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In my hunt for one of the best bushcraft knife, I went to Blade Present and interviewed many knifemakers to get their opinion on what makes a “finest” bushcraft knife. Whereas I discovered one, I spotted that most of the attributes I used to be in search of concerned firemaking. Enter the White River Firecraft FC5, a knife made particularly for firemaking.
Why a Knife for Making Fireplace?
In a survival state of affairs, fireplace turns into a lifeline. It offers heat, safety from wildlife, a way to purify water, prepare dinner meals, and sign for assist. Having a devoted fastened blade knife for firemaking ensures you could have a instrument optimized for this vital activity.
Fireplace not solely offers heat and security however may help in acquiring different sources like meals and water. Preppers must be ready to make use of fireplace as a way of cooking, boiling water for purification, and signaling for rescue.
Proudly owning a devoted firemaking knife would – hopefully – encourage preppers to observe and develop their bushcraft abilities. Proficiency in utilizing the knife and firecraft methods could be invaluable in a survival state of affairs.
Whereas preppers ought to have a number of fireplace beginning strategies in a bug out bag (firesteel, matches, lighters, and so on.), a dependable bushcraft “fireplace” knife, just like the White River Firecraft FC5, ensures they’ve a handbook choice when different strategies fail.
Quite watch than learn? See my YouTube video beneath.
White River Firecraft FC5 Attributes
For the beginner to knives (I nonetheless take into account myself a knife neophyte), you could be questioning what qualities make for an excellent firemaking knife. It’s a query price asking, as a result of there are sooooo many knives available on the market as we speak that it’s laborious to kind by means of all of them. A fast survey of the choices would lead one to assume that they’re all just about the identical, however once you dig into the main points, you discover necessary variations.
Blade Thickness and Grind
Bushcraft knives are recognized for having thick blades and (usually) a Scandi grind. These features are higher for batoning wooden, breaking animal carcasses aside, and so on.
The FC5 has a comparatively skinny (0.158”) blade. A thick is nice for whacking at branches and sticks. A skinny blade is nice for slicing. The FC5 additionally has a flat grind, including to the blade’s general skinny look.
I discover myself preferring a thinner blade when working with fireplace for a number of causes:
- A thinner blade is healthier for slicing feather sticks, an necessary technique to beginning a hearth below robust circumstances.
- The thinner blade reduces weight and, when attainable, I favor lighter instruments, the identical as I favor a light-weight bug out bag.
- If I’m working with a campfire, odds are excessive I’m cooking with fireplace. Which means meal prep and the necessity for a kitchen knife. The thinner blade with flat grind is well-suited to sling meat, bread, and greens. Utilizing one knife for each firemaking and meal prep makes the whole course of simpler, significantly after I’m doing it within the area.
That stated, you’ll be able to baton wooden with the FC5’s 5″ blade, simply know that when you’re shopping for a knife for heavy batoning, you would possibly need to take into account a thicker, heavier blade. The place I’m situated and the place I’m going, I can often get by superb with out having to baton wooden both as a result of I’ve a small axe or I can simply find small and medium-sized sticks.
The Metal Itself
Stainless-steel doesn’t have the identical edge retention as carbon metal, and carbon metal is inexpensive. Nevertheless, I typically favor stainless as a result of I usually take my knife into damp or moist environments the place chrome steel performs finest.
The Firecraft is available in S35VN stainless, which is the next high quality metal that makes an attempt to mix the qualities of carbon metal with chrome steel. In different phrases, it’s a stainless-steel with significantly better edge retention. You’ll pay the next premium for that high quality, nonetheless.
Choil, Jimping, and Deal with
I like the deal with on the Firecraft FC5. The inexperienced canvas fashion Micarta deal with over orange G-10 liners – good!
Appears to be like aren’t all the pieces, although. Let’s take a look at the performance.
The deep finger choil on the FC5 permits you to work up shut when whittling sticks or it’s worthwhile to be exact. It may well additionally act as an oblique security guard to assist forestall your hand from slipping onto the blade when you needed to thrust the knife at wild grizzly coming out of your campfire salmon.
The identical could be stated for the knife’s jimping. Setting your thumb on it when thrusting ought to offer you a bit extra resistance and it aids within the exact chopping that the choil is designed for. It’s not overly aggressive jimping (I’d truly favor a bit extra), however it does what it’s purported to do.
The FC5’s deal with features a bow drill divot. I think most individuals aren’t going to be making fires with a bow drill, however when you’re within the enterprise of constructing fireplace by all means attainable, that may embody utilizing a bow drill. The FC5’s bow drill divot is superior to different knives’ divots as a result of it’s wider, deeper, and incorporates a stainless-steel inlay. It’s noticeably simpler to make use of the FC5’s divot as a result of the spindle doesn’t fly out as usually because it does when utilizing extra shallow and slim divots.
The knife additionally consists of three holes bored by means of the complete tang and deal with. This provides to its secondary bushcraft attributes because it permits you to firmly lash the knife to a stick if mandatory.
Ferro Rod
The White River Firecraft FC5 (and their different Firecraft sequence of knives) comes with a ferro rod that matches into the sheath. The deal with of the ferro rod matches the deal with of the knife (did I point out it’s fairly?).
The notch out on the blade’s backbone is designed for placing a ferro rod successfully and effectively – and boy can this knife throw sparks! If you happen to observe any of my movies on social media you’ll see me utilizing this knife usually for beginning fires. The backbone of the blade can be a pointy 90-degree angle, making that equally appropriate for placing a ferro rod.
Sheath
The FC5 comes with a Kydex sheath, as most knives do, however what I significantly like about this sheath is that it features a dangler and varied attachment factors. It additionally has a really slim profile.
The dangler will get the knife out of the best way when sporting it within the area after which needing to sit down down. The deal with of higher-sitting knives of this dimension will usually poke into my facet after I get into the truck or sit down in a chair. Not so with the dangler.
Due to the various completely different holes and slots within the sheath, it can be strapped to completely different packs and pouches with ease, including to its versatility. For the extra conventional of us, White River additionally sells an elective leather-based sheath.
Firecraft FC5 Specs
- Blade Size: 5.0″
- Chopping Edge: 5.0″
- Deal with Size: 5.0″
- General Size: 10.0″
- Blade Materials: CPM-S35VN Stainless Metal
- Blade Thickness: 0.158″
- Blade Hardness: 59HRC
- Blade Fashion: Drop Level
- Blade Grind: Flat
- Blade End: Stonewash
- Deal with Materials: Inexperienced Micarta
- Deal with Thickness: 0.77″
- Sheath Materials: Kydex
- Weight: 8 oz.
- Weight with Sheath: 15.6 oz
Greatest Firemaking Knife?
Knifemaking expertise is continually advancing, however because it stands proper now – from my view – the Firecraft FC5 is one of the best knife design for making fires.
Is there a greater one? Problem my declare within the feedback.
