My Primary Knife: Review and Modifications

Being fairly new to bushcraft I found myself in need of a good knife. When looking for basic and budget friendly bushcraft knifes two names seem to always come up: Old Hickory and Mora. After reading many reviews I let my preference for full tang knives win and I went with the Old Hickory.

The Old Hickory 7" Butcher Knife by the Ontario Knife Company is a plain but functional knife. It is cheap ($12.50 on the makers site ), full tang, carbon steel and has a wooden handle. It works well in the kitchen and in the woods for slicing, chopping and batoning. I have had mine for a year now and it seems to hold an edge well. Although it is carbon steel I have not had any trouble with it rusting on me, with minimal care and maintenance.

However there are some drawbacks with this knife: at 7 inches it is a bit long for fine woodworking, the handle is square and not very comfortable, the rivets that hold the wooden scales on are not very strong, there is no lanyard hole and it comes with no sheath. Yet most of these things can be changed with a little work.

In order to get around some of the problems inherent with this knife I made several modifications as soon as I got it. I sanded off the corners of the handle so that they do not dig into my hand. I drilled a lanyard hole and fitted it with some bank line. Since I always carry a small pocket knife I do not have to worry that it will not handle fine word working.  The rivets have held for me thus far so I am leaving them as long as they keep doing there job. The sheath however took a bit more time to sort out. 

 Although sites like "Self Reliance Outfitters" sell sheaths specifically for this knife, buying a sheath at 3 to 6 times the price of the knife seems to defeat buying a budget friendly knife. Wanting a budget friendly option  I decided to make one out of some PVC and scraps of canvas. This kept costs to around $3 and made it truly one of a kind. The PVC friction fits the blade keeping it secure in the sheath, there is a loop of canvas at the top for it to go on a belt and a pocket to hold a small emergency kit.

 Along with my knife my sheath holds: Duct Tape, Jute Twine, a Fire Steel, Button Compass, Signal Mirror, a Whistle and a Fishing/Sewing kit. This turns my knife into a mini survival/emergency kit. I am sure I will continue to modify things and make changes to the kit but this set up has worked well. Please let me know if you have any ideas of things to add, changes to make and what kind of knife you use.