With Christmas coming around I thought a new knife would be a good idea. What knifes would be good for camping and also that I could use to split wood?

After my experience trying it this last summer, I think my priorities are grip and blade length. Not having enough of the blade to get a good hit on makes it much harder, as does having a bad grip. $40-60 price range. Any ideas or experience would be appreciated.

Discussed often and many threads in the search function,
Knifes Morakniv Companion Heavy Duty Knife Solo Knifes Sheffield Footprint Hacking Knife

butthead

A bit higher in price but I vote for the Becker BK2.

quote scramble4a5: "A bit higher in price but I vote for the Becker BK2."

That's what I use for batoning (and everything else besides fileting). It's a beast.

Ka-bar knives are dirt cheap for cyber Monday

Look up the Ontario Knife Company SK 5 blackbird. It’s a large Kephart type knife in 154 stainless, micarta scales, 1/8 inch thick blade, very rugged. It sells for about $95, but with holiday sales deals you should be able to get it cheaper. A very solid all around campknife that is very suited for batoning. JG

I got a cheap-ish full tang knife from my mother in law's store. The screws holding the handle halves together broke off their the heads the first trip I took the knife on. Duct tape has been holding them on since, plus the posts of the screws now missing their heads. That was a couple years ago. The duct tape has been holding up fine.

The knife itself has a 6" blade and about a 5" handle.

While I have yet to baton with mine, the Ontario Knives Camper Knife seems to fit the bill for a larger knife, basically a small heavy duty machete. The D handle protects your hands, the blade is quite thick so it should take a beating. Comes pretty dull, but a few minutes using a belt sander and its remarkably sharp, and it held that edge very well on my last camping trip. Both the knife and sheath can be had for under $30 on Amazon. Did double duty in the garden this year as a pair of my shears got up and walked away.

Another option is the Kershaw Camp 10. Its long but very sturdy and ergonomically does well. A bit big but a beast of a chopper and splitter. About $40'if I remember correctly.

I have the Bk2 and a bunch of Moras, the Bk2 is a beast for sure but pretty damn heavy as well. I pretty much only carry my mora hd companion or bushcraft black. If I want more, ill carry my ontario rat 7, longer yet lighter than the Bk2. Bk2 or rat 7 will run you 60-80$. Moras 18-50$.

A real nice knife for the price which does an excellent job at batoning wood is the Gerber Big Rock. It's $50 at MEC. I picked one up for the sole purpose of processing wood and it works great... Gerber Big Rock

I got myself an Ontario Knife Co SP-1 for canoe tripping. It is an awesome knife to baton wood with. It has a fixed 7" blade, and is 1/5" thick.

Condor knives - available on amazon fit your price range easily , and are a good deal for the price.

The mora full tang would be my choice in that price range. Batoning wood is tough on knives and full tang knives 1/8" across the spine would be my choice, but the cost will go way up for a full 1/8" on the spine. Axes are made to chop and split and will do a much better job and not break or chip.

I got my son a camp knife for Christmas. Ka-Bar, and he couldn't be more pleased with it. That's a great hard duty knife. I have had mine since I was 16 (28 yrs) and it has held up to years of tough use.

But... I do plan on getting myself the Becker Companion before my next trip. The Ka-Bar is now my gardening knife.