KNIVES OF THE INSTRUCTORS

DID YOU EVER WONDER WHAT THE PROS CARRY? HERE'S A LOOK.

- JIM COBB

Like many KI readers, every time I see a social media post from one of my favorite survival or outdoors instructors, I'm checking to see what gear they have with them.

I love to see their pocket dumps and pack unloads. Of course, the sharps always get close attention. What blades are they using? Deciding finally to just go directly to the sources, I consulted five survival teachers to see what they carry most often when they head into the field.

While some of them routinely evaluate knives for manufacturers and such, I wanted to know what they relied on when they could just grab what they wanted from their collections.

As their responses began filtering in, I wasn't surprised to learn that more than one carried a knife they'd designed themselves. Spend enough time in any career and you'll begin to tweak and adjust your tools to suit your unique needs. Survival and bushcraft are no different. Even the full customs, though, bore some commonalities with regard to size and blade shape.

Let's take a closer look at the knives instructors choose when they hit the trail.

CRAIG CAUDILL

"My choice of blades to carry is two-fold. I carry a custom Headstrong by Filo Bladeworks for my EDC. This blade is primarily a self-defense tool and is carried from that perspective, although it is used to do minimal day-to-day tasks at home and in the field. The handle materials and styling were put together to make it easy to deploy from the front pocket and use under stress but to also carry easily without being uncomfortable.

"My woods-carry blade is the Shemanese designed by me and built by LT Wright Handcrafted Knives. I designed it to be used by a proper woodsman (read: used, not abused) to handle wood and game, including the ability to filet fish and process game from field to fork. It is inspired by the carry blades of the frontiersmen.