Your backpacking knives for 2019!?

I've been doing multi day backpackibg and mountaineering trips in New England (and one or two big'uns in the Pacific NW) for 30 years or so
An original Leatherman PST and a small to mid sized folder like a rat 1 or 2 is all I take. I'm probably gonna swap the folder for a small mora fb for my next couple of trips.
 
I normally carry a Spyderco Sprig or Manix2 LW. Both work great. The Sprig is my favorite.
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The Benchmade Bugout goes walking, trekking, and mountain biking with me in the Great Pacific Northwest.

It doesn't weigh anything, cuts like hell, has great ergos, and just plain works.

Mushrooming, I carry a Ka Bar Dozier Skeleton. It dangles from the neck at the ready to cut chantrelles at a moment's notice. It's made of pretty low grade stuff, but it gets really sharp and stays that way since mushrooms do absolutely nothing to the edge.

If I can ever pull the trigger, I'm going to switch the Ka Bar out for a White River Knucklehead.
 
When I use to backpack my most used knife was a Victorinox Trekker. Usually had some sort of tree-beater along to chop wood, but the Vic Trekker saw most of the work.

Nowadays I still use a SAK of some sort with a saw (occasionally that same Trekker), but I will also have a small scandi-edged fixed blade of some sort. It will vary all the way from inexpensive Moras to a custom Puukko. The fixed blade is more about down-time enjoyment and camp improvement.
 
All my hiking is day trips, under about 8 miles round trip, with the wife and 9 y/o daughter, so weight is rarely an issue. With that said, my preferred hiking knife varies by the whim of my mood, and where I'm at.

Day trips from the house (anywhere within about an hours drive) it's usually a Benchmade Hidden Canyon. It's my weekend EDC as it is, so it just rides along for the trek. It's a great little fixed blade for EDC, and insures I always have one on me, even when we spontaneously decide to pull off into one of the local parks and hike for an hour - which we do fairly often, as there are lots of little parks and trails in Western PA.

When camping, it's normally my custom. It's on my hip for various camp chores anyway, so when we walk out of the camp site for I hike, I already have it with me. Even though it's only 4"' it's a brute of a knife, and will chop through almost anything - it's not very sliced though, which is OK, because I always have some sort of folder on me, as well as a multitool. Like I said, weight is rarely an issue on any of my hikes.

Thread needs more pics...

BM Hidden Canyon
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My custom 4" brute
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This year it will be the Spyderco Junction, and whatever folder I decide to take.
 
Day hiker here... but recently hiked Mt Whitney in a day. For those not on the west coast it is the highest peak on the contiguous US. Its a 22 mile round trip hike which goes from 8000 to 14505 ft. I carried a pack that included a Tops Bob, a pretty stout knife. less than half way up I was cursing every ounce I had in my pack. Looking back I would have packed my More light my fire just in case and a SAK would have done everything I needed. I agree with what others have said about the White River Backpacker being an excellent lightweight option.
 
I recently moved from the PNW to Texas, so my hiking cutting-tool carry is still in development.

In my pack now is a Mora Clipper carbon, a scalpel handle with 60a blades, and a small Fiskars folding saw. And with me always is a Leatherman Wave or Charge.

The Mora a general purpose tool, uses include light prying/poking/probing/scraping/digging. I also occasionally loan it out to people who need a knife.

The scalpel is for skinning animals.

And the LM Wave is for general EDC use and is kept pretty sharp.
 
It depends on my aim for the trip.
If it is long distance and camp time is reduced to setting the tent and falling asleep, then I would probably take my SAK Huntsman next time.
Last time I took a long trip, I brought a fairly heavy fixed blade, and it didn't see as much as one second of use during the trip, which lasted 8 days.

If on a trip, where the miles per day are few, and the camp time is longer, then I wouldn't mind bringing heavier cutting tools.
 
For long trips into the back country of the West, I carry in my pack an Ontario RAT 3.5 inch 1095 carbon steel blade. If I need to resharpen, easy to do so on a rock. If going solo, I also carry a Leatherman Charge Ti.
 
I'm not necessarily a hiker any more but I am a hunter. In the hunting pack I carry an SAK Cowboy, single blade folder no longer available. Also a puukko five inch bladed knife for heavy cutting. Always the SAK Huntsman on the belt. These are all I'd need to field process an elk or deer. As for overnight camping bladed tools that's another story.
 
For most situations a small folder is all you need (small, not tiny). I like SAKs, so they tend to be my choice for the most part but just about any knife works. Use is generally pretty limited and not rigorous for most. But of late, I have a fixed blade and a SAK as I mentioned before. It really depends on your objectives during the hike.

I mostly concern myself about emergency situations where a sharp knife could be invaluable.
 
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Day hiker here... but recently hiked Mt Whitney in a day. For those not on the west coast it is the highest peak on the contiguous US. Its a 22 mile round trip hike which goes from 8000 to 14505 ft. I carried a pack that included a Tops Bob, a pretty stout knife. less than half way up I was cursing every ounce I had in my pack. Looking back I would have packed my More light my fire just in case and a SAK would have done everything I needed. I agree with what others have said about the White River Backpacker being an excellent lightweight option.

Sort of puts the "day" in day hike. It took us 22 hours round trip, but we got pretty badly off route on the Mountaineers Route during the ascend. We were young men once.
 
It depends on my aim for the trip.
If it is long distance and camp time is reduced to setting the tent and falling asleep, then I would probably take my SAK Huntsman next time.
Last time I took a long trip, I brought a fairly heavy fixed blade, and it didn't see as much as one second of use during the trip, which lasted 8 days.

If on a trip, where the miles per day are few, and the camp time is longer, then I wouldn't mind bringing heavier cutting tools.
Very sensible choices. That has been my experience with larger fixed blades as well. They are more clumsy to use as compared to a folder on light cutting and that sort of cutting dominates overall. Tis why I have the White River Backpacker Pro now and a number of other smaller fixed blades. But still, they don't see much use at all and I tend to always reach in my pocket for a knife when I need one. To force much use, I would have to leave the folder at home and I hesitate to do that.
 
I've got a couple for when I go backpacking, even with how rarely I do it these days.

The Kabar USMC is always with me if I'm really going in the woods. Sometimes swapped out for the Brusletto Bamsen.
If I'm going to be fishing I'll most likely bring the Spyderco Pacific Salt.
If I'm not planning on fishing, the Crooked River will be tagging along.

For daytrips/hiking i just take the Mini Crooked River. Deserves to be carried in nature that knife.
 
Mora. Recently got a Spydero Mule on LC200N for fishing. Like it enough that I also got an RWL-34 Mule for camping and hiking. Would like to get a 20CV Mule.
 
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