Forest Service Knife

[ArfinGreebly]

Busse

I took the liberty of editing your post with one of the Game Warden images.

Here's that one:​
And here's one showing the handle selection:​

Nice looking knife.

Pricey, for sure, but a nice piece of cutlery.

 

[DC3-CVN-72]

Thank's ArfinGreebly !

 

[Steve H]

My 2 cents

I'm by no means an expert but I do have a bit of experience. I started fighting fighting wild land fires in 1970 and still do. 99.999% of the firefighters I have dealt with all carry a "folding hunter" in a leather sheath. Back in the 70's Buck and Puma were the knives of choice. About 20 years ago someone stole the Puma I had always carried. This past fire season I carried one of two different knives. The Buck with the titanium scales is my normal "go to" knife for fire season. If I want to get a bit fancy I switch to one with some nice stage scales. I have never seen a heat problem so bad that the sheath was effected. If you are in a situation that hot you have other problems.

 

[pappy19]

Not going to get into a pissin' match between a fixed blade or folder. I know alot of dudes in the 1970's carried a Buck 110 or some other folder brand with no problems, ever. My point(no pun) is that if you ever did need to one-handed pull your knife, a folder is not a good choice. The Ruana Smokejumper is fine example. Made in Bonner, Montana close to the Smokejumper base at Missoula, Montana, and made for smokejumpers. Small, 3" blade and easy to pull and use, one handed. Certainly most any decent knife no matter if it is a fixed or a folder "will work", but it still begs the question of which knife design is "the most beneficial" under the circumstances. Under those situations, I still believe that a stag/bone handled 3-4" fixed blade in a pouch sheath will "best" serve that need for a wildfire fighter. That's just my opinion and for sure, others have theirs and feel just as qualified to speak on the subject as I do.

 

[fireman 9731]

I spent a season as a front line wildland fire fighter in Colorado a few years back. I carried a Kershaw Blur clipped in the pocket of my pants. It served me well. I still carry the same knife everyday.

You will use plain leather gloves, no insulation or fluff. So take that into consideration. And you will not have to worry about any plastic sheaths catching on fire, you wont get that hot. A kydex sheath would probably not be a good idea just because you will be out in direct sun, as well as have radiant heat from fire affecting it. One little warp in the plastic and your knife could be long gone.

Also you will go through lots, and lots, and lots of brush. You will want something very secure with nothing to get caught on branches and limbs.

Nobody I worked with carried a fixed blade knife. Not that I'm against it, its just that nobody did, and probably for a reason of some sort.

The single thing that you will use your knife for most will be opening MREs. You have plenty of other hand tools and chainsaws for the bigger chopping work.

I don't have any specific examples for you, just some things to consider.

 

[First Big Foot]

I would suggest one that is econimical bur heavy duty, of good steel, (I Prefer SS, though most afficianados do not), heavy enough for bush/brush whacking, foot hold in the cliff digging, easy to pull and put back, Long enough that the whacking doesn't put your knuckles in the stickers/thorns occasionally found out there..

This one looks pretty good, and I have examined Ontario knives before and thought they looked pretty well made. I'd hasard between forty to a hundred bucks for one you like.

Make sure the steel of the blade runs full length, but Knives with steel poking out of the handles are hard on the palm. Blade should likely be 3/16ths to 1/4 inch thick on the back for heavy use, even sometimes driving nails or staples with the broad side of the blade.

Perhaps go look at Ontarioknives.com

Hope I was of help.



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Quote:
This summer I'm hopefully going to be working for the forest service as a firefighter or trail crew member. I'm looking for a high quality fixed blade knife that I will carry everyday for general tasks that the job calls for. Any suggestions for a knife for a forest service employee?

 

[thedogbone]

Check out Scrapyard knives website.

The prices are reasonable, the knives are exceptionally durable (and basically have an unconditional lifetime guarantee) and there are several styles there that would suit your purposes.

Personally I'd go for a blade length between four and six inches. Any task that requires something larger, you'll probably be using an axe.

 

[average_shooter]

I'll throw my two cents in as well.

Just to get it out of the way; I've worked wildland fire for the US Forest Service, I've lead a trail crew, and I'm going back into the federal fire service this year (US Fish and Wildlife Service). I've been wearing fire boots since 2008. So that's my background.

Some folks are thinking into this entirely too much.

If you're ever in a situation hot enough to melt plastics on knives you've got much bigger problems. Any crew leader worth a #### makes sure none of their boys ever needs to shelter up. But stuff happens.

Thick brush, rough terrain, working on a crew with other people, potentially in a huge fire-camp situation... Don't take anything "expensive" for it will get dropped, lost or "acquired."

Get a decent folder, maybe even a second. You're going to want to either clip it to your thigh pocket or put it in your pack. You'll likely not be able to comfortably wear anything on your belt under a pack's waist strap.

I carry a simple Gerber folder with a thumb stud and I put my Leatherman either on the sternum strap or in the top pocket of my pack.

I've never seen a firefighter on the line with a fixed blade knife. And there's no reason to need one for "speed" over a folder for "emergency cutting." Your pulaski should be kept plenty sharp enough to do any emergency cutting you'll run into.

And if you're ever in a situation where the S truly hits the fan you'll be dropping your pack and everything in it, grabbing your shelter and heading for the nearest spot of bare earth. And praying a lot, I suppose.

I'm honestly hard pressed to think of a situation where you wouldn't be just as well off with a decent folder as a decent fixed-blade.

Good luck getting a good job and be safe out there.

 

[pappy19]

Not saying you can't get by with a folder and folders are very popular; maybe that's why you see a lot of them out there is because "everyone" has one. Just try an experiment and put on a pair of leather gloves and pull out your folder and open it with your gloves on. It will probably take either 2 hands or you'll have to take off your gloves. Then try the same thing with a fixed blade in a pouch sheath, especially one with a wrist thong. I think you'll see the difference right away. Again, as far as blade length is concerned anything over 4" will get in the way.