What do you perfer when choosing a knife for camping?

Question

I need a good knife for camping. I dont know whether to choose a regular jack knife or one of those small swiss ones. Please help, thanks.

Answer 1

a fixed blade about 6"-10" is best. They call them hunting knives around here but also refered to as survival knives made famous to me by Crocadile Dundee "You call that a knife, This is a knife"  

Answer 2

Get a multi-tool for sure I like the leather-man skeleton because its not so complex be sure it has saw and a normal blade. i don't know where you live but go to a sporting goods store and ask the guys there they usually know whats good just tell them what you want. Hope I could be of help.     O and don't get the swiss name brand I've never kept one for more than a week :)

Answer 3

I like a Leatherman because it has all the tools I might need besides a blade (pliers, screwdrivers, scissors, etc.).  I don't like the Swiss Army knives like Wenger or Victorinox because the blades suck.

Answer 4

I prefer a fixed blade knife like a Buck  

Answer 5

I usually use a single blade folder. My knife is a Timber Wolf. One of the benefits of the single blade folder is that it isn't as bulky as a Swiss or a Jack Knife. It is simple and easy to use because it only has the one blade and you don't have to worry about a sheaf falling off or anything.

Simple, durable, light, easy to use and cheap.

Granted, I don't have many of the benefits of a Swiss or a fixed blade, but a folder works great for your everyday knife that you keep in your pocket all day. I ussually keep a multi-tool or other knife in my gear just in case.

Answer 6

Utility, utility, utility. I use a Leatherman, but any multi-tool will do. Make sure if you choose one it has a small saw, a non-serrated blade, a serrated blade, assorted screwdrivers, a can opener, and a file. I have used these on many camp-outs and they work awesome. I actually felled a tree (dead) about 4" in diameter with the little saw. When I say dead I DO NOT mean rotten, I mean all dry and tough.

New Info- Large fixed blades will not perform too well in situations where the blade needs to perform a delicate task. In fact the BSA handbook tells Scouts to avoid their use. A single blade pocket knife with a fixed blade is one thing, but a knife normally used to dress game will not help you at all. One of the guys in my troop nearly hacked his finger off using a kitchen knife that was too big cutting potatoes, so I can't imagine what would happen if you tried cutting a rope with a huge knife.

Answer 7

Proven quality. A knife has to be of a design, materials, and workmanship that has proven its usefulness for the task (in this case. woodcraft. and, to a lesser extent self-defense) over decades or preferably centuries, though not ignoring recent developments in any of those ares. Regardless, it should be hand made, preferably by members of  the culture that invented it or their inheritors. This is why I prefer either a hand made in the USA medium sized Bowie knife made of carbon steel or a hand made Indonesian golok made of carbon steel.