Recommendation? Buying my first real knife...

[CarsonWayne]

Perhaps you can help me when it comes to the steel. I heard the S90V blade that I was looking at is very high quality and long lasting. Is "M390" comparable?
I may need to find a chart to keep track lol.

S90V and M390 are two of the more popular steels for an EDC pocket knife.

S90V is my favorite and really is a thing of beauty. It is very resistant to wear, which means it holds an edge for a long time. You'll want diamond stones to sharpen it yourself, but since you plan to use Benchmade's Lifesharp service, I say get S90V. It'll stay sharper longer than M390 and you'll spend less time with your knife in the mailperson's hands.

If one day, though, you'd like to own a knife that you'll sharpen yourself, M390 would be a good steel choice. It doesn't hold an edge as long as S90V, but it is easier to sharpen. It's balanced and does a lot of things well, even if it's not necessarily great at any one thing. Maybe it's a tad overrated at the moment, but you can definitely do worse than M390, especially among stainless steels.

There is a lot of great information about various steels right here --> https://knifesteelnerds.com/

 

[Branden O'Donnell]

Huntsman Hardwood Walnut Swiss Army Knife

View attachment 1418822

Legitimately I have this opened in another browser window along with the silver. Trying to decide between the two.

S90V and M390 are two of the more popular steels for an EDC pocket knife.

S90V is my favorite and really is a thing of beauty. It is very resistant to wear, which means it holds an edge for a long time. You'll want diamond stones to sharpen it yourself, but since you plan to use Benchmade's Lifesharp service, I say get S90V. It'll stay sharper longer than M390 and you'll spend less time with your knife in the mailperson's hands.

If one day, though, you'd like to own a knife that you'll sharpen yourself, M390 would be a good steel choice. It doesn't hold an edge as long as S90V, but it is easier to sharpen. It's balanced and does a lot of things well, even if it's not necessarily great at any one thing. Maybe it's a tad overrated at the moment, but you can definitely do worse than M390, especially among stainless steels.

There is a lot of great information about various steels right here --> https://knifesteelnerds.com/

Thank you for that information. I think I may ease into the knife collection with one that won't be too much work. I might pick up something a bit lower priced to practice sharpening.
Once I mentioned sharpening to my wife she was all over it. She has a drawer of kitchen knives waiting for me lol.

 

[studio]

Sharpening can be its own hobby. And WELL worth the time put into it. What a sense of satisfaction knowing you can maintain your edges and tweak some grinds here and there.

Every knife fan should try A mora, Opinel, Maybe a MAM, Old Hickory, good cheap cutters all.

Stay sharp and have fun with it.

 

[mendezj]

I have a Crooked River which I have always found underwhelming. But that’s me. When you say “real knife” I can’t help thinking Buck 110. Check their website. You can buy one with a “custom” selection within your budget. The 110 is a “must have” knife.

 

[Branden O'Donnell]

I have a Crooked River which I have always found underwhelming. But that’s me. When you say “real knife” I can’t help thinking Buck 110. Check their website. You can buy one with a “custom” selection within your budget. The 110 is a “must have” knife.

When I say real knife I just intended it to mean "something that won't break in my hands when working".
I am greatly impressed that don't need to max out the budget to buy something of great quality.

Seems my wife sent me on this expedition because her plan the whole time was to purchase it for my upcoming birthday. I showed her 5 options from this thread and she is leaning towards the Crooked River (probably due to my early excitement when I first saw it).

I did some measurements and I think I will go with the mini.
Excited to order a quality knife to begin my collection.

Thanks to absolutely everyone on here! You have all been incredibly helpful!
I plan to stay and learn more

 

[killgar]

Hello everyone,

I am looking to purchase my first real knife. Until now I have only purchased $20 junk knives that break inside of a few months.

Welcome to Bladeforums Branden. You've already received many suggestions. I think that before making a choice and possibly spending a lot of money on a knife, my questions would be- what are you using your knives for that is causing them to break? And- how are they breaking?

I ask these questions because all knives will have limitations, including expensive ones from good brands. If you're putting your knives under a lot of stress, to the point of breakage, it may be the knives, or it may be that they are simply not designed for the purpose you are using them for. And it's possible that a new expensive knife might break under the same use.

For the sake of full disclosure, I've used knives for many purposes for which they were not intended, and I've broken a few in my lifetime. So I'm certainly not one to judge.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

When I say real knife I just intended it to mean "something that won't break in my hands when working".
I am greatly impressed that don't need to max out the budget to buy something of great quality.

Seems my wife sent me on this expedition because her plan the whole time was to purchase it for my upcoming birthday. I showed her 5 options from this thread and she is leaning towards the Crooked River (probably due to my early excitement when I first saw it).

I did some measurements and I think I will go with the mini.
Excited to order a quality knife to begin my collection.

Thanks to absolutely everyone on here! You have all been incredibly helpful!
I plan to stay and learn more

Welcome to the forum!

Ontario has impressed me with their knives. Such good knives, for twice of inexpensive as some of the “leading” brands.

What exactly are you looking for? Fixed blade, neck knife, folding, flipper, spring assisted, etc.

 

[Branden O'Donnell]

Welcome to Bladeforums Branden. You've already received many suggestions. I think that before making a choice and possibly spending a lot of money on a knife, my questions would be- what are you using your knives for that is causing them to break? And- how are they breaking?

I ask these questions because all knives will have limitations, including expensive ones from good brands. If you're putting your knives under a lot of stress, to the point of breakage, it may be the knives, or it may be that they are simply not designed for the purpose you are using them for. And it's possible that a new expensive knife might break under the same use.

For the sake of full disclosure, I've used knives for many purposes for which they were not intended, and I've broken a few in my lifetime. So I'm certainly not one to judge.

That's a very great question. The main way that my knives in the past have broken is the locking mechanism. Over time the knife will become more wiggly - or sometimes the lock sticks.

I mostly use the knives for maintenance and renovations. Pretty much straight cutting. I take them on hikes as well for some widdling and making the kids walking sticks. I think my use would rate very low on the scale of an average user.

I want a solid knife that will simply last me until I hand it down to my son. I don't want any headaches with it.

Welcome to the forum!

Ontario has impressed me with their knives. Such good knives, for twice of inexpensive as some of the “leading” brands.

What exactly are you looking for? Fixed blade, neck knife, folding, flipper, spring assisted, etc.

Looking for a folding knife first and then I will be looking for a fixed blade next.
An added bonus could be the "flick assist" on the back of the knife.

Thanks!

 

[Eli Chaps]

My advice is to slow down on the steel selection and pricing. I advise a solid knife, that will in truth likely last you half a life time or more and as said, pursue sharpening.

A Spyderco Stretch 2, Endura 4, Delica 4, or Dragonfly 2 (you choose the size that you like best) in VG10 will be an awesome introduction to well made knives for you. Spyderco's VG10 is excellent and is just soft enough to be easy to sharpen but hard enough to hold it's edge respectfully.

The priciest of those options puts ya $100USD. Check out DLT Trading. Now, the handles can be particular to your hand. I think the Endura and Delica are the most approved by the masses and they are great knives.

Now, you get yourself:

- Norton Crystolon CJB83 stone, $21
- Norton India FB83 stone, $21
- Optional as you can use the Norton stone cases as holders but I recommend getting a universal stone holder, $20
- 8"x3" Leather strop with chromium oxide compound, $30 (we can do this cheaper if need be)
- Red Sharpie
- Laxative grade mineral oil

You're in for under $200 and will be set up to expand for a life time. Yes, sharpening can be challenging, but it is not rocket science and you can do it. You just need to understand the fundamentals, which are extremely well laid out here in the Maintenance, Embellishment, And Tinkering section (along with great folks always willing to help). Your kitchen pairing knife is a great choice to learn and again, the knives I mentioned are not hard to sharpen when you understand the basics and learn to execute them. Yes yo will make mistakes but you'll get it.

And once you realize what a good working knife is like and you start gaining the confidence your sharpening, then you can go wherever you want. You can branch out into other steels, look at your culinary knives, explore new sharpening stones, etc.

 

[Branden O'Donnell]

My advice is to slow down on the steel selection and pricing. I advise a solid knife, that will in truth likely last you half a life time or more and as said, pursue sharpening.

A Spyderco Stretch 2, Endura 4, Delica 4, or Dragonfly 2 (you choose the size that you like best) in VG10 will be an awesome introduction to well made knives for you. Spyderco's VG10 is excellent and is just soft enough to be easy to sharpen but hard enough to hold it's edge respectfully.

The priciest of those options puts ya $100USD. Check out DLT Trading. Now, the handles can be particular to your hand. I think the Endura and Delica are the most approved by the masses and they are great knives.

Now, you get yourself:

- Norton Crystolon CJB83 stone, $21
- Norton India FB83 stone, $21
- Optional as you can use the Norton stone cases as holders but I recommend getting a universal stone holder, $20
- 8"x3" Leather strop with chromium oxide compound, $30 (we can do this cheaper if need be)
- Red Sharpie
- Laxative grade mineral oil

You're in for under $200 and will be set up to expand for a life time. Yes, sharpening can be challenging, but it is not rocket science and you can do it. You just need to understand the fundamentals, which are extremely well laid out here in the Maintenance, Embellishment, And Tinkering section (along with great folks always willing to help). Your kitchen pairing knife is a great choice to learn and again, the knives I mentioned are not hard to sharpen when you understand the basics and learn to execute them. Yes yo will make mistakes but you'll get it.

And once you realize what a good working knife is like and you start gaining the confidence your sharpening, then you can go wherever you want. You can branch out into other steels, look at your culinary knives, explore new sharpening stones, etc.

Admittedly I understood very little of the technical stuff you said, but I believe I got the idea of it. It seems several people are bringing up the sharpening so it feels inevitable for me. I think I am a bit too hesitant to start on it immediately, but xmas time is not too long away and that will give me an excuse to pick up the materials "for the wife" lol.

You all make this so much less scary than I expected.
Thanks!

 

[Eli Chaps]

Admittedly I understood very little of the technical stuff you said, but I believe I got the idea of it. It seems several people are bringing up the sharpening so it feels inevitable for me. I think I am a bit too hesitant to start on it immediately, but xmas time is not too long away and that will give me an excuse to pick up the materials "for the wife" lol.

You all make this so much less scary than I expected.
Thanks!

Not technical, those are model numbers I listed to help in researching.

 

[strategy9]

If you got your eye on the crooked river, go for the crooked river. Just make sure you want a 4" blade or a 3.5" blade for your edc...

 

[scdub]

This is actually what I am most nervous about. Never sharpened anything before. Ever. I don't want to ruin the knife.

Sharpening is one of those extremely simple concepts that is also infinitely complex. As mentioned above however, it’s not rocket science - especially if you aren’t trying to shave your face with the knife.

I would highly recommend starting out with “freehand” sharpening on “softer” steels. (As a new knife person, most of your kitchen knives probably fall into this category. The Benchmade you’re looking at has likely more expensive, harder wearing, and harder to sharpen steel. Definitely not one to learn on.)

As an extremely budget friendly way to begin, consider buying a $7 “American Mutt” bench stone from Baryonyx Knife Co (online).

This stone is extremely coarse, however it therefore removes metal quickly and efficiently, and in my experience most beginners don’t remove enough material to get an “apex” on their edge.

This stone alone won’t get a knife extremely sharp, but will get a dull knife to a working edge very quickly.

Read up and watch a few videos before your first attempt and start with a thin, inexpensive knife (like a paring knife as mentioned above).

KEY SECRET: Use sunshine or a nice bright single light source to look at the light reflecting off of the edge of a dinged-up kitchen knife. Those reflections indicate areas that are dull. Sharpen until those reflections are gone. Clean the edge and check again. You should now have an apex and a rough working edge on your knife (won’t be “sharp” but it will cut well into wood, vegetables, etc.)

Higher grits, more time, and more practice will generally get you more sharpness.

Good luck!!

 

[not2sharp]

The basic Buck 110 would be ideal for you. Save your money, learn to use and maintain a decent quality knife, and then you’ll be ready for a premium knife.

The Buck will continue to serve you for decades and you would be better prepared to select something that you would really like.

n2s

 

[jfk1110]

Welcome! I like the crooked river as well!

 

[marcus52AR]

Welcome to the forums, I think the mini crooked river is a great choice. If you don't want to ship it to be sharpened, I'm sure you can find local shops that can due it for a reasonable fee.