Archive for the ‘gear’ Category

We use knives for many things at Flying Cloud, and it’s important to have a good one, but please don’t spend a lot of money! In fact, the knives I recommend will be some of the cheaper items you bring to camp.

Here are some general guidelines, followed by links to a particular vendor of the specific brand that I’m recommending.

Guidelines:
1) It should be a sheath knife or it MUST have a locking blade if it’s a folding knife.
2) The blade should be no more than about 4“.
3) The handle should be comfortable and fit well into your hand.
4) The blade probably shouldn’t be serrated, unless it’s a multi-blade knife and you have one blade with teeth and one without.
5) The blade should be straight and sturdy, but not too thick.

Recommendations:
Here are two knives that I use and really like. The first is by Mora, from Sweden. The following are links to a few different models from Smoky Mountain Knife Works, but feel free to get them elsewhere. The main difference in all of these is stainless vs. carbon steel. Carbon is a bit softer, and thus easier to sharpen and less likely to snap, but stainless is perfectly strong and doesn’t rust, which can be invaluable at FC.

First, here’s the Mora website.

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/product.jsp?Search.y=0&Search.x=0&Search=1&SearchText=Mora&Mode=Text&range=11&SKU=FS840YB

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/product.jsp?Search.y=0&Search.x=0&Search=1&SearchText=Mora&Mode=Text&range=11&SKU=FS840

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/product.jsp?Search.y=0&range=21&Search.x=0&SearchText=Mora&Search=1&Mode=Text&SKU=FS860

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/product.jsp?Search.y=0&range=21&Search.x=0&SearchText=Mora&Search=1&Mode=Text&SKU=FS860F

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce/product.jsp?Search.y=0&range=21&Search.x=0&SearchText=Mora&Search=1&Mode=Text&SKU=FS893

The other knife I want to suggest is usually available at camping stores, and is a folder. It’s from France, and is called an Opinel. These knives are nice and easy and will sharpen to an amazing edge. I’ve had one for twelve years now and it’s still going strong. The link here is just a random website, so feel free to shop around.

Since you’re buying such an important tool, getting ahold of a whetstone to help you keep it sharp is a good idea too. You can get a nice coarse/fine double sided one for less than ten dollars.

Finally, make sure once you have your new knife that you get your name on it somewhere! If you can get ahold of an engraving tool, write it along the side of the blade, or scratch it into the handle. Whatever you do, make sure it’s clearly yours!

If you’re new to using knives, please don’t experiment until you get to camp and we can teach you all about how to use it safely.