Good Camping/Backpack Knife

[John Harper]

Trying to find a basic camp knife with decent blade and can opener (not bottlecap) included. Don't really want a swiss army knife, but seems like most folding knifes don't have a can opener function (only bottle openers). Any recommendations from the backcountry folks????

or just use the old P38??

John

[midger]

I don't carry cans into the back country--too much weight. However, for car camping the old military can openers are hard to beat.

[darrin terry]

Besides, a knife is too important an item to choose based on whether it's got a can opener. Choose a well made fixed blade (does not have to be particularly large, say 4-5 inch blade should do) and smaller pocket knife.

Of course, one should always carry a knife. Silly not to.

[Gary C.]

I have to agree that is hard to find a decent camp knife with a can opener. For camping these days I try to just buy canned goods with a pop-top. most of my staples can be found with one. Like midger I don't carry cans into the backcountry but a swiss army knife with a small pair of scissors sure comes in handy when you need to cut some moleskin

Sportsman's Guide has a good price on P38's. Buy a bucket and you can put a couple in every glovebox or box you take camping. Then give a handful to freinds.
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/m ... x?a=372726

[darrin terry]

There's always multi tools. Leatherman, Gerber, SOG and others make good ones. Will be far more useful than a swiss army knife as they generally have pliers, knife, can opener, saw, scissors, well basically a swiss army knife plus pliers/wire cutters and all made of better steel than the knives usually are.

[Papasequoia]

What's wrong with Swiss Army Knives? What are ya, some kind a' commie? Can't help you since I have used a SAK for many, many years. I use one of the smaller ones and carry it everywhere, not just camping. I can't remember if it is called the Hiker or the Backpacker, but it has a can opener and many other tools in a small package. I've thought about a multi-tool, but I don't like carrying things like that on my belt. However, if I upgraded from a SAK to something with more backcountry uses, that would probably be the direction I would head in.

[John Harper]

Actually, I lean more towards anarchy. I checked out the SAK lineup, they have a model called the Recruit that has can and bottle openers, and two blades. That seems perfect for me, just needed something when car camping to open a can once in a while and a basic blade setup.

I have a smaller Leatherman multi-tool already, a little heavy for my tastes and difficult to open some functions, kind of scary IMHO.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it.

John

[Papasequoia]

Don't forget the corkscrew!

[beachbum]

I still carry my official Boy Scout knife that I had as a kid. I have yet to find a better all around knife. It sharpens well, holds and edge, and has the other stuff I need.

[darrin terry]

beachbum, are the blades shiny or or they more a dirty grey on the scout knife? Reason I ask is that on older knives the blade material was likely to D2 tool steel. This kind of steel sharpens very easily and holds an edge much better than stainless steels usually do. Don't get me wrong, modern stainless steels do pretty well, and since, in my experience, most people are not willing to take proper care of a knife the stainless is a better option for many. They require less care since they don't rust easily and it takes some extreme circumstances for most of them to stain. On the other hand, tool steel will stain if used to cut steak and the juices are allowed to dry on the blade. You can kind of read the life story of the blade in such cases. Something I actually like. You don't see that much these days as most knives are made with some variety of stainless.

As for my Leatherman, all the tools/blades are easily accessed on mine. No issues there, and they all lock into position for safety. Heavy? Maybe a little more than the SAKs that I find most people opt for. You know the ones. They a have a flashlight, a pen, toothpick and all the possible options in one knife and are larger than the average multitool.

I would never go anywhere in the back country without a fixed blade though. Too many situations where I've needed one.

[John Harper]

What brand fixed blade do you recommend?

John

[darrin terry]

I have knives from Buck, Coldsteel and Benchmade. But there are many good makers in prices ranging from ~$40 to as much as you can imagine (and likely more). If Buck, I recommend WalMart. They sell Buck knives for far less than anywhere I've seen, including on the internet. Most places sell the Buck Special Mod. 119 for about $50-70. WalMart sells them for about $40. Of course for strictly backpacking and shaving weight, I might go with a smaller blade. Benchmade ranks their knives into classes - Red, Blue, Gold & Black. Red is the lower priced, but decent quality. I'd liekly look there as several are a bare blade blank with a thin handle mounted and a good light weight molded sheath.

Something like these two:

http://www.benchmade.com/products/10510

http://www.benchmade.com/products/10536

In fact, I own the Benchmade Fecas Gamer. 3.58 Oz.

This one would be a little easier on the hands if real leverage were needed for something:

http://www.benchmade.com/products/10505

I don't own it, but do own a very similar knife from Buck. This one is almost 2x the weight of the first one and 3x the 2nd.

The major adv. in a fixed blade is there is no chance of the blade closing on your fingers in a place where help is simply not available.

[Hatch71]

John....

So many to choose from today. I would recommend any of the Mora Knives. Here's a link to my favorite. It's a very strong knife and a great price. It's not going to impress people but it's a great survival blade. I would leave can open to the trusty old P38 or add a multi tool to your belt. Thats the best bet. It is a carbon blade which if you don't have a fire steel you can use to spark against rock to spark a fire in a survival situation... Just a few thoughts... Really a matter of prefrance and how much you want to spend. Cold steel is another affordable knife.... Check out the SRK....

[url][/url]http://www.knifecountryusa.com/store/product/112574.112604/mora-of-sweden-knives-840-carbon-steel-fos-clipper-fixed-blade-knife-with-black-composition-handle.html

[fish-on-bro]

Buck makes some nice lock-back knives. As far as a can opener, I would go with the military one. I always keep one in my camp kit. I have had expensive can openers take a dump and the military opener always works. My buddies in the Marines tell me the nick-name for those openers is a "John Wayne", pretty cool.

Fish-on-bro, out....

[darrin terry]

Hmmm, "John Wayne" huh? I presume it's cuz they'll "Open a can of"…kickass?