Brnadon,
THe Fox River is one of BRKT's most lauded knives. I've got a Highland Special, which is (very) similar, and a Northstar, which is in the same class. You'll like the convex grind when it comes time to sharpen it (once you've found your groove with convex sharpening). Beware though, if you get a Bark River, it's like eating Lay's potato chips............

With that said, I couldn;t fault the recommendations for a Mora or the Helle....especially the Helle (though my tastes lean toward the Symfoni)

Good Idea Erik,

Hit the second hand/Salvation Army Stores also, I have had some great knife finds there (have to sort through a lot of junk though).

I was at a garage sale once and found a Grohmann/Russell Canadian Forces #3 "Jump" Knife in the "free" bin! It had a broken tip so after a little filing it became my drop-point caping knife.

Mike

Go with one of the Mora knives with the Scandi grind and you will be amazed at the aharpness and how strong the lightweight, laminated blade is. I really like my Frost's Mora knives, an exceptional value. I have a bunch of expensive knives and the Mora will perform along side any of the others!
Cost for a Mora, about $12. The sheaths are junk, but you can either make one or buy a custom one for a small fee.

Recognize that asking forum dwellers for knife advice is like asking a surgeon for surgical advice: you will be tend to be told that you need a very expensive one. Much of this land was pioneered with green river knives, an unadorned and metallurgically unsophisticated blade that seemed to do the job. Note the knife in askdamice's picture post to your right. Highly functional, carried by someone who seems to go into serious wilderness and has come out every time: not a boutique blade, i think, tho I may be wrong. Townsend Whelen carried a knife that he made out of a kitchen blade in his youth. It is lots of fun to talk about how many blacksmith angels can dance on the head of a san mai 3 layered steel blade-but the thrift shop kitchen knife will serve you well, and position you to make future purchases and join the ranks of the cash-poor, blade-rich community of which many of us are members.

Just a note about the Clippers though, from Karamat, they recommend the Progrip handle of the Clippers in operations where gloves are used because of the friction from the thermoplastic rubber... http://www.karamat.com/supplies.html

nursemike brings up something I've been thinking about lately:

What would the traders, trappers, and other pioneers of the past would carry now, if they had the choices we do today? From what I've read, most were very particular with their blades and tools, carrying what they thought to be the best that they could afford. (Even the humble Green River knives were considered to be some of the best mass produced knives of the time period.) Like you mentioned though, many also got by just fine on whatever they could scrounge together or make themselves. (I have a friction folder a blacksmith made for me that's about as simple and cheap a design as they come, yet has no problem shaving hair off my arm.)

While I don't know for sure what they would do today, in my mind I think they would be a lot like many of us. Keeping an eye out for the best gear at the lowest price and sharing stories of gear that works and gear that failed. With that said, what works for one doesn't always work for another. If it did, we would all have the exact same stuff.

(Hope that isn't too far off topic )

I have a Ranger Knives RD6, SOG Seal Pup (part serrated) and a SOG Field Pup which I am selling to a friend to pick up a Benchmade 151 . I thought the Field Pup was great for $42, but I'm 6'4 with big bear paws and the 151 fits me better.

The RD6 is wonderful but bigger than what you are looking for. I think serration is nice in an EDC but in the field its better to have that part of the blade for carving.

I will stand to be corrected if necessary, but what always gave me pause about Mora blades is you'd be hard pressed to use them for batoning/splitting wood. I understand this isn't a day to day requirement for a knife, but I find it comforting that I can get dry kindling and shavings from the inside of a thick branch even when everything is soaked.

On a different note, I whole heartedly agree with the other posts in regards to avoiding knives you'd be afraid to abuse if necessary.

Smoky Mountain Knife Works has many of the moras mentioned in this thread as well as many other brands. If you order on line from www.eknifeworks.com they offer free shipping on all orders of $10 or more. I have ordered several items and the orders have always been shipped promptly and the service has always been very good.

Interesting diagram. I think I recognize several of the grinds (hollow ground, saber, etc.), but I wonder if you wouldn't mind enumerating them?

It's from Wikipedia:

Typical grinds

1. Hollow ground — A common grind where a convex hollow is removed from both sides of the edge. It produces a very sharp edge but being so thin the edge is more prone to rolling or damage than other grinds. It is unsuited to heavy chopping or cutting hard materials. Straight razors are hollow ground. This grind is used extensively in mass produced knives.

2. Flat ground — The blade tapers all the way from the spine to the edge from both sides. A lot of metal is removed from the blade and is thus more difficult to grind, one factor that limits its commercial use. It sacrifices edge durability in favor of more sharpness. The Finnish puukko is an example of a flat ground knife, as are most forged-blade kitchen knives. A true, flat ground knife having only a single bevel is somewhat of a rarity.

3. Sabre ground — Similar to a flat ground blade except that the bevel starts at about the middle of the blade, not the spine. It produces a more lasting edge at the expense of some cutting ability.

4. Chisel ground — As on a chisel, only one side is ground (often at an edge angle of about 20 – 30°) whilst the other remains flat all the way to the spine. As many Japanese culinary knives tend to be chisel ground they are often sharper than a typical double beveled Western culinary knife. (A chisel grind has only a single edge angle. If a double bevel has the same edge angle as a chisel grind, it still has two edges and thus has twice the included angle.) Knives which are chisel ground come in left and right handed varieties, depending upon which side is ground.

5. Double bevel or compound bevel — A back bevel, similar to a sabre or flat grind, is put on the blade behind the edge bevel (the bevel which is the foremost cutting surface). This back bevel keeps the section of blade behind the edge thinner which improves cutting ability. Being less acute at the edge than a single bevel, sharpness is sacrificed for resilience: such a grind is much less prone to chipping or rolling than a single bevel blade. In practice, double bevels are common in a variety of edge angles and back bevel angles.

6. Convex ground — Rather than tapering with straight lines to the edge, the taper is curved, though in the opposite manner to a hollow grind. Such a shape keeps a lot of metal behind the edge making for a stronger edge while still allowing a good degree of sharpness. This grind can be used on axes and is sometimes called an axe grind. As the angle of the taper is constantly changing this type of grind requires some degree of skill to reproduce on a flat stone. Convex blades usually need to be made from thicker stock than other blades.