I'm lost... Knife help

[benw315]

Hey all,
I've been researching knives for quite some time now and am still uncertain as to what would be best for me. I'm no operator, but want something that will hold up. I'm going to be buying two types of knives. One general purpose/hunting fixed blade (5 or 6 inches) and a folding blade knife (everyday carry) that has a blade of 3-3.5 inches. I've looked at these so far:

Folders
Benchmade 550hg griptallion
benchmade 14410 soldat
benchmade 913 nitrous stryker
benchmade Benchmade 10750BP Vex
S&W M&P series
Spyderco Delica


Fixed
SOG seal pup elite
Ontario Knife RD6
Gerber Prodigy
Gerber LMF II infantry knife
Kabar Fighting Knife
Kabar Becker BK7

With all different blade types and hardnesses I'm confused. I would like to keep the fixed blade knife less than $100 and the fixed less than $60. Any reason to choose one of these over the other? I'm leaning towards spyderco or benchmade and towards the Ontario RD6 but am open to other suggestions as well. American made is preferrred. Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance.

Ben

[NoBody]

What is your intended use(s) for the fixed and folding knives? What kind of environment will they be used in?

[benw315]

The fixed blade is more of a hunting knife/survival/general purpose but mainly hunting. The folding is every day carry/general use. I'm thinking I don't need anything too special for either one, but if its only marginal difference between something like spyderco to benchmade I would go for the cheaper one

I would also like to be able to open the folder with one hand... every day carry=self defense to me as well

[NC Buckeye]

I carry my BM551 everyday and love it. It holds an edge fairly well and I have become an axis lock devotee. The grip is truely nothing special but it has always given me enough purchase on it.

Probably the best thing I can say for it is a few people that have used mine have bought one.

[Vic303]

Look at the ESEE (RAT) knives for fixed blade.
For folders I love Spyderco. Check out their Paramilitary 2, Manix 2, and the Superleaf.

I've owned the Manix 2 and the Para2. The Para2 is my edc. or me, I found the Manix 2 to be a tad too heavy and wide. Took up to much pocket real estate.

[trappernana]

Learn about the steel itself. Brand names do have some significance but, most companies have lines with good grade steel. Also learn about the hardness scale. There are existing posts in here.

[newyork]

I agree about the Spydercos. I also have the Manix 2 and Paramilitary 2 and think the Manix 2 is awkward in the pocket but a good knife. The Paramilitary 2 is perfect in the pocket, lightweight, super ergonomic and has a good lock system for around $100.

[Jack-O]

there is a radical difference in the type of blade used for skinning an animal than the one used to kill the animal. when most people say "hunting" i think "skinning/gutting" in which case those wyoming knives are about as good as it gets. the canadian pattern skinning knife is good as well tho.

for just plain old killing a longer blade is desired which is where the
"combat" style knives come in.

for EDC the spyderco endura with the wave feature is a quick draw/quick open design and has served me everyday for 2+ years getting drawn 6-20+ times a day used to pry and cut and hammer and tighten all sorts of things.

in general you'll be hard pressed to get a better deal or better knife for the money than from Cold Steel or Spyderco. You can certainly pay more tho. I have had a weird hankering for that gerber ASEK knife tho. nice usable size and well built.

my day pack has a glock field knife, a sog multitool, and a cold steel spetsnaz shovel in it. my gun belt has a wyoming knife on it, and my pocket has the Endura Wave. I almost never use the field knife, but it makes me feel good should I ever need to get in a knife fight in the back woods with some terrorist after I've exhausted my ammo and the shovel stops working :P

[SteveL]

With regard to folding knives, how do SOG knives compare with the other brands listed?

[mkmckinley]

The SOG knives I've seen and used have all been kind of cheesy. They like to put their marketing into the design on the knife itself which really puts me off. They don't tend to use as great of steels as Spyderco for instance.