How much Knife do you need for hiking?

Many first time hikers will know that a knife would be handy for random tasks when on a hiking trip, but how much knife do you really need and use during (ultra)light hiking?

Every book or guide you can read about hiking and backpacking will give the advice to take a (pocket) knife with you, if you’re anything like me, you have a couple of knives to choose from. I always take a knife with me on any hiking, backpacking, or camping trip. But what kind and size depends highly on where I am going to be and what I am expecting on that specific trip. In Europe, where most of my hiking takes place, the legalities of carrying also make up a big factor in that decision.

I therefore do not recommend a specific length or type, but rather that you make it situation-dependent

What kind of hiking are you gonna do?

With Thru-hiking or completing a long distance hiking trail you will focus a lot on weight, the more weight you carry, the harder your day to day hiking is going to get. Therefore hikers focus so much on how much weight the total pack weight is.

A gram or ounce here and there you will not notice on its own, but every little bit or item adds up. If you start to be lax about it, you can end up with more pounds in your backpack then is wise.

Therefore take a look at your specific trip, and what you are gonna do. Are you going to be in the back country without civilization for miles, or are you going to be walking the Camino Frances where every couple kilometers your going to be walking through a village? Taking a big Bowie knife would look daft on the Camino, but more appropriate in the middle of Alaska.

So take a step back, and look at your trip.

Area and surroundings

The area and surroundings are a big deciding factor in what knife to bring, for example on a couple of different outings I took different knives.

West Highland way – MAM Iberica
Camino Frances & Portuguese – Opinel No. 9 in carbon steel
Canoe trip in Sweden – Mora Companion and Victorinox Spartan

Lets break down my reasons for each trip.

West Highland Way

During the West Highland Way me and my buddy wild camped for most of it, and lit a couple of fires along the way where appropriate. This would drive me to take a bigger knife for fire prep, however in the UK they have some of the strictest knife laws.

I thought I would play it safe and take a legal MAM Iberica S knife which is non locking and short blade length. I ended up regretting taking the smaller knife, but what can you do if you want to follow the law.

Camino’s

The Camino de Santiago is not a wilderness hike, I ended up using my Opinel no 9 knife almost entirely for food / lunch prep, and there the shape and size of the Opinel lends itself perfectly for.

From anything from putting some liver pâté on crackers, to cutting up a baguette. An Opinel also does not look threatening or “tactical” in any way, as to not scare fellow pilgrims or people.

Sweden

In Sweden wildcamping is allowed and on my trip we rented a canoe and explored several different lakes and islands, where we build a fire everyday, fished, and camped. We used the Canoe to carry all our stuff, but we did have to portage to get from lake to lake in some cases. Therefore weight was still important.

Due to having more camp tasks than a Thru hiking trip, I ended up taking a Mora Companion and a Swiss army knife. So I had the Mora for the bigger tasks, and the Victorinox for smaller and more specialized tasks.

Everyday cutting tasks for a knife

Realistic cutting tasks for a hiking knife in my case are almost always food related, from cutting up a sausage to throw in your soup or trail meal, to cutting open a bag or string. In most cases, I don’t need a big or fixed blade knife for this. For most of my outings, I prefer to take a Opinel, because they are a great option for using for food prep and woodworking.

Tactical knives with jimping and sharp angles are great for EDC (Every Day Carry), but in my opinion not the best on hiking trips. They cut into your hands, cause blisters, or are a bit overkill to whip out in company.

So take a look at your trip, the area where you are going to be hiking in, and the legalities involved. And decide accordingly.

What knife is your favorite to bring?

Happy Hiking and Hike for Purpose!