Big or small?

[Sarge47]

Here's a question for all of you knife carrying forum members. While watching Ron Hood's YouTube video on the construction of his Buck Hoodlum blade he points out that the blade alone is 10 inches long. His reasoning is that when he looked into what the Native Americans used he found that they all used large knives. Yet survival instructors like Mors Kochanski and Cody Lundin use the modest little Mora knife. Bob Newman sported a Buck Vanguard with it's 4 inch blade in his video "The Ultimate Outdoorsman." So that got me to wondering, which size do you all think is best and why?

[randallss7]

Personally I carry a 3" fixed blade in Damascus my EDC it serves every day purposes and most of my field needs, I have used it for large and small game and any typical cutting activity, this size came with lots of tryal and error to finally get happy, ease of carry vs ability, it works for me. With that said if yo plan on chopping/spliting wood a larger knife with a larger thicker blade would come in handy but I do not do that much. In my pack when I have it, I carry a 9.5" overall length knife with 5" blade 3/16" thick with a 4.5" handle and I have a lot of people who perfer this knife actually. I have two one in 0-1 tool steel and one in s30v. I have found...over the years... knives are kind of personal everyone has different needs and wants in a knife so just pick the one you like keeping in mind what you will be doing with it. And get a good one...lol. My vote is small/medium

[AR7]

I carry both. A big camp/survival knife (Gerber BMF)and a small blade (Eskabar or Mora). But for one day travel/bushcraft, I prefer carry only one of them: The small one.

... And my SAK, of course

[Sourdough]

I have a "Small" one.......With a lot of "Belly"............

[gryffynklm]

My every day carry a Leatherman multitool. When out hiking I add the mora and camping I have a camp axe. Then again my out in the woods is usually close to the car or camp and seldom alone.

My needs are simple and basic. I use my leatherman Wave for every day tighten screws, cut twine or rope, simple repairs that don't require a tool box. The Mora I use for shaving tinder, making a digging stick for worms and roots in moist loose soil. Making camp tools, cutting food. Camp axe for chopping and coarse work.

I thought the "Look at Native American knife use" was funny because it made me wonder what type of Large knife Ron Hood was looking at. The iron knives would have been brought from Europe for trade and wouldn't necessarily have been the first style choice for their needs. Who wouldn't want and use a blade that could be resharpened and that didn't break as easily. I am guessing that the iron knives are what was offered and not chosen for a specific need. I don't think Ron was looking at the flint knives. Ron may have looked at both, the knives they used and the way they were used. Time to look up Ron Hood.

Large or small and type of blade is ultimately like Sarge is asking what type of blade and how do you use it.

[Sourdough]

Large or small and type of blade is ultimately like Sarge is asking what type of blade and how do you use it.

I don't stab things........mostly what I use a knife for is: first way out in front Kitchen, Then after that in the following order Skinning, then Butchering, Fleshing, Construction.

[Sarge47]

I thought the "Look at Native American knife use" was funny because it made me wonder what type of Large knife Ron Hood was looking at. The iron knives would have been brought from Europe for trade and wouldn't necessarily have been the first style choice for their needs. Who wouldn't want and use a blade that could be resharpened and that didn't break as easily. I am guessing that the iron knives are what was offered and not chosen for a specific need. I don't think Ron was looking at the flint knives. Ron may have looked at both, the knives they used and the way they were used. Time to look up Ron Hood.

Here's the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdby3NvyAYQ

[gryffynklm]

l just saw the video, thanks sarge. Looks like a decent tool. I've been considering swapping out the small camp axe for something like this. A bit expensive for my pocket right now, between $160 and $200. I get the primitive tribe reference to machetes and similar blades. Definitely going to consider the Hoodlum.

SD. what tasks are you using your knife for in construction? Just wondering if it was beyond obvious like removing packaging and plastic bundle banding.

[kyratshooter]

Ron does not mention Native Americans, he refers to "primitive tribes".

Big choppers were not part of the NA trade system. Small hatchets dominated that field. The knives that were imported are very well documented. The most common knives in the trade system were folders like our modern Openels, butcher knives by the hundreds of thousands, but very few "big choppers". At least that is what the archeologists dig up.

Big knives were so unusual among the NA people that they refered to the Virginia longhunters as Ashalecoa, "The Long Knives", because they carried large fighting knives and sometimes sabres as backup to their slow firing muzzleloaders. If big knife use had been normal in their culture they would not have used the term to define another group.

I differ with Ron on the big knife deal. His military, jungle background leans toward such. He's sitting there in that demo forcing a big knife to do what a small axe would accomplish easily, but would do so with less glamor and at a lower price.

[Sarge47]

l just saw the video, thanks sarge. Looks like a decent tool. I've been considering swapping out the small camp axe for something like this. A bit expensive for my pocket right now, between $160 and $200. I get the primitive tribe reference to machetes and similar blades. Definitely going to consider the Hoodlum.

SD. what tasks are you using your knife for in construction? Just wondering if it was beyond obvious like removing packaging and plastic bundle banding.

There's another video on the sheath which is a tactical work of art on it's own:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqEgb...eature=related