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First 100$ knife. Help me decide!

H

Hybridvox

Joined
Jan 9, 2013
Messages
23
So I'm looking to make my first big $$ (for me) purchase. I'm considering a fixed blade that I can use to prepare food at camp (potatoes, steak, whittle s'mores sticks etc), cutting paracord/rope, clean and fillet fish (trout, catfish, walleye), skin/clean a mulie/whitetail/elk once in a while and if need be, scare off any hippies/tweekers that plague my area. The knife will never be used for batoning/chopping/splitting pelvis etc. as I have a S&N Kindling Axe for that. I would prefer something from 5-6 inches in S30V, VG10 or VG1 (Cold Steel) but would consider other stainless steels. I also would prefer it be made in the USA, Japan, Germany or Sweden. Right now my top choice is the SRK SMIII. Thanks in advance!
 
The choice you have picked out is going to be great, I would also look at some bark river knives and even look at handmade knives on the forum as it is great to support the knifemakers plus their knives have more character and usually you get a good deal for what you pay for. Since you will not be batoning or chopping those are my recommendations at the moment. I have not been looking at too many production fixed blades besides the more beefy ones and the bark rivers.
 
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(FK2) Farmers Knife 5 "

870BB-500x.jpg

(870BB) General Purpose 6 1/4 "

655B-500x.jpg

(655B) Curved Skinner/Sticker/Boning 6 "

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(677BB) Curved Skinner 5 3/4 "
http://www.svord.com/

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K-77-6 Skinning knife $110.00
15cm blade, 1.4116 S/S knife steel, 3mm thick skinning blade, Brass guard, Antler handle
http://www.deweyknives.com.au/index.html
 
Thanks for the suggestion! One concern I had with the SRK was the hollow grind. I read somewhere that it would be prone to chipping and would hate to chip a 100$ blade cutting potatoes on a wooden cutting board!
 
I'd like to avoid Carbon steels as my blade will see the majority of use at fishing camp getting water,food,fish parts etc. all over it, all day lol
 
Just my opinion, but I think you're limiting yourself too much by ruling out carbon steels. There are some excellent carbon steel knives out there from Becker, ESEE and other brands that will easily meet all the needs you described and be within your budget. A 6" S30V (or VG-10, for that matter) fixed blade is not likely to cost $100.- or less, especially one made in the countries you listed. Most stainless steel fixed blades in the $100 price range will more likely use something like AUS-8 (and many will be made in Taiwan or China).

The Spyderco Moran knives are pretty nice, cost about $100, have VG-10 blades and are made in Japan. But they are a bit smaller than what you're looking for (4"). Still worth a look.
 
Hybridvox said:
I'd like to avoid Carbon steels as my blade will see the majority of use at fishing camp getting water,food,fish parts etc. all over it, all day lol
Click to expand...
Stainless is only necessary for sea diving. Svord's L6 dht & Dewey's D2 are rust resistant, especially if cared for properly & are sharper than stainless. Otherwise there wouldn't be
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(950B) Fish Fillet 9 "
 
I just prefer the level of corrosion resistance in stainless steels. I did check out the Spyderco fixed blades available in VG10 but honestly didn't find them aesthetically pleasing, and who wants to pay for a blade they don't want to look at!? Haha I have considered D2 as an option but have yet to find a knife I like better than the SRK SMIII. There seems to be a lot of debate about carbon vs stainless as well as grind type and after reading tons of forum posts I decided on a hollow ground/stainless combination. I'd be willing to consider any other suggestions as I'm sure the folks here have a ton more experience than I
 
I would take a look at the Grohmann fixed blades by DH Russell. They can be found at the A.G. Russell website. I have two of them and they are excellent knives.

jwh
 
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