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Posted by Bill S on May 5, 2008 at 12:26:29 pm EDT
In reply to knives and hiking posted by redpatch5 on May 4, 2008 at 10:00:14 pm EDT

redpatch5 has been talking to a bunch of macho dreamers who say

Quote:

they all say they chose that knife for protection from wild animals.

Maybe in the movies. Or maybe defending themselves against chipmunks. I expect kutenay to respond here, assuming he can pick himself up off the floor and quite laughing hysterically long enough to type a response. I doubt that a sword (except Ahnold's in the Conan series) would have any effect against grizzlies (or any other bear bent on a real attack), the large cats, or even an enraged elk/deer/moose (yes, these have been known to kill people).

Knives are made for specific purposes. Although I do use a Swiss Army knife (have several of these from both "official" makers), I find that all the multiple blade/tool knives/Leatherman type of devices do not do anything particularly well. For climbing, I carry a "rescue knife" which sees occasional use for cutting sling or cord for leaving behind for a rappel (more often for clearing the huge pile of ancient, rotting sling off popular rappel points on backcountry routes). Yes, the SAK can be handy [I have used the pliers on one several times when on a backpack with scouts to to "orthodontal" work (retrieve pieces of broken braces), as a pot lifter, and to tighten a few things that my fingernails weren't up to]. And I have used the blades of SAK and Leathermen to whittle, carve, and cut things. The saws aren't good for sawing wood or anything else more than a couple centimeters thick (and are poor even on sticks less than a cm).

Bowie knives do have a purpose. Aside from their use as a weapon for fighting other humans mano a mano, they were used as a substitute for axes, skinning large animals after killing them with the muzzleloader, and as the frontier equivalent of a multi-tool. I do carry one when doing historical re-enactments.

Multiple blade knives do have their uses, but they are not a substitute for a real tool and certainly are unsatisfactory as a weapon for defense against wild animals. Oh, wait, maybe if you confront an enraged brown bear, he might laugh himself to death at the sight.

And the point about having a knife that is kept clean and separate for kitchen putposes is a good one - the folding blade type, especially multitools, have too many hard to clean crevices that can and do harbor all sorts of contamination (if you carry your knife for cutting bread and spreading peanut butter in your pocket, do you also carry the bread itself and the peanut butter in your pocket - I mean without wrapper or container, directly in your pocket?)

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• Re: knives and hiking - Ed G 13:04:59 05/05/2008

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