Looking for suggestion for a good knife suitable for camping / backpacking etc that is both light and very hard wearing.

I can buy cheap at anywhere but really looking for something that will last, is light and will last.

Has to be an Opinel comes in various sizes.

A genuine Swiss Army knife with at least a corkscrew and tin opener

Can't beat Swedish Steel. Fallkniven (http://www.fallkniven.com/en) knives and Gransfors (http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/index.html) axes.

It would have to be a 'Leatherman', always have mine on my belt and it gets a lot of use.

Camping Tools : Leatherman (http://www.leatherman.com/products/findfamily/Camping)

As long as it has something to get boy scouts out of horses hooves...

Decent lock blade may be a good option to avoid slicing off a finger miles from medical help. KaBar make a pretty good selection at reasonable prices. Kukri also in the range if you need something with a bit of heft for chopping at things.

Shirley you've got a pensioner over the road who's got an old British equivalent of one of these hanging in the shed he'd trade for a dram or two and telling some tales. Give 'er a polish and a wee honing.

http://www.woodmanspal.com/sc_images/newlogo6.gif

Pick up an old metal working file, a few simple tools and fettle your own:

Greenpete's Knife Making Video Pt1 on Vimeo

:ok:

Following the instructions on Jetblast I shall 'blame the French' and recommend Laguiole.... the knife of choice for baguettes, saucisson sec and Camembert

Laguiole-france.com proposes a range of laguiole french knife and traditional knife (http://www.laguiole-france.com/)

Let us not forget that Laguiole is also the first choice for cleanly slicing the necks of champagne bottles, though regrettably in the camping circles with which I am familiar, there doesn't seem to be much call for it these days.

http://www.iwishihadthis.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/laguiole_champagne_saber-640x210.jpg

Mr Burger could knock up something in his shed for you if you're interested...


Burger Knives Official Website - The Finest Handcrafted & Customized, Swordcanes, Folding & Hunting Utility Knives in the World (http://www.swordcane.com/)

Russell Belt Knife, survival size.

After a non-excellent landing, you might need one!

puma white hunter, in fact anyknife by puma ahh trailguide


gs

Fallkniven F1!! can't beat it...great size, great quality, not so great price....

Ernest Emerson knives are about as robust and dependable as you can buy. I have three...for different occasions. Never leave home without one.

I would recommend the basic model Swiss Army knife, like the one used by the Swiss Army. It has aluminum sideplates instead of plastic ones, so that it is much tougher, and robust stainless steel blades: a knife blade, a large common screwdriver blade with a bottle opener, a small common screwdriver blade (which can also manage Phillips-head screws if they are not too tight) with a can opener, and an awl.

Get the one with a little ring so that you can secure it to a lanyard and that should do you for most of what you need a knife for. The knife takes a good edge and stays sharp for a long time and the knife fits easily into a pants pocket.

I use a Puma Arkansas stone to re-sharpen it, not a carborundum stone. Stainless is a bit brittle compared to carbon steel so that you have to be careful not to use a coarse stone.

Checkboard:

That series of Greenpete's videos was utterly brilliant... I was riveted, (pun intended), from start to finish... While not doing it in such a primitive fashion, I really want to have a bash at that...

I'm with Airborne Aircrew on those vidoes; they made me want to skin the cat for a loincloth and go spearing mastodons at dusk.

Ug!

My stepson is (touch wood) passing out as a Royal Marine very soon. I want to get him a boot knife as a present - something serious and usable. A talisman from back home sort of thing. I'm assuming that a Fairbairn-Sykes is a bit passe these days and anyway its a bit big for what I had in mind. A last resort close quarters tool. I was thinking about the Fallkniven G1 (http://www.fallkniven.com/g1/g1.htm), but anyone in the business have any advice?

Gerber has a pretty good boot knife designed by RW Loveless. Small enough to do duty as a Sgean Dubh should your step son be of the frock wearing octopus wrestler persuasion.




Well, he's a Bootie so the frock wearing thing is mandatory.:}

Ask her which one she used Ouch :{

BBC News - California woman cuts off husband's penis (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14131133)

Racedo. As you are now aware, if you didn't know before, good knives are expensive and last a lifetime.

Depending on what it is used for, the knife will need regular sharpening, so don't buy an ordinary oil stone, get a good Arkansas stone as mentioned by Chuks.

And bear in mind a dull knife is nothing but a stick. Also, it's even more dangerous than one honed to razor sharpness. Dull knives require excess force and a lot of sawing to be anywhere near effective, thus making the possibility of slicing a finger far more likely. Chuks and Racedo offer good advice - a knife is worthless without means of maintaining the edge.

I'd go for this combo - the QR bayonet

http://cdn5.thefirearmsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/pb1-0ss.jpg

or this for real close up work

http://www.gamesprays.com/images/icons/chainsaw-bayonet-1977_preview.jpg

That series of Greenpete's videos was utterly brilliant... I was riveted, (pun intended), from start to finish... While not doing it in such a primitive fashion, I really want to have a bash at that...

I know what you mean :) I spent a while watching them all avidly as well!

My stepson is (touch wood) passing out as a Royal Marine very soon. I want to get him a boot knife as a present - something serious and usable..

This guy: ADM Custom Knives - One Knife At a Time - Lodi, NY (http://www.admknives.com/) in the states sends knives to US Marines. Perhaps you can have a perusal of his website. :8

Step father has a good knife hanging on the wall in his house. Was his fathers who was in the gurkhas

Thanks Checkers I just enjoyed staring into the fire :hmm:

1. Lighting fire in Oz bush. Visit Iron-bar Motel

2. Carrying knife in Oz. Visit Iron-bar motel.

The poor barstewards.:( No wonder they're such a miserable lot. How do they slice their biltong? Lucky you're a Kiwi, eh Mr Tin...?:ok:

A good panga will get you a long way...

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1413/001ojl.jpg

This is a knife (http://youtu.be/01NHcTM5IA4?t=17s)

For those that prefer a bit of carbon
Preferred by 9/10 Kiwi gang members

https://rangersupplystore.com/c-303-green-river-knives.aspx

It should have a good groove down the flat of blade so you can eat peas off it in comfort, one would not wish to appear uncouth at dinner parties and such would one.
:)

A bit off topic but I'm interested in the answers... I know why - but there is a lot of folklore...

When you watch films like Rambo and Predator you see the heroes with a great big knife with an exaggerated serration on the spine of the blade.

What is your theory as to what that serration is for.

What is your theory as to what that serration is for

Opening lock neck/quart bottles.

Descaling sea bass or black bream. That's what I use mine for. :8

What is your theory as to what that serration is for

You may know that a saw, has been used as an instrument; played by a bow.
Super hero's in dire deep emergency doo doo; will fashion a primitive bow and make selected notes from these serrations. These reverberate through the ether.
The effect is a transglobal foghorn, summoning hordes of Pprune Warriors.

Don't ask again.

So far we have two possibly sensible answers and one fantasy...

You decide...

But, so far, the true reason is eluding us... Funny, I thought that this would have been instantly answered...

Keep trying gents...

That thing Stallone drags around with him in the Rambo movies? Probably to make the shortarse look tough or summat.

Seen a serrated back on a survival type knife but nothing like those huge hacks, just a roughened cross hatched edge to be used as a saw. Only other thing I can think of is they're there as barbs if the blade is lashed to a staff for use as a spear when hunting/fishing.

It's designed to vent a wound made in someone. If you stab someone with a nice smooth blade then the wound closes back on itself and can slow the loss of blood significantly. The "sawlike" spine of these blades rips the flesh as the knife is withdrawn leaving a ragged wound allowing an unrestricted flow of blood.

Have ceramic blades made it into this arena yet?

A bit awkward should it snag on bone while withdrawing though, Mr AA. Something a bit smoother may not have that problem. The old Fairbairn-Sykes was made from mild steel for that purpose, to allow it to slip easily over and around bony bits.


Actually, why not just get him a good folder or biltong knife? KaBar Tanto Mule or Fin if he's feeling aggressive or Spyderco Meercat for slicing the old 'tong. Avoid serrated edges as they're buggers to keep sharp. Straight edge blade of whichever make he prefers and a whetstone with it should do the trick.


Mr V, ceramics are great for kitchen use but possibly a little brittle for serious outdoor stuff. I seem to recall seeing a couple of ceramic utility knives but not sure of the manufacturer or even if they were made or sold in quantity. Not sure if the material is robust enough to be used in a folder.

This article, from the Rambo knife designers, says it's a saw:

Rambo First Blood Survival Knife with Compass (http://www.originalramboknife.com/rambo-first-blood-knife.php)

http://www.cartertown.com/images/Knives/Rambo/Lile_r1_12t.jpg

Personally, I don't buy the "jagged wound" theory. You don't want a fighting knife catching in clothing/flesh - a blade does enough damage. A serrated saw on a fighting knife would be a disadvantage.

Good luck sawing through anything but a small piece of balsa with that, I reckon. Clogging and snagging would be your biggest problem with those huge cutouts.

Made for the movies ;) Not intended to be practical for anything.

The knife they used in the later movies was a bit different:

http://www.cartertown.com/images/Knives/Rambo/Rambo8x10LR.jpg
http://www.cartertown.com/images/Knives/Rambo/Excerpt.jpg


http://www.cartertown.com/images/Knives/Hibben/HibbenCustom/MyCustomPHoto/Rambos/Handmade2.jpg