How long is a piece of string? To be fair though it is a commonly asked question. There are a ton of things to consider when choosing the best camping knife.
What will it be used for? Fixed Blade or Folder? It will be used for what? What Blade Material? Edge Retention? What about Blade Length?
We need to remember that on a camping trip it is a tool that will likely get many different uses so it needs to be versatile. You might need it for food prep, fire building, even shelter building if it’s more of a lightweight hike you are on and creating your shelter regularly.
What will it be used for Most Often?
If the answer is mostly food prep and a bit of firewood splitting then I would probably steer people towards a fixed bladed knife. If its of a more general nature like small amounts of food prep, cutting string and small feather sticks then a medium sized folding knife would suffice.
What blade material should I look for?
If the knife will be used for fishing or used anywhere near the ocean then stainless steel is a must. Here’s where the cost starts to add up. Low budget stainless knife steels like 8cr13Mov is great for an average all round performance. If you are looking for a better stainless blade steel you might search for a knife made from M390 or SV10. The higher you go up the scale the more the knife will cost.
Is edge retention important?
If it is then we can get into a lot of discussion about which one is better than another. I have written an article about blade steels and value for money (check it out here if you are interested) but in short edge retention, toughness, hardness and corrosion resistance are all things which need to be balanced against each other to get the best out of your knife. The very basic consideration is the hardness and toughness, they are a bit of a trade off against each other. The harder the blade the more edge retention you get but it’s more brittle. So what we are after is the perfect balance between the two and different steels need to be treated according to their recommended heat treatments during manufacturer.
All that being said the average camper probably won’t care about it the technical stuff. If you buy from a reputable dealer there is a big chance your knife will be of the quality you expect.
Warning
If you buy direct from overseas you’ll be taking a risk that the steel they claim the knife is made from will be something else much more inferior! It is so tempting as they look so good. Be aware 90% are copies. What is really means is your knife will be blunt in no time
Fixed Blade or Folder?
Once again the answer to this should be based what you’ll be using it for. There is no doubt a fixed blade will stand up to way more punishment than a folder. Use over a long period of time, batoning timber for fires, cutting small limbs for shelter, hunting are all things a fixed blade is better for. Here is one I have used, it’s strong, has good steel and will last for years. (check out the latest prices)
Ergonomics?
If the knife will be used for shelter building it will get a fair bit of use so it will need to be comfortable in the hand. For that the design is important. This is very much a personal choice. It does play a part in the control you have over it which in turn will be safer to use. Personally I like a slightly curved handle (like this one if it’s a folder you are after)
Blade length?
There is no recommended blade length, if you can foresee you needing a longer blade then get a longer blade. Having said that, if you are split between this knife or that one and one has a longer blade I would always go for the longer blade option. A warning though, make sure you are within your legal rights to carry such a knife. I have written an article on the matter right here specifically for Australia if you are interested.
Don’t forget to think about how you are going to carry the knife around. A decent fixed blade knife will come with a sheath, usually one with a belt loop. A folder either has a pocket clip or better still is a belt pouch, as in the classic all round Buck 110 folder.
Whether it has a locking mechanism or not is also important. The harder the work it has to do the more a folder need a good locking mechanism. My personal favorite is the back lock, they are so strong and reliable. Like this one here!
Conclusion
As you have seen there are a bunch of things to consider that will point you in the right direction when it comes to the perfect little camping knife. It is really a subjective choice based on certain personal likes and dislikes. A knife you like may not be the one I would buy. Doesn’t mean it’s not as good, it just means it’s the one you like. If you follow the correct advice you’ll get hold of a fantastic little knife that will last you a long time if you look after it.
Here are my top 2 picks, one fixed blade and one folder for under US$200.
If you like the modified tanto look this is right up your alley, try this Tactile Knife Co. Dreadeye MagnaCut, it has a new type of blade steel of CPM MagnaCut, by some accounts it’s a very good blade steel, has a stonewash finish and comes with a kydex sheath.
If you are like me and folders are your thing, try this Viper Anso Orso , it’s sleek designed liner lock, has a drop point, an awesome M390 blade steel and a nice blue pivot pin for aesthetics.
Intro.
Until I got into knives and knife making and then progressing on to becoming a knife nerd I had no idea how important this subject is and what effect it has on the performance of a knife. What determines the the edge angle or geometry as we tend to call it, is it’s intended use, blade thickness, type of material and type of grind. I’m aware that if you are not a knife maker you won’t have any influence on what grind the knife comes with, unless you are engaging a custom knifemaker to make you one. However, knowing which type of grind is designed for what intended use will help you make a wise purchasing decision.
So, if you are keen to buy a good quality knife and want to it for years to come, understanding these principle and applying the them is vital for the longevity of your knife, its cutting ability and optimum edge retention.
The Geometry.
Obvious to say really but when we talk about geometry what we mean is the angle of the blade blade edge, the actual cutting edge.
The angle at which the cutting edge is formed is everything. Once we know what the knife will be used for most of the time we can apply the correct angle. A lower or shallower angled cutting edge, typically between 10 to 20 degrees, results in the ability to create a sharper edge, making it perfect for precision tasks like cutting Sushi or filleting fish. On the other hand, a higher angled cutting edge, around 25 to 30 degrees provides greater durability, but less able to perform those delicate tasks as described. On the other hand it can perform heavier-duty tasks like chopping through wood or cutting through animal bones. A cutting edge with these angles will last linger before sharpening is required.
Here are a few of the most popular cross sections of knife blades. There many more designed for specific needs but these are the most common ones.
The grind of the blade during manufacturing is a critical aspect of knife edge geometry. The ‘grind’ refers to the way the blade is shaped to create the cutting edge. As you can see from the images there are many to choose from, each has its unique advantages and disadvantages.
The Hollow Grind.
This features a concave surface on both sides of the blade, we can achieve a very fine edge for delicate kitchen duties. It also helps to minimise the affect of the meat, fish or vegetable sticking to the blade. However, this kind of grind will not last long if you try to cut through some wood with it.
The Flat Grind.
This involves a straight taper from the spine to the edge, this creates a reasonably good balance between sharpness and durability. It will still have a micro bevel right on the cutting edge but is still classed as a flat grind`
The Convex grind.
With a rounded rounded edge, blades with this kind of grind are incredibly durable. They can take on some of the heaviest cutting tasks and win.
The Scandi Grind.
As you can see these cutting edges have a single steep bevel that meets at the very edge, these are quite easy bevels to maintain and designed as an all round multi task kind of blade most often added to a bushcraft knife.
The Sabre Grind.
This is similar to the scandi grind but has a shallower angle and deeper bevel to it which means we can achieve a sharper edge but a little less robust than the scandi grind. It’s also designed for a multi use scenario.
The Chisel Grind.
The blade grinds can achieve a very sharp edge. If you think of a woodworkers chisel you’ll picture just what you get with a chisel grind. As the name suggests there is a single bevel starting at a a point approximately 1/3 of the way down the face of the knife right to the apex of the edge. These are designed for specific cutting tasks, mostly associated with kitchen work like cutting Sashimi.
Aesthetics.
This worth a mention. Seeing as I’m a bit of a knife nerd I want each knife I buy to look good. This entirely a personal choice. I won’t let it negatively influence the importance of what I need this knife for but if possible I;ll look for a long-time to find the right looking and hopefully performing knife.
Maintaining The Edge.
I have written articles on the subject right here, but having a simple little sharpener of some sort will be very useful. My recommendation for this is the Victorinox Pocket Knife Sharpener. It’s a ceramic stone honing rod. Learn to use it, you’ll love it.
Trade Off.
Ultimately, it’s the balance of all of these elements that play their part in creating the perfect edge angle or geometry. Actually there is no perfect cutting edge that will suffice for all tasks. There is a perfect edge for a specific task but not one size fits all kind of answer. As a person interest in knives grows so does your understanding that the whole idea of a well performing knife is something of a trade off from one blade material against another, or one type of edge geometry over another, or one type of handle material over another.
If we choose a knife which has less harden-ability it might not retain it’s cutting edge for so long but it’s more likely to be more resistant to breaking or chipping. If we choose a hollow grind and take it on a camping trip where bush craft tasks are most used it will perform nicely for a short time and then fade quickly. But if we took a Scandi or Convex ground knife with us on that same trip we would see the performance start at a lower level in the sense of slicing ability but it will not fade as the general bush craft tasks like cutting firewood are being undertaken. This blade will not fade for days and days.
In Conclusion.
You can see the complex nature that come into play when the question “what is ‘The Best Knife Edge Angle (geometry) is asked. There is no, one simple answer. It depends on this & that & those & these! I the idea of getting hold of the ‘perfect knife’ is both an art and a science. Us nerds will always be enthusiastic about new designs & new steel etc… but the knife edge geometry will always be one of those things that will never change.
Let’s assume you are going on a week long hike in a remote wilderness somewhere. It’s imperative that you choose the right kind of knife and of the best quality you can afford because let’s face it, your life may depend on it. It’s arguably the #1 most important item you should take with you.
In this article I’ll try to break down the elements that will help you choose the right kind of knife for your upcoming trip out into the great blue yonder.
In my opinion there are several factors that will need to be considered when it comes to a survival knife.
Fixed Blade Construction.
Blade Guard.
Blade steel.
Blade length.
Type of Edge.
Type of Pommel.
Fixed Blade Construction.
Without doubt a fixed blade is much better than a folding knife, purely because of it’s robustness. A folder has a few moving parts and a joint that could fail if put under pressure. I’m not saying a folder is of no use on one of these survival scenarios but take one as a back up. And once again, make it a good quality one if you are on one of these long camping/hiking trips.
Blade Guard.
If possible get hold of a knife with a guard built into it. If the heat and stress builds up in a survival scenario it’s easy to make mistakes in trying to get the job done. So to stop your hand sliding down the blade ….. get a guard on it!
Blade Steel.
If you have read any of my other blog posts you would know that blade steel is a reoccurring theme. Any type of knife, for any use relies on the quality of the edge, it’s sharpness and edge retention. All of this gets analysed in great detail in my other post located here.
The reason it keeps coming up time and time again is because without a decent Blade it ends up being nothing but a fancy butter knife. So my strong recommendation is to have a good quality stainless steel blade. Something like VG-10 or M390.
Blade Length.
If I was on a hike where I may need to use my knife for a real survival situation I would like to know it’s going to be man enough to get the job done. If it’s cutting reasonable sized branches for shelter the blade cannot be some pissy little knife with a short blade (lets say a blade less than 125mm long is no good).
If I need to kill and dress an animal in a real life survival situation I need that blade to be capable of killing, gutting and dressing a hog or deer.
If I am battoning tree branches or small tree trunks for firewood it needs to cope with it. For me this blade needs to be way beyond 125mm (200mm long would be ideal)
Type of Edge.
This relates to a straight sweeping edge from ricasso to tip. Normally I don’t like serrations on a blade but they do assist in more affective cutting of certain materials like rope. So I will be looking a for a blade witrh serrations built in.
The pommel.
This is one that often gets forgotten about. My own experience has shown me two important uses of a decent pommel. One is a sharpish pommel that could smash a car window or stun and animal if hit on the head. The other use is when you might be driving in a wooden peg to join two bits of wood. In this case I’ll need a flat strong pommel you could use like a hammer (like this one here). In both scenario’s it’s important that the construction is a full tang blade to pommel set up. This way you can be sure it will withstand the pounding.
How about things like a built in compass?
In my view this doesn’t work. The most obvious place to put one is a little round one on the pommel. It just will not stand up to the rough treatment a knife is put through. It will be broken in no time!
What about handle material?
Although real wood handles that have been stabilised with resin I still prefer a modern material like G-10, it is so hard wearing. You never know the wooden handle that’s stabilised may not have been done very well. It could split during batt9ning for example.
What Sheath should I Choose?
I hate Kydex, so the only sheath I would have is leather. Sorry but that’s just me. It’s not that critical really, your choice.
So where does all that lead us?
In my ideal world, what we need is a blade of about 200mm long, made of a good quality steel like VG-10 or M390, part of the blade that is serrated, handle scales are made of composite material like G10, with a blade guard.
Upon researching the ideal knife I recommend one of these three options. They don’t exactly match my ideal knife but they do have several of the required elements.
For US$100 try this Buck Knife, Buck 120 General It has almost everything you need in a survival knife for a reasonable price.
For US$189 try this Helle GT Knife, it’s a beauty. I do admit this doesn’t have much of a guard and the handle is Birchwood but it has a very good blade steel H3LS.
Going up the price scale a little at US$250 how about this Katz Lion King, it has a heavy pommel, stainless XT-80 Blade steel (similar to 440c), a very grippy handle material called Kraton, has a half blade guard. This probably my pick of these three.
