looking for suggestions for a 3 to 3.5" edc fixed blade. probably in the under 200 range. prefer American made. but open to any ideas. my usage tends to run towards wood working, camp tasks, general work. I have and use esee's so no need for suggesting those. thanks guys.
I also recommended going straight to the For Sale:Fixed Blades area of the Knife makers' Market side of the forum. There is a lot of great stuff made in the US and elsewhere. Among my favourite makers there is a Polish (I think)guy named Marcin Bona. Have a look at his and others. Matt Bailey, Bill Akers, Drew (elo147) and Jason Wilder all also do great work. There are others but these makers are the ones whose knives I have bought or seen up close.
What about a Randall 10-3' will cost you a couple more than you were planning on spending but you get a custom blade that's good for everything from food prep to carving wood, come with a beautiful leather sheath and will not rust or corrode, American Classic!
Survive! GSO 3.5 has a 2.5" blade, comes in CPM 3V or 20CV. Under the 200 price range if memory serves. Per-orders are shipping soon so the left overs should be available on their site soon as well.
Bark River and Battle Horse are both in your price range and have FB offerings that would fit your specs. L T Wright is also starting to make some different models now. Boker Plus is on the less expensive end but does some nice smaller FBs. Alan Davis is a BF knifemaker that does excellent work for a very reasonable price. Personally, I use BRKT. Their Northstar EDC is a CPM 3V spearpoint blade in a thinner (for them) package that could be just right for what you want to do.
Is there anything your current knives lack that you'd like to have? I bought a Camillus Barbarian a couple months ago (one of their few current USA offerings) as an alternative to an ESEE or Ontario. I also considered a few TOPS knives but couldn't make up my mind on a specific model and went with the Camillus.
Check out the smaller neck knives by duckchildress on the fixed blade forums. He recently has a 2 5/8 in 440c, 6 inches overall length for 95. A lot of good makers here.
You can get a hinderer flashpoint new for around $150 that's the one I would go for. Also the bark river bravo necker 2 is great choice with its 3v steel.
I recommend an ESEE 3, and the Izula II. I own the ESEE 3 and have use the Izula II but haven't really had much experience with sub 4 inch fixed blades extensively to recommend anything else. I EDC my ESEE 3 IWB comfortably and suits more than enough uses for what I can throw at it outside of work.
I'm not sure how exactly it compares to others, but I have a Bark River Little Creek in CPM-154 and think it is an awesome knife and in a steel I really love. Mine was something like $140. IIRC they make the knife in CPM-3V as well, but the CPM-154 model I have performs so well that to me it's just perfect. I do believe some of the models here are exclusives to one dealer.
I have a Blind Horse Knives Bushbaby. Now I am not sure, but the Battle Horse might have something similar. I am in the process of making a pocket sheath for the knife (inside the sheath is plastic, I will cover it with either thin leather or some fabric). I really like the knife and I was surprised to find out how well it works as a fixed blade pocket knife after trying it with this waiting-for-finish sheath. The original sheath is an overkill, it is large and sturdy, but too large for anything else but sheath carry.
Swamp Rat R3. Fantastic little knife in SR-101 (52100 with Jerry Busse's heat treat). Can be gotten for around 120.00 shipped. Been my EDC for a year now.
