Badlands Fieldcraft: Junk On The Bunk: Belt Knife Maintenance
Originally appeared on Badlands Fieldcraft. -NCS
I’m a big fan of carrying a fixed blade knife on my belt out in the bush. I carry it on my belt as part of my line 1 gear, which is my survival and emergency communications equipment, that way I always have it if needed. It’s also one of the first 5 “C’s” of Dave Canterbury’s excellent 10 “C’s” system, being one of the items necessary to maintain your core body temperature in an emergency.
I try to be as consistent as I can be with my line 1 items and their placement. That way, no matter what I’m doing, I always have them with. Putting my “survival” knife on my chest rig does me no good if I don’t carry my chest rig, for instance if I’m carrying my bolt gun. Instead I carry it on my pants belt on my strong side, the same place all year round, regardless of what I’m doing or carrying.
Of course carrying a knife in the bush is not a novel idea, with a fixed blade knife being an essential part of kit for all soldiers, explorers and scouts for centuries. But it’s not enough to just carry the knife, you have to know how to use it and how to take care of it. It might just be one of the most important tools you have.
There are many opinions about what knives to carry and just as many opinions on how to care for them. Compared to other creatures, as humans we have a unique gift in that we can make things infinitely more complicated than they need to be, and knife selection and care is no different. I’d like to detail what works for me. I feel it’s a simple, practical, and inexpensive way to care for a working tool.
I carry the Mora Garberg Carbon on my belt in an ArmorSheaths Kydex sheath. This is a practical and utilitarian setup, with complete focus on function over form.
While I enjoy and appreciate traditional equipment as much as any antique junky or history buff, you have to be practical when selecting your tools. No professional tradesman, whose livelihood depends on the speed that he can get his work done, selects a bit and brace over a cordless drill anymore. If someone does, they are a hobbyist, and hobbies aren’t professions. In other words, pick the right tool for the job.
I’m using this particular knife and sheath for a number of reasons to include:
- The knife and sheath combined cost around $150.
- The knife is made by MoraKniv, a very well proven and highly reputable knife maker.
- This model is high carbon steel. Besides being very easy to sharpen, it can be used as a fire steel very well. I demonstrate this in every class.
- The blade is small enough to carry comfortably, but big enough to do everything I need to do with it.
- It’s comfortable to use. I wear medium size mechanix gloves and it fits my hand good, allowing me to put more energy into the work than trying to hold onto the knife.
- Because of its intermediate size, it guts and skins, notches, carves, splits and of course cuts good.
- It retains its edge very good and the Scandinavian grind cuts and carves really well.
- The Kydex sheath is waterproof, not requiring as much care as a leather sheath.
- The Kydex sheath has better and more consistent retention than a leather sheath as well.
- It has (had… with all the use it’s been getting in class I have to reshape this, no big deal) a great 90 degree spine for scraping ferro rods and tinder.
Maintaining the knife
There are only a few areas of concern when it comes to maintaining my knife. These are damage, corrosion, edge sharpness, spine condition and cleanliness. It’s been said that a dull knife will hurt you easier than a sharp knife, since it requires more effort to use. If you use your knife properly, you should never have any issues getting hurt even if it’s shaving sharp.
When I start my maintenance process I start with an inspection. I look for major damage like cracks in the blade or handle. If the blade was improperly heat treated stress cracks will begin to appear in the blade. I also check for chips or rolls in the blades edge. Small chips, say 1mm in width and depth can form under very hard use and can be sharpened out. Bigger chips could be indicative of a bad heat treat. For the record my Mora has yet to produce any chips or rolls.
I’m also looking for serious corrosion that will need serious cleaning. Carbon steel can rust if it doesn’t get occasional oiling. Carbon steel also develops a patina over time, this usually looks like dark grey staining on the metal. This isn’t corrosion and is actually a naturally protective layer for the steel, so there’s no need to remove it, just oil over it. If you do find rust, you can scrub it off with a rag and some oil, or if it’s really stubborn you can scrub it off with a little sand or other mild abrasive.
