewable blade if you carry one or two spares. Dunno what the weight is, but LIGHT.

In the UL backpacking workshops I give, someone always asks “what kind of knife do you carry”? My answer is “what for”?

FWIW, I simply carry a single edge razor blade. It comes in a thin paper sheath, and I wrap a piece of tape around that to hold it together.

I mainly use it to clean trout, and it does the job very nicely. I rarely need a knife for anything else, but if I need one, the razor blade works fine.