AUS8 for bushcraft?

H

HardTripper

Joined
Dec 13, 2010
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1,077
Hey guys,

Im in the market for a stainless steel bushcraft knife for canoe camping, food prep, etc. I have no experience with aus8 but Im considering an enzo trapper with the steel in question, and Im open to suggestions for a stainless 4 inch or less bush knife that wont break the bank... GO!
 
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Mora makes good stainless bushcraft knives in your size range. Cost is negligible. Reviews are all over youtube and this site.
 
Yeah I've got a carbon companion and love it, I'm interested in something that instills more pride of ownership. Good suggestion though, I love my mora.
 
$150 would get you Scrapyard Elmax and a sheath if you don't mind the choil designs and waiting or searching.
 
I've been looking at Helle but I'm not sure about stick tangs if anyone has an experienced opinion on that, thanks again guys. I prefer no choil and something I can order asap, waiting and searching are the worst aspects of this addiction.
 
Stick tangs are fine. You obviously will find issues with it if you compare it to a full tang knife while sitting on your couch, but in field use stick tangs work fine. Try Ragweed Forge for quick and cheap access to Mora and Helle knives.
 
I do tend to baton my firewood, obviously keeping the limitations of my tools in mind. Ive seen that one and only video of a Helle snapping off at the tang but otherwise am confident in their strength
 
I have lots of Aus 8 knives. Good general use steel that sharpens easily and holds a good edge if it's from a reputable manufacturer. Check your msgs.
 
with a budget of 150, i would suggest Scrapyard knives Elmax Scrapmax 460

Around $130 in the exchange

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or a Rodent 4 from swamprat $108.95

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there's nothing wrong with Aus8, but it's not great. It's very serviceable, and good enough for most things, but your budget allows you to look at much better offerings
 
In my experience, AUS8 is great with softer material/wood but against hard woods, the same ductility/malleability that allows it to take such a keen edge also causes the edge to deform much more easily than many other steels. In other words, it dulls too quickly for my tastes for a woods knife steel.
 
Hiwa, so funny dude I looked at that like an hour ago. Made in China is holding me back, how is bokers China stuff?
 
Woops. Musta missed the China thing. The knife itself looks ok , but how that steel is from wherever it's from , I'm not too sure.
If your budget is around 150 and you want to go that high , my #1 choice is an F1 hands down and skip the Aus 8 route. Probably one of the best 4" stainless fixed blades out there.

Strop that F1 on a sheet of 600 grit kept your backpack and you're rockin. Bushcraft , game , feathersticks , campsite zombies...it'll slice up the whole lot !

My $150 went to an F1....twice . Kept both.

Me myself , I'd take that over the Helle any day of the week. You will have no serious issues with an F1. As far as being paranoid about any edge chipping you may be worried that you may have read , just sharpen it a few times to get past that factory edge a bit and your golden.
 
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Thermorun is harder than kraton , but still grippy. I experienced no hotspots from heavy use from any of my Fallknivens ( A1, 2-S1's , 2-F1's...all thermorun.) I really like it. As far as the sheaths go , I have all spares , leather and Zytel. The zytel is great around water , but prefer leather in the bush. They are all well made , Imo. The F1 dangler in leather is really nice and holds the knife well.

Here's my first F1 ( when new) next to a Spyderco Bushcrafter ( awesome knife also , but still don't prefer scandi's)
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I keep coming back to the F1, when I first got into knives about 2 years ago I was dying for it, now 20 knives later I'm back and ready to pull the trigger
 
I think you can do better then aus 8 in the 150 range. Some nice suggestions made already. I'd look into a bark river or F1, A few more dollars will get you into an RMD which is an amazing knife in the woods but a little longer and heavier then most of the knives talked about.

The F1 grips are very comfortable, especially if your hands are normal or smaller. Mine are huge and the grip is a bit short. I don't like either of the sheaths and went with a custom kydex. The f1 is alot of knife for the money.
 
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