I thought about posting this up higher in the forum menu, because my list contains 3 ESEE blades. But since I hope to encourage wide-ranging discussion here, including about mermaids, and maybe even music .. I decided to post this in GD. So, to the topic. Here are my top 9 blades, the ones that I'll travel with. These are the ones that consistently wind up on my bushcraft table, making sure they're sharp, well-oiled, and cared for. They are not listed in order of value, but length so I can shoot (image) them after first light. Here we go: Fiskars X7 Corona Saber Tooth Saw SW HRT9B Mora Bushcraft Black ESEE RB3 Zancudo Izula Enzo Necker TDI Pic to come in good light. (It's midnight here, and time for sleep.) ____ Do you have a favorite 9? I know, so many blades, so little time. But 9 is such a nice number. Just one digit .
1. Expat cleaver 2. Esee JG3 3. Esee cr2.5 4. Esee Junglas 2 5. Spyderco Shaman 6. Silky pocket boy 170 7. Benchmade proper 8. Fiskars bowsaw 9. Gransfors Bruks wildlife hatchet. List given in no particular order.
The current top 9 in heavy rotation, no particular order ESEE PR4 Spyderco Para 2 SAK Farmer Bark River Ultralight Bushcrafter ESEE Izula II Bradford Guardian 3 LT Wright Next Gen ZT 0770 LT Wright Camp Muk
1. Busse B4 2. Busse ASH1 (I have about 20 of these so I could just do all 9x ) 3. Swamp Rat HRLM 4. Busse FFBM 5. ESEE3 6. Fiskars Felling Axe 7. Busse Skeleton Key 8. Bahco Laplander 9. Buck 0505 folder Except for the saw and axe I have several choices that could fill each space. Just trying to nail this down for today
1- ZT770CF 2-Esee 3 3-Spyderco Endura 4 Wave 4-Esee Junglas 5-Esee Laser Strike 6-ZT0620CF 7-ZT801TI 8-Spyderco PM2 9-Spyderco Manix 2
1-Esee Laserstrike 2-Fiskars(Gerber version)X7 3-Esee Junglas 4-Benchmade Adamas folder 5-Victorinox Hunter SAK 6-Esee 5 7-Fiskars(Gerber version) Splitting Axe 2 8-Fiskars 22" machete 9-TOPS Knives MSK
1 Ontario Rat2 folder 2 Condor 18" machete 3 Mora Companion HD 4 Esee Izula 5 Esee RB3 6 Tramontina 22" machete 7 Mora Bushcraft Black 8 Cold Steel LTC Kukri machete 9 Condor Rescue Tac hawk 10 Varustelka Skrama Wasn't sure I was going to get 9, much less 10. . And that's just what I use regularly, I have at least 2 mil surplus rocket boxes full of extra Mora's and other cutters and choppers I've tried out over the years. Honorable mention goes to the CS Spetsnaz Shovel, another highly useful but underrated tool.
In no particular order: 1. Baryonyx Machete 2. Kingfisher Machete 3. Mora Pro Flex 4. F. Dick Ergo Grip 9" Wide-Bladed Trimming Knife 5. Silky Pocketboy 170, medium teeth 6. Rinaldi Milano Axe 7. Rinaldi 1300g Trento Axe 8. Rinaldi 2500g Splitting Maul 9. My vintage American scythe
In no particular order: 1. Victorinox Farmer 2. Becker BK16 3. Esee 3 4. H&B Forge Medium Camp Hawk 5. Tramontina 14" machete (I got mine from Baryonyx Knife Co. The $4 Special grade is well worth it) 6. Esee Izula 7. Esee Avispa 8. Bulldog machete I've had for years 9. Corona saw
#1 ESEE 4 #2 Sheepsfoot knives Dorset junior #3 PR4 #4 Junglas 2/1 #5 Expat Cleaver #6 CR2.5 #7 HM 6 #8 SAK farmer #9 H and B GOShawk
Wow! This thread took off since I posted last night. It's always interesting to read these top X anything threads to see what people really like, what makes the cut. And the main thing that really stands out for me in a non-surprising way is how great the diversity is. A few common ones make maybe 30 - 40% of the lists, but other than that, it's like a list of top 9 chocolates from an acre sized sampler box. ("Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get." F. Gump) Just checking in before a late brunch, then heading out back into the woodland for the middle of the day for some slingshot target practice in my new range with an ammo collector (steel balls) constructed of two twin sized fitted sheets (see image below). I'm likely to film some of it -- it's part of a larger "bushcraft" video project I'm working on. After that, I think I'll walk over to one of my favorite glacial erratics overlooking the ravine for lunch. There's still about 20" of snow on the ground there, so I'll take the snowshoes. While I'm out, I'll have the following blades with me (some riding in my Halftrack, to the left of and behind the target): 1, 2, 5 and 6. Oh, I still haven't taken a group shot of my 9 yet, but will get around to it. Money-making (right now fundraising in preparation for money making) is my top priority. To the woods!
1. Spyderco Pm2 2. Victorinox Climber 3. Mora Clipper 4. ESEE 6 5. Truper 21" bow saw 6. Plumb boy's axe 7. Mora 731 8. Fiskars filet knife 9. Spyderco Pacific salt
1. CR2.5 2. Gransfors Bruks Wildlife Axe 3. PR4 4. James Gibson Nessmuk 5. James Gibson Boning knife 6. E6HM 7. Junglas II 8. 21" Sven Saw 9. GB Felling Axe
my most used in no order 1. Esee 3 2. ZT 0630 3. LTW genesis 4. H&B forge Shawnee hawk 5. TM Hunt Magua 6. Case trapper with yellow delrin and CV steel 7. Southern Grind Spider Monkey 8. Becker BK10 9. BM 15030 Bone Collector
I’m not at all shocked by people’s selections. Most lists are composed of a mix of practical tools. A few folders and fixed blades on each then stuff that does the heavy lifting. It’s nice to see saws, choppers, axes and machetes mixed in.
23:00, just before rest for the night. Left the studio for an afternoon off in the woods out back around 13:00, got back in about 19:30. Spectacular day: bumped into the 40's F for a while (BALMY relative to everything since November), then dropped through the 30's into 20s, but the wind died to 0. Not a single beech leaf quivering. But the best part? The blue sky. Maine is renowned for the blue sky. The shade -- or is it hue? Or both? -- is like nothing I've ever seen. Not even in NM. I shot over 100 stills and about half hour of video (6 pieces). I kept 22 stills, and 5 of the mp4. I'll edit the later into a short. Tomorrow, I'll make a narrated slide show into an mp4. Who knows. Maybe I'll even put it up here. For now, though, here are my four favorite stills of the day. One of them captures the blue sky and the still beech leaves. (For those not familiar with beech, it holds a significant fraction of last season's leaves through winter, dropping them in spring at leaf out. They are so easy to ID as a result, and are fine wind speed indicators. Oh, and I used all four blades I carried in. And remembered a note to self from last year, now reiterated. That Corona Razor Tooth saw? It's red for a reason: to remind me that if I use it to cut anything without putting on leather gloves first ... ... it will make me bleed. So noted. The band aid will come off before bed to wash and dress the relatively minor wound. This too will heal.
Hey, @Bushman5, here's some Stone chronicles from Maine. I suspect given your love of outdoor adventure, you might find this interesting, so FYI. Curious about your picks for the 9, also.
What makes a knife go into my top rotation? the SHEATH. If the sheath sucks, or the mounting system is finicky or does not fit, I tend to NOT use the knife...EVEN THOUGH i love the knife itself.........(i think we should make a new thread in GEAR on exactly this topic) OK, in NO PARTICULAR order of usage: - TOPS Surv-Tac7 - ESEE JUNGLAS - SYKCO ChopHouse - Expat Cleaver - Chris Reeves Green Beret 7" fixed blade - Esee 6 plain edge - Ontario Blackbird Sk5 - FiddleBack Forge (this one) - The LobsterClaw (this one)
