unltralite knife

"Its a Case Knife"

19 grams

Great little neck knife that weighs less then an ounce. Comfortable enough in hand for nearly all camp chores.

I still have yet personally to use a knife while hiking for anything more than cutting open plastic food bag. And I could have used my teeth for that. (The tear-open perf line didnt work.)

I've needed to cut rope or other materials (lose material off of a bag or shoes) and cut food. I've used it to poke holes in things too. I don't suppose that anything i have used it for was necessary but it's just a tool to do certain jobs and like having a blade of some kind on me most of the time (hiking or otherwise).

I just saw this on Vargo's site and I'm really thinking about picking it up.
http://www.vargooutdoors.com/titanium-wharn-clip-knife.html#.

2.7" Blade / 1 oz Total (with sheath)

If you paid attention back in the 80's, the original UL hiker was Crocodile Dundee. He took multiple walkabouts with very little. Though, he would make the weight sacrifice of packing a 'noif'.

Harbor Freight snap off blade. You can even sharpen them.

http://blog.owareusa.com/2014/10/09/ultralight-knife-for-20-cents/

Havalon Piranta-Edge knives have replaceable blades, which you can buy separately. The idea is, as you're skinning game, and you need to sharpen your blade, you simply replace it. The blades are quite sharp (the concept arose in medical scalpels and for taxidermists who do lots of trimming) and last quite a while. To use it without the handle, I'd dull the back 1/2 of the blade and wrap it in tape for a little better grip.

If anyone wants to try that, I have a large pack of the blades (blade part number 60XT), new, in the wrapper, which are 2 grams each. PM me your mailing address and I'll throw one in the mail to you. Yes, I'll extend that to overseas folks, too, but I might fake my return address, not knowing the legality of shipping sharps to different countries (I note STP won't ship knives overseas).

I have this mini, mini box cutter that is 7cm and weighs 10grams including clip to attach to pocket.
It works with similar to what you describe there, but with standard (for here at least) small olfa box cutter replacement blades.

It is enough for most tasks, and I guess easier than a SAK or other knife for first aid tasks like cutting bandages or tape into precise shapes.

I do carry something more, still small and light – a Spyderco Dragonfly. Without clip weighs 33grams (1oz). Good grip, easy to open with numb fingers. I dislike the way they look but decide not to care.

TrailDesigns makes a tiny knife that weighs 3 g. It would work for opening packages and cutting athletic tape.

I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I use a knife all the time when backpacking. For those times when you need a real knife, I take a Mora. I have reduced a chunk of firewood to kindling with it (batoning), cut sap wood out of a tree (by batoning), for use as a firestarting aid, cut tent stakes, tent poles, made fish stringers, cleaned fish, fashioned a die (singular of dice) for a game. Its pretty light weight, at about 3 oz.

Easy Bob.. many of us don't need to do any of that. I know i don't build fires, fish, play dice, make stakes or poles. The only cutting i usually do is moleskin and my mini Ti sewing scissors do a better job than a knife.

i carry those and a .96oz Opinel #6 more out of tradition than actual use. sometimes not even that.

some people don't need shelters with bug netting.. in the northeast we'd get sucked dry without it. depends on what you do.

**edited the opinel's weight for accuracy

Ultralight at .6 oz, yet sturdy enough to do the job. Blade 1.875"

Thanks Tim, I guess….now I just gotta get another knife! :)

Ti Kestrel ultralighter

Monte, several years ago I found one of those in an abandoned campsite. It seems like a good little knife.

–B.G.–

Monty, what brand of knife is that. It looks functional and lightweight, and I like that its a lockback.

Buck.

Bob, look at Monte's title for his comment.

Bob Shaver, I'm sure you saw the Buck home link that Greg provided for the Nano Bantum, but Steve Green at hikelight.com also sells them.

I have used a wood handled Mora for years, and it is not too heavy and does the jobs that a knife is needed for when backpacking. But to try and make it a little lighter, I'm making a Mora variation knife. I'm using a small blade by Helle of Norway, the Nying blade. Its a 2 3/4" blade, with a hidden tang. I'll make the handle of cork, about 4.5 inches long, and see if I can make it float, as well as be very light, and have a handle a little fatter than the wooden handle mora for a more comfortable grip. I'm also putting in a cord cutting notch with a razor blade in it, for cutting cord, food packages, bandages, and other flat stock. And just to make it more strange, I'm putting a small fire steel in the handle. I'm just waiting for the cork to arrive start putting it together. Its kind of overkill for a backpacking use, when the Mora is so adequate, but it might be a fun project.

Hi Bob.

Hmmmmm. Cork handle – notch with razor blade – fire steel in the handle; sounds good! The Nying blade (2.7mm thick) seems to be pretty sturdy and I suppose can be abused (batoning comes to mind). What's the weight of the blade alone? Many more questions: Cork provider, total expected weight; but I'll wait until you post. Sure looks like a nice project.

Really looking forward to seeing the result. Can you post pictures from the work in progress???

I ordered a block of cork, which they sell as a yoga aid. It arrived and wasn't cork at all. It was cork chips in glue, and very heavy. So I ordered 2" cork rounds used for fly rod making. I'll have to fill the hollow center with something, maybe wine corks. I wouldn't trust a cork handle to baton, but who knows? The Nying blade is shorter than a typical Mora. It could be the ugliest awfullest knife ever made. Photos later.

The blade is 1.2 oz, a piece of cork for waxing cross country skiis is 1.0 oz, so it might end up being around 2.5 oz. Not much lighter than a mora knife, which is 2.75 oz.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/186453069/7-34-ultralight-titanium-knife

Some interesting things being discussed.

I discovered 25 years ago that a Victorinox parer( at that time Forschner brand) could do everything I needed a belt knife to di. Including quartering and skinning a Cow Elk (with no saws or hatchets). I like to use all kinds of knives, but tend to carry a "Vic P" if really concerned about weight. I like the Moras as well, it's just that even with a stout sheath ,the little Vics are still lighter.

The Kydex sheath/ knife combo below weighs 1.2 oz and IMHO us pretty hard to beat for a light fixed blade knife.

Jake,

My Opinel #6 is .9oz / 26 grams. I purchased it this week. Is yours a #8 maybe?

re-weighed. .96oz.. i wonder if i had it written wrong on my Geargrams page.

enjoy your opinel :) I force patina'd mine with some horseradish and have used it to cut up some apples to prevent the carbon from rusting. a little bit of stone work and leather stropping has it really sharp.