I've all but completely 100% decided a large chopper is unnecessary and is wasted survival weight. "Large" is relative, but for me it means any knife with over 8" of blade. In my search for the perfect SINGLE wilderness knife I keep coming back to the 7" x 3/16" design. Its large enough, but its not too large.

I really want to keep this on track with regards to a single knife. We can all choose 3 knives that fit our needs - that's easy. This thread is about really digging deep and exploring what is important in a wilderness knife. Its about making tough choices which is essentially what wilderness survival requires of people.

Ten years ago I had wilderness survival gear that was so overloaded, redundant, and heavy as to be not only a hindrance to movement but also a danger (of causing mechanical injuries). There is certainly a place for redundancy in survival, but really tough choices need to be made. Any wilderness kit over about 35 pounds can become problematic. Carrying 5+ pounds of knives and sheathes doesn't leave enough residual weight for food, shelter, fire, defense, water, navigation and signaling.

The lighter your load the faster you'll move (and safer you'll be from mechanical injury). I've had to carry someone out of the wood because of an injury. It is not fun.

Realistically, knife redundancy should be a small lightweight skelly (5oz) and a general purpose knife (under 16oz). However, this thread is about THE ONE knife so lets keep digging until we find it...or someone builds it!