Knife Recommendations

as others have said- depends- I’ve hiked w/ just a SAK classic and got by pretty well

I use a wood stove now and have since gone to a small fixed blade (a wide variety of them actually) that I set up as a “kit” that is worn around my neck- in addition to the knife I include a small firesteel, little bit of tinder, some Spectra cord, a photon light and a whistle- total weight for the whole kit and kaboodle is under 4 oz- the knife (Izula) is 2.0 oz on it’s own

I’ve found it a good size for food prep, cleaning fish/fowl, light fire prep, etc- it’s also orange so when I set it done I don’t lose it :)

I agree with one of the other posters — it's impossible to make a good recommendation without a little more knowledge of what you want to do with a knife. Do you want to sharpen sticks, gut fish, build shelters, open MH meals, hunt deer with your bare hands? The ends dictate the means.

Some of us just like knives — the weight, the aesthetics, the fit, form and function… sure, it flies in the face of going ultralight, but it's a great luxury to have on hand. My wife, for instance, is happiest going hiking if she's got a Spyderco with her; her favorite is a Spyderco Stretch, 4.4oz, but just a beautiful knife. It's her security blanket, and that's fine by me.

If I'm by myself, I'll usually take one of the tiny SAKs… tweezers and scissors are the most important functions for most times I need it. If I'm taking a group, I'll take a midsized SAK and a second, simple blade that usually sees duty sharpening sticks to cook over a fire.

For overall functionality, nothing beats a SAK or small Leatherman for 99% of most needs on the trail, especially for those of us who spend most of our lives in the urbs/suburbs. If you're a more pure survivalist on the other hand, I'd definitely go with a single, simple fixed blade like a Mora.

I have a Benchmade Teather that would seem to be a good option for most uses. It's one piece with a plain blade. For the weight, I can't think of a folder that would be as durable.

In my experience I've never NEEDED anything more than a small folder. One problem with small folders however, is that they often are not very accessable. They are often stowed away in some pocket which means it takes effort to take it out when you need it. Most SAK's are also a little fiddly to open. This does not make you WANT to use your knife.

Because I like my knife to be readily available I carry a fixed blade on my hip (I also prefer the look of it, but that's irrelevant). The fact that I can use the knife in one single move makes me enjoy using it a lot more. When I hike in a group my knife is often the only one that is used because it's the only one that's always immediately available.

Other things to consider:
-Serrated or not? Unless you have to cut a lot of rope I would go for a non-serrated blade. It's easier to sharpen and it gives a cleaner cut.
-Stainless or carbon steel? Stainless steel is usually not truly rust proof, but rust resistant. Stainless steel is usually relatively soft (easy to sharpen, but doesn't keep an edge very well), but it can withstand a lot of punnishment (slightly more than carbon steel) before it breaks (good for batonning).
Carbon steel knives rust a lot easier (although it's not much of a problem if you keep the knife dry), but they're generally speaking sharper and keep their edge longer. Some brands (Helle and Mora for example) offer laminated blades that are stainless on the outside and have a carbon steel core/cutting edge. These are generally very good blades.

If you are looking for a truly good blade for relatively little money (in my case I spent about 20 euro for a knife that would cost 70-120 euro commercially), I can recommend making one yourself. It's a lot of fun to make your own handle and sheath for a purchased blade blank and you can get very nice and professional looking results. It's probably not as light as some of the alternatives, but it's a lot more fun. If you wish to know more about this, send me a PM.

Opinel #8, in stainless or carbon–pick your poison. They're sharp, well-designed, lightweight and lock very securely.

You don't *need* 90% of of everything you carry, but that doesn't mean that stuff isn't useful or convenient to your style of outdoorsmanship.

Meticulous planners that spend all of their time on safe well maintained trail shouldn't need more than food, shoes, water, shelter, insulation, and the shelter and shoes are certainly optional.

For those of us that like things a little crazier, or who like bushcrafting, extensive cooking, or find themselves getting themselves into adverse situations often, a real knife can be a serious boon.

Necessary? It's a highly subjective word.

My favorite is a Al Mar ultralight Falcon
3.25" blade of AUS 8 steel
4" carbon fiber handle
1.2 oz. with spring clip removed ( has lanyard hole)
razor sharp with partial serration capable of sawing sizable limbs

Not cheap, but a lot of knife for the weight

I hadn't heard of Al Mar knives before. Can they take abuse and keep an edge? They look pretty good. I'm not too good at sharpening, as i never seem to get them as sharp as they originaly were.
And i do some batoning with a knife if i'm using a wood stove. Due to the amount of rain we get here, you sometimes have to dig for dry fuel.

When I am counting ounces I carry my CRKT Ritter RSK Mk5

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

Otherwise, I carry a Mora #1 or one of my sod busters.

Mike,

One thing to consider about sharpening, is that many of these stainless super alloys that are so touted for edge retention, pay for that in being nearly impossible for the average person to sharpen.

The justification to the makers however, is that 90% of knife buyers don't ever even attempt to sharpen, much less have a clue how to do it correctly, so they're building a reputation off having a knife that stays sharp from the factory as long as possible. Huge numbers of knives just get throw away once they get dull, so I guess I can't blame them.

Simple carbon steels like 1095, 1084, W2, and low alloy steels tool and spring steels like 5160, and to a lesser degree D2, O2 etc, are super easy to put a hair popping edge on, and can be maintained with a few swipes on a strop or sandpaper. Yes you have to sharpen it often to maintain that edge, but it's easy as pie, and with the proper edge geometry you can keep a strong "working" edge, for a very long time.

It's why many serious knife users prefer non-stainless steels for working knives, although there are some really good stainless varieties these days that'll hold a great edge and are reasonably easy to sharpen. My experience with 12c27 and ATS-34 have been good in that regard for instance.

Ultimately though, the steel is only a small part of the equation, even the best steel can be a poor performer without the right heat-treat regimen. That's one of the reasons why I'm such a proponent of Bark River's knives as a "production" choice. The convex grinds and their superior understanding of the HT for the steel's they use out perform many top of price range options that utilize more exotic steel.

Even though I'm making knives more than anything else anymore, my Bravo Necker 2 is still my daily user and I've beaten it to hell and back, it never fails to perform up to my expectations.

Thanks for the info, Javan. Very informative.

FYI I'm told Bass Pro Shop will resharpen knives for you for $5. If you have one of those really hard to sharpen knives this might be worth it occassionally assuming they do a good job. My sharpening kit cost something like $20 and I'm just now starting to resharpen a couple of knives I bought a couple years ago. They held their edges great but they take forever to sharpen too.

Javan wrote, "One thing to consider about sharpening, is that many of these stainless super alloys that are so touted for edge retention, pay for that in being nearly impossible for the average person to sharpen."

Amen on that. My Benchmade Griptilian is 154CM steel it is hard to sharpen. I went to diamond hones and that solved the problem. I use a Spyderco Sharpmaker ceramic hone set for most of my other knives and it works great for the softer steels. It sharpens my carbon steel Mora, any of the stainless Swiss Army knives and Chinese steels like 8Cr12MoV. The triangle hones are the only way to fly with serrated blades.

The knife i carry when using a woodstove or a kettle is the Rat Izula. It wasn’t too sharp when i got it (it wouldn’t shave any hair off my arm), and knowing nothing about knives, i can’t get a good edge on it. It still works, but i feel it could do better according to the way some folk talk about the razor edge they get on theirs.
I bought this stone to sharpen it, but can’t get the hang of it.
Obviously it’s my ignorance. :)

Here's a few good videos on sharpening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjKd3g9GFG8

Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPRiJ_YnSCI

But, just like there's more than one way to skin a cat, there's more than one way to sharpen the knife before skinning the cat.

Thanks Andy. I've seen them before, and every video on Youtube, i think.
I'll eventually get a knife sharp enough to shave with.

How did Ray get the nails out of the tree afterwards?:)

I also like the Mora knives for the price and quality. For a good fixed blade knife under $30. I also use the Gerber Profile. Coldsteel makes several affordable fixed blades in the same price range. A little bit more money will get you a good Ka-Bar or a Buck 119, Bark Rivers are great knives but yes they are expensive. My Gunny ran $120. My Gossman PSK ran $92 but worth it.

For folders, I use Victorinox SAK's in my survival kits, Schrade and Case are good too.

A good quality fixed blade will last a lifetime (or more likely, until you lose it), so I don't think $100-200 is an outrageous investment, even for someone that doesn't feel the allure of high end cutlery, but obviously I'm biased.

Mora's are great abusers, but I've broken a bunch of em, enough to have justified at least one higher end knife. Not trying to disparage them as awesome tools however, if you're *interested* in knife work, they're awesome to beat up, and great to hone your skills on, so to speak, and remain one of the best values period, along with the Opinels.

If you want a reasonably inexpensive no-nonsense performer that'll last as long as you can keep up with it, the BR's are one of the top choices IMHO. Esee (used to be RAT) is another great and often cheaper option, the Izula can't be beat for the money, although their bigger stuff tends to be chunky and weighty for my tastes, and I don't find it performs as well. They have a much better warranty however, pretty much no questions asked replacement if it breaks, so that's one thing to consider.

Anyway, lots of great options, but it really depends on your intended use, and desires.

I agree w/ Javan the BR knives are very nice. I had one but just didn't like the feel of it in my hand ( I didn't have the scales on it) and didn't care for the kydex sheath it came with, but I will say it is an exceptionally well made knife. Everybody is different in what they like.

I ended up going with an ESEE Izula 2 with scales. I love it. great sheath, great feel, easy to maintain the edge to razor sharp. I did convex the edge though.

Aye, the stock Bravo Necker/2 without scales has sharp corners that aren't very comfy, but I find it more comfortable with scales than the Izula models with scales.

I lost my BN2 outside for a couple of months, and when I found it, the hardware had rusted (bolts) and there was some light rust all around, so I stripped it, knocked all the sharp corners off, and polished the whole thing. Pretty much perfect without the scales now.

The Izula's sheath however is much better, and I believe much lighter also? It's some kind of injection molded plastic I think, industrially made perhaps? Kydex is strong and very durable, but the BN-2 kydex weighs almost as much as the knife itself.

For someone looking for something bigger and more functional however, the BR Aurora or North Star are very hard to beat for the price, and the full height convex grind is easy as hell to maintain and holds a working edge forever.

The Esee's utilize a flat grind with a relatively obtuse factory secondary bevel, so convexing the edge or re-grinding it is almost a given, but the price and the warranty make it a stellar value regardless.

What is the easiest way to convex an edge?

I use a thick mousepad w/ varying grits of paper depending on the edge- if your just starting the convex edge probably start w/ 220 working your way up to 1000 or 1500, then I go to a leather strop w/ green compound

here's a couple of how to's

http://www.knivesshipfree.com/pages.php?pID=27&CDpath=2&keywords=convex

http://www.knivesshipfree.com/pages.php?pID=4&CDpath=0&keywords=convex

I recommend a scrap of walmart blue foam CCF sleeping pad. They run $6-8 in the camping section, and it has the appropriate resistance and stiffness needed. Most mouse pads are no longer made in such a way as to be suitable anymore.

It'll take some practice, but should be well worth the effort, since after you get the basics down, and have established a good convex edge, getting it back to shaving sharp will only take a minute or two.

@ Christopher
"What is the easiest way to convex an edge?"

If you're asking about convexing a straight angle ground edge, then a small belt grinder is the easiest. Second easiest is using a series of sandpaper grits as described above.

For maintaining any edge, the wood and leather pad with a wax-baste fine grinding paste ("black" is the best for most uses – see ksf.com for purchasing these), and lightly dragging the edge backwards is the easiest and best.

@Mike. Thanks for those links. The video tutorial is the best i've seen for a novice sharpener like myself. I'll get a kit put together based on that. I'll use some old blue foam i have instead of a mouse-mat though. Cheers for that Javan.
The BR compounds are too expensive to get shipped over here, so i'll try various lapping/grinding compounds i have at my (engineering)workplace.