Grow stronger <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />


Bors

hmm. i've thought of my priorities in the properties of a knife rather than capabilities. i'm not sure if i should drop one of these five for corrosion resistance. whatever, i think the ideal knife must be....

1. Sharp. i don't care how tough a knife is if it can't cut.

2. Usable. i think a ten inch knife is awesome. who doesn't love a giant bowie? i wouldn't use it for most tasks that need a knife, though. six or seven inches are the max for wielding.

3. Receptive to sharpening. unless it utilizes a disposable utility blade, if it can't be restored easily it just adds to the work that needs to be done and makes life harder which is counterproductive.

4. Tough. if you do need to chop or pry, it would be nice to have some forward weight and for the knife to take receive hard use, or even abuse, well. still, i'd sacrifice this aspect in favor of one and three every time and carry a designated tool.

5. Light. just makes carrying it easier on you.

If you can dress/skin a deer with a DF your skill with a knife is far beyond mine. For skinning I would prefer a not too wide 3"-4" blade on a deer size animal.

My bias in blade size seems similar to Jerry's: a 5.5" - 6" bladed knife is about the perfect "you only want to carry one knife" size. 6" is a decent size for camp chores and could be pressed into service for dressing game though it wouldn't be optimum for skinning. Both the (old?) SH and the Camp Tramp blades are slightly large (7.5"?) for that single all-arounder..again IMO.

I wish I had been enlightened to SYK sooner so I could have purchased a S6. The upcoming BATAC should be pretty close to my perfect all-arounder.

The S6 will return.. Dan said so. I'd agree the S6 is close to perfect as a sensible field knife, the DF will out chop it- but using a baton the S6 will still take down small trees. It's (S6) small enough to carve with and do small chores too.

i believe paul bunyan's 'one knife' was a shaker, in combination with his axe, a crash axe with which, according to folk legend, he dispatched a horizon hood.

I have found that the S6 batons really well through small trees. I have made a wilderness spoon using only a S6 and CRKT folder. I batoned it all into shape. But yes the DF would be the best chopper. Both together would be unbeatable!

An S6 or M6 and a Buck Hartsook could pretty much do everything.

You could probably skin with the Dog Father but why not just chop it up in quarters and hall it away <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Dan

sounds good Dan. say um...what's next on the menu?

Do you have a Buck Hartstook? how is it? It seems almost too small to be useful. Wouldn't a mid size Swiss Army Knife or something elts be better?

I plan on picking a Hartsook up soon. It is really small but you can do a lot of work with a very sharp small knife. I picked it because it would be very easy to carry but a small mora would be more traditional.

What does a Buck Hartstook look like - I'm not familiar with it ? BTW, I like your signature line! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Tom