Camp/Hiking knife under $50?

Joined
Feb 3, 2003
Messages
16
Ok. Recent "expenses" have forced my knife buying into recession. Recession, not a total hault. But that means I am on a budget. Give me your opinion on a knife under (or very close to) $50. Must be comfortable to wear on a belt for hiking around 12 miles a day for a week. Give me your suggestion and why!

Thanks,

Matt

*edited* forgot to say fixed blade. You could have probably guessed but I just thought I'd throw that in.
 
a large stockman, a SAK, an Opinel, something along the Mora/Puuko lines, a Buck 110, a Schrade Sharpfinger. Some of these are inexpensive enough you could probably get two.

Frank

Just saw the fixed requirement. Oops.
 
Yeah sorry about that. I will have my SAK on me as well. Lookin for a little bit more rugged bigger blade knife.
 
Matt,

How about a Becker Knife and Tool Crewman? I have a BK&T BK7 that I really like. The new Crewman (aka BK10) is very similar - only shorter. I would think the lesser weight from the shorter knife would work well for your longer hikes. You can pre-order the Crewman from 1sks for $45.

--SAK
 
Cold Steel's SRK in 5" of Carbon V fills the bill...we haven't found anything yet that beats it for ease of use, weight, size, and aggresive bite...

FWIW, we have over 100 fixed blades, from Al Mar's to Randall's, and our camp knife is a CS SRK. Also, they sell '2nd's', with only minor grind line flaws, for <$30...with a great sheath too.

Mel
 
for a small knife a sak rucksack. for a fixed blade a kabar f/u, or becker 7" utility.
 
Ok, I'm now looking at either the Becker Crewman or the Cold steel SRK. Only problem is I can only find the SRK in the 6" blade, and thats a bit out of my price range for the time being. Does anyone have anymore information on the Crewman? Like overall length etc..

*edit* just found the SRK 6" for $53.99, but would also like to look at the 5" for size, weight advantages. Anyone know a place?

Also, the sheath is important to me because of the long stretches I'll be carrying the knife. Who has experience with either of these two sheaths? The cold steel comes with what they call a "concealex" sheath, and the Becker comes with a kydex lined propex nylon sheath. I am looking most of all for versatility and quality here.
 
A Camillus marine combat knife. Used by hard Marines all over the world for over 50 years and still going. Mine has served well. Not pretty, not fancy, just pure funtion.
 
I carried an ontario version for years when I was in the AF 88-96, never failed me!!!!!! went through Desert Shieled/Storm with it also.
 
Spyderco Moran drop point. You can get one of these for $50, and it will outcut most any other knives; all the while weighing near to nothing.
 
An off the wall idea, but how about a Cold Steel large 'bushman'? Out on one of my jaunts, I turned it into a spear (hollow, open handle). Real simple, heavy metal.
 
I have had a Cold Steel Master Hunter Carbon V for a number of years and have used it primarily in deer season. It's a shorter blade than the SRK. For the price range you mentioned, it's worth a look IMO.
Jim
 
There is only one blade size for the SRK. It's size depends on how you measure. ;)
The OAL is 6". But the cutting edge is just a little over 5". The choil makes up most of the difference.
 
Matt -- as SilverFox suggested, the Mora/Puukko type Scandinavian fixed blades are very functional & economical. ragweedforge.com has Swedish knives for as little as $9.

Getting to the question of "why":
- made of great steel (esp for the $$$)
- traditional single-bevel is very sharp & easy to maintain
- wooden handles are comfortable & relatively light
- most of the sheath designs are a flexible "dangler" style, so it doesn't poke the wearer in the waist, prevent sitting down, etc.
- aesthetics & tradition: these are designs that have been worked out over thousands of years & are still used in the outdoors every day.

The trade-off? These are stick tang knives with a high-angle single bevel edge, so they are made for cutting, not prying, hacking, or digging.

hope this is helpful; good luck with your quest!

Andrew
 
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