As spring and summer come, I'll be going camping and hiking more. Last year I was on a 4 day hike and my knife sucked, which was a bummer. I want to buy a new one, strong, light, sharp and comfortable to use. Any suggestions?
I'm a big fan of Kershaw knives. I have a few different outdoor/hiking/camping knives from them. And they're local.
I've used the same Swiss Army Knife for well over 20 years (the following is the same style). It's great for camping, hiking, and fishing: http://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Tinker-Classic-Knife/dp/B000VY2Y7M If you're looking for a survival knife: http://www.amazon.com/Gerber-31-000...8&qid=1363212623&sr=1-3&keywords=gerber knife
Came here to say the Kershaw. A friend gave me one of these: Said he got it for $25, but it sure feels more expensive. I do a lot of hunting and probably cleaned a couple hundred birds, a dissapointing number of trout, and skinned/dressed two very large rabbits with it. Just for giggles, here's a pic of one of the rabbits I hit. 8 yards with a 12 gauge. NSFW (unless maybe you're Dexter.) Anyway, my point was that knife cleaned it all, and I probably only sharpened it 2-3 times. Best knife I've ever had. I like the weird swoop of the blade, but it seemed a little tricky to sharpen with a stone. One of these babies did the trick, though, and did it quickly.
I also love my leatherman. Goes with me everywhere. One time I even used it to change a flat when I was about 20 miles from the nearest real road (lost my lug wrench). Bloody knuckle kind of event, but it got the job done. For camping I really use the leatherman more. There are just more occasions where you need a small knife, pliers, a phillips screwdriver, can opener, etc, than you need one big really sharp-ass knife.
I had one of those for about 10 years. Very handy. Replaced it with the Leatherman C2 and never looked back. Pliers are just so handy.
I wouldn't be surprised if your friend really did get that knife for $25. They have some good values. The best are when they do their annual clearance sale. You get knives for like 30-40% of regular price.
I got the skeletool about a year ago and I'm really happy with it! http://www.leatherman.com/product/Skeletool
ha, when I was in high school I busted a friends parents lagioule wine opener trying to pry something loose from my car, only to find out afterwards that it cost a couple hundred dollars. We just threw the thing away and played dumb.
All purpose, I don't hunt so I don't need it for cleaning, but just about everything else. Last year, when I started getting pissed at my old knife, I was trying to make a makeshift hammock and the blade kept closing too easily, the knife was also too dull. I just think its a good feeling to have a well made knife when you step into the outdoors. Leatherman is a good thought also, I have one somewhere, I think, havent seen it in years. hmmmm.
I'm still close friends with their son and see them during the holidays, I think next year I will buy them a new one. Maybe alongside a nice bottle wine from 1993, the year I broke the last one.
I have a very basic Lagioule wine opener - very expensive. Kinda shocking how expensive they are. Since they're a French brand, I recommend a nice Burgundy to go with the opener.
