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.
Following the instructions on Jetblast I shall 'blame the French' and recommend Laguiole.... the knife of choice for baguettes, saucisson sec and Camembert
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.
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.
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...
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, but anyone in the business have any advice?
