SAR, you are correct. I think I am going to go with the SEAL pup though. Its more what I am looking for, and the Falkniven is unavailable through Amazon

We used a pup to hack through multiple pine trees (6-8") that had fallen across a snowmobile path due to wet snow and heavy wind. The knife held up admirably and kept us from camping on the trail while ill prepared to do so. Needless to say, we re-evaluated our mandatory gear list and made necessary adjustments. That event was my awakening.

Make quick work of such incidents and are SUPER light weight

Yup, within hours of returning from the trail, a similar saw was the first thing added to my kit.

I have the Gerber LMFII. I use it as my GHB knife that I keep in the pickup. It is a tough well built knife. The blade is fairly thick so it can handle abuse. It feels pretty good and grippy in the hand but just a tad thin in the handle for my likeing. I have a bad tendency to want to rest my thumb on the spine of the blade whittling on sticks...but the top finger guard kind of gets in the way. Unlike the RC-4 or RAT 7 that I have.

Depending on the task needed, the serrations are both a pro and a con. It is a pro for ripping through webbing or rope, but not as nice to skin bark off of sticks where a normal blade does best up close to the guard. So if you want to do whittling...then this is not the knife for you. Get a normal blade w/0 serrations for that task.
The LMF II sheath is fantastic. It dominates anything else when it comes to retention. It slides in and you know without a doubt that it is retained when you hear and feel the snap. It won't come out unless you want it to. Then there is the double retention snaps if you want even an extra measure of retention.

The high quality heavy webbing for the belt loop won't let you down. I have not used the sharpener in the sheath so I cannot give my opinion on that. I always use a diamond stone or an oil stone when I sharpen my knives.

As far as a knife goes, it is the ticket for a get home bag knife. It has pro and cons on the blade type (normal and serrated) which gives you both options and limitations of ease of use. To be clear, it will do a good job as a survival knife, but is really designed as an emergency escape knife to break glass and cut safety harnesses. It is too heavy for EDC tasks.

For camping chores, I like full flat grind carbon steel normal bladed knives...and the longer the better for chopping/spitting tasks. While the shorter 4-5" blades for whittling and such. The LMF II is not a log spitter or a chopper. The blade is too short to do that effectively. It can do it...just not efficiently. The holes for lashings will work, but IMHO I think I'd rather use the knife to make a sharp point on a stick than use it as a spear.

So, in summary the LMF II is a good stainless steel knife that is really designed to be used as an emergency escape knife 1st (which is what it is perfect for) and a survival knife second. It is tough and will do anything that you ask of it within reason. But it won't do everything perfectly. Sometimes, it's just better to have the right tool for the job. Period.

The sog seal pup is more limited in the types of tasks than the LMF II. I know people like the SOG seal pup too...but it has the same pros and cons with the blade. The thing I don't like about the seal pup is the small useable blade length due to the blade stop in front of the guard. Secondly, the blade is also fairly thin throughout so it would not excel well in heavy tasks like prying or heavy camping chores. However, it is good steel so it does ok. It is certainly more "tactical cool" looking and lighter than the LMF II, but I would grab the LMF II over the seal pup if I NEEDED a KNIFE TOOL that I had to rely on.

Aside from that, the falniven A1&A2, CS Recon Scout, CS Trailmaster,RTAK II, Becker BK7, Becker BK2, RAT 7, Kershaw Outcast are more along the line of camp chore / survival knives that would fit your listed chores better.

Hope that helps.

That's not a "bad" thing, though. It's simply the most natural, most effective way to use a knife for whittling. Also one of the reasons why the plain old Mora is so practical in the bush. A knife with only a small (half) guard or none at all is usually the most convenient for general utility work, especially woodworking/carving.

DFA, thank you very much. The more I look at the Gerber, the less appeal it has to me, largely due to the beefiness of the knife-nothing with the performance of it. I dont really need a knife particular to escaping from a wreck-I drive a soft top Wranger, and, if I cannot extricate myself from that, well, I deserve to drown/burn!. I normally carry 3 knives on me for EDC-an RSK MkIII I think it is (the pocket folder), a Leatherman Kick, and a Leatherman Micra. Looking for a field knife, I have to say the LMF caught my attention due, initially, to the robestness of it. Then reality set it-I am no longer a grunt, so weight counts; I prefer something I can carry horizontally on my hip, and I want a knife that is all around comfortable and general purpose. And, cost is a factor as well, to a degree. Falkniven knives are beautiful, but there is something about them that doesnt appeal to me. I dont need a large knife-the blade of the Seal Pup is about perfect for what I want. The RAT series I dont really care for, and I havent seen the CS ones. I will likely be ordering one this weekend, and I think the Gerber is out. Currently, the Seal Pup is the knife I want, but I want to check out the CS & Becker ones too. Thanks for the input!

While I offered my story about the pup saving our bacon (it was all we had), I would tend to agree with the above statement. All of my kits now include something from RAT Cutlery (not to be confused with the RAT line offered by Ontario) as the base knife with other knives (Mora, Ritter, Benchmade) as supplements/backups.

Disclaimer: No affiliation with or financial compensation from any of the mentioned companies... blah blah blah...

I have the LMF II. I have softer knives, I have sharper knives, I have lighter Knives. If I am going for a walk in the bush, I would take another knife. If I am going to "Live" in the bush for a few days hunting. I want the LMF II with me.
If I am in a Bug Out situation I want the LMF II with me.
This isn't mentioned much but in a self defense situation (where I cannot legaly conceal carry) I would turn to that knive as well, the extra weight makes it a Nasty weapon!

Oh and this would probably never be an issue for 99.9% of the population, but those 3 little holes in the handle that you can make a spear with; really work! I was skeptical so I tried it with some para cord and my favorite walking stick. Neighborhood dogs beware! lol

My pleasure. I just wanted to answer your question completly so you make the right decision for your desire and your needs. The seal pup is a good knife and it sounds like both of those will be met by its capability.

The other knives I mentioned from cold steel and becker are more along the line of heavy duty knives as survival and or combat tools that would do camping chores well.

I think it is fun to shop around a bit, so if you want something that is between "tactica cool" and survival with carbon steel, excellent kydex sheath that you can carry horizontally, tough survial knife but not too awful thick and not an overly large knife, the RAT Cuttlery RC-4 is very good option. (I know you said you don't prefer them, but didn't know if you saw that one.) They are kind of spendy though...~$100 Ebay. I have one of those too. To be honest, I can't really think of anything I don't like about it....

I think you have the same problem I do...I like the right quality tool for the job, but also like the pleasure of using something that appeals to me personally