Looking For A Good Knife

[maverick]

Rlown wrote:
My other main knife is a Vitornoux (sp?):

I too carry a Victorinox. http://www.swissarmy.com/us/category/Ca ... 1002&m=add&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[rlown]

My Victorinox would be equivalent to the Spartan version, but decades old. I'd recommend the Hiker version; or the Tinker. Thanks for the pointer, Mav.

The Gerbers are for a different kind of work.

[oldranger]

I use a Wenger Evo 88 after years of using the Victorinox Classic, the lightest Swiss army Knife available with scissors. The problem with the Classic is about every two seasons the spring for the scissors would break. Then I discovered the precursor to the Evo 88 with scissors with a different spring mechanism. The Evo 88 at 1.2 oz. also has more tools than the Classic, not the least is a screwdriver small enough to tighten my eyeglass screws.

Thru about 55 years of backpacking I have never needed a larger knife. Note that when horse packing I carried an additional, more substantial, folding knife on my belt that was capable of cutting through a lead rope in case that was needed (never was).

If hunting then an appropriate knife is needed but for backpacking and backcountry fishing my little knife is just right for me. My biggest problem with little knives is misplacing them (same problem with car keys, wallet, cell phone, and hiking gloves) but that is probably the result of old age onset attention deficit disorder.

Mike

[freestone]

Light My Fire traditional swedish Mora knife. It has a good substantial handle with a fire starter, and decent steel for the blade. Everyone says its foolish not to carry a knife when backpacking, so I do, but really never really use the blade except to strike the steel for a spark or whittle on a stick. My go to cutting tool is a pair of EMT-orthopedic shears. I could easily forget the knife and not miss it, but not the shears.