I have worked with a variety of sheath knives over my stay on this big blue marble. Kabars, Air Force Survival knives, German field knives, civilian hunting knives, you name it.
Being primarily a backpacker, I find they have one big flaw, they are quite heavy. Which brings me to my question.

Has anyone ever managed to destroy a Mora knife? These little knives are quite lightweight but are remarkably robust. While I realize they would be ineffective as a prybar, I have not encountered circumstances in which I normally use a knife where these little guys are not effective.

I have a machete for heavy chopping, so as a general camp and bushcraft knife these appear to have no equal. \

What say you, Oh wise and knowing Sages?

Last January during the annual Fruitcake run I gigged a specimen from 'that catalog.' You know the one, they are in upstate Maine and sell old fashioned colognes so you have flashbacks of your crazy aunt who wore them, 6 pieces of maple syrup candy @ $30 and marzipan.
It sat maturing in the cheap brandy I bought closeout at the local drugstore.I finally decided to pack some in my kit and unwrapped it fully.
This brick is a pallinologist's nightmare! There are fruits and nuts that predate Gregor Mendle and defy even rudimetary identification.
So I pulled out one of my wooden, redhandled, engineer's nightmare MORAS and stabbed the fruitcake with all the might of RichardIII during his fabled meeting with Saladin. To it's credit, the knife penetrated almost to the nickle bolster.
I tried to slice the fruitcake. The MORA remained in situ, as in stuck. I had visions of T.S. White and the Sword in the Stone and it refused to budge. I eventually wound up holding on in a death grip as I pushed against the fruitcake with both CORCORAN paratrooper boots. After several tries I saw the fruitcake fly off, leaving a dent in the drywall.
The MORA blade was STILL embedded in the cake. I was holding the now seperated handle.My APT maintenance man manged to finally free it with a sawzall, though I had to replace the brand new blade.
I managed to epoxy the now damascened blade back into the handle, now with a 15 degree bend to the right. This GOTH girl saw it and pleaded to buy it. I sold it to her, for the price of TWO moras. The things are like coat hangers and rabbits.Leave them alone and they multiply. That, or just have a standing order in with Ragnar.

LOL

Chris, it's sometimes hard to tell when you are being honest or spinning a yarn. IF the later, this is one of your best. But if not... yeah, lay off the fruitcake, it's hard on the jaws. :P

Well, you get what you pay for, most of the time. But also Caveat Emptor Peter Brady, Caveat Emptor...

Welcome Newguy!

My only Mora I bought from a retired trapper/hunting guide in British Columbia. The story that came with it (whether true or not I have no way of knowing, we was quite the story teller) gave it quite a history. It does have a few dings here and there. I don't use it all that much, so it will probably outlast me.

Re fruitcake, hey, I like that stuff. But only the good brands. My son sends me some every Christmas, and I love him for it...

For what I'd use a Mora to do, I'll use a SAK and not worry about breaking it. As for Fruit Cake. . . good brands???. . . The only fruit cake I've eaten was not store bought and it was rather good.

Just use the Mora as it was intended, don't pry laterally and you should be fine.

Moras are capable and reliable as long as you restrict them to cutting tasks only. A good choice for backpacking and general woodcraft.

I have broken a couple of Moras over the years. Both times I got carried away and tried to dig/pry. Both were carbon steel versions, thin bladed, which I now avoid. Both snapped clean off, right where the blade meets the handle.

I find the plastic-handled stainless steel versions to be stronger, FWIW. And the weight/cost is so modest that I can afford to carry two if I really need a backup.

Weekend backpacking trip in the mountains: $200.00

KaBar hunting/fighting knife: $50.00

Having a knife one can depend on: PRICELESS*


*With some equipment, weight is not a consideration**

**No, I am not affiliated with any charge card companies, video production studios, or with KaBar Knife Co.***

***No animals were harmed during the making of this posting.****

****This is strictly my own personal opinion, YMMV.

Respectfully, when backpacking, I think weight is always a consideration for any piece of equipment.

We ruthlesslessly and relentlessly test items for weight vs. utility. Since you can only carry so much, you make hard and calculated choices. Unless you can afford to hire Sherpas to haul your stuff (boo/hiss!).

I am a knife nut. But if I have to choose, weight-wise, between a heavier knife or better clothing, better boots, better pack, better water treatment, there is no contest. The knife loses.

Bear country? Carry pepper spray, not bigger blades. Might need to harvest wood for fire? Carry a 2 oz. saw blade. Cat sanitation? Watch for a stout deadfall stick on your travels, snag it, put a digging point on the end with your SWAK, and leave it when done.

From what I've seen, the more experienced the backpacker, the smaller the knife he/she carries. There are exceptions depending on terrain of course. But it's perhaps the reverse of the military model of thinking on the subject. I've carried big blades while backpacking, and realized halfway through they were both unhandy and a waste of precious weight. I've learned (well, sort of) to always trust the list I make in the field, and not get carried away by the latest catalogue.

But as you say, YMMV. Truer words were never spoken.

dougwalkabout - That's a bunch of thoughtful and useful information thank you for sharing

Agreed. Makes me cringe just to think about it.

A recent episode of the trvel show GLOBETRECKER involved the young lady traveling with a Saami family. You actually see a reindeer ( well not the throatcutting, man thoughtfully turned his back to camera)butchered and cooked for dinner. The mother took a Lueko and with a light fingertip stroke harvested birch branches for the floor's bedding and insulation uder reindeer robes.The floor had been shovelled to permfrost by a-shovel.

I didn't see the Saami stabbing car doors,arguing over exotic metallurgys or what to put in the hollow handle.Catch any number of Amazon based films and some guy is swinging a Tramontina that even in the USA cost more to ship than actually buy.

The fundamental difference between these two examples and ourselves is apparent. This is theeir HOME. We go into the world, the REAL world as visitors and aliens and start building Swiss Family Robinson Treehouses.

(hey, wildman, just looked back at my post, realized I was going over the top, and down-one-side-and-up-the-other. i'm just expounding, no offence intended. we cool?)

The connection of the blade to the handle has always been a weak point on Mora knives. This is generally never an issue as long as you do knife-like things with it. As a knife, used for cutting and only the lightest prying or ax work, it is entirely adequate and dependable.

If your the sort who abuses their equipment, the sort who could break an iron ball with a rubber hammer, and the sort who mistakenly take this as a point of pride, then you might try putting an edge on the leaf spring from a truck.

I used to carry a Kabar but, as you pointed out, it is heavy and much larger than any knife needs to be for job. Ironically it is also far weaker in some ways than it looks. The tool steel is far more brittle than is commonly assumed.

There are precious few times and places where weight and bulk are not an issue. More weight means you move more slowly and/or arrive more exhausted and/or have to leave something else behind. It is almost always a zero-sum game. A knife that is overly heavy or bulky than it needs to be costs you somewhere else.

I wandered into owning three Mora knives. So far for what I have used them for (cutting stuff) they are great. Good size, easy to manage, light weight. I usually trust the opinion of my father-in-law on knife issues, and he absolutely loves his Mora knives. I also have (and can't wait to use) a Cold Steel Bushman. For it's size and supposed strength it is reasonably light, and inexpensive.

The Mora is a "rat tail" knife. So is the Kabar. Both are weak at that point...

I've broken a couple, usually batoning or heavy cutting trying to get to dry wood on the inside of a small log for a fire.

They work ok for cheap knives, but there are much better options out there, IMO. YMMV.

BTW the Cold Steel Bushman has been tested for shear strength at the blade/handle junction up to two tons before bending. They also have a three year replacement guarantee. All for around $30.

Yeah, interesting blade, but for backpacking? 10.1 oz.?!?

I can carry a Mora, a SWAK Classic and a wood saw blade for roughly half that.

Don't get me wrong, I've handled a Bushman, and want one to play with. Pretty sure I'd wrap the handle in grippy tape right away -- seems like a blister maker to me.

But for backpackers, that's exactly the kind of knife that stays at home.

I guess I worry less about weight when I'm backpacking. The only time I pay attention to weight when I'm going into the outdoors is when it concerns the size of projectile coming out of my barrel. Tarzan, I too carry a machete when I go into the woods.

I guess the 2 lb Busse knife I pack is outta the question, then???

For me, it all depends on the situation. There's been plenty of hikes where I've only packed the multi-tool. Then there've been hikes where I've strapped on the Ruger Super Redhawk across my chest.

You take what you think you'll need. The hikes I dread the most are the ones with the 30-40 lbs of rope added to the load. For some reason I am always the one volunteered to add it to my pack.

I totally agree. If you reasonably expect to need a tool, you take it. I wouldn't hesistate to pack an axe, machete, cold steel shovel, chain saw, or 12 gauge if there was a legitimate need.

But I've also learned, from experience on the ground, that I can pack a lot of functionality into a pound of weight.

If I'm ranting, it's because of what I've seen on the trails.

I've seen too many "backpackers" (cocky young males, always) with big Rambo knives (cheap steel, and dull as sticks). I call it "big knife syndrome" and I can usually guess what comes next.

They inevitably have leaky tents, inadequate food (marshmallows, stored where bears can get them), cotton clothing, no maps and no dry matches. Rather than cover up properly, or use provided facilities, they commonly take dumps in the open where it washes into pristine glacier-fed streams.

And the experienced walkers in camp, with our sharp little SWAKS and proper gear, end up bailing them out (if only to avoid creeping bureacratic rules that follow tragedies). Or, we end up cleaning up after the swine because we care about the land and the water.

So when I hear "backpacking" and "big knife" in the same sentence, I see red.

Lucky thing none of us here would be part of such a SNAFU.