Outdoor Knife for Food AND Fun

[SwampDonkey]

Most outdoor knives suck for food. They're ground too thick or have too much belly. I've been an avid backpacker for years but my dear fiance doesn't love big miles so we've doing more car/canoe camping or hiking in to primitive with fewer miles and more creature comforts. So now I'm cooking more/cutting more veggies and I'm realizing how miserable my standard outdoor knives are for dicing an onion or peppers

I like to bring my Ka-Bar because I use the solid metal buttcap to pound tent stakes into the ground and it is big enough to dig a hole or carve a stick into a splint for a broken tent pole. If I'm being a real weight weenie and putting on big miles the spyderco Delica or Endela is my go-to, and those actual cut food more pleasantly but the blade length is too short.

I'm fairly certain the best option is just bring a dedicated kitchen knife: Wusthof beater or Kyocera santoku in addition to more robust field knife but that's no  fun. Hit me with some outdoorsy knives that aren't miserable to cut food either. Is this really what Opinel is meant for? I don't have any experience with them, just want a bit longer of a blade like ~5". Fixed blades welcome.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

https://agrussell.com/knife/A-G-Russell-Folding-Cook-s-Knife-II--AG-137BKG10

 

[SwampDonkey]

https://agrussell.com/knife/A-G-Russell-Folding-Cook-s-Knife-II--AG-137BKG10

Well that makes it easy. Good looks

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Well that makes it easy. Good looks

Old A.G. Russell was a stickler for quality and when he started sourcing work to China he did much like Sal Glesser and sought out those that could be trusted. I haven't kept up but I'd hope and suspect that legacy is still going and I wouldn't let it stop me from buying their knives.

 

[Michi]

I take an Opinel No 12 and No 9 when camping. The 12 is large enough to prepare meals and cut slices of bread. They sharpen easily with a tiny pocket sharpening stick or on the nearest rock.

 

[btbyrd]

Outdoor knives suck. Just bring a kitchen knife along with whatever beater garbage knife you use to dig holes with or baton kindling.

Know what's more fun than one knife? Two knives.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Justification aquired

https://knifejapan.com/otsuka-hamono-bush-knife-135mm-aogami-1/

 

[Jovidah]

You're describing Opinels... they come in different sizes and food is exactly what they're meant for; the grinds are great. And cheap too if you stick to the basic beech wood folding knives.

 

[blokey]

A super expensive option
http://www.nordsmithknives.com/shop/canteen-knife

 

[Matus]

5" long outdoor blades are going to be on the thicker side as they are often meant for chopping or heavy bush crafting. I would either go for a smaller fixed blade (look at ug-tools knives for example or maybe the smaller models from TRC knives) or bring a dedicated smaller kitchen knife along.

Or just get the folding serrated knife from Victorinox. I was astound how fantastic it is for smaller kitchen tasks for about 15€

I once did a knife meant for outdoor cooking, but it would most likely not be great for preparing fire wood:

 

[Corradobrit1]

Perfect outdoor companion. Pricey but think of the possibilities. And you will be so in with the New York hipsters and weekend warriors.

 

[blokey]

I got one of the out door all purpose cleaver by JE made, surprisingly competent cutter, not sure it he still makes it anymore
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...leaver-jemade-chopper-king.63653/#post-974096

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I never did weight-sensitive camping. I've been in some remote places but we always drove in on logging roads or some such, setup camp and day-hiked out of it. Well, in my military days I did quite a bit of weight-sensitive everything and my M9 bayonet did all manner of chores but that's entirely different.

I guess in my case I had the luxury of different items for different tasks. In camp, I always had at least a hatchet, a multi-tool, and generally a cooking knife of some type. I am NOT a fan of a knife for rougher camp chores. But even if I had to settle on one, the required robustness would certainly compromise the cooking side. If you're set on that type, see what TOPS and Condor have that might fit your bill. LT Wright and Bradford might have something too but you're getting more expensive.

For my scenario, a cardboard sheathed Wusthof Gourmet chef's knife put in a lot of work. Very light and just robust enough to knock about a campsite without concern. And also worked well for lighter camp tasks like cutting cord, whittling sticks, etc. They've gone up in price though so maybe not as attractive as they used to be.

If you can tolerate carbon (skeptical due to your locale), a Douk Douk makes an excellent lightweight, practically worry free (loss, etc.), and surprisingly effective companion to a heavier tool. Moras are good too and have stainless options.

 

[Jovidah]

In my experience the green machine was decades behind the outdoor industry and climbing community when it came to weight sensitivity.
I generally agree with you that trying to find one tool to do it all is suboptimal. For food the Moras kinda suck and Opinel is a milllion times better. However, if you want to whittle wood or something, the Mora is way better. They're just different tools for different jobs; Opinel just happens to be the one meant for food. But yeah it's also an option to just bring a 'proper' kitchen knife.... and a proper board... and a proper pan... Though the convenient thing about the Opinel is that it's a folder you can just tuck away that doesn't really weigh anything.

 

[Jovidah]

Oh one more thing... I'm not sure bringing stuff that works in a normal kitchen necessarily translates well to camping. What works well when you're standing behind a proper height countertop on a proper cutting board doesn't necessarily work well when you're sitting on some rope-bag / helmet / piece of tarp / crappy camping chair trying to cut food on your lap on some piece of plastic plate.
I often found myself going back to grandma-style in-hand cutting.