I recently purchased 3 inexpensive Tramontina knives through Smokey Mountain Knife Works. All of the knives reviewed are made of thin stainless steel. They are not chopping or prying knives, but any of them will excel in cutting meat or vegetables in the camp. The two recommended knives will often be chosen by the cook for camp cooking tasks in preference to the strong chopping knives most of us carry, just because they are thin and cut so well. They are basically kitchen knives with sheathes, and give superior performance in this role.
Camp knife - $1.50, plastic handle. Plastic sheath. Pass on this one. The plastic handle is too small and the birdshead grip on the back makes it uncomfortable to hold. The plastic guard extends down past the blade making it difficult to cut with the length of the knife. The blade grind stops short of the guard. I ground off some of the guard on the plastic handle to try to make it more acceptable, but did not come up with a good result.
Gaucho knife - $3. Plasticised wood handle, leather sheath. Tacky goucho engraving on one side of blade. Recommended. Blade is firmly set in a comfortable handle. Flat Ground. Blade edge goes all the way to end of blade permitting sharpening of entire edge. Design permits entire cutting surface to rest on the cutting block. Knife is light and easily carried. Leather sheath has hair on inside. Sometimes hairs come off on blade. A minor point. This advantage of this knife over the next one is that it is smaller and easier to carry.
Camping knife – $5-$7. Bare wood handle, comes in two versions, with and without sharpening steel. Highly recommended. I got the one without a steel as I usually carry sharpening equipment. This thin blade has a distal taper and is flat ground. The blade is wide enough to pick up chopped foodstuff and ferry it to the cooking pot. It reminds me of a Forchner chef knife. I’ve used this one in the kitchen the last few days and it excels in preparing vegetables and meat. Flat Ground. Blade edge goes all the way to end of blade permitting sharpening of entire edge. Design permits entire cutting surface to rest on the cutting block. Knife is light and easily carried. Leather sheath has hair on inside. Think of this as a good thin kitchen knife with a carrying system to help protect it when you carry it into the field.
HW 5/02