Advise on large fixed blade

M

Macbeth

Joined
Jun 22, 2003
Messages
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What are the best Large fixed blade around? Production large fixed blade. A friend of mine wanted me to recomend a large fixed blade for him. I recomemded the sog tigershark to him. Anyhow just hope that you guys here will share with us what are the good production large fixed blade around.
Thanks alot guys.
 
Specify what it will be used for, otherwise you will get about one thousand recommendations.
 
Becker Knife and Tool make in my opinion, quality fix blades at fair prices. I have a big 9" combat bowie that I'm very happy with. They make many other sizes. How much is your friend looking to spend? There are many quality blades out there.

Randy
 
We definately need more info. Where will the knife be used (near saltwater is going to be a huge factor) and for what kind of tasks?
 
I like the Bark River knife line (mostly hunting/fishing/camping).

http://barkriverknives.com/curprokn.htm

I would suggest taking a serious look at the Spyderco "Temperance". It has good VG-10 steel in the blade and is nice to handle.


http://spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=45

Benchmade also makes a nice hunting knife that is very strong yet light enough to be an easy carry.

http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=155

and a high-end $800 Benchmade

http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=180DM

and a slightly less expensive Benchmade

http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=140


Any of these would be a good choice for a knife you will still be using 25 years from now.
 
Yes it will be around salt water very often. Will need to do some clearing and some light choping. Clearing some bushes and choping for some firewood.
 
There are a lot of descent quality big blades out there, some of them for very reasonable prices. Ontario makes quite a few in there RAT and Spec plus lines, Becker, The Kabar Bolo looks pretty good. I've used a Cold Steel Gurkha Light Kukri for this type of task and find it to be well suited. I think what you really need to do is examine your real need and be more specific about your requirement. If your going to be backpacking into an isolated area and the terrain dictates that you need a chopper; then any of the above blades would work. If your going to be around your house or vehicle your better off having tools specific to the job i.e. a machette for clearing and an axe for firewood.
 
Macbeth said:
Yes it will be around salt water very often. Will need to do some clearing and some light choping. Clearing some bushes and choping for some firewood.
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Clearing light brush and chopping thick woods tend to require different blades. For brush you want a lighter blade you can swing a lot and cut clean though in one pass, 1/16" works well on grassy materials and 1/8" for thicker and woody vegetation.

However chopping thick wood for firewood requires a thicker blade as the machetes will bind too heavily and get stuck in the wood and and the vibration can be excessive on the harder woods. The machetes also don't work well for splitting.

What you need to decide is which area do you want the blade optomized for, essentially which one will you do most of and choose accordingly either a decent Martindale or Barteaux or something like the Battle Rat. You can also go with a machete + hatchet which works well.

-Cliff
 
So if i were to recomend him machete + hatchet what are the choices out there. And will need a fixed blade as well. May be he should have a machete + hatchet in his car and have a fixed blade in his pack.
 
Martindale has the widest range of machete types and has a solid and consistent product. Barteaux only makes a few types but they are quality working blades. Gransfors Bruks has the best wood working axes, Wetterling is close, pretty much just a finish difference and is significantly cheaper.

-Cliff
 
I would recommend Katz K-302 ( or K-308 if you need a bigger blade). A cool, great looking knife made of fine XT-80 (in more expensive variant) for a fair price (about $170).
 
Macbeth said:
Yes it will be around salt water very often.
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That pretty much rules out Beckers, Swamp Rats and many other large outdoor knives with carbon steel blades people usually recommend.

Your SOG Tigershark recommendation was a good one. Other options include the Camillus CUDA CQB-1, the Benchmade Offsider and the CRKT Ultima.
 
You can use carbon blades around salt water, I live only a few hundred feet from the ocean. You don't want to use them in salt water for extended periods of time, but as long as you dry them and oil them occasionally it isn't an issue. Lots of peopl euse carbon steel blades for salt waer filleting. For a machete it isn't an issue, the edge will need to be filed from deformation/wear before it rusts away.

-Cliff
 
Between SOG Tigershark, Benchmade Offsider, Fallkniven A2 and Cold Steel Trail Master which is the better choice? These are the large fixed blade that i am curuntly looking in to if there are any other good ones please let me know. Thanks alot.
 
Macbeth said:
Between SOG Tigershark, Benchmade Offsider, Fallkniven A2 and Cold Steel Trail Master which is the better choice? These are the large fixed blade that i am curuntly looking in to if there are any other good ones please let me know. Thanks alot.
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If you can find a Cold Steel Trailmaster in AUS-6 stainless, get it. I have one and it's an awesome (large) knife that's fairly stain-resistant. The Tigershark isn't too bad either...(I also have a pair of those...Old and new versions.). I also have a Benchmade Offsider, but I really wouldn't want to use it to chop stuff, as it's a fairly light knife.
 
Macbeth said:
Between SOG Tigershark, Benchmade Offsider, Fallkniven A2 and Cold Steel Trail Master which is the better choice?
Click to expand...

For what you describe, Trailmaster easily unless the handle is problematic ergonomics wise.

-Cliff
 
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