Your thoughts on a large Knife

Status
Not open for further replies.
The Condor bushcraft showed up today and it looks pretty good. It cost $51 shipped, the edge came pretty rough but it was easy to sharpen on a flat diamond stone. The kukri knife this parang is replacing was a pain to sharpen do to the recurve design.
I am looking forward to putting the blade to use, I think I will be pleased.
 
I have a few large knives. I find them, for the most part, one trick ponies---they do the jobs they were designed to do very well, but hardly suitable for everyday tasks (unless you're cutting a trail through the jungle while eating coconuts!)
 
FE93DC19-FF1F-4B51-9A10-5AE2D0724C33.jpeg Tough to carry in polite society, and too big for intricate work. Sometimes a one size fits all approach isn’t the best.

I find my $4 garage sale find US marked Ontario bolo and Kershaw Leek to be a good combo. The Leek may not be perfect for all jobs, but at least I’ve always got it with me.
 
I have a few large knives. I find them, for the most part, one trick ponies---they do the jobs they were designed to do very well, but hardly suitable for everyday tasks (unless you're cutting a trail through the jungle while eating coconuts!)
I guess it depends on where you live?
Where I live we have a lot of dead lodge pole pine that makes for some good fire wood, on the west side of the cascades we have dense brush.
I don't really get your point, please help me understand.
 
I have a few large knives. I find them, for the most part, one trick ponies---they do the jobs they were designed to do very well, but hardly suitable for everyday tasks (unless you're cutting a trail through the jungle while eating coconuts!)

I've had a Gerber 200 on my keychain now for decades and it is the first knife I go to for any cutting task. 99% of the time it gets the job done on the cutting tasks that I typically encounter and its been pressed into service for tasks that its not really designed to do - I've even used it to cut up food a few times. It's amazing what a little knife can do.

It probably wouldn't help me a whole lot though with cutting a trail and trying to open coconuts.

Since you purchased a Condor Bushcraft, I thought I'd mention another knife in that price range - the Terävä Jääkäripuukko
 
I wonder if they'll ever make another run of BK20. I know this video has been posted here before, but its a nice interview with Ethan Becker and good coverage of the BK20:

 
The Condor bushcraft showed up today and it looks pretty good. It cost $51 shipped, the edge came pretty rough but it was easy to sharpen on a flat diamond stone. The kukri knife this parang is replacing was a pain to sharpen do to the recurve design.
I am looking forward to putting the blade to use, I think I will be pleased.
I did notice the blade of this parang had a near 1/4" curve, I contacted Condor about this and asked them what there tolerances were for warpage. They sent a new parang and a prepaid UPS to ship the first one back. I received the the new parang and it is just fine. The customer service of Condor was excellent for me.
 
I skinned one deer with my large bowie knife but it was too long for me. Awkward describes it best. I prefer a shorter blade for this task.

TR

View attachment 792424

I agree on blade length. Bill Bagwell advocates carrying 2 knives: one 3 - 4" blade and the other 9 - 12". Skinning and deboning is difficult with a blade longer than 4" and chopping power doesn't really start until a blade reaches 9" or longer.
 
I carry a somewhat large fixed blade knife in my survival pack. 10" blade. I find them quite useful when staying in the woods for longer period than expected.
 
I carry a hatchet and a small folder in my truck. Have gutted deer with the folder and the hatchet will handle building a small fire.
I have way too much stuff in my truck, but if I dug around I would find a bow saw, hatchet and a Mora along with a bunch of other stuff like a shovel and pick ax and a come along and all the other stuff I can't remember I might need some day.
 
I like big knives, but for most outdoor use I don't have much use for them. Everything I want to do when camping or hiking I can do better with a modest sized knife like a Mora or a small axe.
 
Largest knife I own is a vintage Garcia hollow handle survival knife. It features a 7" Hackman stainless steel blade with saw teeth on the spine of the blade and is made from 1/4" stock. I tend to think of it sometimes as being more like a short sword but with the storage capability of the hollow handle it makes for a fairly handy and versatile survival knife.

zs009FH.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back in the early 2000's when Swamp Rat Knife Works (an off-shoot of Busse Combat) was fairly young, I bought a Battle Rat. A 9" coated carbon steel blade with a Respirine C handle, designed around the limited run Busse Basic Series. I still have it, and I still used it. It's solid! I've chopped down small trees with it, trimmed the bush in the front yard, and dug a few holes with it too, amongst many other things.

That company started to make fancier knives, but then they opened a second off-shoot named Scrapyard Knives (or some such), to offer those more basic designs again. Their website seems not to be working correctly right now, and they are showing no products in the inventory. But I'd be willing to bet they still offer such a knife.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top