What fixed blade do you carry on your 1st line gear or will you use in a shtf scenario? How much is too much money? Rat for low $100s or Spartan/Strider in the $3-400s? When does "You get what you pay for", not hold as much water?
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What fixed blade do you carry on your 1st line gear or will you use in a shtf scenario? How much is too much money? Rat for low $100s or Spartan/Strider in the $3-400s? When does "You get what you pay for", not hold as much water?
I've always been pretty happy with my Strider EBS. It's fairly compact but large enough I've gotten good use out of it in a work role.
I have been thinking for a while about going to a longer bladed knife. I'll be watching this thread to see what suggestions some have in a 5" or 6" style that they've been happy with.
Mine...
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...AR-4_1_web.jpg
Busse SAR4.
I use a Gerber LMF II, it's not bad for $80. Very hefty knife, I use it for camping and when I have to carve up pumpkins for our Machine gun shoots :cool:
It would probably be two of them--one an Ontario Rat-3, and the other a Spydie Muleteam 6 with micarta scales.
My Grayman has held up pretty good.
Rat Cutlery (Now ESEE Knives) RC-6
http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-6.htm
Matt
I have a 20 year old carbon steel knife I bought for a high school job. It has hunted/worked with me ever since and I do not treat it like a lady. I think carbon steel is sometimes underrated.
Caveat: I am in no way an expert or even very educated about bladed weapons, I just have had good luck with carbon steel and have seen many stainless knives (not of the $400 ilk though) come and go that did not fare so well.
As much as I hate to part with money, on my "as soon as I can afford it" list is the Strider DB - L.
Emerson PUK (Police Utility Knife).
http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n...v/IMG_0401.jpg
here's what I'm thinking of:
Bravo 1 0r 2 from Bark River
Fehrman 1st Strike or Last Chance
Rat-6
Strider of some sort
Hard to go wrong with a $40.00 Gerber
http://www.lapolicegear.com/geprcocokn.html
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/policestuff_2091_95213728
Rat RC-3 :)
As is usually the case, I think one's own definition of "SHTF" is going to impact the decision to a great extent. If you have a MOLLE belt set up for home defense you may have a different solution than a similar belt set up for EOTWAWKI E&E, etc.
I had a Strider DB that I first mounted on a belt, then on a chest rig, and then sold. For me, personally, it was just too much knife (in terms of cost) for my purposes, and I actually bought it at a discount at SHOT one year. I had zero concerns about it's durability or quality, but a lot of concerns about dropping a $200+ knife out on the range.
For anything other than field use, I think the size was about perfect. I liked that it was short & fat for use in clearing "type ate" malfunctions, as well as a potential last-ditch defensive tool. Obviously it would not work as any kind of chopping or other camp-making tool, and was probably even too fat for use in field dressing and cooking. I'm in an urban/suburban area so these are of almost no concern to me and the fine work can be addressed with a well-sharpened Leatherman blade or similar.
I've been sort of passively looking around for a lower-cost, similar-sized, alternative now that I have two first-line belts again. Will be interested to see what others post.
Would like to make a request though, that folks posting at least link to the product you mention, and post a picture of your personal setup if you can.
My Strider mounted to belt
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...1795Medium.jpg
Same knife mounted on chest rig
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...g/DSC_1660.jpg
ETA: come to think of it, posting that pic, the little HAK there on the support side of the chest rig is probably around here somewhere and would work pretty nicely on a first-line belt as a last-ditch...
I love my HAK. It will be on my person whenever possible.
I have a Kizlyar, what a hefty Russian beast! I like it alot! Spetsnaz favors them, but I just like the utility of it, price wasn't bad either.
http://i650.photobucket.com/albums/u...ticalKrink.jpg
I am not a huge Strider fan, but I do have an MFS that sees a lot of action hiking, on the range, and tending to the vineyard. Unlike the ubiquitous tanto profile, it has some belly and a fairly useful profile. It is not so big as to be a boat anchor on the belt or vest, either.
Another "real world" knife that I like is the CRK Professional Soldier. I'd like to see more/better carry and mounting options, but the blade itself is pretty good- basically a fixed blade Sebenza.
It depends what you want out of the knife. Over all there's much more you can accomplish with a longer blade than with a smaller blade. Small blades are great for general utilitarian purposes, and have the edge on detailed work, but a larger knife can chop, and cleave for easily (think survival situation in the woods were one might need to chop small trees down for fire wood, or baton logs to get to dry wood).
One of those Busse combat 10" knives, or the new RAT "Junglas" knife will fit the bill as a general all purpose utilitarian knife. In all reality though, one should adopt many knives to be set. I know some might want to reduce weight but I am a believer in having a small fixed blade utility knife, and a larger work horse.
Personally as far a large knives go, nothing is better than a Bowie. Reason being, is that it can do what all large knives can do, but it's a premier fighting knife. There is no better knife in a trained fighter's hands than a bowie, and this is because of the false edge (clip point) as well as it's over all design. If one is skilled with this knife, than all the other tanto bullshit, and the like don't even compare. It's a true fighting knife. Something to consider for a all purpose SHTF knife.
cevtv,
Is that sheath the one that comes with the Emerson now? I bought one when they first came out and got an Eagle combo nylon/kydex one. I would like a smaller sheath for it.
Another Gerber LMF II user. It works great for camping and heavy cutting, chopping, or hammering tasks (with the butt cap). At 11oz it's a tad bit heavy although that weight helps with some kinds of tasks. For a lighter knife, I also have a SOG Seal Pup, which has an equally long blade but weighs in a 5oz.
I have a Rat RC-6. It has served me well hiking and hunting.
The fixed blade SHTF setup is something I have been exploring for the last 6 years :)
I have come to the conclusion that no 1 knife will be good enough in a SHTF scenerio. I choose to have several 3" and even sub 3" blades paired with a 5" or longer will cover all need that may arise.
I am making what I call a u.B.O.B. (urban bug out bag) in several thicknesses and have 3 sizes that are still 7 1/4" and shorter overall.
Here is the first u.B.O.B thats maybe 6 1/4" overall.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...OB_NATURAL.jpg
I am making another for myself thats the 7 1/4" overall size as I want one a little longer.
I also like a good larger knife in or on me or my pack. That may be a 3 3/4" to 4 1/4" bladed knife....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4.../Grimlin-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4..._RED_LINER.jpg
THE smaller knife concept take your pick..............
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Cbloodwood.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ersonalG10.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...kerSHEATHS.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...Kick_Black.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4..._Skinners2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v454/bgoode/spine.jpg
Paired with a larger knife
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v454/bgoode/ttw-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/Combat-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4..._on_sheath.jpg
WILL COVER ALL NEEDS THAT ARISE :)
Damn....might have went overboard on the above post but I had too many available examples to not use them. Explore what combination of sizes work and not the 1 knife scenario so many strive for.....Myself Included :p
Not much, but could be any one of these depending. That's all.
Bgoode, those are beautiful. Do you sell them? What steel? I was thinking that 2 or 3 knives was the answer the more I thought about it. At least 2. 1 for chopping and 1 for fine work
I have been looking into this for a while myself. I have many different thoughts many of which have already been stated here. Here is my current trend of thinking: In a EOTWAWKI or SHTF case which is what most people here are talking about you have to plan out what that means to you and your survival. As Rob_S talks about so much is that could mean anything. For me it means I have left my home and I am moving to my bug out location to ride out the storm. Unknown utility service will be available unknown if riding/driving or walking. A fighting knife as I see it is mostly fantasy. If you are running a carbine or other longun with a pistol as a secondary and you are in it so deep that both have gone down b/c of malfunction or lack of ammo then a knife MIGHT prolong your agony for a couple of minutes at best and that is if you are very lucky or highly trained. So with those thoughts I look at a knif in the role of surviving off the land and as a utility knife. Skinning game, opening cans/MRE, cutting rope, small branches, fire making, etc. Here are the ones I am currently looking at feel free to chime in with your thoughts on the knives. Some of the reasons I am looking at these knives come from reviews from a sight survivaltopics.com. I am not a member of that sight but they had a lot of info on knives that I though was good.
SOG Seal Pup http://sogknives.com/store/M37.html
Becker BK7 https://www.kabar.com/product/produc...ryName=Product Search Results
Becker BK2 https://www.kabar.com/product/produc...ryName=Product Search Results
Becker BK9 https://www.kabar.com/product/produc...ryName=Product Search Results
Rat (ESEE) RC3 http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-3.htm
Rat (ESEE) RC5 http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-5.htm
Rat (ESEE) RC6 http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-6.htm
I just love your knives Brian----for starters the u.B.O.B thats maybe 6 1/4" overall
:cool:
I'm another fan of the Gerber LMF II. Holds an edge well and is super tough. And for only $65 you can't beat the price.
The Bark River Bravo 1 (A2 tool steel version) is nice, as is the (CPM-154) steel version.
I'm looking as well. The Gerber LMF was a bit heavy for my taste, but looked like a nice knife for the money. I was leaning towards a SOG Seal Pup Elite, but am now considering:
RAT RC-4
http://www.eseeknives.com/rc-4.htm
and maybe an Izula for a small version
http://www.eseeknives.com/neck_knife.htm
The Rat RC-4 Destruction Tests on YouTube were pretty impressive to me.
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i had the LMF. I don't like partially serrated knives at all.
Can You Tell I'm A Knife Collector
Depends what you want really. I'm a small time collector of Randall Made Knives, the few I have except one are either fighting or combat knives. Without a doubt these are some of the best knives one can own. Proven combat design but for a real combat zone the the reflective surface can get you killed. They are expensive, however, they are a major collectable and have seemingly held thier value, check out Ebay. The wait for one from the shop (hand made) is like 5 years, however, a "dealer" can get you one in less time and Randall will sell to "active duty" soldiers in short order. As expensive as they are, at the moment Ebay prices are often (now with bad economy) around cost. Still it's close to a $500 knife. I can honestly say I never lost money on one. I've owned 8 or 9 over the years, have four now and each one I sold for between $50 and $250 more than I paid, thanks Ebay.
That said, the best real Combat knife I have every owned without a doubt is made by Ryan Wilson, who's father owns Wilson Combat. I regret the one I sold but (needed the money at the time) and I had the more practical 5 1/2 inch blade and I really wanted the bigger 7 inch. Someday I'll get another (got a Randall I'm looking to sell- camping knife). The picture in the link I don't care for as it's the "black" extra cost coating, bead blast finish is really the way to go, IMHO looks much better too. This knife is machined out of a single bar of steel. Meaning the bar includes the handguard, solid one piece. It's $400 so it may not be the knife for our concern should the SHTF but if I had a son going into combat with the military this would be the knife I would give him to carry.
That said, I give hime a Randall too, just so he could take a picture of it on his hip in Afganistan then I'd sell it on Ebay, collectors love that stuff. Actually, Randall's have proven themselves in every war since WWII and a good knife fighter can use the "flash" of the blade to his advantage, however, the glint of a blade can get you killed too.
http://www.wilsoncombat.com/kniveswt...cal/model1.asp
A good fixed blade, and a Swiss Army Knife with a tweezer in your pocket. Ka-Bar nothin' fancy will work for $40
Middle of the Road (price wise)
SOG
Hattori
Any specific thoughts on the pros and cons of plain or combo blade?
I keep a glock field knife in each of my vehicles, for $30 they're pretty good.
a plain edge knife has much better all around cutting abilities and is not interrupted by half of the blade having serrations. also simpler to sharpen.