“The Art of Manliness” was one of them, but they all had this similarity.  They pointed out the need for a good knife, and described the characteristics which were necessary.  It makes common sense and is certainly intuitive.

When I hiked the length of Oregon on the Pacific Crest Trail I necessarily ran into a lot of different hikers.  Young, old, male, female, all types.  These people were on the trail for 3 to 8 days between resupply points, being on their own in between.  All of them were very experienced and capable or they wouldn’t have gotten that far.  I will admit they were not living off the land or in a survival mode, but how often does that occur.

I would guess that one in ten carried a knife, the rest regarding them as unnecessary weight.  In a frenzy to carry as little as possible, people very often went through their packs and eliminated those things they did not use.  I know I got rid of mine, shipping it back with a lot of other stuff.

One think you did not see were these “survival knives, with a button compass in the top of the handle, matches, fish line and so on in the interior of the handle.  And no one had a hunting knife strapped onto their belt.

Just a case where public perception is contrary to reality.

I know there are plenty of scenarios where a knife would be nice.  All kinds of “What if’s – - – “.  And the reality is that those happen so infrequently if one is hiking long distances that it’s not worth the effort to carry one.

I think that’s interesting.