I almost always carry a knife with me. Now, I can understand that not everyone is going to do that, but I get really confused about other people being surprised or not understanding why people carry knives. Once upon a time it was pretty common for people to have small folding knives they carried around most places. Not understanding why someone would carry a small, really useful tool seems…really stupid and out of touch with reality?
Anyway, I’m digressing.
For most of the past decade, I’ve almost always had a particular type of knife with me: a Mora Companion (usually the HD model). It’s a sturdy knife that’s relatively small but still capable of doing just about all the bushcraft and gardening tasks I need it for, as well as various other daily chores.
The Companion model of knives are fixed blade and come with a durable plastic sheath that does a good job of holding the knife securely. The overall length of the knife is four inches, and they’re made out of a good quality carbon steel or stainless steel. The carbon steel ones do rust, obviously, and require some care, but they’re not too bad in terms of maintenance. I prefer the carbon steel ones over stainless, partially for the weight (slightly heavier) and because it’s easier to strike a spark with it on a ferrocium rod. They’ve got a clip point and scandi grind edge that comes sharp out of the box and is easy to maintain. They aren’t full tang, but frankly my former colleagues and I at the wilderness schools abused to hell out of many of these knives and I don’t know of any of us breaking one. I now usually use the HD (heavy duty) model as I mentioned above, as it’s just a little bit thicker along the spine. The handle is made of polymer and wrapped in a comfortable rubber, making for a grip that doesn’t transfer a lot of vibration to your hand when doing things like batoning.
The price is one of the primary advantages. I’ve always gotten mine for between $15-20. Other models vary in price, but even some of their more expensive knives are still far cheaper than some of the fancy brands that certain crowds obsess over. These are knives you can lose without feeling too bad for and replace without too much pain. If you’re like me you might just buy a few when you have extra money.
Mora makes a number of other knives, all fixed blades. I prefer fixed blade knives, but preference and circumstances will dictate folding knives for many people. As such, an affordable fixed blade knife with a variety of uses may be something you don’t carry regularly, but I still recommend picking up one or two.
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What made you choose the Companion over the other models they offer?