rookhawk
AH ambassador
I just thought I'd download my thoughts on knives to AH after a few lessons learned previously on what to bring to Africa. What I know now that I didn't know before I went to Africa:
1.) I have no business having a sharp little caping knife in Africa. I hired professionals to cape and salt hides and they actually know what they are doing.
2.) All the genteel, civilized things I'd carry a knife for in the USA are completely irrelevant to Africa.
3.) Little knives fall out of pockets or you get the pleasure getting poked by them in your front pocket every time you sit down.
4.) The task list a knife must do in Africa is not the same task list a knife would get on say an elk hunt or whitetail hunt.
The tasks I needed done in Africa were as follows:
REALLY IMPORTANT - I needed to open my beers expeditiously. I needed a bottle opener.
I needed to be able to whittle mapani wood into skewers to prop up my lunch over the open fire in the bush. (they pack nice lunches but I enjoyed shooting birds and grilling them for lunch with the boys)
I could forsee needing to do "machete tasks" to set up blinds for hyena, leopard, etc.
Some of the thorny acacia bushes grew over most of the roads and if I'm going to lend a hand getting the truck past them, I need something to hack with. Also need to liberate myself from thorny branches coming at my head on the safari bench in the back.
The tiny little $0.10 padlocks that are almost no deterrent to theft at all were used to secure the spare tires to the nut that holds them on the back of the safari wagon. Guess what rusted shut and needed busting/clubbing to fix flat tires? Those damn locks!
Put the tent stakes I keep tripping over back in the ground.
Quickly dispatch game that is mortally wounded and anchored.
Use it as a priest to properly dispatch fish with a whack to the noggin with the back of the knife
What I concluded based on what I experienced is that I needed to bring my kukri knife. They are made from 57 chevy leaf springs, are totally overbuilt, indestructible and work for the above tasks perfectly. They are a heavier, much more compact version of a machete + hammer + bottle opener. Good steel. Easy to sharpen. Holds an edge. They come in several sizes. (I picked the heavier weight one as I'm not really in need of its "cutlery" abilities)
I bought one like this but everyone has their own preferences: http://nepalkhukurihouse.com/680/Gurkha-Iraqi-Brown-Gripper-Guard-Handle-Kukri.php
You can get decent ones starting at $50 and a mega top-of-the-line one isn't much more than $120.
I can't emphasize enough how useless a conventional hunting knife was and how useless a little folding knife would be for my trips abroad. The ONLY reason not to like a kukri is that they are big and it looks a little cheesy to lug around a rambo sized knife. If you can get over the goofiness factor of having a big knife they really are ideal for bushcraft and camping.
I welcome disagreement and would like to hear what works well for you on your Africa hunts.
1.) I have no business having a sharp little caping knife in Africa. I hired professionals to cape and salt hides and they actually know what they are doing.
2.) All the genteel, civilized things I'd carry a knife for in the USA are completely irrelevant to Africa.
3.) Little knives fall out of pockets or you get the pleasure getting poked by them in your front pocket every time you sit down.
4.) The task list a knife must do in Africa is not the same task list a knife would get on say an elk hunt or whitetail hunt.
The tasks I needed done in Africa were as follows:
REALLY IMPORTANT - I needed to open my beers expeditiously. I needed a bottle opener.
I needed to be able to whittle mapani wood into skewers to prop up my lunch over the open fire in the bush. (they pack nice lunches but I enjoyed shooting birds and grilling them for lunch with the boys)
I could forsee needing to do "machete tasks" to set up blinds for hyena, leopard, etc.
Some of the thorny acacia bushes grew over most of the roads and if I'm going to lend a hand getting the truck past them, I need something to hack with. Also need to liberate myself from thorny branches coming at my head on the safari bench in the back.
The tiny little $0.10 padlocks that are almost no deterrent to theft at all were used to secure the spare tires to the nut that holds them on the back of the safari wagon. Guess what rusted shut and needed busting/clubbing to fix flat tires? Those damn locks!
Put the tent stakes I keep tripping over back in the ground.
Quickly dispatch game that is mortally wounded and anchored.
Use it as a priest to properly dispatch fish with a whack to the noggin with the back of the knife
What I concluded based on what I experienced is that I needed to bring my kukri knife. They are made from 57 chevy leaf springs, are totally overbuilt, indestructible and work for the above tasks perfectly. They are a heavier, much more compact version of a machete + hammer + bottle opener. Good steel. Easy to sharpen. Holds an edge. They come in several sizes. (I picked the heavier weight one as I'm not really in need of its "cutlery" abilities)
I bought one like this but everyone has their own preferences: http://nepalkhukurihouse.com/680/Gurkha-Iraqi-Brown-Gripper-Guard-Handle-Kukri.php
You can get decent ones starting at $50 and a mega top-of-the-line one isn't much more than $120.
I can't emphasize enough how useless a conventional hunting knife was and how useless a little folding knife would be for my trips abroad. The ONLY reason not to like a kukri is that they are big and it looks a little cheesy to lug around a rambo sized knife. If you can get over the goofiness factor of having a big knife they really are ideal for bushcraft and camping.
I welcome disagreement and would like to hear what works well for you on your Africa hunts.
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or just use another bottle or bic lighter, or well plenty other things to use if the cruiser isnt available and you dont want to miss out , oh and quite a few bottled beers in africa now have screw tops 
...........never come across any though.......
