• Home
  • About Off The Grid
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
No Result
View All Result
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
No Result
View All Result
Off The Grid News
Home Extreme Survival

Why The Simplest Knives Are Always The Best Knives For Bushcraft

by Kevin Danielsen
in Extreme Survival
Print Print
Why The Simplest Knives Are Always The Best Knives For Bushcraft

Image source: Bushcraft

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on TruthEmail Article
Image source: Bushcraft
Image source: Bushcraft

There’s just something about a gorgeous knife, right?

If you’re a bushcraft lover, dreamer and even just a beginner, there’s a good chance that if someone caught you on your lunch break, surfing Google images over that tuna sandwich … they’d likely stumble upon your hand-forged, Micarta-adorned, convex-grinded knife addiction.

Maybe it’s just me, but I truly believe that there’s just something about a gorgeous knife.

And believe it or not, this will actually help in expanding your bushcrafting knowledge.  Here’s why …

Form and Function

I’ve often wondered why 18th– and 19th-century trappers would have muskets that were handcrafted with intricate designs, etched into the wood. By the same token, if this is about pure survival, then why even purchase a locally made thing of razor-sharpened beauty?

Perhaps it has to do with the same reason why you’ll wear your favorite pair of pants twice this week, but you’ll chuck those khakis in the laundry within minutes of coming home from work.

If you find beauty in your gear, and especially if you did your own custom work on these items, then there’s probably a very high chance that you’ll want to use it more often. A good friend of mine just recently bought a STELLAR piece of steel: the Ka-Bar Becker Campanion BK-2, and it didn’t take long for him to start making it his own.

The Secret To Starting Fires In Even The Most Extreme Conditions

By the time he was finished, you could tell it was the same knife, but the finish, the scales, and the grind were all his. Now, he’s been trying to find ANY excuse to go camping, just so he can strap it to his leg and make his way afield.

Why the Pride Factor Ain’t Always Bad

knife in groundIn a way, I’m not always fond of how the “cool factor” could land you shelling out loads of needless cash on gear that the big guys say you absolutely positively need today, or you’ll end up dead in the woods. Needless to say, I have a few negative thoughts on the nature of purchasing an item for mostly non-practical, superficial, tacti-cool reasons. However, there is another type of “cool factor” that can actually be helpful for learning the arts of survivalcraft/bushcraft in a way: When that piece becomes just one more reason to get out there and perfect your skills, that’s when I call it the “pride factor.”

It’s your baby, and it’s got your unique marks of ownership. If you dropped that knife in a box full of knives of that exact same make and model, you could STILL pick it out in a heartbeat. That’s the kind of knife that a good bushcrafter needs, because it’s like a token of your love for the backcountry.

It’s the Simple Things…

As I mentioned before, if you’ve got a knife with good form, well that’s great. But if you’ve got a knife that comes with good function as well, then that’s a knife you’ll one day give to your grandkids.

Ultra-Efficient Water Filter Fits In Your Pocket!

In my opinion, it’s the simplest knives that are the highest functioning for several reasons:

  • They’re easier to use if they don’t have more features than necessary.
  • They’re more predictable without serrations or exotic-style edges.
  • They’re MUCH easier to sharpen.
  • They’ll be stronger if they have a simple full-tang (and no “survival trinket” compartment).
  • They’ll come with sheaths that can be replaced with aftermarket ones.
  • They won’t be the cause of any cussing at the campsite, due to accidental slippage, because you’ll just know this knife and how it handles better than any other.

Hey, if you’ve found yourself a knife that combines form and function, and you’re just darn proud to carry it around with you while wandering around your usual patch of woods, then give it some love. Get some backcountry grit on that puppy.

That’ll just give you the excuse to admire it again when you clean it off and stow it in the ruck with a heavy heart.

Do you believe simple knives are better knives? Share your thoughts in the section below:

Knife Lover: Could You ‘Live Off The Land’ With Just Your Gun? Read More Here.

 

ShareTweetShareSend

Related Posts

Urban Survival Options: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Urban Survival Options: Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

by Bill Heid

Mastering the Big City “Bug-In vs. Bug-Out” Question The first decision every prepared household faces when alarms blare is whether...

Cyberattack Cripples Whole Foods Supply Chain… Time to Stock Your Pantry

Cyberattack Cripples Whole Foods Supply Chain… Time to Stock Your Pantry

by Bill Heid

A Sudden Digital Ambush North America’s largest natural-food distributor, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI), discovered intruders lurking in its network...

The War on Our Grains: How a Functionalized Fungal Pathogen Threatens Food Security and National Defense

The War on Our Grains: How a Functionalized Fungal Pathogen Threatens Food Security and National Defense

by Bill Heid

An Unseen Invasion at the Border In July 2024, a routine customs inspection at Detroit Metropolitan Airport turned into a...

Next Post
Why You Should Be Recording EVERY Police Encounter

Why You Should Be Recording EVERY Police Encounter

Please login to join discussion

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

What Will You Do When the TP Is Gone?

What Will You Do When the TP Is Gone?

Nearly Everything You’ve Heard About Saturated Fat Is Wrong

Secrets of Milk Alternatives Revealed…

witches

Do Witches Outnumber Presbyterians In America?

TRENDING STORIES

  • bubonic plague

    Is Another Bubonic Plague Pandemic On The Horizon?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Waco Fertilizer Plant Explosion & A Look Back On The “Waco Massacre”

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Make Yourself 3 Times More Likely To Survive A Heart Attack

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • AI Surveillance Of Shoppers: Walmart’s Newest Tool To Grab Your Data

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Apocalyptic’ Microchip Implants Are Here – And Being Inserted Into People’s Hands

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Subscribe to our Insider Newsletter

Huge discounts on off-the-grid gear and life saving supplements.






‘Off The Grid News’ is an independent, weekly email newsletter and website that is crammed full of practical information on living and surviving off the grid. Advice you’ll never hear from the mainstream media.

  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Extreme Survival
  • Survival Gardening
  • Off-Grid Foods
  • Worldview
  • Natural Health
  • Survival Hunting
  • Privacy
  • Financial
  • Current Events
  • Self Defense
  • Home Defense
  • Pain-Free Living
  • Miscellaneous
  • Off Grid Videos

© Copyright 2025 Off The Grid News.  All Rights Reserved.

Privacy Policy   Terms & Conditions
No Result
View All Result
  • How-To
  • Grid Threats
  • Survival
  • Gardening
  • Food
  • Worldview
  • Health
  • Privacy
  • Hunting
  • Defense
  • Financial
  • News
  • Misc
  • Videos

© Copyright 2025 Off The Grid News.  All Rights Reserved.