A knife that can both fillet a trout, and baton a decent piece of wood...?

B

burns

Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
64
As I've gotten more into knives over the last year, I've been looking for the "perfect" fixed blade. I have recently gotten into ultralight backpacking, and taking a Handsaw, large survival blade for batonning, and small blade for food prep and general use, is less than ideal. Ideally, I would carry one fixed blade that could handle both the batonning of good size wood (4-5" at largest) but can also fillet a trout pretty well, and weighs well less than a pound (around a half pound would be ideal). It will not need to be a chopper as I do not chop, my Laplander saw uses far fewer calories and is very effective, and light.

My Moras are great for food prep and general use but are less than ideal for batonning big wood. My Beckers (7 and 2) and Hoodlum are great big blades and baton very well but are a little heavy and less than ideal for food prep (I eat lots of trout on the trail) due to thickness and width (I find the ESEE knives to be a bit too wide).

I should add that, in my limited experience, batonning wood is far easier with a blade that spans the width of the wood.

I'm looking for suggestions. I've been considering the Buck Punk (current leader), the Becker BK-15 and the Survive! GSO-5.1. I'm looking for input on how well the punk would work for food prep, how well the BK 15 will baton etc. I'm also just looking for other ideas that you might have.

Regards,
Burns
 
You don't need to fillet a trout--just gut them and cook. The bones come out in one piece and the skin peels off when cooked properly.

That said, pretty much any knife will gut a trout just fine--heck, you can do it with a decently sharpened hatchet.

DJK
 
Chris, the Ritter looks like a good idea and I'm looking into it.
DJK, I agree that your stated method of preparing the fish is simpler and effective. For me, I like to pack fillets with lemon and herb packs in aluminum foil and cook on the fire. In a survival situation, your method is better IMO.

ETA: also, I can't build fires in some areas and I end up cooking fish in a camp stove which requires filleting the fish into small pieces.
 
Last edited:
I'd look at some Bark River offerings--they have several that would work fine for both (Northstar, Canadian Special, etc.). But you still don't need to fillet the trout--just cut it into the size you want (are they big? my camping experience often relies on fresh trout for sustenance--we even pack butter with us, along with seasonings and tin foil...in the rare case a trout would be too large to cook whole over a camp stove you can just cut it into the appropriately sized pieces).

DJK
 
I have used a RatManDu to fillet trout; works well even though it is thick. It batons like a beast too.
 
I've settled on the Bark River Bravo 1 for my do it all knife. It works great for everything a knife can do, from field dressing critters to batoning firewood.

They're pretty too:

023-2.jpg


The sheaths I made:

020-1.jpg


021-1.jpg
 
I like the idea of the GSO 5.1 or maybe a Bark River Bravo-1.
 
This really hit home for me, as I too like to pack for extended periods. And I really didn't give a lot of thought to the fact that I could only pack one knife. One thing just really stands out in your wants for a knife, and that is echoed in the posts already made. Do you really need to filet the trout? If that is the sticking point, get a small Dexter Russell, or something similar, they weigh next to nothing. And really put your trust into a stout blade that would serve your needs to baton wood, and would also be there if things went south. I mean, for me at least, the peace of mind knowing my main blade is strong enough for whatever I can throw at it, is well worth the calories neccasary to carry it. It would be pretty easy to piggyback a small filet knife on the sheath of your main blade, and carried with a drop loop, should be of no discernable difference.

Good post though, and I look forward to seeing more input, and your final decision.

Best of luck to you.
 
Yes, I could theoretically just carry two knives, one for small work and one for big work. Thing is, I really don't enjoy hauling my bigger knives around with my pack (I count in ounces, not pounds). So, if I am going for a medium sized knife anyway (5" blade or so), I thought perhaps I could find something in between, that would work as a compromise in for both big work and small work. Perhaps there is no holy grail to be found, but why not try?

I don't disagree though. I can carry an endura in my pocket or a Mora for small work (either one adding only 2-3.5 oz), and something a bit bigger for big work. It seems though, that something like the Punk or GSO 5.1 would be pretty decent at both, making it an excellent all-rounder. Since I haven't owned anything in that size, here I am posting.
 
Why not just carry a small neck knife and take whatever lightweight batoning knife you want? You can find neckers that are pretty darn weightless and do small cutting jobs very well.

Another option is just carrying a Mora or something similar and making wooden wedges to split larger stuff with. There's plenty of videos of people cutting down smaller trees with moras by batoning a stress point, so there's really no need for a bigger knife.
 
I'm actually in the same boat right now. I love my 711 but it's really heavy and although it's not as sexy, my Silky Pocket Boy destroys wood. I've settled on the Kephart by JK Knives. Like you I'm not fond of the thick knives from Bark River and everything else has choils. You should give it a look. He's over in the maker's section.

A note on splitting: You can effectively split wood with your saw so my advice would be to look for a knife that CAN split but get the length of blade that's best at other things like carving and eating with. IMO a 4-5 inch long by 3/32-1/8 inch thick blade is about the ideal range. Though I wouldn't feel undergunned with an Izula 2 if I have my saw with me. Feel free to shoot me an email if you want a walk through on the saw as a splitter.
 
I have taken this knive off shore fishing several times. S30V steel works well on Redfish, Sea Trout, Grouper and Drum. It also does a great job as a camp knife.
OCchopping.jpg
 
Is it so hard to carry 2 knives? You are asking two of the most opposing tasks from one knife. Here's what you're going to find from your 'one' knife: it does nothing perfect and everything lousy. just carry a filet knife. They make folding models even.
 
I picked up the 10" Ontario butcher knife and love the size and weight. That and a mora or folder work great. The butcher knife is tough enough to baton, carbon steel, light weight, with just enough bend to be semi-decent at filetting and is less than $25. I believe 42 blades here on the forumhas them in stock.
 
I don't know what your budget is, but for around $200 you can have a custom made to your specifications. I drew this one on paper and had Ray Laconico make it for me. 4" blade, stick tang, and weighs about 4.5 oz without the sheath. You could add an inch to the blade and still have a nice light knife that can baton 4" wood.
11-21-09007.jpg


11-21-09014.jpg
 
I would check out some the later Fiddleback Forge (Andy Roy) models. If you search the maker forum there is a pic of a guy cleaning fish. These are bushcraft based knives but he has some newer styles that might suit your needs. The craftsmanship is impeccable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top