And here it is: I have many knives and each one has served a purpose. I have gone thru different phases of knife preferences and fluctuations. I have come to a conclusion...nothing is best. The search continues ad nauseum... So I guess nothing really matters...what I have in my possession at the time of need is what I'll make my best. Any thoughts? DomC
Be it camping, hunting, survival, self-defense and so on.... the knife you have on you has to be able to perform well, hold an edge and meet the occasion. What you have in your possesion at the time must be of good quality and work for you... manufacure is immaterial if you do not like the knife and can not use it well. Never know when your life may depend on it....
When I'd teach a class on survival, I'd set up a display of some varied knife styles and ask the students to pick which one was my "personal" survival knife. Some, who might know a bit about the outdoors or knives, would pick the Randall or a Ka-Bar or Gerber. Some might pick a folder. After some discussion, I'd pull my SAK out of my pocket. Regardless of the 300+ knives I own, odds are, if I really needed one, it would be the one I have in my pocket.
Damn, a Gerber. Years back I had a Gerber boot knife I wore in my combat boot hidden by the blousing rubber. Never got caught with it, but on the few occasions I had to bring it out, it was in the right place at the right time. My dad swore by a schrade folding knife he carried most all his life.
If I have even the buttpack on me, I've got the multi-tool on me. It's worth far more than any knife, because it can do so many more things than any knife can do. The Indians did fine, without being able to chop anything or baton anything, guys. But there's very little wilderness left. Most places, you can walk out of in 2-3 days. But you can need to cut heavy wire, turn a screw, etc, that the knife just can't do. So the multitool makes more sense than just a knife.
Well it wasn't the Male Indians, that collected the firewood, Fire-fuel and butchered the buffalo, and needed anything more than a Good Knife..... It was the Squaws, and they did just fine, with the tools they used, none of which were MultiTools..... and it depends on the Knife, if it will cut Heavy wire, and turn a Screw.... Master BladeSmith Adam DesRosiers makes an Alaskan Bush Knife that will do ALL That, and much more.... But they are Out of your Price Range......
I agree with the original post, I have bought countless knives on the idea that "this will make a good deer cleaning knife." I probably have a dozen or so folding Pumas that I bought for this reason.
