What's The Best Bushcraft Knife?
What’s the best bushcraft knife?
What knife should I buy???
Assuming that we’re talking about general camping or bushcraft knives, the first question to consider is price. How much do you want to spend?
If you only want to spend $20 or so, I recommend either a Mora Companion HD in high carbon steel or an Old Hickory Butcher Knife. The Mora has an easy to sharpen Scandinavian grind, a comfortable handle, and a solid plastic sheath, but it’s not a full tang knife. The Old Hickory has a flat grind, a longer blade, and is full tang, but it doesn’t come with a sheath. The old leather USMC Ka-Bar sheath does, however, fit the Old Hickory perfectly, but that adds an extra cost. I’d be happy with either. In fact, I have many Mora HD Companions, and for my knife choice in the “Get Home Bag’ that I always have ready in my vehicle, there’s an Old Hickory Butcher Knife.
If you’ve got about $100 to play with, my recommendation is very simple; don’t buy “a” knife. You could easily spend $100 on just one knife, but if you’re just starting out, why not take that same $100 and walk away with a main fixed blade knife, a backup fixed blade knife, a pocket knife, a folding saw, and a way to sharpen or hone your blades?
Here’s how you do it, and it’s all quality stuff:
First, let’s spend the most amount on a quality fixed blade knife that’s going to do a lot for you without breaking the bank: I suggest the Mora Bushcraft Black, which can easily handle light batoning. Now, for full disclosure, I do not own one of these knives, but I am qualified to make the recommendation for three main reasons. First, years ago I bought one for my (ex) wife and have been jealous ever since. Second, I have lots of experience with Mora knives, and my experience dictates that the Bushcraft Black must be a solid choice. Finally, the Mora Bushcraft Black comes highly recommended by people that I trust. I just saw one on Amazon Prime for $36, which leaves $64 left to play with.
Second, let’s get a folding saw. Though many have found the Silky saws to cut quicker, I’m still a Bahco Laplander guy due to its durability. I often see a combo deal on Amazon for a Bahco Laplander with a Bahco scandi grind fixed blade knife for around $30. Now, upon inspection you might think that the Bahco knife in this set looks an awful lot like a Mora; well, I think that it’s reasonable to assume that it is a Mora, which bodes very well for this combo. For $30 you get a solid folding saw AND a backup fixed blade Mora.
Finally, if we’ve spent $66 we have $34 left, and that’s enough to buy an Opinel No. 8 or No. 9 depending on your hand size and preference. I bought my first Opinel No. 8 in a vending machine in Paris, France between a bag of Doritos and a Snicker’s bar, but you can get one on Amazon for about $15 or less. You’ve got two choices: quality stainless steel or high carbon steel; I prefer stainless steel for food prep and winter camping, preferring the high carbon offering for camp chores like whittling and making feather sticks.
So at this point there’s still $19 left that you could use to buy a sharpening stone, a ceramic rod, or a strop.
How did I do with that $100?
To be sure, you can spend hundreds of dollars buying just one knife, but is that really necessary?
This is a great Touch Up Kit from J.C. Messer at Messer Custom Leather. Hit him up on Instagram to get yours! https://www.instagram.com/messercustomleather/?hl=en
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