Must-Have Knives

Certain knives, over the years, have distinguished themselves as "must have knives."

These would include, at a minimum, the:

Buck 110
Sebenza
KaBar or Ontario 1095 fixed blade beater
Spyderco Endura, Delica or cousin thereof
Ontario RAT-1
Emerson CQC-7, 8 or Commander
BM Adamas or 940 Axis lock knife

I am not saying that any of the above are the very best at their design goal - just that they represent a portion/sub-sect of knife offerings that they either defined or pretty much represent.
 
Buck 110
Schrade USA Old Timer Sharpfinger (152OT)
Schrade stockman
Any Barlow that is not a shell handle construction
 
What are a few knives in your collection that you consider "must-haves"? I'm interested to see what you say.

I don't have any must have knives. I have several that I am glad to have, but there are so many good designs that any of them could easily be replaced.
 
Spyderco Delica 4 (MUST HAVE)
Benchmade Mini Grip
A Victorinox SAK
Opinel (preferably no.8 carbon blade)
 
Anything Carothers (CPK Knives). This image doesn't include the soon-to-be-released Heavy Chopper, the final iteration of the the Survival Knive or any of the Fighters (except the Dagger Unobtanium):

xlarge.jpg
 
Anything Carothers (CPK Knives). This image doesn't include the soon-to-be-released Heavy Chopper, the final iteration of the the Survival Knive or any of the Fighters (except the Dagger Unobtanium):

xlarge.jpg

How did you get that dagger? I have always wondered how much something like that goes for but I think it is the only one in existence right?
 
I'm not really into production knives anymore, so to say "must have," is difficult. Many of my knives that I won't ever let go are more than most are comfortable spending. The knives I can't live without:

Matt Bailey model 2 flipper geek edition
Victorinox super tinker
Custom scales Spyderco Manix 2 CTS-XHP Sprint with ironwood scales

As much as I'd hate to do it, if I had to, I would sell my Kizer Ki 4423 and TSF Beast.

Spyderco PM2, Gayle Bradley, Domino, Brous Bionic, Southern Grind Spider Monkey, Case copperhead, I can live without.

As far as must haves for the average person, I'd say a Manix 2 lw S110V Isa start.
 
In no particular order, here they are:
Emerson CQC-7
Spyderco PM2
CRK Sebenza
Swamp Rat Ratmandu
Microtech Ultratech
A small Strider fixed-blade
A large Busse w/ INFI steel
Opinel No. 8
 
Last edited:
lcsR9B1.jpg

Found this at a local flea market, staring at me from between a few old CRKTs and some no-name zombie knives. 15 minutes of talking about knives later it was in my pocket. [edit: Oops, posted it in wrong thread. Not a must-have knife, but a nice one for sure. Mods can delete this post.]
 
CRK Large Inkosi or Sebenza.

Strider SnG

Emerson Commander or Aftershock

Spyderco Military, Paramilitary 2, or Delica 4

Cold Steel Recon 1

GEC #15 or really any of their models that appeals, they kill the modern traditional free game.

Hinderer XM-18

Kershaw Blur or Leek

ZT Pick your poison, they basically always do a stellar job on whatever they put their minds too.
 
Case trapper
Case mini-trapper
Benchmade full size griptilian
Spyderco para 2
A hinderer of any type
A ZT of any type
Ka-bar usn fighter
CRK sebenza
Fiddleback of any type under 6" blade
A Athena's edge kephart and matching hatchet set.
And a few other custom made cutters that have yet to see me yet.
I Now own all except the last 4 lines of my list thanks to the photos of many threads on blade forums(lol) but that is all good the last three should be easy to find once I find the funds to get them
 
Last edited:
Any one of these Spydies: PM2, Manix 2 G10, Millie.
Any one of these Benchmades: 940 or 943, 710, Rift.
Any one of these ZTs: 450, 452, 562.
Any Pro Tech auto......gotta have an auto!!
Joe
 
Must have???
Easy, the ONLY must have knife is a good 3.5"-4" FFG kitchen parrying knife with ergonomically comfortable handle, it does 90% of all cutting tasks 3x a day 365 days a year!
Everything else falls into "want" have category, you can live without them!
 
I assume the question is for a knife enthusiast or collector and based my thinking for this on that criteria: Paramilitary 2, Cold Steel Recon 1, Ontario Rat 1, Esee (3,4,6), Schrade fixed blade of choice, Sebenza 21 or 25 or Inkosi, XM 18, Benchmade 940, Made a video about this exact topic a while ago
 
I think it's a good idea to own a CRK. If for no other reason than to see what all the fuss is about.

They make a great high quality knife. They are talked about and praised often. Not that their knives are everyone's cup of tea. But I feel that if you are into knives then you owe it to yourself to try one.

I'm certainly not one of those obsessive CRK groupies who scoffs at other brands. Far , far from it. I just think they're worth checking out at least once.
 
lcsR9B1.jpg

Found this at a local flea market, staring at me from between a few old CRKTs and some no-name zombie knives. 15 minutes of talking about knives later it was in my pocket. [edit: Oops, posted it in wrong thread. Not a must-have knife, but a nice one for sure. Mods can delete this post.]

That thing is sick. I want one. Reminds me of the old BM Skirmish.
 
A Sebenza of some sort; I have a small 21 with black Micarta inlays and an Insingo blade.
A Bark River Bravo 1 without a thumb ramp which to me is the quintessential knife. It's a bit thick for use in minor tasks so in one of those far fetched "if you had just one knife" scenarios I would go for the thinner LT version.
An Emerson CQC 7 or A100, mini or regular. I have a Mini A100.
Any Victorinox or Wenger Swiss Army Knife. I believe the two companies are together again but at one time were not.
 
Benchmade Rukus -- because it's beastly awesome.
Rockstead Shin -- because it shows you how well a knife can be made.
ZT 0804CF -- because it demonstrates how form and top materials follow function.
Benchmade Skirmish -- because it's bad-ass beautiful.
Fallkniven F1LE in 3G steel -- because that's all you really need.
Gilson 6-inch fixed in M4 steel at 64Rc -- because is eats up adversity.
Fiddleback machete -- because it opens the path as well as anything.
 
Back
Top