knife wieght. leatherman or nail clippers not allowed

[Tacoda]

For those who camp/hike alone, and don't want to bring a pistol, but require a knife for both utility and possible last resort self defense what sort of knife do you carry? What weight would you consider reasonable? 8 oz too much?

What about self defense sites with a knife, or official training for basic knife safetly and self defense.

Would appreciate if you thought outside the brown line for a few moments.

Thanks

[highway]

Strange question coming from a three year old, strange indeed

[Frosty]

For those who camp/hike alone, and don't want to bring a pistol, but require a knife for both utility and possible last resort self defense what sort of knife do you carry? What weight would you consider reasonable? 8 oz too much?

I like knives, and carry one, but it is no where near 8 oz. More like 3 1/2. Go to an outfittters and check out the knives. You will be amazed at what is available, and how light they are. Baretta makes nice ones.

Most hikers don't carry even a pen knife, let alone a real knife, and in truth when I carry a small Swiss Army knife, the most useful part of it is the scissors, followed by the screwdriver.

I'm not big on weapons for self-defense. They tend to induce a state of confidence. Better to be apprehensively aware of developing situations and stay out of trouble rather than bullishly defend your rights. But there is nothing wrong with carrying whatever knife you want for whatever reason you want.

[Ridge Rat]

I carry a razor blade with me. I doubt I would try to fight anyone with it or much rather kill them. I suppose damage could be done but why the violence? I havent actually weighed it but maybe 1/2oz tops for weight.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

My knife is about 2.5" long and attached to something you asked us not to mention.... however, I carry two offset metal canes and the male dino has a leatherman with a 5 - 6" knife blade - either of those items could do some real damage in a survivial situation.

As Frosty says, go to an outfitter and look around. A good knife doesn't have to weight a lot.

[Sly]

I would imagine if someone knew how to use one for self defense, they'd know which one to carry.

[dloome]

As far as self defense purposes go, you'd have to be pretty skilled with an awfully big knife to really do anything. Common sense and a reasonable amount of caution about people and where to camp is your best weapon.

I've spent probably 5-600 or so nights by myself on hikes and bike tours in all kinds of places and have never carried anything for personal defense more than my Leki poles and a small pile of rocks, only used to scare off bold racoons and porcupines. I carry a knife, but it's a Victorinox Classic mini (many hikers carry this) with unnecessary bits trimmed off. Weighs less than half an ounce and cuts cheese well, which is all I ever use it for.

I think a lot of people imagine all sorts of elaborate scenarios in which they fight off assailants and wild animals with their trusty knife but statistically this is laughably far fetched, and when it comes to people confrontations, producing a weapon tends to aggravate the situation. I'll say it again, common sense and a reasonable amount of caution about people and where to camp are your best defense. Carry a big Bowie knife if it makes you feel better, but odds are overwhelmingly likely it'll be dead weight.

Don't camp near, or in sight of roads and trailheads. Don't camp in sight of the trail in popular or easily accessed areas. Cook your dinner a couple miles before stopping to camp and avoid heavily used campsites to avoid most problems with animals. Trust your gut. If someone or something seems shady, move on. One rule I've always followed especially when bike touring is not camping in a place if there's garbage or litter, especially beer bottles present in the area.

Lastly, do you know what the number one killer in the woods is? It's deadfall- trees and limbs falling down and killing people. People always worry about the wrong things.

[Tacoda]

yes thank you bleach. I understand your ideals. I hammock camped 10 days for the first time, and suddenly dead trees were both my greatest fears and my biggest problem. I think I was overly cautious on this knowledge but it was a text book lesson I had learned by vigilance. I also had a great deal of problems with coyotees during this lesson strangly. I had to run them off in the night several times. at several times, I had to participate in a shouting match only to find it made them run around my hammock and bark even louder.

I understand I need to pratice better cooking habits such as cook first and walk before camping. But I do not wish to do that. I boil water and eat every bit i can with no little left and seal the plastic cooking bag in a larger sealed plastic bag.

I truly belive I am doing everything that i can, to keep a clean and safe camp. To defend against people is my last idea of what I would use a defensive knife for. However, when you are alone and you have the problems I have had to deal with coyotees, or dogs, I am not sure exactly because it was too dark. I would at least some sort of defense.

Where I camp It seems like a 2-4 mile walk in the woods is nothing more than a vacation for the coyotes/dogs.

I am not trying to be silly or tell a story. This has been my experience. I hang my waterproof bag on a line that contains my dried food. I do not have the comfort of walking a few miles to a more inhabited campsite.

I am happy for cooking suggestions even though my pan bowls only boil water and cook in a plastic bag that sit inside an insulated pocket i purchased, but I also believe i require a small amount of defense greater than a nail clipper. defense against other humans is only a fantasy i fear, but feal i should be aware of during the night.

[Tacoda]

i must add one more thing. I have tented in this area many times. I have had the same problems in a tent, but i felt alot safer in a tent than i did in my hammock and this is why i want to research such things. the coyotee problem I have had with tents is not fun even though it keeps me up at night. a hammock on the other hand tents to get me face to face with rather curious creatures. I have no intention to tarp camp for obvious reasons.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Tocoda, may I suggest finding a large branch from a tree and fashioning a club at your campsite? All aggressive canines I've dealt with have yelped and decided to leave when I've wacked them with my cane. (I'm in trouble with the dog lovers now...)

[Tacoda]

I must admin I was a bit fantasical about the dog idea, I am sorry I got excited during my post. I am certain they are not dogs but only coyotes.

[Tacoda]

rangers have told me they have seen extremely large coyotes where I hike/camp and suspect inbreeding but that is nowhere here or there, or even true. I would rather discuss knives at this moment. thanks

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

Coyotes are in the canine family. I've wacked a few coyotes. We have them in the woods where my favorite walking path goes and some are pretty aggressive. Editted to add - now back to knives....

[Tacoda]

by inbreeding i suspect coyote breeding with dogs. I don't know. but either way, i wish to discuss knives as utility and or self defense, more than clipping toenails, and will enjoy all cooking safety ideals although i feel i have followed many correctly, and will ask on cooking forum about this in future.
thanks

[hopefulhiker]

This gun dealer friend of mine gave me this knife to carry on the trail. I considered it and gave it back. If I carried one for self defense that would have been the one.. Don't remember the name of it but it had a plastic handle with a snap in plastic sheath that could be mounted on the front of a shoulder strap of a pack. The blade was about 4 inches long and the whole thing weighed a half pound.. Too heavy! The problem with my set up is that I don't know how well I could fight with a knife while wearing a pack. I did try playing basketball a bit with a pack on. It was difficult. I never really felt the need for a knife for self defense on the trail. I picked up one of those plastic ones and carried it a little while to spread stuff on bread.. Also I carried one of those itsy bitsy little swiss army knives with the sissors. Also I carried a small sewing needle wrapped in duct tape....

[soulrebel]

Knife fighting is the preferred method for deciding who gets the last trail magic. Don't kid yourself, bring as big a knife as you can carry, dem hikers are hungry!

[Downunda]

I think you'd better stay home where you think it's safe!

[soulrebel]

Thru-hiker defense lesson 1

If any hikers get tough with you-drop a snickers bar on the ground...then you've got them right where you want them.

[copythat]

Strange question coming from a three year old, strange indeed

apparently preschool has changed a lot since i was there!

[Singe03]

Going to go against the grain with this one...

I carried a leatherman micra as a trail tool but on numerous occasions wished I had a decent pocket knife with a better blade. Probabily because I grew up carrying pocket knives, my dad always has one, my grandfathers did, and I wind up using it nearly daily, probabily because the presence of a decent knife is just integrated in to my thinking, I missed having one several times.

A southern thing? I know its still pretty common here in Houston (and I dont mean fighting style knives, I mean smallish tool sized blades).

What I carry daily...

http://www.thebladeshop.com/index.as...ROD&ProdID=294

2 1/4 inch blade, 2.8 ounces, one hand open and close, single edge and not a switchblade so its legal almost everywhere except airports or planes. Its ideal for working on ladders or working with lines when you only have one free hand. It will go on the AT with me next time.

As a defensive weapon, meh, it is not a weapon, it is a tool but as a last ditch defensive tool it could do some damage if things got nasty. I remember when I was taking CJ classes, seeing some pictures of NASTY wounds that were inflicted with a smaller blade.

A double edged fighting knife or large Rambo style survival knife is just too heavy, hard to justify to a police officer as a tool and honestly unnecessary for anything on the AT. If I were inclined to take something as a weapon, I'd take a solid staff that could double as a hiking stick.

I'd love to see statistics on weapons escalating bad situations BTW, when i was studying up on concealed carry statutes a while back I found that the vast majority of situations were resolved by display of the weapon without any shots being fired, meaning the bad guys backed down when a weapon was presented.