Knives

[funbun]

Do you guys carry a knifes on the trail? What's the purpose of a knife? I want a Mora knife, but I'm not sure what I would use it for on the trail.

[Toolshed]

Swiss Army knife with corkscrew and magnifying glass. All I ever needed, (besides my .32 Beretta Tomcat )

[funbun]

But what do you use it for?

[Rhino-lfl]

Knife = everything.

A good blade can save your life. A good blade can do anything.

[budforester]

I have a Mora from Sportsmansguide; It was cheap. It's lightweight, fits me well, good grip, easy to clean, holds an edge, great for skinning, scaling, peeling spuds. Be careful of the sharp point and edge when spreading your peanut butter. I like it! It usually goes along in my day or weekend pack for hunting and fishing. On a long trail of sightseeing and photography, I carry a pocketknife that is smaller and lighter... the same one that I use around home, work, and carry everywhere else. Take a knife! A knife is handy and could be essential in a survival situation. I view it as a tool, not a weapon, and I use my pocketknife every day for opening packages, cutting strings, whittling kindling, paring hangnails, cooking, and etc. Mine has screwdrivers, scissors, and so forth, but having a cutting edge is the essential part.

[Fiddler]

By all means carry something with a cutting edge if you are going out over a couple of days. It's in the same category as toilet paper - you might not need it right now, but you probably will before the hike is over.

[Marta]

Here's a wet-blanket statement--a very, very tiny knife will do just fine for the AT. I carried the smallest Swiss Army Knife. It's about 2" long and has a cutting blade, scissors, flat-head screw driver, tweezers, and toothpick. The toothpick was the most useful part. I used the knife blade, etc. less than five times each on the whole six-month hike.

By all means, carry whatever sort of weapon makes your heart happy, but you don't NEED much.

Marta/Five-Leaf

[Rhino-lfl]

Must be nice to stay at a hotel each night.

[Marta]

Must be nice to stay at a hotel each night.

You might have a point. It was much easier to use the scissors to trim the dead skin off my feet in the good lighting of a motel room. When I was camping out, though, or staying in shelters--which was way more often than not--I rarely used my knife.

Marta/Five-Leaf

[Mags]

Here's a wet-blanket statement--a very, very tiny knife will do just fine for the AT.

FWIW, I used a small swiss army knife on the CDT.

Found it worked fine for me as well (along with a p-38 can opener).

Not sure how a knife correlates with hotel stays. I find they prefer credit cards....

[Grinder]

I have a cheap Mora (Frost 511) from Harry J. Epsein Co. ($11.29 delivered.)

I started outlooking for a neck knife.

I had this "image" of me sallying forth with my neck knife and my magnesium fire starter hanging around my neck.

I couldn't find a neck knife that seemed right, so I got the smallest mora available. I got carbon steel ,because I , oersonally, have a heck of a time getting a stainless blade sharp. And I don't care if it discolors, as long as it cuts.

Since I have yet to hike until later this month, I am not entitled to an opinion of what you need.

mile of smiles
Tom

[BigwaveDave]

Funbun, I carry two, a swiss army champ which I keep on me at all times and is total overkill and a Bucklite which has a nice 3" drop point blade that will handle any heavier cutting needs that the swiss army can't. I keep it in a pouch attached to my shoulder strap. I also carry a firestarter tool on me.

[flyfisher]

I carry a non-folding knife in a sheath around my neck.

I use it to cut open packages,
to make hiking sticks,
to split sticks after a rain to make a fire,
to clean my fingernails,
to cut cord for mouse hangers,
to get rid of splinters on shelter floors,
to get spinters out of my fingers.

I have had problems with lightweight folders in splitting sticks.

[Seeker]

i own/have owned several other models of SAK, but all i really "need" is the tiny micro SAK described earlier ("Classic"). blade is sufficient to cut cordage and jerky. scissors are good for moleskin and nails.

i have taken the tweezers of each one to a grindstone and made points, which has made them more useful than they were before.

when going into previously un-seen areas alone, i sometimes carry a larger sheath knife.

[bigcranky]

Totally agree with Marta and Seeker. That tiny Swiss Army knife is all I've needed lately. I used to carry a larger folding knife as well, but finally realized that I never used it.

We're not talking about the ends of the Earth here. There are places I'd carry a 'real' knife, but AT hiking isn't one of them. YMMV.

[buckowens]

A Swiss or Leatherman is a must in my book. One must also always consider that this little guy may need to be used to fend off an attack (human) as well. I like the poles as well... Unlikely, but possible.

[Appalachian Tater]

A knife is great for cutting slices off a block of cheese or pepperoni. The only reason you would need a blade longer than 1 1/2 or 2 inches is if you whittle or need to use it on living flesh for self-defense. Scissors are much more useful for cutting cord, thread, and paper or opening stubborn food packages. There aren't too many incidents I've heard of where someone on the AT used a knife to defend themselves against anything.

[superman]

I only carry small cans that have pull tabs (like sardines). Some of the dehydrated food packages need a little encouragement to open.
I carry that little knife with a blade that's about 1.5". I hiked with a guy who carried a tiny pair of scissors. It looked to us like the scissors had more untility. We further speculated that if I was attacked by a bear my knife would not be of much use. He on the other hand speculated that if a bad guy were going to attack him and he whipped out his tiny pair of scissors that the bad guy would fall down laughing which would allow him to escape.

[oldfivetango]

Funbun, I carry two, a swiss army champ which I keep on me at all times and is total overkill and a Bucklite which has a nice 3" drop point blade that will handle any heavier cutting needs that the swiss army can't. I keep it in a pouch attached to my shoulder strap. I also carry a firestarter tool on me.

I wonder if people actaually start a fire if it is not absolutely
essential;say an emergency situation for example?I have emergency
fire preparedness but would not want to start one unless it was a
real necessity-alcohol stove is TOO easy to use and a hot drink and a
good sleeping bag does the trick better than a campfire IMHO.I wonder
what the consensus is.And I support the "carry a knife" idea.You could
also dig a cathole with the right knife if you want to carry one.
Oldfivetango

[chowhound]

I always have a knife of some type with me. Usually a swiss army tinker model which I got used to carrying and using frequently during ten years as a field engineer. I don't really need to carry a knife every day now that I am a salesman, but I don't feel dressed without at least a small pocket knife on me. When I backpack I generally have a mora knife along. It is inexpensive, takes a good edge, and is long enough to slice summer sausage and block cheese. It will also reach to the bottom of most peanut butter jars, and is a more effective spreading tool than a spoon. The fixed blade is also easy to clean.