Over many years, and hundreds of miles on foot, I have learned the value in quality equipment. When I was younger anything would do, but as my beard has changed to snowy white, I have learned a thing or two. A topic that I have discussed with quite a few hunters in the last two years is their hunting knife or knives. After hearing their choices and why, it made me think about some survival situations and would I be able to utilize the blades I had on hand for multiple tasks. The same went for my hunting buddies and quite simply, the answer was no. No, we would not be able to utilize some of our hunting knives to prepare wood for a fire or other bushcraft tasks. It brought me to this thought; is there a knife that can be multi-purpose as a bushcraft knife AND a hunting knife? I knew there had to be, but I wasn’t sure where to start.
Here is a good example from a hunt ten years ago in Colorado. I was hunting with my friend Eddy and I had brought down an elk. We were field dressing and processing the meat with a Buck Special, a Browning skinner, and a Havalon. At one point when gutting the elk, Eddy mentioned bears and that we would need to hang the meat at the kill site and at a midway point back to the truck. We didn’t have much choice in where to hang it at the kill site, due to limited tools on hand and the trees around us. We did it, but the thought stuck in the back of my mind that there had to be a better way. It took ten years, but I got to thinking about wanting to reduce how many knives I carried and increasing the potential of that knife, if I was ever in that situation again.
After much research, interviews, questioning my hunting brethren, and personal choice, I came to the conclusion that I still didn’t know the answer. I didn’t have a good answer for anyone other than I knew I needed to field test some knives to see if they were up to the task before I could recommend anything. That brings me to why I am writing this. I will be field testing some new knives this year. They will be field tested for processing game and basic bushcraft needs. Can I clean an animal, build a meat shelf, and start a fire all with the same knife in one day? I am new to the world of bushcraft, but I find it imperative to our needs as hunters (and I find it fascinating). We need to be able to complete multiple tasks with one blade, should we be faced with a situation that warrants it.
Agree or disagree, I would love to know your thoughts. What knife would you recommend for this experiment? I have a few in mind that I am eager to test, which means I need to plan go hunt and field test! What tasks would you like to see completed? I will be sharing gear reviews here and in Hunting Life Magazine. At the end, I will write up a comparison article with all the knives tested with which ones I recommend. If there is anyone in southern California who has some bushcraft experience, shoot me an email. It would be great to collaborate. Who wants to go hunting and help me test out some skills and equipment? I know I want to!
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