What Do You Carry?

a reply to: Serdgiam

I window shop the good knives and stick with Moras. If I paid a couple of hundred for a knife I'd leave it at home and use a Mora.

One day...Benchmade, Fallkniven, Bark River (bushcrafters)

a reply to: Kandinsky

For the $120 I paid I'm more than happy

Interestingly, I've found I spend less money over time by just sinking it in to a single knife. My EDC sees heavy (ab)use though.

I actually had a similar discussion with a friend recently. I told him I wouldn't trade my Weller soldering irons for anything in the world, and he said he didn't know why anyone would ever spend more than for a $10 iron from radioshack.

The reality was that I ended up spending more on the cheap irons and they weren't as enjoyable to use even when they weren't breaking. But, that's so specific to my situation that it just wasn't applicable to my buddy.

Bit of a tangent, but not entirely unrelated I've always found the two philosophies really interesting. Do I save money on something that will work "well enough" or sink it into something that will be "perfect?"

I think the biggest stumbling block for many would probably be fear of use that is proportional to cost, but that has never been much of an issue for me

a reply to: Serdgiam

Yeah I'm not knocking anyone who spends a lot on good knives. Moras are affordable and practical enough for me. It's all about finding whatever suits the individual.

Good kit is always worth spending on and especially when it can last for years with the right care.

a reply to: Kandinsky

Really can't beat a Mora, I use the things for everything. Heck I use them in the kitchen when butchering meat, love em.

a reply to: tovenar

Those are excellent, thanks, and for your efforts. If the survival forum was more active I'd participate more--and of course when I have more time.

a reply to: Hypntick

Aren't they good?! I'll use one for wood processing (batoning etc) and another for food prep. Something I like with them is the rubber/plastic handles; you can sterilise them before/after food prep.

ETA - This is from early summer as we were getting a small fire going. The knife's a Mora Robust and it batoned, processed a lot of wood that night. Dug a hole down into the shale and used some decking off-cuts as a base. Those are cotton wool balls with petroleum jelly (vaseline) and the thin sticks were from batoning branches as thick as the one on top.

Same knife was used to carve and whittle 3" branches into walking sticks and tarp props for the next day. Two are shown in this photo of the fire.

Mora's are definitely awesome knives. I've got a Mora in every vehicle I own. They're just about impossible to destroy and scary sharp right out of the box. Love the Scandi grind on Mora's. A Mora goes with me whenever I go out in the field. It might stay in my pack, but it's there if I need it.

At the other end of the spectrum, I've also got a couple Benchmade knives. I bought a Mini-Griptillian just to see what all the hype was about. The first one I got with the coated coated drop-point blade so I could see wear on it. I have to say, I've had no mercy on that knife and it has hung in there for some pretty nasty stuff. It's been brutalized in all sorts of weather, cut endless stuff which dulls knives nearly instantly (hay bales as an example) and I've rarely had to sharpen it. It was such a great knife, I bought a second one in a sheepsfoot with a satin blade. What I really like about the Benchmades is, every knife you buy from them is a custom knife. You say how you want it built, and they build it that way for you.

Benchmades ain't cheap, but they're every bit as durable as people say they are! (and then some) The other thing I like about the Mini-Grip is the clip is on the opposite end from the hinge (i.e. tip up orientation). What this means is, you can pull it out of your pocket, flick it and it's ready to go in your hand. No need to turn it around the other way as you have to do with just about every other pocket knife. Plus, the clip can be moved to either side of the knife, so it works for lefties and righties.

So in summary, nothing wrong with a Mora at all (I love 'em). Likewise, Benchmades are great too.