Same with me. I also bring some duct tape and nylon repair patch.

My backpacking knife of choice for the past few years has been a 4" Rapala wood handle fillet knife. For about 25 years before that I used the same style knife with a 9" blade.

I started bringing the 4" blade after arriving here and learning about how to think about lighting up. I have years of experience with those knives so I'm sure I'm bias, but I can recommend them with no qualms.

I'd say the benefits of that particular fixed 4" blade knife for backpacking are the thin flexible blade, the bigger and more comfortable handle, it holds an edge, it's tough (on my last trip I opened a big can of beans with it), it only weighs 1-1/4 ounces, and they cost under $20.00.

I also believe a fixed blade knife is safer. This one has a deep notch in the handle that adds to that safety margin.

They're a quality product, the 9" blade I have is 28 years old. I've had the 4" blade for probably about 10-12 years, and both have seen a lot of rough use.

After losing the one that came with the 4" blade, I stitched up a new sheath with a belt loop from 1-1/2 inch nylon webbing and lined it with milk carton plastic. It's pretty much bomb proof and also pretty light at 18 grams, so altogether the 4" blade I carry is just under 2 ounces with the sheath.

Even if you don't make it your goto backpacking knife, these are worth having. I carve our holiday turkeys and hams with mine

Here's a photo of the RAPALA 4-inch Fish 'n Fillet Knife.