Like food and fine wine, outdoor tools also know how to join the party. Knife and tool pairing for every trip and environment makes life easier than juggling a trio. Look at these examples and craft your ultimate pairs to match your adventures!
Why Only a Pair?
Two is less to carry and fuss with. If you can make due with two cutting tools for your trip, then you’ve made room for gear that may be more important. Outdoor cutting tools are heavy by nature. Less is more. Knife and tool pairing is a way to make sure your skills are keen enough to tackle tasks with less.
Use a pair on trips where weight and bulk are an issue. It’s okay to vary from the Nessmuk, Kephart, and Scandinavian Trio. Make an (enter your name here) tool pair and tread lighter and faster!
Knife and Axe Tool Pairing
A super popular duo is an axe and a knife—not any knife, but a fixed-blade knife for durability. Axe is a common term that also includes a hatchet and a tomahawk. Yes, they’re different, but bear with me. These days, felling trees is not as common as in the 1800s. Most wildernesses worldwide have an abundance of downed trees that need processing more than anything.
An axe-style tool can remove branches and section small trees that are wrist to calf thickness. Firewood and shelter poles will fall into this category. Pole beds, grills, and camping furniture also fall under this category. Call it fuel and drag it on the campfire if there’s anything more significant.
Meanwhile, the fixed-blade sheath knife can make kindling via a wooden baton and shave wood for feather sticks. Let’s not forget how the knife shines in the cabin or camp kitchen with food and common utility tasks.
As Horace Kephart would say, “A camper has use for a common-sense sheath-knife, sometimes for dressing big game, but oftener for such homely work as cutting sticks, slicing bacon, and frying ‘spuds.’ For such purpose, a rather thin, broad-pointed blade is required … It is tempered hard enough to cut green hardwood sticks, but soft enough so that when it strikes a knot or bone it will, if anything, turn rather than nick.”
Saw and Knife Pairing
I want to stress the point that most wilderness areas have lots of dead wood that needs processing more than felling. A folding saw and knife can do most of the camp work required for a cookfire or camp crafts. This pair is the lightest knife and tool pairing combo for light to medium work.
Some survival classes teach that a fixed-blade knife and saw can handle 90% of camp and survival tasks. I believe. This knife and tool pairing is popular among day campers, bushcrafters, and backpackers. They appreciate its utility for processing wood on weekend trips.
This pair is perfect for stealthier campers or people who don’t want to attract attention with the ruckus chopping causes. However, they aren’t without essential tools when they need a fire or shelter. The fewer tools you bring, the more skills you need to accompany them. Crack on!
Chopper Fixed Blade Tool Pairing
Chopping tools wear many hats. Besides axe-type tools, big knives are in the mix. It needs company, be it a machete, nata, kukuri, parang, bolo, or bowie knife. I grew up with a long blade and small knife mentality. However, it fit with the books I read, videos I watched, and training. Above all, experience was the deciding factor.
A chopping knife and a fixed blade can do a lot. You won’t get any tidy cut ends or pression with these tools. However, with these knife and tool pairing options, you can adjust your methods for a warm fire, shelter, or whatever you desire.
For more information, please check out Knives by Nuge, Bear Forest Knives, H&B Forge, ML Knives, and Coalcracker Bushcraft!
