He says very little about knives, although he is a real fan of hatchets. On page 151, 1st volume - "Many hunters do not carry sheath knives, saying (and it is quite true) that a common jacknife will skin anything from a squirrel to a bear." His preferable sheath knife has a 4 1/2" blade. No mention of premium steels whatever.
I've never understood many folks' fascination with very large fixed blade knives for chopping and splitting wood. I do see the advantage of a fixed blade knife for many tasks. I find 3-1/2" to 4-1/2" long blades to be best for outdoor use. My two favorite outdoor knives right now are the Mora Robust (3-5/8" blade) and Doug's RSK Mk3 (4-1/2" blade).
Since I was a kid in Boy Scouts I was raised to carry a folding knife in my pocket (I prefer a locking blade, carrying Doug's RSK Mk1 when in the field, RSK Mk1 Mini EDC), a multitool (Leatherman) and a fixed blade in my daypack, and an long handled axe and bow saw in my camping gear.
When I was a kid I bought my first fixed blade knife - a Buck Special - and tried to carry it on my belt, but found it too often in the way and awkward. I even found my beloved BSA Swiss-army-knife-like knife somewhat bulky in my pocket and DID have it fold on my hand and bite me a few times.
I still have that Buck Special. It never took a good edge - not sure why. Now I look at that clip point blade as not being a preferred shape for outdoor use - I much prefer a drop point blade.
The reality is that most of my outdoor knife use (95%+) is best handled by the folder. The fixed blade's primary use is for food prep since it is easier to clean. Most of my firewood prep involves a saw, though the axe is useful for making smaller starting sized pieces for starting the fire. I almost never split large logs.
Clearly we've come a VERY long way in both first aid and camp lighting. LED headlights are AMAZING!!
I should say that I EDC an ARC AAA LED light, and a few months back I was at a restaurant in downtown Chicago - sitting outside with a group of people at night - in the dark. One of the women lost an earring post back and needed to look under the table. I pulled out my ARC AAA LED light to help look for it. Then one of the other guys turned on his cell phone light ... which made my little AAA LED look like a dim candle. While I suppose my AAA LED light would last a LOT longer than the cell phone light, for the situation it sure looked wimpy compared to the cell phone light.
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