I`m just trying to think what I would use a knife on a campsite for. (Kitchen knives for chopping food excluded.) I don`t think I`ve ever needed one for a task that a good pair of scissors wouldn`t work for.
Same down the allotment....I`ve never used a knife for anything.
So what do other people use their knives for while camping? Are they really necessary?
When camping in my main unit, Valk_scot, or if I was talking about a situation where a person had a large tent and motorised carrying facilities, then there probably is no need for a 'pen knife' type knife, just the usual kitchen implements. But my question was about lightweight camping, when you have to physically carry everything yourself. A good Swiss Army knife would negate the need to carry a cooking knife, eating knife, bottle opener, can opener, scissors and even a cork screw for those old enough to need one! One little tool = 6 big tools = BIG weight and space saving when it really matters!
I must confess to a liking for a good knife on site myself. If I think about it though, the reasons I used to use it don't really apply nowadays. Gone are the days of cutting turf to protect it from the fire. Cutting and shaping branches to hold kettle and food over the fire. We even used to make 2-pronged forks from twigs, tables and stuff with branches and string. Then there was always the digging of a pit for the "waste" disposal. I must have looked like Rambo with a great long sheaf knife like a machete.
Seems like a lifetime ago in another world. Now that was camping :-)
My young neice got stuck in a toilet cubicle while we were on a site in France. She was screaming the place down.
Took me about 2 minutes to remove the lock cover and work the mechanism from the outside with my Swiss Tool.
OK, this one useful occasion doesn't make up for the fact it was over £70, but because I had it with me in a belt pouch, she was out within seconds and suffered less trauma than would otherwise have been the case.