Has your knife ever helped you out of a dire situation?

[Adan Lopez]

When I first told my dad, a 70-ish Mexican immigrant, that I was now into walking for days in the woods and in the mountains with only a backpack full of gear, he gave me a smile. Kind of a "I always wanted to do that myself" kind of smile. He was the one that got me hooked on the great outdoors. He listened to me explain some of the places I had been and some of the adventures I've had. When I was finished, he paused, and in a very concerned voice said to me (in spanish), "you better take a good knife".

[Stephen Barber]

Your dad is a wise man!

[Jeremy Platt]

I have never needed a knife in dire situation, but I often use one to make a couple of coke can stoves every other time I go hiking. If everyone brings a can of beer you can usually pump out a couple of stoves over the evening which make excellent presents for friends, family and anyone you are hitchhiking/ staying with.

This weekend I am going to try out a super light $1 pen knife and see how it holds up. It can cut through aluminium fine so I reckon it will stand up against veggies and the odd snag.

[Randy Nelson]

>I could lay off IPA and save some weight as well.

That's crazy talk Kevin! If you weren't supposed to drink IPAs, Ska wouldn't have put Modus Hoperandi in those nice, packable cans.

Sorry for the tanget. I wouldn't think about not going into the backcountry without a knife.

[Nick Gatel]

In the past 5 decades I have never encountered a dire situation that required a knife to extradite myself.

I have found more use for the scissors in my Victronix Classic than any blade.

[David Ure]

I truly believe that much of whether you carry a decent knife will be based on where you hike and at what time of year.

Not carrying a knife in Northern BC, for example is stupid.

[Gary Dunckel]

I'm with you, Dave. I've been cornered by an angry moose twice in the last 4 years, and I feel the need to carry my razor sharp Spyderco Endura in case I need to fight back. A couple of well placed slices into a moose's fleshy delicate and sensitive nose should run it off. The knife also slices salami and cheese quite well too, and opens FD meal packages.

By the way, I've asked these forums several times in the past, regarding whether pepper spray would be useful against a moose (or just make it more goofy). No one has replied with a personal experience. I contacted Counter Assault about this, and the office manager thought that it would work. He attached a flyer from the Alaska Fish & Game office that suggested using a strong blast of spray if one was being attacked by a moose (and then running away as fast as you can, unlike when attacked by a bear or cougar).

[Javan Dempsey]

"Michael you are one of the few people I have ever heard mention Bark River knives"

Obviously you haven't seen my multi-page tirades about how the Bark River Bravo Necker and Necker-2 are the best UL fixed blade available. ;P

I freaking love it. Although I do feel bad about how much I abuse my BN2, but she doesn't seem to mind.

[Michael Davis]

No dire situations to report. But, I do carry some sort of tool to cut with. Mostly, it's a Leatherman Micra. I actualy find the scissors more useful than the blade, plus I like having the tweezers. (less than 2 ounces)

When I take fishing gear, I take an Opinel folding filLet knife (also less than 2 ounces) and leave the Micra at home.

I am currently contemplating using a wood stove. If I do, I will take a more substantial knife. I have a few that would fit the bill that weigh 4 ounces or less. I figure that would still be a weight savings over carrying alcohol or canisters.

[Chris Peichel]

My knife has never helped me out of a dire situation, but it sure slices salami, cheese and bagels beautifully.

Bark River Bravo Necker…hands down the best UL knife i have carried, and the only one I carry now.

[Ryan C]

Yes and no. My Victorinox is a tool I carry and use nearly every day. The scissors are the most used, followed by the blade, screwdriver(s), ink pen, tweezers, and that awesome mini flat head driver twisted into the corkscrew for fixing eyeglasses. I suppose the magnifying lens could start a fire. It only weighs 3oz and is well justified in my book. I think of it as a trusted reliable friend.

I did carry a heavy 10oz Rambo knife for one short trip in the Smoky Mountains this year due to reports of very uncomfortable bear encounters at some of the shelters I was in. I think the knife strapped to the pack did more to deter tourist from talking to me at my Newfound Gap pickup point than anything else.

[Ceph Lotus]

While scuba diving off a local beach, some fishing line got tangled up on my air tank. Since it was behind me, I couldn't see how it was tangled, and I couldn't pull the fishing line off. I was diving with a group of other divers, but the visibility was so bad, they didn't notice my predicament. I have a knife strapped to my leg when diving, so i just simply cut myself loose.

[Douglas Ray]

I've been carrying a knife into the wilderness for many years. I don't use it all that much backpacking except for cheese and salami, but it has come in handy on a number of occasions when I would have been a bit stuck without it.

Alpine climbing and rock climbing I always carry a knife of some sort. I often carry a length of webbing or cord specifically for building rappel anchors, in which case I need something to cut off the appropriate length for each anchor. I have at times been stuck in a situation where I hadn't expected to need material to rappel from and I cut some off of my cordalett. These situations wouldn't have been dire without a knife, just expensive from leaving behind a lot of runners.

On long trips I've had to use a knife for "surgery." To open up infected blisters for irrigation and once to open up a bizarre rash-like problem so we could clean and drain it. When I am guiding on long trips I now carry a dedicated blade for this purpose.

I'm not one of those "just give me a good knife and I can survive forever" folks, but I think with a good knife, a source of ignition, and a bit of string I could stay out in the woods for quite a long time. I've built a lot of fires with nothing but matches, and a good pocket knife is almost essential to this process much of the time. IMHO the most useful knives for fire building and wilderness survival are not terribly big, about a 3" blade that is thin enough to make good shavings and will do most of your survival related cutting better than a thicker blade. Serrated blades don't work very well at all.

I think anyone who thinks they can't survive with something the equivalent of a Opinel folder simply needs to learn better how to manage themselves and there survival skills. Big sturdy knives are nice sometimes but are less essential than small, sharp, precise knives.

That said the knife I take into the back country is usually whichever one I have on hand. I think there is a SAK in the top pocket of my day pack right now.

[Javan Dempsey]

Having a knife constantly helps me out of the dire situation of "Not having a knife".

It's philosophical.

My most recent recollection of having been extremely glad I didn't forget my knife was on a trip last winter, where I somehow lost my spoon, and had nothing to eat with but my hands, which isn't great for your health on a long trip IMHO. Knife and a couple sticks, about 45 mins of playing around, and I had a spoon and a fork carved from oak. They lasted me the whole week and I ate well.

Not life threatening maybe, but that's just one of many examples where it's been *very* useful.

;)

[kevperro .]

I've never been in a situation where my knife saved me. I think it is one of those McGyver complexes.

[EndoftheTrail]

"Knife and a couple sticks"…

Knife redundant. A couple of sticks makes for a great pair of chopsticks. :)

(j/k)

[Ken Thompson]

me neither

though i do take one usually

[JJ Mathes]

YES! I could not get a bag of potato chips open, out came the knife and I was in that bag with one swift swoosh.

[Michael Reagan]

I would bet that few here have ever faced a dire situation in the wilderness. Most trips are reasonably uneventful affairs in which a knife carried solely for the "what if" scenario is needless dead weight. The same could be said for a first-aid kit, a supply of reserve food or stove fuel, an extra pair of dry, wool socks, or a PLB. It's all useless until you need it, then it's mighty nice to have.

My knife has helped me to harvest wild foods as well as clean fish and do general food prep, cut lines, trim bandage and moleskin, start fires under conditions that *might* have grown dire if I hadn't been able to get warm, make tarp stakes to replace lost ones, and to carve a spoon for eating when I forgot to pack one. Those are just a few things I can remember of off the top of my head. A knife is simply too useful a tool for me to leave behind.

I must admit that it also provides me with a certain confidence level in the wilderness. I know that should that "what if" scenario ever occur in which I might be left without my pack, I can make shelter, fashion cordage, start fire, produce a crude water-filtration device or a pot for cooking, construct a portable sun-compass, and build traps for fish or game with my knife. I know these things are possible for me because over the last thirty years I've done them all, and mostly with just a small, sturdy folder. The likelihood of ever being in a situation where I would have to rely on these skills for survival is remote for me. But knowing that I can do them if I need to does bring a measure of comfort and would certainly assuage the panic caused by being in such a situation.

To me, a knife is worth the small weight penalty. So is carrying an extra pair of dry, wool socks.

Michael

[James holden]

chop tattered rap tat …

shavings to start fire …

repairs to gear with leatherman …

never leave home without it …

you never know … this might be u …

[Dug Shelby]

The story about being trapped on the island of lonely girls??

[kevperro .]

Need to get a subscription to that rag. Married virgins and islands of lonely chicks. Plus… it looks like you will learn to use your knife in a dire situation.

[Javan Dempsey]

It's funny also, the things that are nearly undisputed as necessary, where as a good blade is so controversial.

Almost nobody here will argue against water purification or filtration for instance, yet the amount of water that may be potentially fatal to a healthy hiker is almost nil in this country.

I've drank unfiltered water the world over and never been sick from it, yet I've become convinced myself that I need to be taking precautions. Even the sicknesses that someone can get, are almost never that serious, no matter how embarrassing or inconvenient. Yet many people carry nearly a lb of filtration equipment or, even better, chemicals to make the water safe. Which I've always found ironic, since chemicals are the only thing I fear in water(yes yes I know, they're all safe and have been used for years, yay!), not bacteria, generally.

People carry heavy multi-tools, justified by the "multi" aspect of it, yet I've never met one that was as light as my main blade, or any more useful at most of it's functions than my blade.

It's a tool, and a very useful one. I can cut, gouge, pry, scrape, screw, unscrew any normal type fastener, etc. The one thing I see a multi-tool having over a knife are pliers, but some light fishing pliers would probably be more effective, since most of the multitool pliers are crap.

I'll leave the rain pants behind, they're truly useless in my book. I won't ever leave my knife. It sees action every trip. My rain pants never did, and they weighed 3x as much. Keep telling yourself you use them when you do laundry. ;P

[Jerry Adams]

Water filter – about half the time I don't use one, especially in alpine areas, need for a filter or treatment is over-stated, it's easier for the authorities to recommend even if sickness is rare

Multi-tool – occasionally the lens on my glasses pops out and it would be difficult to get back in without tool, I repaired my pack and my stove before

knife – I remember whittling a piece of wood to repair something once

for 2 ounces multi-tool is okay

[Author]

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