Looking at all of the awesome knives y'all keep posting has really got me wanting to purchase my first Fiddleback Forge knife. I mostly wear business attire during the week and usually carry a fancy folder at work. Looking for something for weekend duty, mostly for puttering around the yard and some food prep. Currently looking at the Gaucho, Elf and OS Ladyfinger. Any recommendations? I know there's no way I'll stop at just one, but looking for a good one to get things started with.
You’ll want to try many of the Fiddleback models. You are right. It bites hard when it bites. @Fiddleback knives are some of the best out there. You will not be disappointed. You could consider a few of the Models I’ve listed. They are new condition and ready for use. And marked down considerably from new. I agree with @Bmurray on the BC and BH and even the BC jr. the BC model line up is my favorite. The KE Bushie, Arete and Kephart would provide great service for what your saying as well. Good luck. They are all awesome knives. Let me know if you want to look at my offerings currently.
I also recommend you sign up for the @Fiddleback Forge newsletter. On Friday evenings they drop new knives at 9pm eastern. Subscribers get first look.
Choppaman, great advice, thanks! And yes, I'd definitely be interested in seeing what you have to offer, the more I save the more knives I can buy.
He's referring to the knives he currently has for sale in the Fiddleback Flea Market thread. Once viewing that thread, you can use the Search feature in the upper right to find his posts (type "Choppaman" in "Posted by Member" and tick the "Search this thread only" checkbox). Unless he stated otherwise in the post, @Choppaman's knives were bought new and have just been sitting in his collection, so they are in brand-new condition. They are a good deal if you happen to be in the market for one of those models. What's more, he's a top notch guy to buy from. This is not a paid advertisement.
@RobbieB you are correct. Purchased knives, placed in my collection and now available as good as new. Thanks for clearing that up. I am not a dealer (sometimes I wonder LOL). Thank you brother for those kind words. I appreciate that.
The forge makes some great little pocket-sized fixed blades, if your business casual work allows it. Whatever you get, please post up some pics so we can all ogle over them and comment on your new Fiddlebacks!
If you are into food prep the way I am, and in seeing that two of the models you've mentioned; the Gaucho and the Old School Ladyfinger are both among my favorites for that due to being "guardless models" with the ability to get the entire edge down on a cutting board I am thinking you may be, those are two good models for that. I see the OS Lady as being a better "bushcrafter" puttering knife than the Gaucho due to the angle relationship of edge and handle making the Gaucho want to slice out of some cuts in hard woods rather than cut through it, but that angle also gives it a higher handle and makes it better than the Ladyfinger at a cutting board in food prep in my opinion. Another good guardless option that is great for EDC carry and yard puttering due to its size, and also good at food prep being guardless, is the Handyman. There are currently iterations of all three of these models on the FF website. One each of Guacho and OS Lady, and a few of the Handyman.
I will pitch the Esquire into the fray. I have been carrying mine daily since I got it. It bumped a Hiking Buddy which, for me, is HIGH praise. HB was my first FB and one of my all time favorites but this little Esquire is a really useful smallish knife. Bill
Well, that didn't take long...just bought my first Fiddleback, a Bushfinger from Choppaman. Thanks for all of the great suggestions, pretty sure I'll be looking for a Hiking Buddy or Handyman next. Really looking forward to my first Fiddleback Friday tomorrow!
And don't forget the Woodsman. I have an OS Lady, Gaucho, OS Karda, and a Woodsman in my kitchen. They're all great at food prep but the Woodsman has become my favorite.
True. I almost mentioned the Woodsman. It was my fav in the kitchen too, and I miss mine very badly sometimes. I was just thinking it might be a little big for yard puttering for some folks....
