Bowie Knife vs Leatherman for Hiking?

[Classic_Cool]

Should be a fun discussion lol.

I've had a Leatherman glued to my hip for about 8 years now. Use it constantly and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I do have an eye for the classics though and now that I'm taking up hiking again I've sorta got my eye on this Bowie knife from Winchester:
http://www.basspro.com/Winchester-Bo.../102917/100364

On the one hand my leatherman is a great all-around knife for fixing stuff, opening stuff, and in a pinch it's better than nothing for personal defense (external blade). I'll continue to take it quadding for its many uses.

Bowie knife is huge and intimidating. Probably keep the unsavory types at bay just by them seeing it on me. Makes a better backup to the bear spray than the leatherman does (yeah go ahead and laugh ). Could use it for hacking branches and stuff. And there aren't many philips head screws in the woods anyway.

Opinions?

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by Classic_Cool

Bowie knife is huge and intimidating.

Who or what are you trying to intimidate?

I've NEVER come across anyone who threatened me while hiking, fishing or hunting (and for the latter, you have a gun). We really are taking this personal defence concept way too far. Scary to go out of the house these days without the short-barreled 12 gauge and a good big knife... LOL

[PGH]

depends. If you take a lot of gear hiking, like cooking items, filtration equipment, tents, or other equipment, then the leatherman would be the better choice because it can be used to fix just about anything that could break.

If you are a bare bones hiker and don't take much equipment, then the bowie knife would be best.

The one thing I hate about leatherman's is that you can't really get much leverage out of them to torque or pry anything. the handles are just too small. Granted they aren't designed for this so you can't really be too hard on them.

[slopeshunter]

I'm with Oko on this one.

[Classic_Cool]

Lol well I realize I probably will never need to defend myself in the woods but it only takes once.

In response to PGH, I'm going for ultralight hiking so very few devices to fix. And even if I do need a screwdriver I've still got my trusty Leatherman Micra on my keychain (I like my toys).

[Tundra Monkey]

A leatherman and a good fixed blade compliment each other nicely

Not sure I'd worry about the intimidation factor too much

On another note.....a machete works well for hackin' up wood and zombies

[ice]

I prefer leathermans, very high quality.

[CaberTosser]

At some point I'll probably get a neck lanyard so that I can have my LeatherMan Charge Ti on me when I'm in the shower, but for the meantime that's about the only time I'm without it, aside from infrequent formal dress occasions. The LeatherMan is obviously the more versatile of the two, but I'd choose something like a Kukri style machete over a Bowie knife anyways, because they'll be better at slashing vegetation which will be it's real-life main function, rather than defeating marauding wolverines, cougar and grizz (even noting that unlikely function, I'd prefer one for that purpose as well!)

I do prefer a good skinner blade profile, too bad LeatherMan hasn't incorporated something like that into a multitool yet.

This is my hunting knife these days (image culled from Google), a Buck ErgoHunter Pro

I'm guessing the need to tighten a screw or nut will come along long before needing to defend myself so I choose Leatherman.

[Takmaster]

Leatherman,
x2 what SH said...

[Lornce]

No question a Leatherman is much handier. Bowie knives are pretty useless for 99% of chores, big heavy and silly.

[CaberTosser]

I find that my well-seasoned musky man-odor is enough to frighten off any top-tier wild carnivores, and bipedal cougar as well!

[Classic_Cool]

Good points all around. However if you were gathering firewood, which would you rather have?

I'm tempted to just bring both now which would defeat the idea of ultralight hiking

[gophergitter]

chinese hunk of recycled re-bar vs. american made steel, not much of a choice

[riden]

This is my knife:




It goes in my quad box, I can't imagine wearing it. I think I would feel silly.

I wear my leatherman in the bush with a small sharp, fixed blade knife on my belt beside it. Small knives are so much more useful than a big knife.

Plus, how intimidating am I with two knives?