3.5-4" fixed blade?

G

Getitjay

Joined
Mar 21, 2017
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I am looking for a fixed blade. 3.5-4", for heavier duty work. I would like a stronger tip, so preferably not a clip point. I was leaning towards a tanto, only because I don't have one, but am not dead set, as long as I can rely on a strong tip. Doesn't need to have alot of belly, I have a folder for slicing. This will be more less a heavy duty knife I can beat the hell out of. (Not so heavy duty that it's a sharpened bk2 pry bar). Steel isn't a huge concern as long as it's decent and can take a beating. If it's gonna be a carbon blade I would prefer it coated, although not a complete deal-breaker. Price range up to $150. I been looking and haven't seen much I like. Although I've never been much into fixed blades, so I'm sure there are many I am overlooking.
 
What if you save a whole lot of money and get a Kabar Becker BK 14/BK 11.

You can splurge on s nice sheath and TKC scales and still come out ahead.
Good luck breaking it.

Alternatively there’s the ESEE 3. Tough as nails and on the off chance you do manage to break it, they have an awesome warranty. Then again, ya ain’t gonna break it...
 
jstn said:
ESEE 4 gets my vote. I love mine and it takes a beating. Perfect user.
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GB940Rookie said:
This was my first thought. Add some TKC, +1/2" scales and you're rockin. (Like 19-3ben suggests)
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This would be my recommendation as well. With the quoted price range the TKC scales are in budget. And if you manage to break the thing, Esee will send you a new one.
 
My recommendation, Tops/Buck csar-t fixed blade.
154cm, tanto, 0.07" thinner then a bk2 but plenty thick enough for hard use, and specifically designed/built just for that purpose.
Backed by Buck's warranty, "just in case"
4.5" blade is slightly above your request, but imo, still a good size for edc and work tasks.

If 4" is an absolute must, that extra 0.5" is a deal breaker, check out the TOPS interceptor.
Coated 1095, 4", similar thickness to to thw csar, more defined tanto tip, more refined handle, kydex sheath with rotating clip is a nice touch.
TOPS warranty leaves a bit to be desired.
 
As has been mentioned, a ESEE 4 would do the trick. But my preference would be for the Kabar Becker BK-16.
 
Seems to be a lot of love for the esee 4. I like the looks of it. I'm guessing carbon would be the way to go? Also what is the sheath like?
 
The Esee 4 has a 4.5 inch blade on most models. It does come in stainless 440C, as well. The Esee 3 has a 3.5" or 3.88" blade, depending on the model.
 
Getitjay said:
Seems to be a lot of love for the esee 4. I like the looks of it. I'm guessing carbon would be the way to go? Also what is the sheath like?
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Yes. Go carbon. The stainless doesn't have the same warranty. The sheath is great imo. Molded plastic with excellent retention. The clip works very well and you can also get a molle back for it. For what you describe the esee 4 sounds just about perfect.
 
If you go Esee 4 I would look at the Esee 4HM ... new handle design is very comfortable.

I would also add if you know what you want check with John ... JK Knives on our forums he does great work for very reasonable prices and you may like a model he makes already or if you want he will work with you to make a design you have in mind. I can attest his knives are definately built to take hard work.
 
Personally, I don't like tantos unless I only want to stab things. Drop points and spear points generally have strong tips especially with a low flat grind. I don't like the functionality of the tanto tip as it creates a weak point between the two sharpened edges in that a lot of cutting happens in the point and it dulls faster instead of spreading that across a belly. That assumes cutting against a hard surface like a cutting board. I feel like it acts like a wharncliffe with a displaced, higher tip the rest of the time and acts like a shorter cutting edge. I haven't used a larger tanto to see if my opinion changes for larger fixed blades.

I do like mora's and some of the heavy duty models are thick enough to take some abuse. However, they're thinner than a lot of the knives viewed as heavy use. I have been pretty surprised by how much abuse they can take, including using another cheap knife spine as a baton on the mora's spine. I have the stainless mora and it dented up the spine (not on the cheap schrade) but it held up find and I still use it. There's only so much abuse you can give to a short knife because of leverage.

Ka-bar Jarosz globetrotter could be a good production option well within your price range. I have one you could try out if you're seriously interested. Ka-bar Snody Boss might be another with a higher level steel of the stainless variety but probably not as tough as the globetrotter. I think Ka-bar has done well with knives with shorter fixed blades designed for abuse, especially with the Becker line.

Ontario RAT 3 is also within those specs. I believe it is supposed to be a touch thicker than the esee 3 but are very similar in design. Esee tends to have a slightly improved build quality at a slightly higher price but the brands carry a lot of very similar looking products.

This seems like coldsteel type of territory as well but I'm not sure of any fixed knives fitting those specs off hand as the ones I've looked into are either too thin for the blade length or too long. The master hunter in 3V is close and the mini Pendleton 3v is a little small. I think the Pendleton moves to a hollow grind which is not idea for abusive treatment. They do like tanto tips so there may be something in that selection.
 
DocT said:
The Esee 4 has a 4.5 inch blade on most models. It does come in stainless 440C, as well. The Esee 3 has a 3.5" or 3.88" blade, depending on the model.
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That's the only reason i suggested the ESEE 3 instead of the ESEE 4 or a BK16. It fits inside the size parameters.

I live in a state where carry of a fixed blade has to be 4" or under, so I think very literally about blade length. That minor difference could be the difference between being ok, and getting a criminal charge if you get spotted by the po-po.

If OP is flexible about blade length, as someone with both the ESEE3 and the 4, I can tell you the 4 is thicker and beefier all around. The ESEE3 can definitely take a serious whooping, but the ESEE 4 would be my choice if you want to thrash on a knife all day long like i was trying to break it.

The ESEE 4 does come in stainless, as DocT points out, but ESEE warranty does not cover the stainless models the way it does the 1095. For hard use, 1095 wins.
 
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