Your backpacking knives for 2019!?

I haven't done more than a day trip in years, but I usually carry my Mora and an Opinel 9 or 10. SAK in the FAK. If I'm busting my own trail, I bring the Tramontina 18" machete and very rarely a cruiser or boy's axe if I think I'm going to run into heavy stuff to clear. This year I am planning on getting a traditional puukko to take the Mora's place, which will go to my brother.
 
More Planning and wanting than actually doing is to try my Mora, Opinel 6 or 8 garden, and a my Alox SA. Maybe when we take the trailer, get set up and go for a quick walk in the woods. Have been using my Manly Wasp in Sandvik for small cutting jobs, the Buck112 Slim Pro has been attached to my pocket lately so it will get some walking in the woods time this spring. I also want to see how I like a scandi edge, thus the Moras I got recently.
 
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I have carried this el’ cheap o Gerber Prodigy on my hiking pack. It is more than I need but I can bash it, pry, dig, or whatever I want without guilt. They are great knives for $40!!

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Steely_Gunz said:
Outdoors knives are ridiculously boring if you are honest with yourself, aren't they:D

Once upon a time, I carried a 15" khukuri all over hell's half acre. However, most of my backpacking and hiking is day trip stuff. The knife I need is a pretty basic tool for everyday tasks. I still overpack compared to most non-knife people, but I have found that a simple multi-tool like a Leatherman Rebar gets most of the work.

I'll still pack a fixed blade. If its just a little hike around the state park in southern IN/northern KY, I'll usually with a Fiddleback Forge Hiking Buddy or a Himalayan Imports Kumar Karda or JKM-1. Plenty of knife for what I need. If I'm camping, I tend to pack a bit of a bigger knife to handle more chores, so my hiking knife is more of a multitasker to handle food prep. My Fiddleback Woodsman usually gets the nod.
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I couldn't agree more! My more aesthetically pleasing knives tend to be my edc or suit folders, everything else is a beater.
 
cbach8tw said:
More Planning and wanting than actually doing is to try my Mora, Opinel 6 or 8 garden, and a my Alox SA. Maybe when we take the trailer, get set up and go for a quick walk in the woods. Have been using my Manly Wasp in Sandvik for small cutting jobs, the Buck112 Slim Pro has been attached to my pocket lately so it will get some walking in the woods time this spring. I also want to see how I like a scandi edge, thus the Moras I got recently.
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My first outdoors knife I picked up was a Mora Bushcraft Forest. I don't think you'll be disappointed, that old thing I picked up outperformed many a more expensive knife I picked up afterwards.
 
I'm still on my never ending quest for the perfect small fixed blade for edc and day hikes. Currently for day hikes I really don't need any knife. I mostly just carry one out of habit and for pure enjoyment. I always have a mid size modern folder (usually an ontario rat 1) in my pocket. And a small fixed blade (esee izula, becker bk11, mora companion or basic) most lately a mora eldris.
I'd love to some day own a fallkniven f1.
 
If I was to actually make it out backpacking or camping with my wife this year, I would bring something of mine by Dave Wenger.
 
mec003 said:
I'm still on my never ending quest for the perfect small fixed blade for edc and day hikes. Currently for day hikes I really don't need any knife. I mostly just carry one out of habit and for pure enjoyment. I always have a mid size modern folder (usually an ontario rat 1) in my pocket. And a small fixed blade (esee izula, becker bk11, mora companion or basic) most lately a mora eldris.
I'd love to some day own a fallkniven f1.
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I love taking my Fallkniven WM1 for camping and day hiking. It's a perfect length IMHO for a utility blade and fills my hand nicely. Might be worth checking out?

For anything longer than a day hike I'll sacrifice the wonderful ergos of the WM1 for the lighter M1 Backpacker
 
As I've shifted more and more towards thru-hiking (or at least, being focused more on walking miles than on camping time/bushcraft time) I've pared things down to these. An SAK Cadet is just always on me, no matter what. And I feel like a small fixed blade and an ultralight folder more than take care of my other cutting/fidgeting needs.

While sometimes things rotate, and I'm definitely keen on picking up a Para3 LW once it comes out in some other colors & steels, for now my Bradford Guardian3 and Benchmade Bugout are the ones that have stuck with me. Light, superb cutters, carry very, very well (the Bugout rides very securely in the pocket with it's deep carry clip and the Bradford's kydex sheath clips via mini teklok easily to the pack strap vertically, or to the belt for scout carry).

I love backpacking wth these two knives.

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mec003 said:
I'm still on my never ending quest for the perfect small fixed blade for edc and day hikes. Currently for day hikes I really don't need any knife. I mostly just carry one out of habit and for pure enjoyment. I always have a mid size modern folder (usually an ontario rat 1) in my pocket. And a small fixed blade (esee izula, becker bk11, mora companion or basic) most lately a mora eldris.
I'd love to some day own a fallkniven f1.
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Get an F1. Everybody needs one. But I also like the White River Backpacker Pro for day hikes where you really don't believe you'll need a knife at all. It is similar to the BK-14/Isula, but has a nicer sheath and in S35VN. I have picked up a couple Kepharts since December '18 and going to carry one of those for a while. I know it will work just fine. It would for you as well.
 
upload_2019-2-13_16-19-18.jpegI made this in modified A8 for backpacking and hunting, usually paired with a small axe. This blade is about 5 1/2 inches long, 1/4 inch thick at 59-60 rc. I’m currently making a small pack axe in the same steel, we’ll see how it turns out.
 
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I also have a bigger chopper in Ztuff steel, it’s a tester I made, 7 inch blade at 59-60 rc. I would say it’s more of a one knife do everything! I’ll get some pics tomorrow.
 
Monofletch said:
I have carried this el’ cheap o Gerber Prodigy on my hiking pack. It is more than I need but I can bash it, pry, dig, or whatever I want without guilt. They are great knives for $40!!

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Some of Gerber's medium/larger flexed blades make great beaters. The Prodigy and LMF are both solid camp/utility knives. I also like the often maligned BG ultimate for general beating on. Mine has served me faithfully for almost a decade now without fail. It lives in my camping bag, and gets used just as much around the campsite as any of my other knives. It digs holes, stirs fires, flips burgers and dogs, cuts cordage, and takes on all the nasty, grimy, ugly jobs I don't won't to subject nicer knives to.

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Well reading the thread title my first thought was ... what knife/knives do or would I carry if I were just going fir a day hike ...

but reading through I'm not sure if that was the original question or if it kind of encompassed day hikes and over night to short trips hiking in ...

so I guess I can answer a few ways ...

it depends greatly not only on the distance of the hike how long (in time) the trip or will be ... but also it depends on the time of year and the location (what type or terrain and climate)? ...

so there is always an Alox SAK Farmer ... they will always be a modern locking folder clipped in my pocket ... most times this will be a Hinderer XM-18 ... a Spyderco Manix II ... or a ZT 566 ...

if it's just a short hike that may be it ... but 95% of the time I'm in the woods or in any type activity I would qualify as "hiking/camping/wilderness outing ... there will be a fixed blade ...

day trips the last couple years it has been an Carother EDC2 ... an LT Wright Outback ... or a Winkler/Jason Knight Jager Knife ... all small to mid sized and great knives ...

if I am on a longer hike/trip that may end up over night or will be over night ... there has been a Carothers HDFK or a Blind Horse Knives Big Jay ... again on my belt but both larger fixed blades capable of anything I might need including processing wood or building shelter ...

if you go to unknown trips ... or extended stay trips ... there will be a bigger knife strapped to my pack ... it has been a Becker BK9 but that will share time with a Carothers HDMC when those are finished and shipped ... and my Boreal 21 folding saw ...

there covered all possibilities for me.
 
Today (since some time ago, after using other folders a lot) I prefer to have with me the GAK version of Victorinox OH Trekker – an excellent multi-role tool.

As far as the fixed blades are concerned I prefer to have in my back pack one of the following: TOPS Brakimo or BOB or Cold Steel SRK or ESEE 6. When the weight of the pack is seriously being counted (due to long/difficult hikes) I prefer something lighter but still reliable like Terävä Jääkäripuukko (110 or 140).

Always I have also in the backpack a relatively lightweight Bahco Laplander folding saw.
 
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Bark River Ultralight Bushcrafter. This plus a Silky folding saw is all you ever need to be effective in the backcountry. Can skip the saw if not spending 3-7 days at a time. YMMV. Never ever used any multi tool I ever brought with me honestly. Even on my 52 day backpacking trip.
 
Really depends, because the sort of walking I could be doing happens under so many conditions, and I actually rarely walk "for fun", although I do need to change that.
If it was just me as a "for fun" walk, then right now its BM Bugout. That will do everything I can think of needing very well, its light (half the weight of a Vic Rucksack)

"work" generally looking at spyderco roadie in the pocket, Letherman skeletool, and maybe a carbon mora safe in the pack. (no sharp tips, working with kids, ya know)

non-work but industry training, generally a little heavier, depending on the area I might go as far as having the RC-3 with or LT Next-gen, really depends on what the conditions are likely to be. The type of rainforest I'm around just doesn't need a heavy chopper. A machete maybe, but that's for track clearing, and I don't really do that. In general all the wood can be broken by hand, or it needs a serious saw. No need to batton gun branch rounds for dry wood, far easier to spend the time collecting the matchsticks even if they are a bit wet, and planning a good tinder bundle.

Its sort of funny, even if I was going with just friends, I'm likely to over-pack because its not that I am more experienced than anyone else, but I am by definition the professional. Which amuses me to no end because at the end of the day, it has no real meaning.

In a lot of ways, tools are just pre-solved problems. The more tools, the fewer problems need solving, but you pay in weight. But if solving problems is the name of the game, then it can pay dividends.
 
I usually have a SAK Spartan in a pocket. More often than not I have a traditional slipjoint somewhere too, and I have been really liking the Becker 24.
 
gadgetgeek said:
In a lot of ways, tools are just pre-solved problems. The more tools, the fewer problems need solving, but you pay in weight. But if solving problems is the name of the game, then it can pay dividends.
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I think this is really good.

One thing about problems is that they are problems and that to me is one of the things that separates backpacking from, say, a weekend at a spa resort. In a very real way, you're seeking out problems for recreation. We talk about "roughing it" or "a challenging hike" and sprinkle in a few "survival" references - all in the name of having a good time.

"Dixie" (aka Homemade Wanderlust) has a great set of YouTube videos documenting her completion of the triple crown of the AT, PCT, and CDT. In one of her PCT videos, she discusses the ruthless paring down of weight that is involved in completing a thru hike and she relays a common saying that "we carry our fears".

The "problems" (as you put it) in the backcountry should create an appropriate level of fear. You can die in the woods as easy as falling off a log, quite literally.

But not all fears are realistic and we can begin to separate the realistic fears from the unrealistic fears with experience and knowledge.

Everything in our pack is a tool and combined with knowledge and skill can allow a traveler to compose all sorts of solutions to the realistic problems of the backcountry.

This said, so long as one can safely cover the problems, there's nothing wrong with carrying luxury items just for the fun of it (so long as the weight itself doesn't cause more problems) people can carry anything they want. Fresh steaks. A case of beer. Stuffed animals for the kids.
 
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