This is one of an essential items, a must have item for any outdoor activities even when travelling oversea. Do you carry one with you? Well if you don't, you should. So which kind of knife is better? It all depends where and how you are going to use it. I am no knives expert but I will share further on types of knife and their usage base on my experience.
This is a credit card size knife by Tool Logic Survival given to me by a good friend. Frankly this knife is useless to work on anything. It probably comes in handy during survival situation, you are able to use this knife to make a spear for hunting.
Multi-tool knives, these are great knives, very handy and has lots of other functions. My first multi-tool knife was an original standard Swiss Army issued given to me by a Swiss friend on my 23rd Birthday. Later I purchased the Leatherman Wave for my work, I felt the Wave was to heavy for traveling so I decided to get the Juice with the wine opening function. Very handy for 5 star camping or traveling when you think there will be wine flowing.
So which is better? If you are not a technical person, the Swiss Army knife will suit you better. For me the Swiss Army Knives sits away as I preferred the Leatherman because the plier function suits me well, I use them very frequently.
Folding knives are another great knives, it works better than multi-tool knives as they are made stronger and tougher for extreme usage. My first folding knife is a Buck Selector, now it is an antique collectors item. Recently I pick up from a supplier another knife. It is a knife by a German company, Boker. I liked the wooden feel on the handle and gives a good firm grip. The blade is mirror polish finished and it is thicker and stronger compare to the Buck Selector. The blade opens with one hand while my Buck Selector needs to use both. This quick action opening is very crucial during emergency. I have brought in 3 sets and if you are interested, I have put the other 2 on sale on the Online Stores. Selling for USD20.00 or NTD380.
Most knives in the market comes with 2 kinds of blade, straight edge and serrated edge. If you are dealing with alot of ropes or in the rescue business, the serrated edge blade is more suited. They cut off most nylon ropes and seat belt very fast and with ease. I used this blade back in the Navy but for outdoor, I never use serrated edge blade, I prefer the straight cut as it does most of the function like chopping, slicing etc.
Compact knives are not necessary the best knives. The better knives are those made of carbon steel and they are all fixed blade. Meaning is a one piece steel from handle to blade. They are much stronger and sharper but alot of maintenance work. Sharpening the blade can be very difficult. If you watch Man vs Wild, Bear Grylls uses only fixed blade knives for survival. I choose compact knives because they are easy to conceal and can come to action when needed. Easy to carry around without anyone noticing. Those day we used to travel to Malaysia for hiking, we can't bring a fixed blade knife through custom so a compact knife was the only option. I do not owned any fixed blade knife as there is no such need. If I need to chop wood, I have my multi-tool or a flexible saw to do the job.
My choice for outdoor tool would be my Boker and Leatherman combo. These are the 2 tools I will carry them in my EDC (everyday carry) bag. You might ask, why not just a multi-tool, my answer is to use the right tool for the right job.
These are my Grandma's pocket knives. I guess it is atleast 80yrs old. As a Peranakan she carried these knives at all times in her small little pouch. Sometimes she would use these knives to slice apple for me. Guess I inherited her habit of having a knife around. So for my kids.......
This is a very cheap pocket knife with 11 functions I got it for my kids.
