Fixed blade knife for SHTF

[Chase The hero]

I'd love, love, love an ASEK with the serrations on the front portion of the blade. That would be a very handy survival knife. As it stands, I think the only production knives with forward serrations are the Victorinox one hand models and the TOPS TSK

You mean serrations up by the tip of the blade? Now I'm confused...

So far, I've used mine for cutting veggies, chicken, and noodles when Sarah made her famous chicken soup, as well as every other cutting chore in the kitchen in the last few months. Very effective.

^this

i have also used mine to baton wood, skin/butcher hogs, dig latrines, cut down trees (small ones) and cut through sheet metal. I <3 my LMF II

[Brock Meatstone]

Recently picked up a knife for the express purpose of camping/batoning/field dressing/general cutting and I chose a miniature Ka-Bar for a couple reasons: wasn't prohibitively expensive, it felt nice in the hand, I like the blade shape, and it's thick and tough. However it has already dulled somewhat just by wiggling it around and in and out of the leather sheath, now I'm a bit concerned about its ability to keep and retain an edge, especially out in the field. Guys got any experience to interject on this?

[ForgeCorvus]

IDK......Bad or wrong edge profile ??
Dud heat-treat (it happens, and sometimes they escape QA)

Thats 'Bad' as in not intended by maker and 'Wrong' as in not designed for what you want it for.


I'm sure someone with Ka-Bar experence will be along soon to tell me I know jack

[DerekD]

I'm a fan of the Ka-Bar Heavy Bowie

I have also been a fan of the Ka-Bar Heavy Bowie. This is a good all around blade.

[DerekD]

[quote="ForgeCorvus"]IDK......Bad or wrong edge profile ??
Dud heat-treat (it happens, and sometimes they escape QA)

Thats 'Bad' as in not intended by maker and 'Wrong' as in not designed for what you want it for.

^This.. I have seen a blade from the factory come without the correct heat treatment and the metal would not hold a sharp edge and also would flex when cutting wood.

[praharin]

I'd love, love, love an ASEK with the serrations on the front portion of the blade. That would be a very handy survival knife. As it stands, I think the only production knives with forward serrations are the Victorinox one hand models and the TOPS TSK

You mean serrations up by the tip of the blade? Now I'm confused...

Yes, exactly that. Serrations on the tip, where they are still usable (more useful, IMO) and plain edge near your hand where you typically make precision cuts. Then a small portion of plain edge on the very tip for other precision work.

You see this patter on steak knives sometimes. I've been considering picking up a Tramontina Porterhouse set to test out. I've read some decent reviews of the Tramontina and a man I trust steered me away from this particular TOPS, and he's a friend of the owner of TOPS and has his name on a few of their designs. That says something heavy to me.

[hutchb25]

If you've got the $100 to drop on a fixed blade, and you really don't have a good one already, I would echo the other sentiments of buying a Mora, at least to have until you decide what else you want. Either way you will find a use for it and not be disappointed in your purchase. I have the Mora Bushcraft and it's the only fixed blade in my BOB, presently. You're not going to baton wood so well with it because it really doesn't have much mass to it, but personally I carry an actual hatchet and a little finger saw for that.

Why it's awesome:

-Grippy, feel-good rubber handle
-Incredibly freakin' sharp, right out of the box...I shaved hairs with it. They use what they call a Scandinavian Grind, basically there's no secondary bevel.
-Seems like good quality steel. I haven't trashed it yet.
-Made in Scandinavia, not Taiwanese crap.

Why it's not awesome:

-Not full tang, more like 3/4; however all the reviews I've seen haven't had any issues with blade looseness, even after extended use. Whatever they do, that thing is in there pretty good.
-I don't like the hard plastic sheath...but a little duct tape laid in around the the inside top edge could alleviate any retention fears.


Either way, you can get them on Amazon for like $20-$40, which is probably one of the best gear values I've found yet.


EDIT:

After the light came on in my head, I decided to do a quick search for 'leather mora sheaths', and found this guy: http://www.jreindustries.com/mora.htm

Hell yes. Everything is perfect now!

[JPBeck]

TOPS Steel Eagle 107E

[Brock Meatstone]

IDK......Bad or wrong edge profile ??
Dud heat-treat (it happens, and sometimes they escape QA)

Thats 'Bad' as in not intended by maker and 'Wrong' as in not designed for what you want it for.

^This.. I have seen a blade from the factory come without the correct heat treatment and the metal would not hold a sharp edge and also would flex when cutting wood.

Yeah, another thing that keeps occurring to me, is that I don't know the specific grind used on my knife, thus am ignorant of optimal sharpening methods for it. Am I on to something here? Or should I just run it over a stone till its sharp and stop bitching?

[Turtlewolf]

Tanto's are pure fighting knives.

Ron Hood made a good video (well, series of videos) in which he uses a LARGE tanto knife to skin animals and do general survival tasks. Don't let Cold Steel fool you. The American Tanto design is quite capable of typical knife chores.

Decide if you want to baton wood with your knife or be able to skin and clean animals.

I'm sorry, but if the knife can't do both to a reasonable degree, it's not suitable as a survival knife. I can do (and have done) both with a stumpy tang, super thin Mora or a full tang, 1/4" thick Strider. ESEE knives, which you linked to, are fully capable of cleaning game. Now you don't need a knife to skin anything if you do it right, but on the same note, any knife can skin game if you aren't worried about preserving the hide. If you're using a knife, expect to ruin the hide; you'll save yourself a lot of disappointment much of the time that way.

Batoning, for the most part, is not necessary. There are other methods of splitting wood without an axe if you absolutely have to split wood. Most of the batoning I do these days is cross grain, in order to cut to length when a saw isn't handy.



If I could only have one blade, it would be my Gransfors Bruks Mini Hatchet, but honorable mention goes to my Fairly chisel grind Bushcraft, which is a very capable knife and even more so in conjunction with an axe or saw (preferably both). I also like my Leuku, and find it very comfortable to use for long periods of wood working and it's also more than capable of cleaning game.

Generally, ESEE is a great choice for most people.

I would like to second all of this with a few differences (just because I haven't used certain makers he mentions) instead of Gransfors I use Fiskers, haven't used a Strider knife but haven't heard or read anything wrong with them and most small game you actualy don't use a knife to field dress-this includes all upland birds and rabbits on down in size.
cheers

[ForgeCorvus]

IDK......Bad or wrong edge profile ??
Dud heat-treat (it happens, and sometimes they escape QA)

Thats 'Bad' as in not intended by maker and 'Wrong' as in not designed for what you want it for.

^This.. I have seen a blade from the factory come without the correct heat treatment and the metal would not hold a sharp edge and also would flex when cutting wood.

Yeah, another thing that keeps occurring to me, is that I don't know the specific grind used on my knife, thus am ignorant of optimal sharpening methods for it. Am I on to something here? Or should I just run it over a stone till its sharp and stop bitching?

Are you a hand or a system sharpener ?

[Brock Meatstone]

IDK......Bad or wrong edge profile ??
Dud heat-treat (it happens, and sometimes they escape QA)

Thats 'Bad' as in not intended by maker and 'Wrong' as in not designed for what you want it for.

^This.. I have seen a blade from the factory come without the correct heat treatment and the metal would not hold a sharp edge and also would flex when cutting wood.

Yeah, another thing that keeps occurring to me, is that I don't know the specific grind used on my knife, thus am ignorant of optimal sharpening methods for it. Am I on to something here? Or should I just run it over a stone till its sharp and stop bitching?

Are you a hand or a system sharpener ?

Depends. If I could skillfully sharpen my knife to shaving sharp with patience and consistency, then I would go hands all the way. But if there is a system out there that could do it better with regards to consistent, optimal sharpening of my blade grind, then that sounds like the way to go.

[ForgeCorvus]

I'm a hand kind of a guy myself.
If you used a system I've of said use it to set the angles and after that always use the system, as to which angles... It doesn't matter after the first time as you've just reset them with the system.

I'd offer to have a go at it but it would probably cost more then the knife to get it to me.

Got a link as I can find dozens of Ka-bars but don't know which one you've got

[Brock Meatstone]

http://www.tomarskabars.com/1211_INFO.html

says its flat ground.

[Black Optimus]

MORA!

[Winston Smith]

I got a Bear Grylls Ultimate Survival for about $40, pretty cheap on Amazon and has a firesteel, full tang with a hammer like bottom part, and is the same as an LMF for at least $20 less. People like to knock Gerber/Bear Grylls or the color, but I don't see the big deal.

Then I got my Mora, which for $10 I have to say I like MUCH better than the Gerber. Under 4 inches so it's legal to carry in my state, and although both are sharp enough to shave with, the Mora is noticeably sharper. Look on youtube and you'll find people hammering on these things to chop wood.

I'd say even a low end Mora will be the best woods knife you can buy,

[CaptinRedBeard]

Check out the Becker/KA-BAR BK7 Combat utility Knife. It seems like it's everything that you're looking for. And it's well under $100.

[Lapu-Lapu]

I'm a fan of the Ka-Bar Heavy Bowie

I love this damn knife!! The sheath...not so much

[praharin]

I'd say even a low end Mora will be the best woods knife you can buy,

That particular Mora (no longer made) has the smallest tang of all of them (they still use that blade, I believe but not the handle). It's also my preferred Mora, and the only one I own (ok, so more than one ). It's a great knife if you recognize and adapt to it's strengths.

[Speedyfish]

Gerber has a new combat knife out called the De Facto. It was designed by SF guys in the sandbox who wanted a CQC knife with the features they need. It is a nice knife and sheath combo.

Review with pics here: http://thinblueflorida.com/?p=279#more-279

Randall

[ForgeCorvus]

Speedy, Thats fine as a dedicated fighter (subject to local laws, double edged) but its pants as a utility blade.

The OP asked for a general purpose fixed blade



Sorry, my post sounds a bit snotty, not how its supposed to read

[Sen]

If you're going with a single blade for under $100 I'd go with the BK2. I keep one in the tool box on my truck. There's not a lot it can't do well. It is very similar to the ESEE 5 and the Bravo-1, but less expensive.

When I go camping I bring an Ontario SP8 and a Mora Clipper. Together these two knives cost well under $100 and work great. I highly recommend this combo.

The Mora's praise has been sung by many so I'll skip over that and move right on to the Ontario SP8. It's advertised as a machete, but it's really more of a hatchet with added utility.

Things the Ontario SP8 does very well:
-Chopping wood
-Splitting wood (usually via baton method)

Things the Ontario SP8 is capable of doing, but isn't great at:
-Machete work
-Fine knife work (the two finger choil helps)
-Notching
-Prying
-Chiseling
-Digging
-Fighting

Things I don't like about the Ontario SP8:
-Sheath sucks
-No choice of handle
-Saw-back tears up batons (and the webbing of your hand if you use the two finger choil)

[dallas]

I own and use a wide variety of knifes. The cold steel is good, but an Ontario knife is about as good for less. Boker and Becker are both servicable.

This is alittle more than you want to spend, but it is very good.


http://www.fallkniven.com/en/shop/detai ... -knives/a1

I have several fallknivens and they are great knives.

[Siggy01]

I have a few knives and machetes from Ka-Bar. Check out the Ka-Bar Becker BK2 Campanion. (Yes its spelled Campanion) It'll last you a very long time.