Which Small Knife, Large Knife, Folding Saw, & Hatchet?

[870 Shell Shucker]

I really like things with EDGES on them.

I think these 4 items would cover most any task.

What are your choices for a Small Knife, Large Knife, Folding Saw, & Hatchet?

And..................How would you sharpen them?

[Jamie]

I like the CRKT M16 (small), RC4 (large), and Gerber hatchet for 3 of your choices, along with a leatherman prithee multitool insyeadof a saw, which I don't tend to bring along camping.

Jamie

Sent from my Kindle Fire using the power of bacon!

[Coal-Cracker]

Depends on what you consider to be a "small knife" and a "large knife".

A folding saw and hatchet share a similar job, as would a large knife if you consider an 8" or larger blade to be a "large knife."

I picked a medium sized knife (Bark River Aurora, 4.5" blade) and a 19" axe (GB SFA) and am confident I have my bases pretty much covered with just those two.

It may be overkill, but I also have a folder (Benchmade Mini Barrage, 2.9" blade) and a larger, heavy knife (Busse NMSFNO, 8" blade) to fill any gaps and provide some precautionary "overlap" in the event of loss or failure of a blade.

I don't carry a folding saw or hatchet as I feel the small forest axe will do the job of a saw and the larger knife ("chopper") will do the job of a hatchet.


As far as sharpening, I'm loving how easy and cheap it is to sharpen convex blades (Aurora and NMSFNO) to hair shaving sharp. Currently, I use sand paper in fine grits (1000, 2000) and a leather strop with course and fine compound.
The GB SFA, I use a Lansky puck.
The Benchmade, a Spyderco Sharpmaker.

[Regular Guy]

Small knife: Spyderco Native 3
Large Knife: Mora Military
Folding Saw: Laplander
Hatchet: Fiskars 13"

[nyarlotep]

Katana and Wakizashi.
</thread>

[the_alias]

Small knife: Scrapivore
Large knife: Scrapyard Son of Dog father
Axe instead of hatchet: Gransfors Brux Small Forest Axe

[airballrad]

Small knife: Benchmade Mini-Griptilian
Large Knife: Gerber LMF
Folding Saw: Sven Saw
Hatchet: Estwing

[870 Shell Shucker]

I decided upon a Gerber Folding Saw, and a S&W Hatchet. The S&W Hatchet is shorter and lighter than my favorite hatchet is, which makes it much more likely that I'd take it along. It's the knives that I can't make up my mind about. I have a good many, and it's hard for me to say, "these are the ones".

Having 2 knives, a saw, and a hatchet is just so versatile. Plus, if something breaks, you can just keep on rockin'.

[Sen]

Small knife: Mora Clipper
Large Knife: Ontario SP8
Folding Saw: Laplander
Hatchet: Estwing camp axe

I don't normally bring the hatchet with me on solo camping trips, but the other three are part of my standard gear.

[hatchtrikk]

For camping or SHTF?

Currently:

Small knife: ESEE IZULA
Large Knife: ESEE 5
Folding Saw: Gerber
Tomahawk: RMJ Shrike

I really need to get a decent camp axe/hatchet.

[Whiskey]

Small knife, ESEE/DPX HEST or Laser Strike
Big Knife, ESEE 6 or Junglas

I dont generally carry an axe, but when I do, it is the Gerber Camp Axe... light, and does the job.

[tookieblueeyes]

Small Knife: Benchmade Bone Collector 15000
Large Knife: Gerber LMF
Folding Saw: Fiskars 9368 7-Inch
Hatchet: Fiskars X7 OR estwing (I have and use both)

[Dawgboy]

Small knife is a Big SAK and always on me...
Large knife is a RAT RC6
Saw is a Gerber folder
and I have an Estwing Camp Axe (Not the Hatchet)

The Kershaw Amphibian lives inside my car bag for more "urban" adventures, and is a really nice piece of steel...

[870 Shell Shucker]

I think the Large Knife should be large enough for protection from large animals, people, etc.; and also sharp enough, and of a useful enough design to do some heavy duty cutting. Chopping ability would also be nice, but not necessary if you have a hatchet with you. I'd rather save the edge on the Large Knife for Cutting, and use the Hatchet for Chopping.

The Small Knife needs to be good at a lot of different tasks. This one could even be a folder I suppose.

[ninja-elbow]

In the woods
small: Leatherman Juice C2
large: Helle Viking (4" blade)
axe: Wetterlings Small Hunter (15")
saw: Gerber folder I hardly ever use as the axe does a better job.

As for a large knife, that's for fighting and I have many choices but I don't carry a figther on me in the woods and only carry a Hisatsu folder on me in urban areas.

[Whiskey]

If you want your large knife to be able to be used as a defensive weapon, you may want to look at a Junglas.

Here is a picture of most of my bigger fixed blades.

[Woods Walker]

Small knife. BHK Tiger Knapp or a Mora.
Larger knife. BHK Buscrafter or KaBar.
Saw. Sawvivor or Corona folding saw.
Hatchet. Wetterlings or Fiskars hatchet.

[davepark]

I'd rather choose the foldable multipurpose knife in which it has a lot of use.

[Towanda]

Small knife: Spyderco Tenacious
Large knife: Mora
Folding saw: Sven Saw
Hatchet: Estwing 16" Camper's Axe

I have folding DMT sharpeners for the knives and a Lansky puck for the axe. I don't know how to sharpen a saw.

I EDC a SAK and Leatherman Wave, so those would more than likely be along for the ride.

[870 Shell Shucker]

Depends on what you consider to be a "small knife" and a "large knife".

I say anything with 4"+ of Blade length is a Large knife.
Anything with less than 4" of Blade length is a Small knife.
Anything with 6"+ of Blade length is a Very Large knife.

I realize that some blades are wider or thicker than others, but I can fairly easily draw the line at blade length.

[Tireur]

Small Knife: Well not really a knife at all, but this would be my multitool. Gerber Diesel, mostly because I do a lot of fishing when I'm in the bush and Gerber's one handed pliers deployment is the slickest I've used. Plus all the other gadgets on a multitool, this goes on my right hip and is used probably more than any other tool I bring along. Oddly enough the blade itself is crap, like all other Gerber's I've used, but it's small, it does have a blade and I always use it. So that's my small knife.

Large Knife: I don't carry one, but my most useful blade is a puukko. Razor sharp, no more than 4", I have a few from pricey to cheap but they are all equally useful. Mora #1, Grohmann #3 (I call it the Canadian Puukko!), Roselli, and a Lapin. It's a toss up between the Grohmann & Lapin for my most used, but the Roselli UHC puukko is the most wicked sharp fav blade I have. I just pick one depending on my mood, but they all slice, dice, fillet a 35" pike, cut willows, and spread Nutella over bannock with equal aplomb.

Folding Saw: No contest, Trailblazer bucksaw. I usually carry the small one (17" ?) and it will do all the wood cutting you'd need for a firepit. My only quibble is I wish the blades were easier to sharpen by hand, but they are more or less disposable after every season.

Hatchet: Easy, don't carry one of those either. 26" min AXE! Husqvarna badged Wetterlings, Oxhead Iltis and a Best Made (rebadged Council Tool Velvicut Hudson Bay). Again depends on my mood the night before I leave, but mostly I use the Oxhead. One of these days I'm going to do a YT response vid to Nutnfancy with the Oxhead where I make a chair, clean a walleye, then use it as a cupholder for my Martini. But until then I'll just clear portages, chop & split firewood and carry on carrying on. The Velvicut was a bit of a disappointment, it needs as much work as the Husky Wetterlings to get into shape and I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Decent steel & hardness, but nowhere near a Gransfors for out of the box usability.

[Marxist]

Small: Swiss Army One Handed Trekker 30$ Good Tools.

Large: British Army Issue Gurkha Kukri 50$ Genuine, cheap, and amazing quality.

Folding Saw: Sven Saw 35$

Hatchet: Husqvarna Hatchet 45$

[Boondock]

Not saying this is the best combination, but in my kit I carry:

Swiss Army Knife--the recruit model
USMC Ka-Bar (depends on the situation)
Bahco Lapander folding saw
No hatchet or hawk

[Mannlicher]

these. I don't use a folding saw often, but carry a Sierra Saw in my pack.