Recommendation? Budget fixed blade knife...with a twist

Another vote for the Ruike F-118 Jager. Then spend a little more and get your choice of Cold Steel tomahawk. You'll be well served.

Edit: The Kabar just above would be another really good choice.
 
afishhunter said:
Minor observation concerning the alleged lack of strength of a knife that does not have a full visible tang:
Ka-Bar "Marine Fighting Knife" and Ontario 498; Ontario 449 "Jet Pilot Survival Knife"; any Buck 100 series fixed blade, up to the model 120 "General" (I think the 113 and 124 "Frontier" are the only 100 series fixed blade with a visible full tang. Obviously the 110 and 112 are folding lockback knives.)
Western fixed blades, Marbles "Ideal", pre-2004 Old Timer/Uncle Henry "Golden Spike", Mora Classic Number 1/01 to Number 3 (note these do not have a guard) and Puukkos in general.
None of these are known for being fragile, or for breaking. All have a not visible "rat tail" tang, with the exception of some of the Westerns (not to include the L66 and others with leather washer handles) that have a "split" or "double" rat tail tang.)
Puukkos generally have a full or half length rat-tail/hidden tang, and have had such for well over 100 years. Historically the Scandinavians used their Puukkos a lot "harder" than "westerners" used their "Bowie" knives that may, or may not have had, a full visible tang. BTW the half tang/hidden tang "Bowies" are not known for breaking, either.

Observation:
A knife is not a hammer, nor an axe, or splitting wedge.
"Back in the day" "Bushcrafting" meant taking along more than one tool. In addition to a relatively short 4 to 5 inch blade fixed blade, they also had a "sturdy" two or three blade slipjoint, (Nessmuk preferred the moose pattern. I don't recall what pattern Kephart preferred) and an axe or hatchet. After the development of the pocketable cable wood saw, you would find those in a lot of the hunter's and hiker's/trekker's, and other outdoorsman's pocket, as well. Most kept the axe or hatchet along, as well.
You can use the back non-cutting end of your axe or hatchet as a hammer, or the side of the head, for that matter, or find a fist sized rock at the creek bed.

Yet another observation:
Don't pay any heed to those self proclaimed "bushcraft experts" on You Tube who only talk from their home or a picnic table at some park, and never show any of their time in the field.
They don't have a clue as to what they are talking about.
Check out "VINNIES DAY OFF" on You Tube and watch him build a shelter, gathering firewood, etc. using a multi blade slipjoint, or a Opinel Number 9 friction folder, or Buck 110. Not a single "chopper knife" among his or needed.

Also ignore that fool moron "Bear Grylls".
FYI he has a full medical team on standby, and keeps them busy, off camera treating injuries and poisoning, stays at nearby hotels, and eats at nearby restaurants (and it ain't at McDonald's et-al)
Listen to him, or consume some of the wild plants he says you can, or drink your own p, you will die early, and not necessarily peacefully in your sleep (or coma) and pain free.
He is worse than that late Steve Irwin idiot was, and his kids are. :(.
Click to expand...
Observation:
It’s not nice to speak ill of the dead. Bringing his kids into it is just a chickenshit thing to do.
 
afishhunter said:
Minor observation concerning the alleged lack of strength of a knife that does not have a full visible tang:
Ka-Bar "Marine Fighting Knife" and Ontario 498; Ontario 449 "Jet Pilot Survival Knife"; any Buck 100 series fixed blade, up to the model 120 "General" (I think the 113 and 124 "Frontier" are the only 100 series fixed blade with a visible full tang. Obviously the 110 and 112 are folding lockback knives.)
Western fixed blades, Marbles "Ideal", pre-2004 Old Timer/Uncle Henry "Golden Spike", Mora Classic Number 1/01 to Number 3 (note these do not have a guard) and Puukkos in general.
None of these are known for being fragile, or for breaking. All have a not visible "rat tail" tang, with the exception of some of the Westerns (not to include the L66 and others with leather washer handles) that have a "split" or "double" rat tail tang.)
Puukkos generally have a full or half length rat-tail/hidden tang, and have had such for well over 100 years. Historically the Scandinavians used their Puukkos a lot "harder" than "westerners" used their "Bowie" knives that may, or may not have had, a full visible tang. BTW the half tang/hidden tang "Bowies" are not known for breaking, either.

Observation:
A knife is not a hammer, nor an axe, or splitting wedge.
"Back in the day" "Bushcrafting" meant taking along more than one tool. In addition to a relatively short 4 to 5 inch blade fixed blade, they also had a "sturdy" two or three blade slipjoint, (Nessmuk preferred the moose pattern. I don't recall what pattern Kephart preferred) and an axe or hatchet. After the development of the pocketable cable wood saw, you would find those in a lot of the hunter's and hiker's/trekker's, and other outdoorsman's pocket, as well. Most kept the axe or hatchet along, as well.
You can use the back non-cutting end of your axe or hatchet as a hammer, or the side of the head, for that matter, or find a fist sized rock at the creek bed.

Yet another observation:
Don't pay any heed to those self proclaimed "bushcraft experts" on You Tube who only talk from their home or a picnic table at some park, and never show any of their time in the field.
They don't have a clue as to what they are talking about.
Check out "VINNIES DAY OFF" on You Tube and watch him build a shelter, gathering firewood, etc. using a multi blade slipjoint, or a Opinel Number 9 friction folder, or Buck 110. Not a single "chopper knife" among his or needed.

Also ignore that fool moron "Bear Grylls".
FYI he has a full medical team on standby, and keeps them busy, off camera treating injuries and poisoning, stays at nearby hotels, and eats at nearby restaurants (and it ain't at McDonald's et-al)
Listen to him, or consume some of the wild plants he says you can, or drink your own p, you will die early, and not necessarily peacefully in your sleep (or coma) and pain free.
He is worse than that late Steve Irwin idiot was, and his kids are. :(.
Click to expand...

Steve may have been goofy, but nothing wrong with having a passion for wildlife. And nothing wrong with his kids and wife keeping that alive...we love watching their show The Irwins about the Australia Zoo.
 
Grateful said:
Observation:
It’s not nice to speak ill of the dead. Bringing his kids into it is just a chickenshit thing to do.
Click to expand...
His kids are following in his footsteps with their own show, doing the same stupid things.
 
I did not know there was a Steve Irwin budget fixed blade, or that his children have a model too.

Oh wait, because there isn’t one.

:)AE0F34D3-C7B9-4326-9091-2BCDE2671E56.jpeg
 
Combo of an Ontario spec plus line and a Mora would do what you need on a budget. If you can stretch that a little go for an Esse 6 and then a cheap Mora, one of the thinner ones.
 
OneWithNature said:
Hi all,
After spending countless hours on google, forums, and youtube, I have decided it might be easier to pose the question to experts with my specific requirements instead of getting lost in the labyrinth of information on the web....and getting nowhere close to my goal

I am looking for a general all-purpose fixed blade knife (or a couple of them) to suit a variety of needs. The primary purpose of the knife is for hiking/camping followed closely by buschcraft/survival. It doesn't need to fit any use case perfectly but it should serve the general need well. I have listed what I feel are my requirements and I would greatly appreciate your feedback on 1) knife recommendations and 2)whether the logic for the requirements are sound and if alternate options make sense.

These are my must-have requirements: (at least I think so :) )

  1. Full Tang ( I am guessing this makes sense since the knife must be strong with minimal chance of failure)
  2. Relatively prominent front finger guard ( this is to prevent accidents when I bear forward on the knives.
  3. Knife Grind order of preference: Scandi > Sabre > Flat . I am picking these grinds since they seem easy to field sharpen and some of the research indicates a hollow grind is generally weaker compared to the others since there is a thinner thickness behind the edge. I am assuming this also means that regularly resharpening the hollow grind ends up making the blade edge weaker as the knife edges come higher up the hollow grind surface. This is one of the requirements I am most torn about since I also see youtube reviews of folks absolutely pounding knives with hollow grinds and they seem to hold up well without curving or bending. Open to suggestions on changing this preference)
  4. Very good edge retention
  5. Strong blade.
  6. Relatively easy to sharpen (and yes, I know this is usually conversely related to #4 and #5 and given a choice, i'd pick better edge retention and strength over ease of sharpening)
  7. AND BUDGET.... This had to be in the must-have list. :) While I'm open to paying a little more for better features, I am looking for knives under $75 USD. The lesser the better. I'm hoping for a good knife filling my requirements under 50 bucks ( I did say hope, didn't I? :) )
  8. no secondary bevels.(having a single bevel to sharpen is easier than maintaining to two bevel edges)
  9. Flat knife edge (since it is tougher to maintain serrated edges)

The following are features that are very nice to have but if it comes down to it, I'd give these up before I give up the must-haves.

  1. Rear finger guard (to prevent my hand from slipping from the knife when i use the pommel to tap/hammer.)
  2. flat pommel
  3. Drop point or clip point blade
  4. blade length between 4-6 inches
  5. Type of steel (doesn't matter): I think I will keep the knife clean enough so i won't have to worry about rust. But I am not averse to Stainless Steel
So far, the closest I have gotten to seeing most of my requirements met are the following:
  1. Schrade schf38: Missing flat pommel, steel seems average, and various websites list the grind differently (so I just don't know)
  2. hx rock outdoors: Unsure about the quality of the brand

I am appreciative of any feedback you might have and I hope to get some good recommendations for a key component of my hiking/survival kit.

THANK you all in advance! :)

OneWithNature
Click to expand...

I just bought myself one of these. I love it!
 
afishhunter said:
Also ignore that fool moron "Bear Grylls".
FYI he has a full medical team on standby, and keeps them busy, off camera treating injuries and poisoning, stays at nearby hotels, and eats at nearby restaurants (and it ain't at McDonald's et-al)
Listen to him, or consume some of the wild plants he says you can, or drink your own p, you will die early, and not necessarily peacefully in your sleep (or coma) and pain free.
He is worse than that late Steve Irwin idiot was, and his kids are. :(.
Click to expand...
Maybe I’m missing something here, but how do you compare a survival expert with a wildlife conservationist and environmentalist? They weren’t even remotely comparable.
Also: Bear Gryllis filmed his tv show for 6 years. You think he was just going to sleep outside and eat grubs for 6 years straight?
The man spent three years in the SAS, and is a trained expert and accomplished adventurer.
 
The Mora Companion is a decent outdoor knife for less than $15 if you look around . Buck 119 is even better at around $50 .
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