Real Backcountry Knives

I haven’t been all that obsessed with the knife  I use in the backcountry as some outdoorsmen seem to be.  I generally bring my Leatherman Blast multitool on adventures, which I think has a good balance of weight and actually useful tools and handles almost anything I have ever needed to while I have owned it (other than opening a wine bottle, that is).  

 If I am wanting something a little more lightweight for backpacking, I would bring my Victorinox Spartan swiss Army knife, which is small, lightweight, and a no-frills knife.  Mind you, in general  I am not doing Bushcrafty type of things that are knife intensive/abusive such as skinning deer and making my own shelters with my knife, the majority of time I just use it for cutting my summer sausage, whittling a branch for the fire, or light repairs.   That said, the knifes I have are slightly lacking if it came down to it and had to do something that reuired me putting the knife through it’s paces.  They both have thin blades and  the handles certainly aren’t any good if you are spending any appreciable time with the knife in your hand. 

It would be cool to get a decently robust backcountry knife that would last the rest of my adventure days, but some are quite expensive.  Choosing a knife for what you want is a good challenge, there is an astounding range of sizes and styles of knives available, many of which unfortunately are made to make you want them for their appeal, not for their actual usefulness in the backcountry.  I think there’s a few Macho men out there into knives for the sake of being into knives ‘cause they look cool, and not their actual utility.  To be honest, I don’t know what some people on some knife forums are using their knives so much for, unless they are going out of their way to actually use a knife.

On top of that, many outdoor celebrities endorse products to make a living, and as such some products come into the spotlight because of that, and you have to take the marketing of some with a grain of salt, but on the other hand, some of the knifes are quite good.  I came across a surprisingly good rundown and writeup of celebrity endorsed backcountry knives on shipping.com here:  Outdoor Knives - As Featured In Television Survival Programs

I found it very useful in sorting out the BS when looking for a good backcountry knife.  The Les Stroud knife is intriguing to me, but I think I am leaning towards getting one of the Fallkniven F1 G3 knives

or a Bark River Knives and Tool BRKT Bravo 1 sometime soon.  Although either will lighten my wallet quite a bit, I do spend a good amount of time outdoors to get some use out of them…  hopefully for the rest of my life, so I hope I choose well.