Field/Survival/Bush/Whatever Knife

[RogerinTPA]

Grayman Defender hands down. I think most, if not all of his knives would be worth it.

http://graymanknives.com/defender.html

[Irish]

I really like the looks of the Hogue EX-F01 on your FB page. I have limited knowledge of fixed blades and am in the process of doing research now in order to spend my money the best way possible the first time around. I'm hoping that this thread will be a great resource.

The ESEE knives look like a winner and come widely recommended and the Fallkniven knives mentioned earlier get great reviews on the net as well. The only thing I'd be worried about with the F1 is the sharpening as I'm not familiar with the type of edge it has and it sounds like it might be rather time consuming to keep an edge on it.

The Chris Reeve Green Beret looks like a really nice knife as well but definitely comes with a hefty price tag, as do all his knives. The Nyala looks like a good all around knife but probably wouldn't be the best at cutting branches for shelters and fire.

Anyhow, subscribed to learn more and help narrow down my options.

[misanthropist]

Well, as I commented on your Dark Mountian's facebook, for me it's the Bark River Aurora. That is because what I really prefer is something like a Mora - about 4-4.5 inches long, simple grind, no recurve.

The changes I would make to a Mora are simple: spear point rather than a straight spine to make boring holes a little easier and to put the point more on the centerline of the knife, which I find makes indexing the tip a little more instinctive; make the handle just a little more protectively shaped to discourage your hand from slipping forward onto the knife; blade could be a little sturdier than a Mora's; and the scandi grind is fine but a convex is really better IMO as well.

That's pretty much an exact description of the Aurora, which is why I bought one.

[rkba01]

I would take Doug Ritter's MK3. Fixed blade with a nice balance between weight, size, and functionality. It can't do all, but it can do most.

http://www.dougritter.com/dr_rsk_mk3.htm

[Irish]

Kino - What's your thoughts on knives currently? Do you have a favorite do all?

I would take Doug Ritter's MK3. Fixed blade with a nice balance between weight, size, and functionality. It can't do all, but it can do most.

http://www.dougritter.com/dr_rsk_mk3.htm

That's a nice looking knife. Hadn't seen that one before.

[Norseman]

Hmmmmm, just one would be tough, but for me it would prob. be my daily carry, ZT 301, small enough to do most small things pretty well, and large enough to do some large things well and pretty stout to boot.

[K.L. Davis]

Kino - What's your thoughts on knives currently? Do you have a favorite do all?

No real do-all, maybe a do-most-everything though...

I carry three knives... a big knife, that is usually a cut down or short bladed machete. Not a lot of money in this, it is a chopper not much more; also a multi-blade folder or muli-tool, seems that I always keep going back to a SAK here, and the One Hand Trekker is my favorite; finally is the do-nearly-all blade that takes care of about 90% of tasks at hand.

Looking at the box of knives that I have to pick from, there is an underlying style that I seem to prefer, these include knives that tend to look like blades from ESEE, the Fallkniven F1, Cold Steel Master and Pendleton Hunter, BK&T blades, Dozier, DPx HEST and other blades from Landi, Bark River, Condor TK, Blind Horse and I am eyeing the work of Ray Ennis, Doug Ritter and our own B Goode.

Of course I am missing a lot of good knives from that list... I will add to my personal list to be sure.

The politics and divisiveness in the knife world is worse than that of the gun world, and I don't get all caught up in knives that are different just for the sake of being different. I tend believe that a quality piece of any one of several types of steel - when properly heat treated - will make a good blade, each has advantages and disadvantages.

Uber materials are something to look at for handle selection...

What I look for is a knife with a full sized handle, about a 4" blade, an understated drop-point, deep belly and no serrations or recurve to the edge - but that is just me.

What I have found out is that handles that feel amazing to grip in one hold, will be uncomfortable in other holds... versatility is key to me here, take a look at the knives used by folks that have been carrying a working blade as part of their culture for the last 600 years.

Keep in mind that the best warranty in the world means exactly jack shit if you can not take advantage of it.

You don't always get what you pay for, but you never get more than you pay for - that said, high cost does not equal high quality.

I have never heard anyone say "Wow, I am surprised this guy died... he has a really cool looking knife".

I guess this is pretty much like buying a handgun... figure out how much you want/can spend; make a list of viable knives, based on the choice of people you trust to know what they are doing (your ESEE and F1 is a great start!); figure out which ones on this list will do what you need and you feel comfortable with; buy that knife... plan on buying more after that.

[K.L. Davis]

Here's an idea... you may notice that a lot of folks tend towards a "mora style" knife, they are great knives and everyone needs to own one or two.

The also can be picked up for very little scratch... head over to Amazon or wherever and check out the Mora, or one knife I have like a half dozen of is the Cold Steel Pendleton Lite - you can get one of these delivered for well under 20 bucks, and they any of them are good knives.

So once you get it, start using it... and I mean use it for everything, you will figure out soon enough what you would like different about it (if anything)... you get to judge blade size and shape, the grip design and just how well it does some things, and not others.

For 20 bucks, you get to do some hands on learning... and you have a great little knife to throw in the junk drawer - or just keep with you, who knows.

[NWPilgrim]

My favorite "one only knife" would be my Buck Vanguard.
http://www.buckknives.com/index.cfm?...productID=2925



It has about a 4" blade so it is handy for skinning, carving, cutting chores, etc and is compact on the belt. It is not big enough for chopping or clearing brush, but I found even my KBar is not either. Really need a kukri or machete style tool for chopping. So the Vanguard does everything short of chopping well.

I like the Mora even more for camp chores like cooking and light cutting jobs, but the blade is not strong enough to for me as an all-around knife.

[sewvacman]

Randall model 27 is in my BOB. Simple effective design, good for just about everything(fighting, skinning, eating). I just saw the new price tag on one though and I would have to pick a similar design from someone else who was know for quality as well. IMO It's worth the $250 I paid for it, $425 is getting into a different realm and I'm not there.

http://www.randallknives.com/catalog...eldetail&id=22