It doesn't make sense at first thought. And I carried a knife for the first 90% of my thru-hiking.

Now, I specifically excluded survival situations. There are times when a knife is invaluable.

If one is thru-hiking, travelling as light as possible, what is there for a knife to do? No one is carrying marshmallows, and if they were they could break off a limb. No one is building a fire, everyone has stoves. You could slice cheese or salami, but that's not really necessary. You aren't eating any steaks. Your tent is free-standing, and if you need to guy something you have the proper length of string. (Actually, I carried 80# test Dacron fishing line. Smash it between two rocks or rub it against something.)

The only legitimate reason I found was to cut moleskin to size, so I cut it to various sizes before I left. Or if I were going to fish and eat the catch I'd carry a knife.

I have a machete with a saw blade back side and one of those big K-Bar things in the RV. I have 4 or 5 Leathermen, a couple of Swiss Army knives and those are just the bigger ones. I just don't take them thru-hiking. I would take a Leatherman or Swiss Army knife on a day hike.

I do carry a small, folding pair of pliers and some tweezers. I carry several ways to start fires, and a couple of cotton balls which I would grease up with suntan lotion or insect repellent. I carry Super Glue for cuts, I carry a lot of odd things like a small tube of benzocaine for bug bites. Just not a knife (anymore).

A day-hiker who might get lost or stuck should have a knife. But for a well prepared thru-hiker, one who is equipped to stay a week on the trail, there isn't really anything for a knife to do that is worth it's weight.

I have to repeat. This is not for survival, or some minimalist who is living off the land, or a day hiker, or car camper.

The only real excuse for posting this is that it's sort of odd. And it's true. Most thru-hikers I've met don't carry knives.