Need a Second Opinion on a knife

from my experience, a knife should be of good guilty, ie full tang, firm grip,i prefer wood, riveted or all leather like the KA BAR , open 3 cans of beans, cut 4 strips of 1/4 in thick leather be used as a pry bar not recommend but comes in handy,and cut hard wood, or be able to shave with, be well balanced and be not over 100$ usd, i have found some no name, home made? in pawn shops that were $5 and out last out preform store bought ones. 6 in blade is all one really needs, but that is me. keep it sharp clean,and at your side , it could save a life

Survival knives and fighting knives serve different purposes.
A fighting knife to me is a big hunk of heavy, useless metal.
Spend the money on a good survival book instead of the knife if you don't know the difference.

reply to post by Asktheanimals
not if your looking at a Bowie Knife, knives, then that is the best all around knife, but good luck finding one under a 100$ usd with sheath and stones. an other good one is the Arkansas tooth pick.

I think I will pass up the Ka Bar bowie for now... that will be my second knife

The knife im going to grab is a Kukri, I was looking for these knives but I forgot what they were called !!

Anyways good thread boys, and thanks for the tips. I learned a lot in such a short time! Ill stay tuned for more information on knives though, I want to plan for when SHTF

Originally posted by captaintyinknots
-Bowie's are good knives, but I'd strongly suggest looking into a kukri, I personally prefer windlass steelcrafts:
www.atlantacutlery.com...
I'd put it up against ANY knife or machete. I truly dont believe theres a better one out there.

edit on 4-1-2011 by captaintyinknots because: (no reason given)

I've been researching this whole knife thing for a few months now. Without handling the kukri, I think it is the best all around, most utilitarian, choice of blades.

I like this one because it has a finger guard, a lanyard hole in the pommel, and the traditional blade shape and blood cut: nepalkhukurihouse.com...

General purpose/fighting knives are all purpose tools, and the full tang is important, and the KBar is a good knife.

With whatever money you save with the KBar over a more expensive knife, keep in mind that a good drop point skinner has an efficiency for it's designed task as does a fillet knife.

Even a swiss knife/multi tool comes in handy.

What I'm really saying is I'd have these other knives as well.

Originally posted by Kelliott
I think I will pass up the Ka Bar bowie for now... that will be my second knife

The knife im going to grab is a Kukri, I was looking for these knives but I forgot what they were called !!

Anyways good thread boys, and thanks for the tips. I learned a lot in such a short time! Ill stay tuned for more information on knives though, I want to plan for when SHTF

I'll bet your second knife is a kukri as well

Originally posted by bekod
not if your looking at a Bowie Knife, knives, then that is the best all around knife, but good luck finding one under a 100$ usd with sheath and stones. an other good one is the Arkansas tooth pick.

Bowies are generally too big for "survival". You can chop with them, and split small wood, but they aren't worth a damn for lighter tasks that require finesse, like skinning.

My Arkansas Toothpick is a straight fighter knife. Not worth a crap for ANY "survival" tasks, unless I plan on going hand to hand with bears, which I'd rather avoid.

Ontario makes a good range of tough knives for a fair price, the "SpecPlus" line. I've got 3 or 4 of them, different blade designs and sizes, and never paid over 40 USD for any one. My personal recommendation would be the SpecPlus "Fighter" (based on the SF Randall knives) for general purpose. They also make a "Survival" model, sort of a cross between a machete and a bowie, which has stood me in good stead for chopping tasks.

I've got an old short machete from El Salvador, blade is only about 10 inches or so, but it can take down saplings like nobody's business, takes an EXCELLENT edge, and only cost me about 3 USD. Doubles really well as a fighter, too.

With all that said, it's hard to beat a good pocket knife for skinning. I've not run into anything east of the Mississippi that I couldn't take the hide off of with a 3 inch blade or less, and any MORE blade than that just gets in the way.

Adding in: I've got a Ka-bar that I've had for about 32 years, and it's always given me good service. Still takes a good edge, has a tough blade, but after this long, the parkerizing is pretty worn on it. I'm not too sure how well the tang would hold up. It hasn't failed me yet, BUT I don't abuse it for things it wasn't meant to do, either.

The "no-name" knife is pretty, but pretty don't always cut it - literally! I'd have to hold it and test the blade material out for myself to be sure, and barring that possibility, I'd run with the Ka-bar, just because I already KNOW the steel in a Ka-bar blade, and would pick that over an unknown quantity.

One knife I had for 40yrs and well used and still in great shape is a Buck 119. This knife can be bought for less than 40$ at walmart. Hope this helps.
Buck 119

reply to post by Kelliott


The kukris are one of my favorites.

I bought a Rajah II from Cold Steel. It's about $80-90 on Ebay.

It's a great knife. I particularly liked the Rajah II because of its size, durability and the fact that it's a folding pocket knife. Check out the video below for durability.

This one is great...
www.tomarskabars.com...
and this one is good too!
www.tomarskabars.com...

The steel these are made of is made for survival situations as are the knives themselves. And they are USA made

I suggest watching a few knife reviews from this person on youtube , www.youtube.com... , in my opinion he has a very good ammount of knowledge in this field and might help You in Your decision .

reply to post by Blackjak966


That is a very cool blade, but I would not trust a folder of that sort, even from a great company like cold steel. There's simply to much pressure on the hinge.

Also, there is a huge advantage to a fixed blade if you ever needed to draw it quick.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


I agree that a fixed blade is better but they're pretty expensive for one made with good steel. The blade lock on that knife is amazing. I was pretty surprised when I got it. It doesn't wiggle or move at all. It takes all my thumb strength to get it to disengage.

As for speed, it has a pocket catch on it. So as soon as you pull it out of your pocket it opens. You can see him use the pocket catch in the video.

Im in the market for a new knife as well.

From what Ive seen and read so far the ESEE / RAT knives are well liked. The best part is the company will replace it if it ever breaks regardless of how it broke for life. Not the life of the owner but the life of the blade. So if your great, great grandkid breaks it and the company still exists they'll replace it for free. Even if he was using it to chip and pry bricks out of a driveway.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Originally posted by Blackjak966
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

I agree that a fixed blade is better but they're pretty expensive for one made with good steel. The blade lock on that knife is amazing. I was pretty surprised when I got it. It doesn't wiggle or move at all. It takes all my thumb strength to get it to disengage.

As for speed, it has a pocket catch on it. So as soon as you pull it out of your pocket it opens. You can see him use the pocket catch in the video.

You can get a military grade kukri for under $50.

No matter how strong the hinge is, it cannot be as strong as a fixed blade. And no matter how quickly you can open it, it is not as fast as an already-open blade.

Im not trying to badmouth you or anything, everyone has their preference. And like I said before, that is one very cool blade. Just giving my opinion.