A good survival knife is an outdoors enthusiast’s best friend. As long as you have a reliable blade, you can use it to overcome many of the challenges Mother Nature can throw your way.
If you’re planning a camping trip, you’ll definitely want a reliable knife by your side.
Morakniv Kansbol and Morakniv Bushcraft are two highly reliable, all-round blades you can use when camping, trekking, hiking, hunting, or fishing. Which one of them is better will depend entirely on your style and preferences.
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About the Kansbol and Bushcraft
Morakniv is one of the most well-known outdoor knife manufacturers in the world. They are known for their durable, versatile, and affordable knives that are equally popular with people just getting into outdoor life and bushcraft and experienced outdoor enthusiasts and campers.
Kansbol and Mora Bushcraft are two reliable and versatile blades that both have various applications in the wild.
Morakniv Kansbol Specifications
- Blade length: 4.3 in
- Blade thickness: max 0.10 in (thickest close to the handle, tapered closer to the point)
- Overall length: 8.9 in
- Type of grind: Scandi and compound grind
- Blade material: Stainless steel (grade Sandvik12C27)
- Handle material: ABS (barrel-shaped, rubberized along the edges)
- Sheath material: Plastic (Standard-mount & Multi-mount)
- Overall weight: 4.4 oz
Morakniv Bushcraft Specifications
- Blade length: 4.3 in
- Blade thickness: 0.12 in
- Overall length: 9.3 in
- Type of grind: Scandi
- Blade material: comes in stainless steel (grade Sandvik12C27) and high-carbon steel (grade C100) variants
- Handle material: Rubber (ergonomic, with a notch for the index finger)
- Sheath material: Plastic (loop-through and clip-on belt mounts)
- Overall weight: 4.4 oz (for the regular variant) or 7.5 oz (for the Bushcraft Survival variant)
The Bushcraft Survival variant comes with a diamond sharpener whetstone attached to the plastic sheath, as well as an all-weather fire starter which will allow you to light fires even when camping in high humidity.
What Do the Kansbol and Morakniv Bushcraft Have in Common?
Both the Kansbol and the Bushcraft have hidden tangs which is something Morakniv does in almost all of its knives. And, while a full tang knife is more reliable in a survival situation, I’ve yet to tear the tang out of the handle of any of my Mora knives.
These Sweden Made knives are made to last and each blade comes with a manufacturer’s warranty. So, if your knife breaks or the tang falls out in a survival situation, you can get a new blade or your money back, once you get home. Not that this will be particularly useful to you in the wild, but at least it’s something.
Additionally, both of these knives are pretty affordable considering what you’re getting for your money. The Kansbol is priced around $40 and the Bushcraft ranges from $37 to $85 depending on whether you get the stainless steel or the high-carbon variant, as well as whether you opt for the regular or the Survival version.
Of course, the prices will vary depending on where and who you buy the knife from, however, they are both amazing all-round survival knives you can get for less than $100.
What’s Different Between the Morakniv Kansbol and Bushcraft Survival Knives?
These knives are equally useful and versatile when out and about. However, they are also very different. When looking at any knife, you’ll need to pay attention to the blade, the handle, and the sheath.
The Blade
While Mora Bushcrafthas a full Scandi grind, the Kansbol has it only partially – the blade tapers and loses thickness halfway from the handle to the tip. This type of compound grind has many advantages, such as precision and sharpness. However, a compound grind takes a lot of the meat from the blade and makes it prone to breaking.
On the other hand, the full Scandi grind, sharpened all the way to the handle, has better edge retention, and keeps the spine of the blade at full thickness, which means more durability.
Additionally, even though both of the blades have a slight drop point, the tip of the blade on the Kansbol curves up ever so slightly. It is barely noticeable, though.
The Handle
The Kansbol has a barrel handle with plastic in the middle and rubber encasing it on the sides. This makes for an amazing grip that prevents the knife both from slipping away and from rotating in your hand. It provides a durable and very comfortable grip.
On the other hand, the Bushcraft’s ergonomic, rubber handle is one of the most comfortable knives you’ll ever hold. The entire handle is rubber which makes slipping impossible whether you’re holding it with a glove or your bare hand. The handle is also slightly longer than the blade, which gives you additional control when using the blade.
The Sheath
The Kansbol can come with a multi-mount sheath that you can fit on a backpack, belt, or almost any other piece of outdoor gear you can think of. This knife fits more snuggly into its sheath, only leaving a small part of the handle visible. Some people prefer this, others don’t, but it means that you can wear your knife upside down, without having to worry about it falling out of the sheath.
The Bushcraft comes with two interchangeable mounts – a loop and a clip-on. They are both plastic and meant for attaching the knife to your belt, and they both allow the sheath to rotate a bit to make it more comfortable when you’re sitting down. Even though the clip-on sheath can be mounted on gear other than your belt, I’ve never felt comfortable using it in this manner.
Finally, the Bushcraft Survival variation comes with a fire starter and a diamond sharpener which come in handy in any survival situation, even just as redundancies.
Protip: Do not try to sharpen your Morakniv Bushcraft on the sheath-mounted sharpener while wearing the sheath on your belt. This can lead to serious cuts on your leg, which is the last thing you’d want when you’re out in the wild.
What Is the Morakniv Kansbol Better For?
The Morakniv Kansbol is better than the Bushcraft when it comes to these tasks:
- Fine carving and whittling – the Kansbol’s thinner blade is more efficient for hollowing out cups, bowls, or making spoons in the wild.
- Processing food and edibles – when gathering wild edibles and cutting them, you’ll want a precise, sharp blade. The thinner the better.
- Cutting cordage – the compound grind is perfect for cutting cordage without getting those fluffy ends.
- Processing your prey – skinning animals, filleting meat, and cleaning fish are all easier to do with the Kansbol’s compound grind than with the Mora Bushcraft’s thicker blade.
Advantages of the Morakniv Bushcraft
Here are some advantages of having the Mora Bushcraft instead of the Kansbol:
- Heavy-duty tasks – sometimes you’ll need to chop things in the wild rather than slice them. This is where the extra thickness of the blade comes in handy.
- Batoning – when there’s no ax handy, the Mora Bushcraft makes splitting firewood pretty easy, as long as you have something to baton it with.
- Stripping a tree or branches of the bark – that crisp 90-degree spine is good for other things besides striking the fire steel.
- Better leverage – the exceptionally long handle which takes up over half the knife’s overall length is designed to provide additional leverage when you need it. Chopping or prying are much easier with this knife.
- More robust blade – a thicker blade is less likely to snap or suffer other damage while you’re out and about.
- Sharpening your knife in the wild – the full Scandi grind is much easier to sharpen in the wild than the Kansbol’s compound grind.
Additionally, Morakniv Bushcraft can come with a sheath equipped with a fire steel and a sharpener, which means that you only need some unexpired charcloth and you’ll be carrying a fire-making tool on your belt.
Do You Need a Mora Kansbal or Mora Bushcraft?
There is no knife that’s perfect for everyone. And since outdoors enthusiasts are a peculiar and picky lot, sometimes even multiple tools aren’t enough to meet all the requirements and redundancies of a camping trip.
So, when you’re looking for the perfect knife for your outdoor adventures, ask yourself – what do I really need when I am in the wild?
If you’re predominantly a hiker and do little bushcraft or whittling, the Kansbol’s thinner blade and mounting versatility can come in handy. Also, if you’re a hunter and need a fine edge to process your prey, stick with the Kansbol.
On the other hand, if you’re into bushcraft and like using a single tool for every imaginable outdoor task from making feather sticks to digging a firepit, then the Mora Bushcraft is the blade for you.
The best way to be sure is to experiment as much as possible with various gear until you find what works for you. Luckily, both of these knives are pretty affordable, so you won’t need to break the bank if you want to try them both out.
My Personal Preference and Experience With Both Blades
I, myself, have been using the Mora Bushcraft Survival on my camping and hiking trips for years now, and I would not change it for any other knife. Even though it weighs a bit more (which is not ideal when trekking or hiking) it has a beast of a blade that will allow you to get out of many unforeseen situations on the trail or in the wild. The fire steel and sharpener are an added bonus and are totally worth the extra weight. I can’t tell you how many times that sharpener helped me get the knicks out of the blade when sharpness was of the essence (especially since I almost never carry any other sharpening tools when camping).
As far as the Kansbol is concerned, it is a great multi-purpose knife I’ve brought on many fishing and camping trips. Since I am not a particularly good fisherman and I rarely do fine whittling or craft spoons or cups in the wild, I have learned to pack my own food and utensils. These things have led me to not rely on the Kansbol as much.
Finally, I do not coddle my blades at all and I have snapped the tips off two Kasbols so far. Besides, if you know how to handle a larger blade, it can replace a lot of other tools in your pack (such as an ax or a food prepping knife). This ends up saving weight, in the end. With a solid, rugged knife such as the Moraknv Bushcraft, you won’t even need a multitool when backpacking or camping.
