Essential Outdoor Gear: The Knife
You have probably learned over the years that having the proper tools for any job makes your life a lot easier or at least a little more efficient. Many people leave one essential item out of their outdoor toolkit when exploring the outdoors. I believe that a knife is essential outdoor gear. You may need it to do anything from slicing tomatoes in camp, to cutting branches to make a splint for a broken leg. The fact is, you never know what you may encounter and like what Grandaddy used to say about being prepared,
“it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it”.
The historical arche of cutting tools extends all the way back to when people used flint rocks as ‘knives’. Long before man began to fashion tools out of metal. Today we have varying qualities of steel through modern metallurgy advancements. We are now producing knives from Ultra Premium quality steel (Valarian Steel for you Game of Thrones fans) down to the Low-End twenty-dollar-ten-knife-multi-pack from your local hardware stores. Since detailed science defines the spectrum, it can get very complicated really quickly if you start to look at all the different steel manufacturers, combinations of elements and proprietary names. So let's keep it simple. The options are many so where should you start?
Keeping the main thing as the main thing, these are the characteristics I look at when selecting a reliable cutting tool for outdoor adventures:
Blade Hardness
Edge Retention
You want your knife to be durable and also maintain it's sharpness for when you need it. One that can withstand a moderate amount of work yet serve its main purpose of cutting or carving. However, if the steel is too hard it may be difficult to sharpen. Therefore, knives made from ultra premium steel will perform very well and maintain their sharpness but may be difficult to sharpen without patience and practice. Low-End blades may seem to sharpen easily but be practically useless on anything firmer than a grape.
So, here are some knives that are relatively affordable and durable (mix of toughness, hardness and corrosion resistant) that I would recommend for various purposes. From pocket sized up to camp/survival sized. Just don't forget to take it with you on your next outdoor adventure.
Mid-Level: Versatile multi-blade pocket knife; sharp out of the box; light duty
Mid-level: Single blade, pocket, super thin and light, light duty
Mid-level: Heavy, Jack of all trades, master of none, versatile for many uses, medium duty
Mid-Level: common 1095 steel, Camping/Survival Knife, durable, versatile, decent edge retention, heavy duty
Premium Level: 154 CM Steel, Camping/Survival knife, durable, great edge retention, heavy duty,
Ultra Premium Level: CPM S110V Steel, top level steel, medium duty, folding, superior edge retention. Perhaps the ‘V’ is for Valerian?
At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives for yourself,.... Joshua 5:2
