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Reply to: Cheap “Rambo knives” are dangerous, but good ones do exist Posted November 27, 2021

The reason the handle is useful is it allow carrying fragile items like matches, and especially pills, without those rattling around or being crushed, or fattening the sheath with a pocket in front of it. Not having a large pocket on the sheath makes carrying a large knife inside the pants easier, thus more discrete for casual hikes. It makes the knife a one-item carry for single day hikes, and the knife having uncrushable items wrapped around the sheath (like cordage or a thermal blanket), crushable items secure in the handle, makes the whole package comfortable and not alarming to other casual hikers. As to pocket-carrying other items, a pill bottle in a jacket will rattle all day, and pockets can be precious real estate for other items, since a casual hike does not necessarily involve a backpack.   Now as to why a large 8-10″ shelter-building chopping knife should be carried on a simple day hike? The rule is, the shorter the hike, the bigger the knife… A short hike may be undertaken alone, but still in an area not easily found by phone rescue, and it only takes a twisted ankle to make a single mile the other side of the planet…    As others have said, even under heavy chopping, the handle of a good one is no different from any other handle (most of mine have thousands of chops in them, and expensive custom ones are not always the most durable, the Al Mar SF-10 being an example), but I do find the round shape, when larger than one inch across, is actually more forgiving for chopping because of its sheer fatness. Not many of those handles are over one inch, unfortunately. If a cheap one is to be recommended, I would say a re-profiled Master Cutlery R2, as the leather sheath is actually excellent, its 420J steel easy to re-sharpen, and it holds an edge surpisingly well (combining Carbon-like ease of sharpening with stainless). Its handle has an end “lip” to stabilize an extra 3 feet layer of 550 cord (fattening the handle usefully), and it is basically indestructible, even compared to an original (as I tested)… It out-chops the Cold Steel Trailmaster because of its fatter handle (the CS handle being way too thin for proper chopping). The handle attachment -sometimes- has a mild ticking rattle, so return them until you get a tight one, plus that handle joint needs waterproofing, and finally the sawteeth are not angled down, so they require a bit of work (like the edge) to make them do proper notches. It’s a 17 ounce knife, and inside the pants it simply disappears like a long leaf, as well as being out of the weather. The lenght of the knife actually helps concealed carry, as short knives carry poorly stuck inside the pants, but here 15″ overall is the limit for a tall man, so if I had to recommend a shorter 13″ one that is not hollow handled, but can still chop, it would be the SOG Super Bowie. Anytime you see Aus in the steel name, especially if made in Japan, think “excellent”. Anything CPM is usually terrible, whatever the hype about those may be: Unsharpenable and instant wire edge when chopping. Chopping is about as fine, delicate and refined as the work is going to be under stress…

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Reply to: Cheap “Rambo knives” are dangerous, but good ones do exist Posted November 27, 2021

The reason the handle is useful is it allow carrying fragile items like matches, and especially pills, without those rattling around or being crushed, or fattening the sheath with a pocket in front of it. Not having a large pocket on the sheath makes carrying a large knife inside the pants easier, thus more discrete for casual hikes. It makes the knife a one-item carry for single day hikes, and the knife having uncrushable items wrapped around the sheath (like cordage or a thermal blanket), crushable items secure in the handle, makes the whole package comfortable and not alarming to other casual hikers. As to pocket-carrying other items, a pill bottle in a jacket will rattle all day, and pockets can be precious real estate for other items, since a casual hike does not necessarily involve a backpack.   Now as to why a large 8-10″ shelter-building chopping knife should be carried on a simple day hike? The rule is, the shorter the hike, the bigger the knife… A short hike may be undertaken alone, but still in an area not easily found by phone rescue, and it only takes a twisted ankle to make a single mile the other side of the planet…    As others have said, even under heavy chopping, the handle of a good one is no different from any other handle (most of mine have thousands of chops in them, and expensive custom ones are not always the most durable, the Al Mar SF-10 being an example), but I do find the round shape, when larger than one inch across, is actually more forgiving for chopping because of its sheer fatness. Not many of those handles are over one inch, unfortunately. If a cheap one is to be recommended, I would say a re-profiled Master Cutlery R2, as the leather sheath is actually excellent, its 420J steel easy to re-sharpen, and it holds an edge surpisingly well (combining Carbon-like ease of sharpening with stainless). Its handle has an end “lip” to stabilize an extra 3 feet layer of 550 cord (fattening the handle usefully), and it is basically indestructible, even compared to an original (as I tested)… It out-chops the Cold Steel Trailmaster because of its fatter handle (the CS handle being way too thin for proper chopping). The handle attachment -sometimes- has a mild ticking rattle, so return them until you get a tight one, plus that handle joint needs waterproofing, and finally the sawteeth are not angled down, so they require a bit of work (like the edge) to make them do proper notches. It’s a 17 ounce knife, and inside the pants it simply disappears like a long leaf, as well as being out of the weather. The lenght of the knife actually helps concealed carry, as short knives carry poorly stuck inside the pants, but here 15″ overall is the limit for a tall man, so if I had to recommend a shorter 13″ one that is not hollow handled, but can still chop, it would be the SOG Super Bowie. Anytime you see Aus in the steel name, especially if made in Japan, think “excellent”. Anything CPM is usually terrible, whatever the hype about those may be: Unsharpenable and instant wire edge when chopping. Chopping is about as fine, delicate and refined as the work is going to be under stress…