"Can do it all" fixed blade - advice please!

[UCberzerkeley]

Ok, so background for my decision. I am looking for a once-and-for-all outdoors knife. I have found I dislike carrying a variety of specialty blades. You may disagree, but bear with me for my personal decision.

Activities:
-Must be capable skinner (boar/deer)
-Must be capable at gutting fish (mountain trout)
-Must be capable camp knife (dinner/etc)
-Must be capable fire tool (kindling, battoning)
-Must obviously be durable. Perhaps rust resistant
-Able to be field sharpened reasonably
-Follow me for 2 months on the Pacific Crest next spring

I am leaning towards the spyderco because of the ergonomics. Please throw any others in the mix. I have skimmed over the BRKT line and picked my two favorites out of the many.

The contenders:

Spyderco Dayhiker
Dayhiker: 4.75" blade, 10.5" overall, 7.6oz, 5/32" spine
N690co stainless steel @ 60RC
Boltaron sheath w/ 5 position TekLock fastener

Rat Cutlery RC4
RC4: 4.5" blade, 9" OAL, 1095 carbon steel @ 57RC, 6/32" spine
Kydex sheath w/ MOLLE

Bark River BRAVO-1
4.25" blade, 9.07 OAL, 7/32" spine, 7.4oz
A-2 steel @ 59RC
Kydex or leather sheath

Bark River Montana Guide
4.5" blade, 9.4" OAL, A-2, 7/32" spine, 6oz

 

[carrot]

IMHO you have picked out a good bunch of contenders. I would also recommend looking at some Dozier knives around that size as you are bumping yourself into that price range anyway. I have one Dozier and it is just about my favorite fixed blade for EDC as it is well-thought out and feels great in my hands.

While you're at it there are smaller Busses being offered for sale here and on the BCS and while more famous for their choppers the smaller Busses are still tough and capable. I think the Sus Scrofa is similar in size to the other ones you are looking at, and the blade should be surprisingly versatile.

Let's not forget Koster's knives, which are quite a good value and can be easily customized to your tastes. The Koster Bushcraft has quickly become a favorite of mine and should be well suited to the tasks you outline.

Fallkniven are popular too. The S1 and F1 are in the size you are looking at.

Since you are looking at the Dayhiker you should also consider the Rock Salt, which is supposed to be a great all-around blade.

Experience tells me that you really need to handle and use a knife for awhile to get a feel for whether it works for you. Everyone's perfect knife is different and when you pick a wide swarth of activities that your knife must conquer, it is the compromises that you pick/prioritize that make the knife the right one for you.

 

[UCberzerkeley]

Edit: You make some excellent suggestions carrot, all are well received. Most of all, your point about compromises seems spot on. The difficulty is judging blade and handle shape online, rather than putting every blade through a days use.

In terms of the knives, this Koster (nessmuk) looks pretty sexy. Not a fan of the "bushcraft" he offers. Handsomely priced in the mid 100s.

None of the Fallknivens attract me. Some people are apparently maniacs for them, but they just don't do it for me visually. NO doubt they perform, but you might as well be attracted to your partner, eh?

 

[338 Stalker]

Ok, so background for my decision. I am looking for a once-and-for-all outdoors knife. I have found I dislike carrying a variety of specialty blades. You may disagree, but bear with me for my personal decision.

Activities:
-Must be capable skinner (boar/deer)
-Must be capable at gutting fish (mountain trout)
-Must be capable camp knife (dinner/etc)
-Must be capable fire tool (kindling, battoning)
-Must obviously be durable. Perhaps rust resistant
-Able to be field sharpened reasonably
-Follow me for 2 months on the Pacific Crest next spring

Good thread. I'm hearing you about carrying allot of knives.

I'm a Outdoors man myself. So I look forward to hearing some of the comments.

By the way. Out of those knives pictured, I have the RAT RC-4. Great knife but it doesn't gel with my thumb whilst in the gutting position. In the skinning position, it's not too bad. IMO there are allot more comfortable knives out there. A few being, the Strider MFS, Scrap Yard Yard Keeper LE & CG. But that's my opinion.


338

 

[p_mcmanis]

for everything but a fighting knife I find that a good belly helps. but realistically, even a short kabar would work since its 1095, 5.5 inch blade, kraton handle, kydex sheath, but you have to be able to work with that blade shape for fine work. when I was 12 I went through a weeaboo stage and just HAD to learn how to cut with a katana and because I was trained with it I actually can cut a fish right down its stomach with a 28 inch weapon. On the other hand, give me a kitchen knife and I will make a mess out of it. Conversly, my mother cant even pick up one of my swords due to muscle issues, but shes been cooking for 35 years so she could split a hair with one of her ceramic kitchen knives. I definately suggest going with the one that will give you the best cut on precision cuts, if its not the best wood chopper thats ok since thats not a job where you need a really, really clean cut.

 

[UCberzerkeley]

Glad to see a fellow outdoorsmen 338! i get a bit tired of the EDC folder discussions, personally speaking. and yes, my *hope* is that a better, smarter knife means LESS knives.

That is a shame that the RC4 is not a particularly comfortable field dresser. I think comfort, perhaps surprisingly, ought to be a high priority in this decision. Like mcmanis said, many knives CAN do the work, it is which can do it while taxing the user (me) the least. kind of has me worried about the barkies, their handles are awfully small looking.

 

[carrot]

Dozier Knives are made for hunters. If you have not checked them out yet you may be pleasantly surprised at their offerings. In my sample of ONE, the K-7, it is very comfortable to use and easy to control. However, I do not hunt so I cannot say how it works for skinning.

 

[UCberzerkeley]

Wow carrot, you are right. These knives look spectacular. I feel almost foolish for never even hearing of them. These two look particularly effective. Both are approx 8" total. I love the beefy handle. Carrot - could you talk a bit more about the handle / what you have used the knife for + how it performs? I am suddenly intrigued.

I want to make clear that this is not purely a "hunting" knife, it just has to be able to dress an animal, but also perform the all the variety of daily camp chores.

K-4

K-2

 

[338 Stalker]

K-4

K-2

I particularly like the top knife. Hmmmmm yes.

There is one thing that not many knife companies address. That is, SPINE-GROOVES, JIMPING, call it what you will. But I have found this to be very useful indeed. My Strider MFS has this. My Scrap Yard LE & CG doesn't, but the LE is soooo thick, you get plenty of index-finger purchase. And the CG rough coating seems to work well enough. The RAT does have jimping but as you can see, they're not long enough to give 100% index-finger grip & control. With smaller jimping that IMO doesn't provide near the grip of the MFS.
I just prefer bold jimping on my knives. Sure you can live without them, & they still work great. But that's what I prefer & recommend, so I thought I would throw you a couple of ideas to mull over.

As us hunters know, this is the most used hand position.

Second most used.

Here are a few pic's of my hunting/skinning/boning knives. I hope this helps some.

 

[Stainz]

I like the BR Montana Guide you showed - but prefer the similar Gameskeeper, bottom below, due to it's included finger guard. The handle is the same - the blade nearly so. I also have an '07 LE North Star and Fox River, either being offered by most as an 'appropriate' bushcraft knife. I just like my Gameskeeper better! I bought my BRs with a simple theme - get the least expensive version, ie, handle. The Gameskeeper is natural Micarta. Of course, I bought the bocote Boone, top below, on closeout - a deal - but nearly too pretty to use!

Oddly, it wasn't that long ago that I thought a KaBar, Buck 192 Vanguard, or even a basic 110 Folding Hunter was all I needed in the woods. My 'enlightenment' has been expensive!

Stainz

PS My BR '07 LE NS and '07 T.U.S.K. have spine grooves. They do give you a marginally better thumb 'grip' than, say, the plain Fox River, but fire rod starting seems the same as plain spines. Also, the finger guard and wide (.215") spine of the Gameskeeper make it a lot safer and more comfortable in use. The A-2 steel is excellent - as is the convex edge.

 

[TwinBlade]

Pretty tough to beat a lot of the knives mentioned already. I will throw one more in the mix. This one looks bad, but feels and works REAL good. The Bark River Canadian Special. Batons like a champ and whittles quite well.

Very very capable blade for 4".

 

[Halbie]

You have some nice ones already listed.

I'd say the RAT RC-6, when it comes out at the end of this month. That would seem to be more the size you might need to cover all those bases. Someone already mentioned the BRKT Boone - some of the needs you list are exactly why I ordered a Boone II and am waiting on the RC-6. A smaller knife with more belly might make a better skinner, though. That Day Hiker looks pretty good, too.

 

[Cliff Nieporte]

For a "Do it all" blade , I take a BRKT Fox River:

Lightweight , tough & sharp !!!
Although the two Barkies you are looking at will certainly work very well too.
Check out the DLT Trading website. There are a few Montana Guides in the "Closeout" section for VERY good prices.
Cliff

 

[carrot]

Wow carrot, you are right. These knives look spectacular. I feel almost foolish for never even hearing of them. These two look particularly effective. Both are approx 8" total. I love the beefy handle. Carrot - could you talk a bit more about the handle / what you have used the knife for + how it performs? I am suddenly intrigued.

I think my handle is paper micarta, although I believe Dozier finishes all the micarta options in a similar fashion. It is smooth and easy on the hands but offers enough purchase that it doesn't feel slippery. It is clearly designed to be used all day without irritating your hands (cough Strider G-10 cough).

At some point I would like to chamfer the spine but the spine is perfect for striking a firestarter as is. Dozier is not very concerned with aesthetics so you will notice that the grinding has been done on a fairly low grit and some things may not be quite aesthetically perfect but as a user that's how I like my knives to be. It is easy to use a Dozier. When you have one your hand you think "this knife is meant to be used" instead of "this is a nice knife," although truthfully I think it is really nice and I got mine for quite a reasonable price. The sheath is also great. It is a very functional kydex sheath and I've never seen a sheath quite like it from any other maker-- easy to access and resheath the knife with a nice hard click, and very secure. However the knife is very classy and I feel like it would be quite suited to a leather sheath, which I am thinking of having made.

The model I have is the K-7 which is roughly the size of a Small Sebenza and so is not terribly appropriate for batoning but I have whittled and made feathersticks with it as well as carried it for the usual EDC fare -- breaking down boxes, cutting up twine, slicing and peeling fruit... and the Dozier D2 steel has treated me well-- I can touch it up on a Sharpmaker, although diamonds are recommended for sharpening, and it takes a nice sharp and coarse edge that excels at separating matter and lasts a long time. It is rust resistant but you shouldn't put it away wet because light spotting will develop (easily removed with toothpaste). D2 is said to be brittle so I would want to use more finesse with batoning especially in knotty wood but I don't think I've ever heard of problems with it either. FWIW Kershaw's small chopper, the Outcast, is made in D2 and I haven't heard of problems with that either.

Edit: if you like Dozier you may also like Krein. Tom Krein used to work at the Dozier shop before he started making his own knives, and is very talented with a grinder.

 

[UCberzerkeley]

Good shots there 338. And I know what you mean about proper jimping, few knives do it but it has its place on practically all blades. Nonetheless, I am getting pushed away by the "tactical" style of the Scrappers.

Stainz - how is the handle on the Gameskeeper? It looks thin, I am starting to think nearly all the barkies are too thin.

Halbie - I think the RC6 6.5" blade is getting away from me honestly. That is a lot of knife. Maybe positive for battoning, but just seems ungainly for everything else. Would you explain further why you think the longer blade will be beneficial?

Both those barkies look good. In fact, i like them better than the Montana Guide. But again, the grips, bleh. THey look small. I am 6'3 with decent size hands, the grip on the Dozier knives looks good.

 

[UCberzerkeley]

I think my handle is paper micarta, although I believe Dozier finishes all the micarta options in a similar fashion. It is smooth and easy on the hands but offers enough purchase that it doesn't feel slippery. It is clearly designed to be used all day without irritating your hands (cough Strider G-10 cough).

At some point I would like to chamfer the spine but the spine is perfect for striking a firestarter as is. Dozier is not very concerned with aesthetics so you will notice that the grinding has been done on a fairly low grit and some things may not be quite aesthetically perfect but as a user that's how I like my knives to be. It is easy to use a Dozier. When you have one your hand you think "this knife is meant to be used" instead of "this is a nice knife," although truthfully I think it is really nice and I got mine for quite a reasonable price. The sheath is also great. It is a very functional kydex sheath and I've never seen a sheath quite like it from any other maker-- easy to access and resheath the knife with a nice hard click, and very secure. However the knife is very classy and I feel like it would be quite suited to a leather sheath, which I am thinking of having made.

The model I have is the K-7 which is roughly the size of a Small Sebenza and so is not terribly appropriate for batoning but I have whittled and made feathersticks with it as well as carried it for the usual EDC fare -- breaking down boxes, cutting up twine, slicing and peeling fruit... and the Dozier D2 steel has treated me well-- I can touch it up on a Sharpmaker, although diamonds are recommended for sharpening, and it takes a nice sharp and coarse edge that excels at separating matter and lasts a long time. It is rust resistant but you shouldn't put it away wet because light spotting will develop (easily removed with toothpaste). D2 is said to be brittle so I would want to use more finesse with batoning especially in knotty wood but I don't think I've ever heard of problems with it either. FWIW Kershaw's small chopper, the Outcast, is made in D2 and I haven't heard of problems with that either.

Edit: if you like Dozier you may also like Krein. Tom Krein used to work at the Dozier shop before he started making his own knives, and is very talented with a grinder.

Sounds good Carrot, thanks for the solid response. From what you say, the knives look like work horses. But small - you know - pretty small. For a standalone, I think I would be feeling for some more steel. As a dedicated hunter, I might be more inclined, but it needs to do a little more. Many of these other knives have 4-5 inch blades, but the Dozier all seem to fall in the 3.5" range (some under, some over) but nobody above 4. I don't know - I would seriously hate to be left wanting more after this decision.

I think you should go ahead and get the leather sheath though, the K-7 would look great IMO. I don't think it would look out of place at all.

I have stumbled upon another Barkie that looks good. Has some belly and a grip. But I am going to go check out those Krein knives now Carrot.

 

[TwinBlade]

The Gameskeeper and Bravo-1 have very sizable handles as does the Canadian Special but it ain't gonna be like putting a 2" pipe in your hands either. I love the Fox River too, but that is going to be too small for you if you like/need a large handle. I wear a large/x-large glove depending on the glove.

Take a peek at my Bravo-1...

Hope this helps.

 

[UCberzerkeley]

Yah - the kreins look great but are definitely out of my price range. I can stomach 200 on the top end for a knife, but 300-500 is a new fly rod or a start on a custom bow.

 

[Halbie]

Yah - the kreins look great but are definitely out of my price range. I can stomach 200 on the top end for a knife, but 300-500 is a new fly rod or a start on a custom bow.

Very true. But, think of it this way.... Wait, hold on.... Oh, yeah - it could save your life. And, if it looks good in the process, even better!

Keith Ouye 3.5" ATS34 blade, Micarta handle. 3/16" blade hollow ground to a great hunter/skinner/survival clip point. The top is a false edge, but it wouldn't take much to sharpen it up.

 

[UCberzerkeley]

Very true. But, think of it this way.... Wait, hold on.... Oh, yeah - it could save your life. And, if it looks good in the process, even better!

Heh, I know you're onto something there Halbie with the "life" thing, but when there are apparently SO MANY top notch knives in the 200 range, I'm gonna force myself to choose from them.