What kind of knife do you carry? This is often a common question among wilderness outdoorsy folks and survival enthusiasts. As a wilderness survival instructor I get asked about knives a lot. Sometimes it's the biggest and meanest knife that attracts the most attention but isn't always the best quality. Choosing a knife is a big topic with lots of opinions and a huge variety of choices. If you want to get picky about your knife you certainly have room to do so as there's thousands of varieties on the market. The Mora "Companion" knife
I'm here to tell you about a knife that is not an attention getter (well, kids think they're pretty cool looking) but it is my favorite knife for wilderness survival and other practical purposes. It's the "Companion" knife made by Mora of Sweden that has a 4" blade. There are plenty of other knives that are more durable, with a thicker blade, etc, etc, but you are going to pay for it and if you're like me, when you pay more you're less likely to carry it and use it because you don't want to lose it. (sad to say, I've lost a lot of knives)
For me, after using stone tools to carve wood and skin animals, a simple knife like this is a luxury. But you don't have to have used stone tools to appreciate it!
These Mora knives have gone through a few changes over the years and the older models that I still use went by the name "Clipper", so you may still find those online too.
I've had an old "Clipper" knife for about ten years and used it for carving wood, making bow drill fire-by-friction kits, carving out primitive traps, skinning and gutting animals, chopping vegetables, cutting rope, and for splitting wood. The cool thing is that I've never broken a blade on one of these knives nor have I seen one break, though I heard once that it can happen. I've seen blades break from expensive and well-known companies but never from a Mora Companion or Clipper.
Here's why I like this knife...
1) They come out of the factory very sharp, while a lot of other knives need sharpening after purchase. A sharp knife is a safer knife because it doesn't require so much effort for carving.
2) While many knives have a serious bevel (as in exhibit "A" on the right) that causes the blade to deflect and skid across surfaces when carving at a sharp angle, the Mora knives have a high bevel (as in exhibit B on the right). This means it's easier to carve and sharpen sticks with it, and you won't have to grind down the bevel yourself.3) Price. You can get them from $12-$16 so if/when you lose it you're not out a lot of cash.
4) You get to choose from a variety of colors. Some like the bright orange so you won't lose it while others like the duller tones for greater concealment.
One down-side to these knives have been the sheath. They are made of plastic yet have proven to be quite durable and so this is not the issue. The problem is that over time the knives don't sit in the sheath so easily and will fall out. There's an easy fix for this however. Simply take a hair band (ask your long-haired friend about this) and wrap it around the top of the sheath and the knife. This will hold it securely in place and you can still easily access your knife.(photo of this coming soon!)
Serrated Edge or Non?
I'm not a fan of serrated edged knives because when you carve a bow-drill spindle, for example, it comes out with all these ridges from the serrated edge instead of being smooth. In reality I have never needed a serrated edge. If you want to read up on this subject further here's a resource.
*Hoosier Workwear in Bloomington, IN now has some of these Mora knives in stock!
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