5 budget bushcraft knives and the grind decides which one you should carry

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A bushcraft knife has one job it can’t fake. It must bite into wood, hold an edge through a weekend of feather sticks, fire prep, and shelter stakes, and come home ready to do it all again the next trip out, without a workshop session in between.

Under $100, that job splits cleanly in two, and the split is the grind.

Scandi grinds carve wood the way a chisel does, one long bevel riding flat on the work. Flat grinds slice food, cordage, and hide cleaner, and they shrug off the prying a carver shouldn’t ask for. Neither camp is wrong, the two camps just pack for different weekends, and this guide runs five picks across both of them, six knives in total, with every price under the ceiling.

• Two CIVIVI scandi blades lead the set, the WoodPal at $62.90 and the Thaloryn at $69.96 while the maker’s 15% cut holds
• The Morakniv Garberg in carbon steel at $99.99 is the heavy duty ceiling pick
• The BPS Adventurer CSHF at $44.99 is the cheapest way into a true scandi grind
• The Ontario RAT-3 and Condor Kephart carry the flat side at $94.95 and $72.25

CIVIVI WoodPal and Thaloryn bring two scandi blades to one pick

CIVIVI built this line with Dutch Bushcraft Knives, and the WoodPal carries that credit right on its spec sheet. Maarten and Mikkie B designed the smaller knife, a 3.44 inch drop point in 14C28N at 59 HRC, ground scandi, satin finished, and pinned in G10 with brass.

At 3.72 ounces, the WoodPal disappears on a belt.

It’s a carver first. The short blade and 0.12 inch stock keep it nimble on tent pegs and feather sticks, the brown leather sheath suits the way it gets used, and a black paracord lanyard rides along in the box.

CIVIVI WoodPal C25075A
3.44 in 14C28N blade, scandi grind · Dutch Bushcraft Knives design · Brown leather sheath
Price: $74.00 $62.90 (save $11.10, 15% off)
Where to buy: Buy at CIVIVI

The Thaloryn stretches the same idea a size up in every direction that counts. Its blade runs 4.1 inches in AEB-L at 60 HRC, the stock thickens to 0.16 inches, and the handle grows to 4.69 inches, so bigger hands get a full grip and the knife takes baton work the WoodPal would rather skip.

Black G10 starts the range at the lowest price. Green canvas Micarta and Guibourtia wood sit above it.

CIVIVI Thaloryn C25082
4.1 in AEB-L blade, scandi grind · 0.16 in blade thickness · Brass pins
Price: $82.30 $69.96 (save $12.34, 15% off)
Where to buy: Buy at CIVIVI

Pick between them by hand size and by patience. Both knives are preorders at CIVIVI with shipping estimated for November 24, and our first look at the line covers the pair in full alongside their bigger sibling. If you want a knife in hand this week instead, keep reading, because the rest of this guide ships now.

Morakniv Garberg is the ceiling pick and it earns its cent

The Garberg is Morakniv’s full tang answer to everyone who ever snapped a stick tang Mora and swore off the brand for good. Carbon steel, 4.3 inches of it, 3.2 millimeters thick, ground scandi, with a squared 90 degree spine that throws sparks off a ferro rod and a rear tang that sticks out of the handle on purpose.

There’s no partial tang to trust here. The steel runs end to end.

We reviewed the Garberg on this site, and the verdict there holds in this company. The carbon blade takes a patina if you leave it wet in the sheath, the handle’s diamond texture locks into a gloved hand, and the polymer sheath on this listing is what keeps the price a cent under the wire instead of over it.

Morakniv Garberg, carbon steel, polymer sheath
4.3 in carbon blade, scandi grind, full tang · Ground 90 degree spine · Made in Sweden
Price: $99.99
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon

One cent under the ceiling is still under it. If the budget stretches to exactly one premium pick, make it the knife with years of other people’s hard use already behind the design.

BPS Knives Adventurer CSHF is the budget scandi with a fire kit built in

BPS builds the Adventurer CSHF in Ukraine, and it’s the most knife here per dollar by a wide margin. The blade runs 5.3 inches, the longest in this guide, in 1066 carbon steel with a true scandi grind, a full tang underneath, and a walnut handle finished in Danish oil at 56 to 57 HRC.

The sheath sells this pick as hard as the blade does.

It’s leather, stitched heavy, and a ferro rod rides in a loop on it, so the fire kit travels with the knife instead of hiding in a pack pocket. All in, the kit weighs 315 grams on the belt.

At 2.5 millimeters the blade stock runs thin next to the Garberg, so heavy batoning asks for a lighter hand and a straighter swing. Right and left hand versions cost the same $44.99, and Amazon undercuts the maker’s own $49.95 shelf price by five dollars while it’s at it.

BPS Knives Adventurer CSHF
5.3 in 1066 carbon blade, true scandi grind · Walnut handle · Leather sheath with ferro rod
Price: $44.99
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon

Ontario RAT-3 is the compact flat grind for close work

Ontario’s RAT-3 is the compact of this set, and it knows it. The blade runs 3.9 inches in 1095 carbon steel with a full flat grind under a black powder coat, the cutting edge measures 3.5 inches, and the whole knife comes to just 7.9 inches overall with canvas Micarta on the handle.

Short blades do close work well.

Feather sticks, food prep, cordage, and tarp stakes all sit inside this knife’s comfort zone, no stretching required. What it won’t do is split rounds or carve like a scandi, and this pick doesn’t ask it to, because the RAT-3 earns its slot as the small flat grind you grab when the big knife stays home.

The nylon sheath is MOLLE compatible, so the knife rides a pack strap as happily as a belt. Made in the USA, priced under the ceiling, and sized for the work most camp days actually bring.

Ontario RAT-3 8665
3.9 in 1095 carbon blade, full flat grind · Canvas Micarta handle · Made in the USA
Price: $94.95
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon

Condor Kephart carries a century old camp pattern in 1075

Horace Kephart settled his camp knife pattern a century ago, and Condor’s version keeps the plain spear point shape almost exactly as he drew it. The blade runs 4.5 inches in 1075 high carbon steel, flat ground at 3 millimeters thick, with hardwood scales pinned in brass over a full tang.

Nothing on this knife is decorative. That’s the appeal.

At 120 grams the Kephart carries lighter than every pick here except the little WoodPal, and the brown leather sheath suits the old pattern better than plastic ever would. It sharpens on almost anything flat, a river stone included, and it’s priced like a tool rather than a collectible, which is exactly how Kephart would have wanted his knife sold.

Condor Kephart CTK247-4.5HC
4.5 in 1075 carbon blade, flat grind · Hardwood handle, brass pins · Brown leather sheath
Price: $72.25
Where to buy: Buy on Amazon

Which bushcraft knife should you buy

Buy the WoodPal if your bushcraft is carving and your hands run small. Buy the Thaloryn if they don’t, and you want the longer AEB-L blade for the extra reach.

Buy the Garberg if you want one knife that shrugs off batoning season after season and you can live with carbon steel upkeep. Buy the Adventurer if money’s tight and you still want a true scandi with a fire kit included in the price.

Buy the RAT-3 for close work in a small, flat ground package that rides anywhere. Buy the Kephart if a century of campers already made the decision for you, and you just want the pattern they all kept choosing.

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