First decent knife

B

Benen

Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
44
Hi all,

I have been reading on here for a while and learning a lot the past few weeks.
I currently have a Scrade sharp finger I think in 440c? And a Gerber GDC which were both freebies which is great!
The Schrade was like cutting with a spoon and I'm using it to learn to sharpen with an old grey double sided sharpening stone, the GDC goes blunt just by looking at it I guess crappy Chinese steel?

I've been jumping around between knives all week. Buck 113 if I can find one in decent steel. Benchmade Hidden Canyon was next to come into view, followed by a couple of Bark River knives. The Mini Fox River I think is what I looked at most.

I have smallish hands and primarily need a knife for processing chickens, ducks and sheep on my property for personal consumption. That's why I've been looking around the 2.75"ish mark.
I find the Schrade a little long, I can't get my index finger to the tip and don't like to use it for gutting the sheep due to the aggressive tip.
I do like the jimping on the Benchmade tip.
Keep in mind this is all new to me also! I've only processed 3 goats, 3 sheep and a half dozen or so chickens so far. Oh and a few hares buy the skin on them seemed to fall off with no knife work.

Long story long...haha. I'm looking for something made out of better steel than what I have, fixed blade, probably under 3" that will hold an edge but still suitable for a beginner sharpener. (Considering getting a Sharpmaker or some better stones)

Purchase will have to be made online without getting to hold the knife unfortunately as I live in South Australia and shops are few and far between.

Thanks to whoever got this far through my post!

Benen
 
You didn't mention your budget but based on what you've described, I would suggest looking at a Bradford Guardian 3.
 
Thanks very much for the quick response! I'll check it out. Budget I'm not sure on. I don't want something I will be too precious with, it's there to get used a lot. I also don't want to be paying purely foe aesthetics.
 
Is the Shcrade a modern Chinese made one ?
Either way Shcrade never used 440c as far as I know, and would hold an edge pretty well if it was 440c.
Buck's 420hc is a great steel with decent edge holding, so I'd suggest buying a buck paklite caping knife ( around 20$ ) and see if you like the steel. If not then you can look for something else. If you don't like the steel well it was only 20$, but if you do then you've got a great knife that you don't have to worry about because it was only 20$ ( available in a blaze orange coating too, so you won't lose it )
 
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The m390 version is typically around $160. Also, they list the blade as 3.5" but with the choil, it's more like a 3" blade.
 
I too was in search of a fixed blade at one point when my folders just didn't cut it or I wanted something new in my rotation. So I went with the Guardian3 and it's been on my person for the past 2 weeks at work. 160 bucks for 3" of cutting edge as M390 steel is a steal my friend. The only complaint I have about the knife is something it feels a bit small depending on the Grip our using. You've really gotta choke up on the knife in order to have some nice real estate. Other than man..it's a wonderful fixed blade EDC choice. Not to mention it comes with a horizontal carry sheath so he can't even tell it's on you if you carry at about 5 o'clock.

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I really like the horizontal sheathed. I noticed the Benchmade also comes with one which was a real draw card for me.
Not sure how old the Schrade is, Chinese stamp though.
 
3" may be a tad long for me? I'm not sure. I'll measure what length I'd like more precisely on another knife.
 
Sounds like you need a hunters scalpel, or 4, from A.G. Russel. Brilliant little working knives. Good steel, without being difficult to sharpen. Cuts like a laser and at a whopping $20 each you won't mind using them.

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The cold steel Pendleton mini hunter is also worth a look:

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And then there's Arno Bernard if you want to get spendy:

Arno-Bernard-jackal-wild-olive-satin-BHQ-51354-er.jpg
 
Im not trying to knock TLE's suggestion( he is knife knowledge will probably do circles around me) but if I'm going to use a knife a lot I'd want a better steel than just a 20 dollar knife? If you use your knife everyday but always have to sharpen everyday, in not sure you'll get much enjoyment out of that? But hey that's just me.

I have to admit I have no idea what his other suggestion come with so take what you want from the replies.
 
Aquaholicc said:
Im not trying to knock TLE's suggestion( he is knife knowledge will probably do circles around me) but if I'm going to use a knife a lot I'd want a better steel than just a 20 dollar knife? If you use your knife everyday but always have to sharpen everyday, in not sure you'll get much enjoyment out of that? But hey that's just me.

I have to admit I have no idea what his other suggestion come with so take what you want from the replies.
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If it had to be sharpened everyday TLE wouldn't recommend it.
BTW just because a knife is expensive doesn't mean it's better, and just because a knife is only 20$ doesn't mean it's not a good knife.
He doesn't want to pay for looks and just wants a decent working knife, so an inexpensive high value blade with decent steel like this at Russel is said to be sounds perfect.
 
Hickory n steel said:
If it had to be sharpened everyday TLE wouldn't recommend it.
BTW just because a knife is expensive doesn't mean it's better, and just because a knife is only 20$ doesn't mean it's not a good knife.
He doesn't want to pay for looks and just wants a decent working knife, so an inexpensive high value blade with decent steel like this at Russel is said to be sounds perfect.
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Oh okay cool, I just know I could tell when I went from a Gerber Aus8 to a s30v BM or a M390 PM2 etc.
But hey, whatever floats the boat
 
Wow, such an active forum! I'm not used to that haha. It's excellent to get so many quick ideas. I'd never heard of Bradford before today. Why m390 over the 3v?
 
Aquaholicc said:
Oh okay cool, I just know I could tell when I went from a Gerber Aus8 to a s30v BM or a M390 PM2 etc.
But hey, whatever floats the boat
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My knives are all under 50$ with non super steels and my boat has never even entertained the idea of sinking, so I'd say it definitely depends on the person and what factors they value in a knife.
 
Actually, found an m390 version. It's $210AUD shipped though. I guess it's extra for the steel upgrade compared to the s30v of the BM hidden canyon.
I do really like the extra belly on the BM. Or I guess that is due to the shorter blade.
 
Benen said:
All of the Guardians seen to be n690 here...
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You have to keep looking further down the pages on Bradford Knives website.
Benen said:
Wow, such an active forum! I'm not used to that haha. It's excellent to get so many quick ideas. I'd never heard of Bradford before today. Why m390 over the 3v?
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Here is a cool little article that I use to just get a brief synopsis of a steel I hope this helps man! I sorta just touches on the pros and cons of each steel in relation to one another as well. It's not super in depth but this would definitely give you an idea on how you could expect different steels to perform for you.
http://knifeinformer.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/
 
Thanks so much Aquaholic, I'm reading it now.
I can see the m390 on the Bradford site. Just not on any Australian seller sites except for one.
 
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