The bushcraft community has converged on a small set of essentials over the last twenty years: a chopping blade, a small bushcraft knife, a folding saw, fire steel, paracord, and a tarp. Anything more is style. This page is the working list — what we actually carry, why each item earned its slot, and the affordable alternatives if you’re starting from zero.
The six essentials, in order of importance
1. A chopping blade (kukri or hatchet)
The piece of metal that processes firewood and frames shelter. A kukri does both at half the carry weight of a hatchet-plus-fixed-blade combo. Recommended: an 11–12 inch kukri in 5160 or 1075. See our Best Bushcraft Kukri guide for picks.
2. A small bushcraft / utility knife
The fine-work blade. Featherstick, food prep, carving, first-aid. Mora Companion or Helle Eggen are the two reference points; under $30 buys you a knife that will outlast most setups. Carry on your belt or in your sheath pouch.
3. A folding saw
Where the kukri tires you out, the saw makes the work efficient. A 7-inch Silky Bigboy or BAHCO Laplander is the bushcraft standard. Cuts limbs and dry deadfall faster than any blade.
4. Fire kit
Ferro rod (Light My Fire Scout 2.0 or Exotac), a small striker or the spine of your bushcraft knife, and a small waterproof tinder cache (charcloth, fatwood shavings, or PJ cotton balls in a tin). Carry a Bic lighter as backup — pride is not a fire-starting strategy.
5. Paracord (50 ft minimum)
Genuine 550-paracord, type III. Shelter ridgelines, tarp ties, hasty repairs, snares, boot laces. The single most useful 6 oz in your kit. Buy the real thing; Amazon “tactical paracord” knock-offs fail under load.
6. A tarp shelter
10×10 silnylon or DCF (Dyneema Composite Fabric). Sets up as A-frame, lean-to, or plow-point depending on weather. Carry under a pound — the gateway tool to ultralight shelter.
The secondary kit (high-utility, not essential)
- Sharpening stone. A diamond credit-card stone is enough. See our sharpening guide.
- Headlamp. Black Diamond Spot or Petzl Tikka. 80–200 lumens, AAA or USB-rechargeable.
- Stainless cup or canteen. Boilable water container plus emergency cooking vessel. Pathfinder School or Zebra billy can.
- Small first-aid kit. Blister care, leukotape, a few painkillers, gauze, and tweezers.
- Compass and printed map. Your phone GPS is not bushcraft kit. Suunto MC-2 or Silva Ranger.
What we don’t carry
The bushcraft internet sells a lot of things we leave at home: hollow-handle survival knives, magnesium fire blocks (ferro rods are better), wire saws (they break), and gimmick multi-tools. If a piece of kit only solves one obscure problem at the cost of weight or complexity, leave it.
Total carry weight
The essentials above plus a small first-aid kit and a stainless cup will come in around 4–5 lbs. Adequate for any 1–3 night trip in temperate forest. Anything heavier than that, you are carrying camping gear, not bushcraft kit.
Where this list comes from
Three test seasons of carrying every variation of this loadout. We dropped: a second fire-starter (kept the ferro rod, dropped the magnesium block), a wire saw (broke), and a folding fixed-blade with a serrated section (replaced by the smooth Mora and the folding saw). The list above is what’s left after subtraction.
Build out your full survival-grade kit at Build a Survival Loadout, or use the Survival Setup Generator on the homepage to size a kit to your trip and environment.