KNIVES

FIXED BLADE KNIFE

The Morakniv Companion

I cannot recommend too highly the Morakniv Companion fixed blade knife -  Go for stainless steel ( While carbon steel is easier to sharpen, it's much more susceptible to rust unless you treat it). I own 3. One lives in my boat, one in my car, and one in my day pack. As you'll see they come in a wide variety of colors to choose from. The main selling points: Strong (3/4 tang into the handle), comes razor sharp, easy to sharpen, super lightweight (lighter than many folding knives), water-proof, highly versatile all around outdoor / camp knife. I've cleaned and filleted fish with it, used it to eat steak, cut rope, skinned wild turkey, and batonned wood with it. Used properly it’s almost as efficient for turning logs into kindling as a hatchet and a fraction of the weight. And of course the best part is its about $15. There are also a range of cool do-it-yourself mods if you want to geek out. There's the company website and some reviews. 

Here are some videos on how to baton wood with a knife.

FOLDING  / EDC / POCKET KNIFE

CRKT Drifter

I've tried a few, but for EDC I have settled on two: The Gerber LST is super lightweight, slim and compact, with a 2.6” blade and hard steel that holds an edge - excellent for hiking / backpacking. On the downside - you can’t open it with one hand and it’s not very durable. The CRKT Drifter – while a bit bulkier, is still small, sharp, reliable, durable and a very portable pocket knife - small enough so that it's easy to carry but with a 2.8" blade that can handle most cutting tasks, can be opened with one hand, and it’s only about $20.

Pocket Knives - Runners Up

Also a big fan of the Kershaw Skyline, slightly bigger than the Drifter -  but it's still light, has a slim profile, and the larger blade enables a wider variety of uses. Can also be opened with one hand, and it costs about $30-$40 depending upon where you buy it. Note that I've purchased two other Kershaw knives at the $20 price point and they broke or fell apart in a few weeks - but this one has held up and performed excellently so far. 

People seem to like this one from Leatherman - but I generally don't like metal handles (cold and slippery).

This folding knife, from Spyderco, while not cheap, gets great reviews all around. 

MINI POCKET KNIFE

This mini folding lock back knife , a smaller version of the LST, is only $10, sharp, and reliable - good to put on your key chain or keep in your essentials kit.

KNIFE SHARPENER

Here's an excellent, fool proof, and cheap knife sharpener that I use on everything - kitchen and outdoor knives. Also, believe it or not this one from Ikea is actually fantastic and also super easy to use.

HOW TO SHARPEN KNIVES

Great how to video covering all the bases

BUYING CONSIDERATIONS AND KNIFE SKILLS

Great overview on survival knife selection and basic outdoor knife skills

Overview of how to shop for a pocket knife