In Defense of the Knife

I've been reading a lot of posts in the forums decrying the necessity of carrying a knife while backpacking. In order to shed the most weight possible, some people have resorted to carrying tiny pocket knives like the dimuitive Victorinox Classic, simple razor blades, or even forgoing a knife altogether, claiming that they're useless anyway because they never use them. Today, I want to make a simple, rational argument in favor of carrying a real knife into the backcountry.

OK, so I'll concede that maybe you don't really need something like this 5.7 oz., 5" SOG Seal Pup Elite:

But, what about something more modest, yet fully functional like my 2.6 oz. Spyderco Delica 4:

I use my knife a lot on the trail--more than enough to justify it's weight. I use it for opening food bags, food prep, cutting guylines, shaving branches to make dry tinder, digging cat holes, etc. It's undoubtedly the most versatile piece of gear I carry. Aside from sheer convenience, I just feel more secure having a real 3 7/8" blade in the unlikely event that I get lost and have to spend a few unanticipated nights out and go into "survival mode". I think it's also important to consider self defense from both animals and humans. A paper-thin razor blade isn't going to do much to fend off a mountain lion or hostile hiker. While rare, attacks do happen and in my mind it's better to have something that could be used as a weapon than being totally defenseless.

For those that say they've carried a knife for a long time and never used it so they ditched it, I ask if they would apply the same logic to a first-aid kit. I carried a first-aid kit for a long time (probably over a year) and never used it. The first time I actually had to, I was glad I had it with me--I would have been out of luck otherwise. I've carried one ever since. I'll bet most of us don't pull out our first-aid kits very often, yet still carry them becasue we realize that their weight is justified by necessity. I think the same holds true for knives. Even if you don't use a knife as much as I do for simple camp chores, etc., when you really need it, you'll be glad you have a real blade and not a miniscule razor.

In short, I feel it is unwise to head into the wild without a decent knife and the Delica 4 has served me well for little weight. Of course it's not going to protect me from every situation, but it's certaily better than having no knife at all. On a more practical level, I simply can't see sacrificing its convenience to save a mere two and a half ounces.

So what about the rest of you? Do you carry a knife? Why or why not? What's in your pocket?