Knives – It’s the sheath that weighs

I'm pretty happy with mine.

Cheap. Light. Pretty decent blade.

http://www.dougritter.com/rsk_mk5.htm

A piece of posterboard folded in half and taped- just enough to cover the blade. Then store the knife in your pack where it won't be jostled too much.

I think the problem may be that people think a knife has to be readily accessable (I have heard people state that they carry large fixed blades to defend against bears… good luck with that), but given that you normally need a knife in camp (actually, I almost never need one at all) then just protect the edge and stash it.

That said, in my experience people carry fixed blades because they like playing around with bushcraft skills, and so want a knife that can baton wood. I think this is largely a pre-LNT, pre-overcrowding vision of wilderness travel. Since the stout fixed knife primarily indulges a romantic vision rather than a constant need, just dam@ the weight and lug the thing if you want to- it's your journey.

-I'd better add: I use a knife to open packages, cut some food, cut my cordelette for rap anchors, and that's about it… no need for anything but a small folder. I hardly ever build fires (have never had the need) but don't need to split wood in order to do so.

yeah, i moved from the folder to fixed more cuz I didn't want to clean peanut butter out of the folder (saves weight on a scrubby ;-)) than because I wanted to construct a shelter of soft pine boughs to read Morchanski under…

Knife Geek +1.

C'mon, isn't there something to be said about a sweet blade? Considering picking up a Salt 1 for backpacking and another fixed blade outdoor knife.

http://www.crkt.com/crkt/content/images_inv/c/e/64/MK5CU_full2.jpg

love mine, has a hole for connecting to lanyard, razor sharp carbon steel, strong knife yet tiny knife. Small knife, big bite. With sheath its like 1.2 or 1.1 oz. Have to measure when i get home to see. You move the knot on the cord until it catches in the back of your hand, extending the grip.

I too like the simplicity of a fixed blade, (No peanut butter to try clean out of the pivot pin, yuck!), and have been using the following: http://www.buckknives.com/index.cfm?event=product.detail&productID=3673

Got it for under $20, 2.8 oz according to the website, and very hand size both in the hand and on the pack. Also made in the USA.

I usualy bring a small folder ( ladybug)
But when i plan to fish i prefer a small folder, i use a fallkniven wm1, its much easier to clean it after guting the fish.
but yes i was surprised to see the sheeath weight was 1/3 of the total weight.

Thtas why i did a custom sheath by molding a piece of plastic, it weights 1/3 oz against the 1oz of the original sheath.
I wouldnt feel safe carrying my wm1 on my neck with this new sheath, but i never did with the previous one.

+1 knife geek.

Even the slim kydex on my Murray Carter neck knife weight an ounce, which takes the weight from a very justifyable 2.5oz to 3.5oz! Thin kydex might be the lightest practical sheath. My knives are kept too sharp for a cardboard sheath.

Cool table of the sheath weights. I too like the lack of moving parts and pivot on a fixed blade in the backcountry. The functionality a good sheath provides is great, but almost not worth the weight. Having the knife handy and on my person is great — many times when I needed a knife on the CDT, I was away from my pack.

Sure, it's a hobbyist/enthusiast thing but so are many luxury items. At least this luxury item could actually be very useful in a variety of common or emergency situations.

+1 knife geek here…

My Spyderco Moran FB01 is a lightish knife, at 2.7oz, but it tips the scales at 6oz with kydex/teklok. I like the smaller, rounded handle, plus the polished blade doubles as a signal mirror. Not full-tang, but well balanced nonetheless.

The Mora's come with a thin plastic sheath. Easy to rinse out if it gets peanut butter or pine sap inside it.

The 4" bladed #1 model weighs 2.75 ounces including the plastic sheath.

The 4" bladed #137 model weighs 3 ounces including the leather sheath.

My "bushcraft" backpacking knife is the 2.25" bladed #130 model which weighs 2 ounces including the home-made thin leather sheath(1.5mm thick).

Go here to see more models: http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html