IMHO: You're carrying too many knives

I keep seeing load outs, edc & bags for one person, with 4 or more knives.
Your budget and weight limit might be better served with a nice jacket instead, or a better light or even plain old food.

But knives are cool!

I think that more than one knife is excessive, especially when on foot, a situation where weight and bulk are significant.

Appropriate gear is heavily dependent upon the environment and conditions you will confront. In the Sonoran desert in June, you want water (at least a gallon) and a broad brim hat; a knife may come in handy.

On top of longs Peak, any season, you want warm clothing, probably some technical climbing gear and sufficient water or the means to melt snow. Bivouac gear may well be useful, along with a decent blade.

I have several knives, mostly less expensive varieties; none of them have failed me in a pinch. I find a multitool or SAK with their various tools have been about as useful in different circumstances as the included blade. My current EDC is a Skeletool.

I don't ever find myself in the desert, not much desert in my corner of Montana. But when in the woods I almost always have at least two knives, sometimes more. One is a small folder that's part of my EDC, and I like to have a fixed blade as that's a tool I use a lot for wood processing.

I like to have a fixed blade and a folder when off the pavement.

Otzi, the original forum member. carried one knife.
It was made out of a rock.
He either traded or traveled hundreds of miles to get the particular rock, but it was a rock.

Multiple knife carry is a first world issue: a response to a wild excess of resources rather than to necessity.

And, with some reservations, the cheapest knife available today is better than the best available 100 years ago. And the 100 year old knives appear to have been capable of all the cutting that was necessary.

Archaeologists today can trace extensive trade networks, especially in the types of stone used for chipped stone tools, some of which were only used locally, but others of which were traded over many miles.

Obsidian from Yellowstone has been found in Illinois Hopewell sites. Alibates flint from North Texas is found widely distributed, and there are other examples.

I can imagine heated discussions around the campfires of old, discussing the merits and demerits of this or that obsidian or flint, the best heat treatment(Yes, you can heat treat flint), etc. etc. Modern day knife junkies would feel right at home.

How will you stick a pig, fell a tree across an impassable canyon, cut yourself free from kelp, or remove an inflamed appendix without the proper blade?

(These were just a few of the uses for a cutting tool that I ran into last week. This week I cut some twine and opened the tape on a box.)

Otzi also carried a nice copper axe. It was a rather luxurious tool back in that day.

www.iceman.it/en/equipment/

Isotope analysis on the copper revealed that the metal of Otzi's axe was mined in the mountains of Tuscany, in Central Italy, hundreds of miles south of the alpine pass where his body was discovered.

Were I to regularly carry an axe, I would probably feel comfortable leaving my folder at home.

I laughed out loud in the living room reading this. My wife and daughters rolled their eyes.

I don't carry multiple knives so much out of a need for them as out of a love of knives. I'll never know when I might find an excuse to use a different blade!

Nicely done sir!

On the one hand, I agree with the practical sentiment ... if we're talking about a fistful of tacticool/military prybar type knives.

But when I was solo backpacking, there was always a good folder in my pocket (SAK, Buck, or Schrade) and some kind of spare in my pack.

And now, I look at my own everyday stuff, I note there's quite a collection of tools with knife blades, though the knife itself is rarely used.

There's a slim and lightweight folder in my pocket, a SAK Classic on my keychain, and a multitool on my belt or waistband or in my briefcase.

For any kind of travelling, I would commonly add a larger SAK. Heck, sometimes I'll even add a sharp utility-size kitchen knife with a decent blade protector for efficient food prep; at least I know the dang thing is clean.

All of these items have demonstrated their practical utility over and over. The weight penalty is minimal.

--EDIT-- There is also such a thing as not enough knives. I once witnessed a fellow cutting a piece of rope by pounding it with a hammer on a trailer hitch.