FINAL DECISION HELP: Nine-Inch Knife!

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BabyJWuu

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Hello group,

First I would like to say thank you for all of your help so far :thumbup:

Further to my earlier thread I have had to be "strong" and narrowed my choice down as follows:

Honourable mention knives:

ESEE Junglas - I disqualified this knife due to 1095 steel and the 3/16th thickness. :thumbdn:

Crowell/Barker Competition Knife, Model 580 - I disqualified this knife due to the lack of information on their website, which makes it difficult for me to even judge this knife :thumbdn:

CS Trail Master - I automatically disqualified this knife due to the cheap Kraton handle. It is to bad CS won't update their knives with micarta :thumbdn:

Entrek USA Bison - I disqualified this knife because they use 440C steel. I really like the designs of this company's knives, it is to bad they don't upgrade the quality of their steel :thumbdn:

Fallkniven Mod NL1 - disqualified this knife because the handle material and the shape of the handle, I notice Randall still uses this type of handle, not sure why they won't upgrade to modern materials :thumbdn:

Outstanding knives: :thumbup:

It is my pleasure to advise you of the three nine-inch knives I felt are the most outstanding. I will need your advise to pick one of these three, I am not sure, which one is the best yet :confused:

Fehrman Final Judgement - The downside of this knife is perhaps the MSRP $450, I assume retailers are lowering the price :thumbdn: This is a great knife, good blade shape, proper handle shape and micarta handle, I have been advised that CPM-3V is as good as Busse Infi steel. :thumbup:

Ontario Ranger Series RD 9 This is the price-quality point knife of the bunch. I was advised by you that the 5160 steel is better than 1095, but not quite as good as CPM-3V. The blade is the proper shape and the handle is Micarta, the retail price is only $100 :D !WOW! Twenty years ago I thought of Ontario Knives as a manufacturer of low quality KABAR knives. Now their catalogue is bristling with all kinds of good knives. :thumbup:

Scrap Yard Dog Father This knife has the proper shape and 10" blade that is fine, but Resiprene C is an unknown to me, someone advised me they like it and it is "comfy", but I get nervous when I see handles similar to Kraton. The knife shape is fine, but SR-77 is a steel I am not that familiar with. I know SY is a Busse company, so I assume the quality is there :thumbup:

I would appreciate your input on my last three choices. I am only going to buy one of them. I wouldn't focus overly on the price, but more on the overall quality, in particular can you compare the three steel qualities CMP-3V 5160 SR-77 :)

Thank you in advance for your advise.

BabyJWuu :D
 
I would advise against the Ontario. I have the NS 7 which has the same shape handle and 5160 steel. The handle is not ergonomically designed for chopping. The steel is ok but my blade has chips in it from hard use. This may be due to a bad heat treat or something but overall I've had 3 Ontario's where the steel has bent or chipped which I think reflects on quality control issues.
 
All three knives you mentioned are extremely tough, you will never break any of them unless you try, in which case, you qualify for idiot status.

Edgeholding rates as follows, 3V, by a huge margin, 5160 second, and SR77, third.

I have a suggestion, buy the design YOU like. Consider the sheath options and the overall cost.

You can’t go wrong with any of them.
 
Of all those you mentioned I'd go for the Fehrman or Junglas. I've owned a couple of Dogfathers and they held no practical advantage over the Busse BWM to me. Of course, that's the knife I'd choose in this category. INFI doesn't rust as easy as 1095 and performs better in a chopper. The BWM has the best designed handle shape of any fixed blade I've ever held. If you can find one under $400 they're worth every penny.
 
You "disqualified" a lot of good knives there.

Nothing wrong with 440C.
ESEE 1095 ... what's wrong with that ?

You like all these new steels, I hope you can sharpen real well.
Some of them can be tough.

Wish you well on your choice. Hope your happy with it.
Me I went with the BK9 (KISS, keep it simple stupid)
Big, tough, sharpens easy, all for around $70.

JMHO.
 
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bearcut said:
You can’t go wrong with any of them.
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+1. If money is no object, I'd buy them in the following order:

1. Fehrman Final Judgment
2. Scrap Yard Dog Father
3. Ontario Ranger RD-9

If money IS an object, simply reverse that order. And let us know what you decide. :)

PS:
Cobra281 said:
You "disqualified" a lot of good knives there.
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You sure did! But you're still on firm footing with your potential choices.

.
 
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Of the three knives left I think the only real choice is the Dogfather.

I am surprised you disqualified the ESEE because of the type of steel, of all the knives listed that one would be my top choice. But thats just my opinion.
 
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With all due respect, BabyJWuu suffers from some unfounded newbie biases. And I too might take him to task for that had he not chosen three knives I'd be willing to stake my life on. The one thing I'd recommend is that he beat the snot out of whatever knife he chooses before the SHTF. As we all know, EVERY knife has its breaking point. And it's best to know what your last resort tools are capable of before you have to use them for that purpose.

.
 
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1. Junglas - its just so much bang for the buck and an outstanding knife

2. Final Judgment - Awesome knife, but for 450$+ id rather get a Busse

3. Dogfather - Good price, good ergonomics, good steel
 
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Wow. Disqualifying the Junglas :eek:. You really need to put that back on your list. Take a gander over at the ESEE forum. Those guys are hard core knife users over there...batoning, chopping, spine whacking, survive in the wild types...and some armchair quarterbacks like me.

They love the Junglas. And for about $175 buck or less, that's a whole lot of knife. 1095 is great and ESEE does just about the best heat treat in the business.

PS. While the Junglas is not among them, I own 6 ESEE knives (Izula w/scales, HEST, two 3's, a 4, and the 5.)
 
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HoosierQ said:
Wow. Disqualifying the Junglas :eek:. You really need to put that back on your list. Take a gander over at the ESEE forum. Those guys are hard core knife users over there...batoning, chopping, spine whacking, survive in the wild types...and some armchair quarterbacks like me.

They love the Junglas. And for about $175 buck or less, that's a whole lot of knife. 1095 is great and ESEE does just about the best heat treat in the business.
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yeah i was like what the hell?!! Guess this guy have never handled a ESEE product.
 
We all walk around with biases, guys . . . some well-founded and some unfounded. IMO, all of the knives the OP disqualified could easily be put back on his list of qualifiers. But again, he'll be alright if he selects from among his choices.

.
 
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I don't think he has made bad choices, but Swamp Rat with their SR-101 steel is excellent so I am suprised it's not in the mix.
 
The problem with Busse family knives in the size the OP is looking for is availability and price. I agree it's hard to beat SR101. In fact, my SHTF knife is a Camp Tramp. And there's not a knife on the OP's list I'd be willing to trade for it. So you KNOW how I feel. ;)

.
 
bld522 said:
The problem with Busse family knives in the size the OP is looking for is availability and price. I agree it's hard to beat SR101. In fact, my SHTF knife is a Camp Tramp. So you KNOW how I feel. ;)
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Yeah I know. :)

It's hard to beat SR-101. :thumbup:
 
bld552 said:
The problem with Busse family knives in the size the OP is looking for is availability and price. I agree it's hard to beat SR101. In fact, my SHTF knife is a Camp Tramp. And there's not a knife on the OP's list I'd be willing to trade for it. So you KNOW how I feel.
Click to expand...

It took me a bit to figure out that the secret is to pay attention to the trade shows that Busse attends.
 
And the 'ganzaas that normally happen afterward. ;)

The Busse world takes a little getting used to. And some might think it's not worth playing Jerry's games to get to his knives. But they're wrong. Busse family knives really are all they're cracked up to be. Otherwise the Fabulous Busse Brothers wouldn't have such a rabid following.

.
 
Great question that gets asked allot!

Knives are always a compromise. From steel....edge holding.....and of course price. So keep that in mind. All the blades listed are good blades. All the companies have good or great reputations. So here is they way I look at it.

Chopping you need strength and good edge holding not great so steels I would put them in this order
3V
INFI
5160
SR-77
1095
For edge holding the order would be the same. So it comes down to price. The order would almost be the same except 3V (from Fehram) and INFI are vertually tied depending on the blades compared...then you have a good drop to 5160, SR-77 and 1095.

If you are looking to spend under $150 you can't go wrong with any of the blades you listed especially since Ontario, Scrapyard, ESEE both have a lifetime warranty. If you want to spend over teh $150 mark you are good to go there as Busse and Fehrman I believe have the same lifetime warranty.

I know that doesn't help much but knives are a very personal thing to most people.....so go with what you like the best or what appeals to you most....as I said before you can't go wrong with any of the blades that you listed.
 
Have RangerJD make you a giant custom chopper! :D

IMG_5343.jpg
 
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