Been using an Ontario Air Force survival knife for all of my camping trips this year and was just curious what you guys use?
I have a 12" Nepalese Kukuri that has served me well for 5 decades.... Still have the original Goat Hide scabbard , but only one of the Skinning Blades... Master BladeSmith Adam DesRosiers made a new Handle for it 10 years ago when the original fell apart from use... These are Pictures of it, on the Blades forum, somewhere....
I'm a big fan of ONatario blade. Prefer the SP6 and the Machetes. I also pack Mora's, Couple of Buck Stockman folders, a couple that we carry in our shop I kept as test blades.
Oh thats a sharp edgy topic If I want something a bit bigger i'd take my bark rivers gameskeeper II If I am just goofing around I'd take a skandi grind knife...my Condor Bushlore is nice and inexpensive $42 for 1075 carbon steel knife. I've used it in subzero temps while hacking and splitting with a baton. No damage on the blade, it made nice shavings while carving a spoon the following day. 2 weeks ago I picked up a LT Wright Wine Bushcrafter but i've yet to use it...it looks dang awesome and I don't know why I haven't taken it out yet...Maybe ill have to do that this week... I've got mora knives too...all work great. For me as long as it doesn't fail, its the best bushcraft knife Considering there are so many good/great knives available, you can use a $42 condor bushlore knife or a $200 LT Wright Wine Bushcrafter and still have a fun time in the woods I don't think the focus should be on what the best bushcraft knife is but rather what bushcraft knife can help to make your trip into the woods the best bushcraft experience. Ok ill stop being all Zen or whatever...knives are cool -Phorisc Live The Adventure
Not a real knife guy, but I'd love to find a good Kukri like Bruce mentioned. I have had good luck with the AF survival knife as a general purpose knife and have several scattered around. My "good" knives are older (25+yrs) Gerbers, and a couple by Cold Steel.
A number of us like the Ontario 499 Air Force survival knife also. Gear Review - Ontario 499 Air Force Survival Knife - | Survival Forums
@Tully Mars Here is a couple sources for ideas: ---Nepalese Khukuri House---The makers of the genuine Gurkhas kukri/khukuri in Nepal. Nepal Khukuri House - Genuine Nepalese Khukuri Exporter The sharp edge is rough on the sheath. A real Khukuri is a weight forward edge or it's harder to swing right to left then reverse direction to cut left to right. If you've used a machete; you're grinning at my poor description. There are also bolos and cane knives which are kinda like a short machete. Also: KA-BAR Knives, Inc. - Knives > All Categories > Black KA-BAR Cutlass Machete - Hardcore Lives. Hardcore Knives.
A REAL Kukuri has a Hollow Ground Edge..... If the one your looking at does NOT, it isn't an authentic Nepalese Kukuri.... Just a Fact...
You may be interested in this link: Identifying and Collecting the Nepalese Military Kukri. What I find it fascinating that the Nepalese knife master's abilities with Heat treat. With nothing more than a tea kettle filled with water and charcoal as a source of carbon; they achieved differential Heat Treat. Sounds easy until one knows what a differential Heat is and how difficult it is to achieve with a tea kettle and charcoal.
BUSHCRAFT? A Mora Black or a Bark River Gunny Hunter. Mora Bushcraft Black Bark River Gunny Hunter Now, if you're talking about COMBAT, TACTICAL types of blades, or perhaps SURVIVAL blades and even HUNTING blades and SELF DEFENSE blades, I can see something larger and beefier being chosen. But, for bushcraft purposes, it's simple for me. I use a bushcraft blade for wood and camp tasks, and I use my axe to chop wood.
Best is relative. Depends on what your environment is and what you use it for, and your skill level. Plus, you aren't planning on taking just one tool, are you?
If you have to have a khukuri, check out Himalayan Imports. Just know, they will be heavy to carry. I like my khukuris too, but rarely carry them out in the woods. Maybe car camping. But if hoofing it, I prefer lighter. Years ago, on a hike, a huge bamboo had fallen across the trail. No one passing bothered to clear it. It was about 60-80 feet long and about eight inches thick. And about thigh height across the trail. So I told wifee I was going to stop for a few minutes to chop it so I could move it. Next group of hikers walked up as I had the khukuri held up for the first chop. I told them that they could pass first. But no, they busted out the video camera. Sheesh. So after I chopped it to sever it, I had to move it off the trail. Yeah, no body helped. How rude. It was a little awkward. But moving it was faster than chopping it on the other side of the trail. Would have been even faster is one or more of those guys would have helped. Too busy filming and watching the show. Double sheesh. Couldn't see clearly what happened to katana man. First off, pretty dumb and careless handling of a blade. Did a piece break off and get him?
Yeah...I watched it a couple of times. When he was banging it on the table about 10" or so snapped off and spun back. Hit him in the mid-belly, I think. It must have penetrated fairly deeply for the guy to go down like he did. I've seen a few videos with katana accidents--like the BB that was disarming a student with a throw, and the student dropped the sword in the process. It chopped the BB's big toe off. OFF, and in "not ON". He hobbled over to the edge of the stage, and then the student brought him his toe... A katana is a long skinny razor blade, and them as fail to respect that often come to regret it. Sigh. I used to high-kick apples off the end of a (real) katana. My skill was much higher then and my brain was much smaller.
Double-sigh. Nose-job. Just one of a series. Lottsa idiots out there. Then, of course there's the Robin Hood version, where drunk + stupid = dead. It's been called a fake, but if you watch the slow-motion, it sure looks real. One thing that makes me think it's is the real deal is that the guy that gets hit is falling backward onto two steps. At right about head height. Without a wire, that's a good way to get hurt to death. That part would have never made through even one rehearsal. Good training tape, though, for the kiddies.
The Robin Hood is real, and the reason no other acts like it can ever be performed on that show again. (Besides that, as an Archer, I can see the arrow is aimed too low.)
I don't even have to click on the video. Did it hit the dude in the forehead? Ugh. Never aim for the bottom of the target! I've been on the receiving end of enough blades to have some strong opinions in the matter. It ain't hard to lose something with one, either. One of the big things that I have against Cold Steel is how many of their products I have been hit with, and seen people be hit with (1798 Cavalry Saber, Scottish Dirk, Rifleman's Hawk, and others) and there not be significant damage done to the person who got hit. I've got scars where I should have lost my hand. From Cold Steel, I've also got a Sgian Dubh, the Culloden model, that chipped the edge off coming out of the SHEATH one time. And the Spears are junk, and that is not a central rib running down them. They are flat on the side away from which they take the pictures, and the "central rib" is dished in at lest thumb thickness where they stamped a flat piece of metal into a curve.
