Rootless Weaponry, Part 2

Mino woman warrior. 

Back here, I noted I wanted a knife.

Yesterday, I set about making that happen. 

Step 1: Identify the qualities I want in a knife
Step 2: Look at knife reviews
Step 3: Choose my knife and order it

 

The qualities I want in a knife

1. I have learned in life that no product will do everything beautifully. There are always compromises, especially if you have a limited budget.
2. In light of the above, it's important to watch out for mission creep. In other words, I must focus on why I want the knife and not get distracted (too much) by other uses. 

My mission: To own and carry an accessible, effective self-defense tool with me on hikes.


So with these tenets in mind, I found a really good analysis of what to look for in a knife at  ... yes ... The Art of Manliness, in this article: How to Choose the Perfect Survival Knife.  It's a well-written, straightforward, common-sense article. The author addressed these qualities cleanly:

• Blade size - Not too long; not too short
• Fixed blade, not folding blade
• Full tang, not partial tang
• Sharp-pointed tip rather than angled, hooked, rounded, or squared off tip
• Single-edged blade rather than double-edged blade
• Solid pommel (the handle bottom) rather than a hooked or rounded pommel

He doesn't address metal materials, serrated v. smooth blade, sheaths, handle grips, etc.

Knife reviews

With these qualities in mind, I searched out specific knife reviews and found this article by Ben Brooks. Mr. Brooks'  review introduced me to the Esee brand which, I subsequently discovered, is way over my budget. So I had to back up and look at knives under $50.

Somehow I ended up over at Amazon and ...


Decided on this

SOG M37-N. Credit: Amazon

The SOG M37-N.  I bought it at $41.xx, which included shipping. 

Good reviews on Amazon.

It has most, but not all of the features I sought:

• Blade size between 4.5 and 5.5 inches (in close quarters, don't need as much range of motion to pull out of sheath, stab, and pull out again, repeat)
• Full tang
• Fixed blade (no fumbling to open knife while being mauled by a bear)
• Sharp-pointed tip (to get to business ASAP in a self-defense situation)
• Single-edged blade rather than double-edged blade, though I'd prefer most of the spine (the non-edge side) to be straighter (can use non-sharp edge to "baton," a bit of mission creep here)
• Solid pommel, aka butt (to use as mallet if necessary - another bit of mission creep)
• Has a decent-sized quillon, aka finger guard (so I don't cut myself)
• Handle seems to have a good grip surface (so I don't slip and cut myself)

What I'm not crazy about  is: 

• Serrated part of blade, but that's toward the bottom, so it's tolerable
• I'd prefer the quillon (finger guard) to be on both sides and to be longer 

 A New Mexico knife maker, Jay Fisher, presents a thorough study on knife anatomy here.  


Sheath

The knife comes with a nylon sheath that I'm happy with. Until I watched the Continental Divide movie, I didn't know I could have a knife in a sheath in a draw-down position versus a draw-up-and-out position, and I think this nylon sheath is constructed in a way that I can do that. (One of the hikers, toward the end of the movie, pulls out his short but lethal knife. [That sounds a little titillating, doesn't it?].)

My plan is to have it on my right-side, front backpack strap, set up so I can pull it down and out.

Will I feel more secure when I've got the knife with me? Don't know yet, but even if not, it's still something I should have with me.