Fixed blade knife for SHTF

[praharin]

I use the leather sheath it comes with. It holds up just fine.

Is is a real Schrade knife?? They were once a great knife brand, but now are literally the same as the S&W knives, both made by Taylor Brands. If it's marked, IIRC, USA or Ireland it's the real deal. Not saying the Taylor Brand knives are no good, they just aren't the same as the Schrade knives of the past.

[74 or more]

i doubt it's the real deal. I bught it about a year and a half ago. On one side of the blad it says "SCHRADE" and on the other side it says "1520T"

[proteus]

One of the best made knives I have ever used is the kukri from Zombie Tools



its exceptionally well balanced and tougher then any other one I have ever used.

[Kutter_0311]

I already have my saiga 223 ready for any end of world survival work, however I am on the fence about what fixed bladed carry around and do everything knife. any help would be greatly appreciated.

Will your rifle accept a bayonet? I got a lightweight little Bulgy AK74 bayonet for my gear(in addition to my LMF II's), and now I need a few more! I need to see if I can get it to take a decent cutting edge. It is primarily a stabby, but if (like me) you consider an AK74-pattern rifle to be a survival no-brainer, you might also consider (like me) that an extended stabby has more SD value than any regular firearm. Saves ammo, too

Getting shot is one thing. Of course no one wants to get shot.

But the propposition of being run through with a bayonet has caused many to flee despite certain victory.

[ForgeCorvus]

Will your rifle accept a bayonet? I got a lightweight little Bulgy AK74 bayonet for my gear(in addition to my LMF II's), and now I need a few more! I need to see if I can get it to take a decent cutting edge. It is primarily a stabby, but if (like me) you consider an AK74-pattern rifle to be a survival no-brainer, you might also consider (like me) that an extended stabby has more SD value than any regular firearm. Saves ammo, too

Getting shot is one thing. Of course no one wants to get shot.

But the propposition of being run through with a bayonet has caused many to flee despite certain victory.

Plus if you're rocking one of those you don't need to carry wire-cutters

[echo2]

Becker BK2.....

[Wolfhvnter]

Have a hard look at the ESEE 4. Or any of the ESEE line (unless you can afford a Busse.)

[Pineslayer]

Lots of purtty shiny metal. I wish I could narrow my search, but instead I continue to buy more and play with them. It is a sickness. I love my RAT-3 and RAT-5, both seem indestructible. Cold Steel has made a bunch of money from me, Bushman's ( My 9 year old daughter chose the mini-bushman for her GHB), spears, for the slow Zombies. My GHB has a SRK, simple, strong, and a great size. I have a woody for a Carbon V model, soon it will be mine. Mora's, western style hunter's, tanto's, do swords count as a fixed blade? OK focus. I have it narrowed down to the SRK or RAT-5. I back either up with SAK Explorer, sawvivor, and Pocket Bushman. Both are awesome. Haven't seen a bad choice here yet, whatever makes you smile is a good choice. My working partner is a blacksmith and made me a knife from a railroad spike. I work in the woods and use this knife to do things that I wouldn't dare do with my pricey stuff. Moral of the story is, if it is strong and made of good metal it will work, no matter what it looks like. Am I being too wishy washy?

[Ghost]

I also recommend the Fallkniven F1. I tried a few different knives, including a Becker BK2 (the campanion if that model is wrong), ESSE 3, and a few others and the F1 was the best for comfort, strength, edge retention, and size. For batoning, it works well enough and is easily carried on your belt. For small work I use an ESSE Izula. I also broke down and purchased an Emerson A100 for edc. The F1 has a convex bevel so pick up some 1500 to 2500 grit sandpaper, put it on a piece of leather or folded up towel, and sharpen that way since something like a spyderco sharpmaker won't work. I got back the hair shaving factory edge once I figured out that setup.

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Sent from my phone using Tapatalk. Pardon any typos or hilarious/appalling autocorrect mishaps.

[Jeriah]

For the money? Frosts Mora Clipper, $11 to $13.
http://www.bepreparedtosurvive.com/KnivesProducts.htm

Almost as good, for only twice the price, is my runner-up, Cold Steel's Bushman:
http://www.ltspecpro.com/products/293-b ... eries.aspx

For a biggie on the cheap, Cold Steel's 12" machetes are decent.

If I had "real knife" money for a fixed blade right now, it'd go straight to Storm Crow.

Failing that, I'd probably go $50 Ka-Bar.

[WraithHunter]

all from Cold Steel:
Gurka Kukri
LTC
Trail Master
Bowie Bushman
Outdoorsman Lite
Master Hunter Plus

[Cu Chulainn]

First, let me state that I'm not a big fan of the "one knife for all things" school of thought.

But, if it's what you want. . .

I figure a 6-8" knife is best as a do-all. Not too huge, but not too small. As a consequence, it won't really excel at anything.
One I might use for that role (only if I was out in battle rattle, and just don't have the room to carry a drawer full of knives) would be the Ontario OKC3S bayonet.


The M9 Bayonet makes a decent field knife as well.


I see you carry an AK, so a bayonet for an M16 isn't really needed.

Knives that are very good values at a good price:
Ontario RAT-7

Unlike its earlier incarnations, the new ones are powder coated, have the proper grind, including the right amount of distal taper.

Ontario Ranger RD-7

I prefer the Ready Detachment series for their 5160 steel. Very good spring steel. Only complaint is that the handles are a bit fat.

Ontario Spec Plus Task Force


Versatile blade. I find the continuous curve to be easier to sharpen by hand. With a perfectly straight edge, I end up curving it over time anyway. The curve also makes it good for skinning and butchering medium to large game.

Becker BK7


What can I say? Becker makes some great knives, and Ka-Bar has kept the line up very well.


If you are willing or wanting a slightly shorter blade, my top pick would be the
Becker BK2


Ontario RAT-5 also being a good pick



All are very functional blades, and all are under $100.

[Tetra Grammaton Cleric]

TW, kind of see your point, like I said not really a "knife guy" got some nice ones and really appreciate a good knife, but I beleive things have changed in the knife world over the last few years. I now see different categories of knife such as "bushcraft" "camp knives" etc. Being less of a knife enthusiast i kind of narrow things down a bit further, So for me the ESSE would have been plenty "tactical" (ie useful in combat) I do see where you're coming from though, and yeah i guess these days a 6 in blade isnt really a large knife.

Isn't it wierd how knives got classified in a hurry?
I remember as a young fellow using my "tactical" Cold Steel Carbon V Recon tanto for everything, but that was ages before the internet and before I understoond that tantos were "mall ninja only."
cheers

^Me also. Except the internet was alive and well. I also second Praharin in saying you can use an american style tanto as a field knife. I always jokingly say it's an expedient field knife but the old Recon Tanto has always done what I have asked of it.

I'm a big fan of the Big Knife/Little Knife (+ Fighter) Equation* as enshrined in the post by ForgeCorvus on page one.

If it was my money, I'd get a working knife (Mora without a doubt), a chopping knife (or a light axe) and a fighter of some kind

*snip* The Sami (Finnish reindeer herders) use a pair of knives called the Leuku (a big heavy chopping and butchery knife) and the Pukko (a smaller knife used for just about everything else)


The guys who use these knives as a full time part of their lives need more then one blade to do everything, don't cripple yourself

I think a Scrap Yard Dog Father CG and a Scrap Yard Street Scrapper 4 would make a charming couple along those lines or an Esee Junglas and an Esee 3Mil.

*Of course there's now the new variable/category of small pistol companion knives (Bloodshark. TDI, et al) to add into the mix.

That being said I'm ultimately going to get Storm Crow to solve/balance the equation.

edit: clarity.

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[rburch]

My big knife right now is a 12" Cold Steel Sax Machete.

I'm pretty sure I paid about $10 with shipping for it, and it's held up well to the abuse I've given it. Really good chopper, cut down a few small trees while clearing brush with it. Probably not the best fighting knife, but it would at least be intimidating.

I'm in the early stages of talking with Storm Crow to get a 3-5" blade knife for everyday tasks. Since he's got a lot of projects, I'll have to wait for mine.

Until then I have a variety of smaller fixed blades to see me through.

A couple cold steels, a few buck hunting knives, a few schrades, etc.

[Moonberrys]

My SHTF knives are these two.
Busse hell razor

Busse team gemini

This thing is sharp!

[DeviantSaint]

I had a bowie modded by Michael Z. Williamson for my last deployment. I wanted something that was more handy has a field knife than the standard m9 bayonet. The blade was a little pricey because it was their sanmai steel version. However, it was totally worth it.

[RatDrall]

Knives that are very good values at a good price:
Ontario RAT-7

...

Ontario RAT-5

It should be mentioned that these are cheaper (not less expensive, but CHEAP) versions of the real thing made by ESEE.

Ontario used to make knives for Mike Perrin and Jeff Randall, who then went different ways to make better versions of the same designs. The ESEE versions have a proper heat treat and an unconditional lifetime warranty, as well as better craftsmanship from the blade to the sheaths.

Do yourself a favor, if you want one of these designs, and buy it from ESEE...

[Raindog]

First kukri, I'm really liking this thing.

[TheLastOne]

^ damn dude, you've been getting some classy gear lately (revolver, AR). That blade looks really nice.

I just ordered a esee4 for the war belt and an izula with the firestarter kit for the hell of it. Was torn between a esee3 mil, 3 regular, 4 and 5. Decided I didn't really want/need the top edge sharpened because I'm dangerous enough to myself without an extra edge. Also feel the 4 should be a good enough 'do-most-of it-all' knife for my uses.

[Moonberrys]

disregard my last post. This is my new Bug out knife.

[Winston Smith]

Light My Fire and Mora teamed up to make this gem. I already have a Mora and Firesteel that I like, but for a spare or first purchase, these look great. Can't say enough about either brand, except the infamous LMF plastic spark.

http://www.bepreparedtosurvive.com/Swedish%20Fire%20Knife.htm

[Jaddra]

The one and only ... Masters of Defense Nightwing designed by renowned custom knifemaker Allen Elishewitz


YouTube review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ERKx6587Pw

[johnDjoker]

As I saw on the pic, I say to myself that I maybe proud if I could have any of those.
Since its admirable from the style, the sharpness and the look.

[proteus]

My new toys

Busse: FBM, CGFBM, FFBM, Battlehawk Tomahawk, ESEE Junglas, and the ZT Apokatana