A person far from civilization turns into a defenseless creature. Functional camping knives will avoid this feeling. Unforeseen life situations should be prepared, especially for lovers of “safe” or extreme outdoor recreation.
Why do I need a knife
Camping attracts with the splendor of positive impressions and joyful emotions. If you are planning to spend time in the wild (I want to think so) embrace of the forest, you have to take care of comfort and safety. Camping knives became an obligatory attribute of even a short sortie from the civilized world. A clear idea of why you are going to the forest will help you to dwell on the knife you need.
One thing is a short-term picnic, another thing is hunting or fishing for several days. And very special equipment will be needed for a survival course in the wild.
Types of Camping Knives
No modern invention is able to replace a knife in a campaign. Experts believe that, ideally, a traveler must have at least three knives with him: the main, auxiliary and instrumental. It does not hurt and folding. Now you can buy a set of camping knives in one place.
In choosing a knife, one must give preference to its effectiveness over effect. The best camping knife is a knife with one blade, awkward, with a handle convenient for your hand and with a cover attached to the belt. No need to look at a long blade, fifteen to twenty centimeters is more than enough.
For the auxiliary knife, a folding one will fit, in which the locking mechanism is the same as that of a classic European folding knife. New inventions in this direction have not justified themselves; they can fail at the most crucial moment. Automation leads to spontaneous opening or to difficulty when opening with cold or wet hands. There is simply nothing to replace a knife that has become unusable in the forest. The blades are ten to twelve centimeters long enough. Such a knife is compact, easily fits in the pocket of your pants or vest.
A knife that combines many tools is in demand. The length of the blade of a tool knife is eight to ten centimeters. It has one minus: it is not suitable for labor-intensive work. Although there are pluses too: convenient, everything you need at hand, takes up little space. A camping knife with a spoon is simply indispensable in the forest.
It has an additional folding knife with a small blade up to eight centimeters. Seretory sharpening is preferable than traditional. If there is a ring or a loop on the handle for attaching to trousers or a jacket, this makes its transfer more convenient.
Knife Selection Criteria
The decision to buy a knife leads to the study of selection criteria. The size of the knife is what you should pay attention to first. Camping knives are recommended to be purchased with a length of ten to twenty centimeters. A marching can opener should open the can, chop the branches, and cut the sausage. Too small a knife, as well as a very large one, loses its versatility. You will have to carry an additional device with you or clearly determine the responsibilities assigned to the knife.
For the strength of the knife, the integrity of the blade with the shaft located in the handle is of no small importance. Such a shank will not allow the blade to break off even under heavy load. In addition to a full shank, it qualitatively transfers the load of the lever, the so-called mouse tail. Its design is characterized by a hidden lever that runs along the entire length of the handle.
Blade of knife
The thick blade of the camping knife gives it strength and reliability. It depends on the hardness of steel. You should choose a cross between hard steel (it gives fragility, and hence unreliability) and mild steel (it does not allow you to keep the sharpness of the blade for a long time). Traditionally, a hiking knife is made of two types of steel: stainless and carbon. Stainless steel knives resist corrosion, but their blade becomes dull quickly, it is difficult to sharpen such a tool in the field. Carbon steel knives have the opposite qualities: they can quickly rust, retain the blade for a long time, and they are easy to sharpen.
The shape of the knife also matters . For tourist knives, the forms “finca” (concave blade) and “spear” (with a lowered line of the butt) are suitable. The latter is commonly used in penknives.
A special role is played by the method of sharpening the blade. It is important not only how long the blade keeps sharpening, but also how easy it is to restore the sharpness of the knife in the field. A knife for a tourist should ideally be sharpened with a sword or difficult to sharpen.
Knife handle
The knife handle is made of wood or leather, bone or horn, rubber or plastic. In this matter, personal preference plays the main role. The material of manufacture, shape and size of the handle does not matter much. Put the handle in your hand, hold it. Its characteristics (shape, size) should fit your hand.
The material of the handle affects its features. If it is made of rubber, it will not slip out of a wet hand even when cleaning the fish. But the handles of horn or bone are pleasing to the eye. The wooden handle of the knife is pleasant to the touch, does not slip, but requires additional care. The most practical is plastic, it is durable, beautiful, not afraid of moisture.
The hand is protected from the blade by a protrusion between the handle and the blade. Double-sided protects better, but single-sided allows you to grab the knife in different positions.
A good camping knife is equipped with a cord or chain fixture. This is usually a hole, ring or leather loop.
Knife sheath
Camping knives are best carried in the sheath. They ensure the safety of the knife and human safety, therefore, should be from a solid foundation. Great material is leather or wood. Plastic also copes with knife transfer. Tarpaulin, leatherette are not suitable for scabbard. A sharp knife will pierce or cut them.
A strap is used to secure the knife in the sheath. It is good if a similar collar is present at the knife - there is less chance of losing it or getting hurt.
Overview of the best camping knives
In the first place, according to reviews, is the KA-BAR USMC Utility knife made in America. They began to produce such an instrument in the mid-twentieth century. It is long (more than thirty centimeters), has a blade eighteen centimeters long. It has a leather grip, functional finger protection, a smooth and easy to sharpen edge.
Tom Brown Tracker knife is designed for hunters. The blade is eleven centimeters long, on the back of the cutting edge of which is added a saw and a fixture for scraping. The total length of the knife is thirty centimeters.
The SOG SEAL Team clumsy knife is considered the most durable. It is almost impossible to blunt it. Withstands the test of salt water, fire. Even the tip of the knife cannot be skewed when using the knife in the form of a lever or a hammer. The blade is eighteen centimeters thick - five millimeters. The side of the blade is serrated.
Knife SRK, manufactured by Cold Steel, belongs to the category of universal. The thickness of the blade is forty-eight millimeters, the length is slightly more than fifteen. The handle is made corrugated for ease of grip.
The A1 Swedish Survival knife of the Swedish company Fallkniven fits all the parameters of an ideal camping knife. Its length is almost twenty eight centimeters, its blades are sixteen. The handle design is one-piece, with square corrugations, finger protection and a lace hole.
Knives and laws of the Russian Federation
Knives can be classified as edged weapons. Therefore, when acquiring a new companion for a trip, ask the seller for a certificate. The document indicates what kind of knife it belongs to: household, military, industrial. If there is no certificate, you can try to determine its type according to the parameters defined in the law. Pay attention to the length of the knife (allowed up to ninety millimeters), its thickness (up to five to six millimeters), the hardness of steel (up to 25 HRC). Blade knives are prohibited.
Output
Each traveler picks up a knife for himself. The convenience of carrying the knife is important. This characterizes camping folding knives. Their disadvantage is that they break faster. The hinge that holds the blade and handle together fails when the load on it increases. The blade of the folding knife is limited by the length of the handle, so it has a short and thin blade. It is problematic to crush with a handle, to cut branches for a fire with a folding knife.
Provides the availability of all tools on hand universal knife camping. There is a corkscrew and a can opener. This tool is characterized by safe transfer, stainless steel is not afraid of water, all in one place. Mandatory camping set (fork, spoon, knife) is required for fishing and hunting, traveling and on a picnic.
Particular attention should be paid to the following components: the manufacturer must be known, the blade length - optimal, steel - quality. Before buying, evaluate the cutting profile of the blade, the required type of sharpening, the material of the handle, the type of lock, the possibility of opening with one hand.
Equally important is the price of the item. Too expensive copies are unlikely to become permanent travel companions in the campaign. They are sorry to lose, to damage. Will they decorate the wall or gather dust on a shelf. The knife should work. Too cheap models may not live up to expectations and fail at a difficult moment. Each determines a possible price range based on the thickness of the wallet and the frequency of attacks on nature.