First 'Real' Knife

S

SI9

Joined
Apr 9, 2015
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4
Hi all!
New here, new to knives in general, always gone camping, always been around tools, for some reason never really got into anything blade related. I'm trying to pair a small knife to go with a saw/axe combo and I'd really like to find a solid knife to upgrade to from the trusty mora, but again, super new to blades.

To the point now:
I'm fine with spending money on a knife, assuming that if I take good care of it, it'll last me a long time. Main tasks would be wood whittling/carving, food prep, and just general things, nothing serious, not intending to baton wood with it.

I have a mora companion, works great, and I feel I should probably use it more before I 'graduate' to a more refined knife, but if there's a serious performance difference might switch now, not sure.

I love the look of Helle, the laminated steel is supposed to be a carbon steel core for the edge, no specific model of theirs in mind. Fallkniven F1 is nothing but positive though when I read up on it, I know it's laminated stainless too, but not sure if it has a carbon steel core like the Helle? Also, since the F1 is a convex edge, sharpening it scares me, I'm willing to be patient while sharpening and really care for the knife but I'd want to do some more research before I'd attempt anything with it. I think the Tops Silent Hero is just badass, but again I have an axe and a saw I love and I don't see a real need for anything that big, and carving would be a pain with it, not to mention price.

So I'm leaning towards a smaller blade, something known for it's edge retention, leaning towards Fallkniven F1, but any input or recommendations would be amazing! Mainly something that's a good step up from the mora companion, fixed blade, preferably carbon steel (unless like the Helle's that are laminated and supposed to still hold an edge well? I think?) Also any recommendations on places to buy from, is amazon reliable for buying knives? Or is it worth it to go through the manufacturer incase something goes wrong with the knife? Like I said, super new.

Lastly, thank you for putting up with this bumbling/all over the place post, I appreciate it a lot!
 
A great and affordable step up from the Companion is the Mora Bushcraft Black. It is one solid and attractive looking knife. Not to mention the grip feels amazing in the hand even after hard and prolonged use.

I'm a huge Mora fan and although own a bunch of Moras the no 1 is my favorite, but the Companion is my most used.

Better grip than the no 1 and much thinner and lighter than the Bushcraft. It's hard to upgrade from a Companion if all you bed is to cut knife appropriate things.

...and the F1 is my dream knife, just haven't convinced my knife to put up the cash for one
 
Take a look at Enzo knives. Excellent quality. I also like the Helle laminates (have a couple). On the other hand, you can get some good Moras for half (or less) the price of Enzo, Helle or Fallkniven. I really like the older Moras; those with laminated blades. Not a big fan of the current ones as I don't like plastic.
Rich
 
collim1 said:
A great and affordable step up from the Companion is the Mora Bushcraft Black.
Click to expand...

I have to respectfully disagree with you. If he wants a light use slicer, going thicker on a scandi is the opposite approach. The thicker the scandi the less overall useful it is for general tasks. If you want to stick with scandi for ease of sharpening don't go over 3/32" thick. There's just no point for what you want to do and the thickness will cause more wedging which will make it harder for some tasks. Cutting food for instance.

OP-I'd suggest something light and thin. I wouldn't go much over 1/8" thick. Survive GSO 3.5 is a good one. Great steel and heat treat. The handle is almost on the too thin side if that's a concern. Another good knife is the ESEE 3 if you don't mind the choil. I have a Scott Gossman UNK that's turning out great. Not a conventional design but it's handled all the bushcrafty things I've done with it so far. Truth be told though, none of these knives are going to outperform your mora for what you want to do with it. Except for edge holding which really just means you'll just sharpen more. Keep a loaded strop handy and touch it up every once and a while.


Oh and don't let convex scare you. It's easy peasy to sharpen. Not as easy as scandi but not hard either.
 
Welcome to the Forum! I'm a huge Bark River fan (BRKT), and the Gunny model is about the size of a Mora Companion. It comes in several different configurations: You can get it in A-2, 3V, Elmax, or S35VN steel, you can get it with or w/o the ramp on the spine, and you can get it with a full convex or scandi grind, and there are several dozens of handle materials and colors to choose from.

Here's one of mine: Ambonia Burl handles, A-2 steel, and convex-grind with the ramp:



Definitely worth a look! The only downside is the sheath - I don't dig the stock sheath that comes with the Gunny, so I replace them with something else (most folks who sell the BRKT knives also have a selection of sheaths).
 
The Roselli knives are hard workers and sharpen up easily. I use the Roselli "Grandfather's Knife" (Vaarinpuukko) frequently and it has never let me down. I would highly recommend the Roselli "Carpenter's Knife" (Nikkarinpuukko) if whittling and carving are your game. Both are carbon steel and can also be had in damascus and an alloy Heimo Roselli calls "UHC," or ultra high carbon.

Here's the Carpenter's Knife.

R110_Nikkarinpuukko-2_ml.jpg


Here's my Grandfather's Knife, but with an aftermarket sheath.

IMG_20141006_092538.jpg

IMG10000.jpg


Zieg
 
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First off, thanks to everyone for all the replies, you guys are amazing! I've been doing a bit more research again, and I'm leaning to the F1 or the ESEE 3. I like that with both of them I feel comfortable that I could put them though a good amount of abuse if I had to, even if I'm not intending to. ESEE 3 to my understanding seems very purpose built for slicing, which is exactly what I was looking for. However, places where I feel the F1 seems a little sturdier, and easier to maintain during the trips, just all around not being afraid of moisture if I misplace/forget oil/knife maintenance supplies. The flip side of forgetting/misplacing a small maintenance kit would be sharpening a convex vs a flat grind without a kit. That being said, would I ever be gone on a trip long enough to dull a blade where I NEED to sharpen it? Probably not. Thinking about this, I'm leaning towards an F1 since it just seems a little more durable, and I'd feel better cutting wet fruits/veggies, or cleaning a fish, etc, but I'd never leave the knife wet, I'd make sure to dry it off at the least even if I do have to neglect it in the way of oil for a day or two, so would that really hurt the 1095 as much as I'm scared it might? A new question I have now: if the F1 or ESEE 3 wouldn't significantly outclass the mora for general purpose things, would it be better looking into something like an ESEE 6 just for the sake of utility? Sorry for all the questions, and thanks again for all the opinions!!!
 
Helle knives are pretty interesting! I couldnt find out which specific steels make up the laminate but triple laminated steel has got to be very impressive! The Fallkniven F1 is laminated VG10 which is freaking outstanding. If you have the cash then I would go Falkniven all the way! I recommend the black cerakoted F1. I personally would buy the larger black cerakote A1 with the clip point but hey its all you. Out of my personal fixed blade collection my favorite smaller fixed blades are my BK17, Ka Bar Mk1 and believe it or not Seki made SOG Seal Pup. The SOG is the sharpest out of the box fixed blade I have ever bought. The Becker and the Ka Bar are perfect bushcraft/whittlers for amazingly good prices. Esee 3 is awesome as long as you get some custom scales for it. The Esee knives come with flat sided scales that get pretty uncomfortable under hard use. Custom scales abound for it thought. The Mk1 get the kraton rubber handle as the leather although perfect when new shrinks and turns dark with dirt and oil. I got the micarta scales for the BK17 that are optional from Kabar and now the knife feels so good in the hand I like just holding it to relieve stress. The handle of the SOG is pretty close to perfect as well and is also perfect for bushcraft just try and get an older plain edge Seki model.
 
Between the ESEE 3 and the F1, I'd go with the F1 - it's more comfortable in the hand (IMHO) and feels more substantial in use. Either one can be sharpened (or simply touched-up, as in the case most of the time) in the field with a small ceramic rod or flat ceramic stone. But don't worry, if you're like most of us, you'll end with both of them at some point. Hehehe...
 
Haha yeah, I'm definitely leaning more towards the F1, and you're right, I'm noticing researching all these knives is almost becoming a little too enjoyable at the moment. Last question then: For a convex edge, I know there's the sandpaper/mouse thing, and finishing with a strop, I've also seen something where someone made their own strop and put some sort of grit on it themselves (like a waxy material), and made some small ones out of paint stirring sticks for the field. But if you could give me a little push towards where to look for info on convex sharpening in your opinion it'd be appreciated. Thanks for checking back again Derek!
 
^^^ Derrick at KnivesShipFree (a BladeForum dealer-member) sells stropping kits - it comes with a wooden "paddle" (with thick leather glued on either side) and 2 or 3 different grits of compound or emulsion. They work pretty well for me (in the field, though, I still carry a small set (one flat, and one round) of good ceramic stones for touch up. Check 'em out KSF's here (I think it's Ok to post this link because it's a BF member-dealer - if I'm wrong, someone please let me know):

http://www.knivesshipfree.com/knife-sharpening-care/
 
If your main goal is better edge retention, I would recommend the CPM S90V Spyderco Phil Wilson South Fork. Or even better suited to your wishes if you have a little more patience (until they get available or you find one on the exchange) a Survive! GSO 3.5 or GSO 4.1 in CPM 20CV (or an older run on the exchange in M390).
 
Thanks Derek, I'll definitely look into it! And Jeru, I was actually liking the Survive! GSO's a lot, but everywhere I looked every single option was sold out. I wasn't sure how long it'd take before they got back into order so I kinda backed off the idea, but I'm not going to be able to go camp for at least a month/month and a half so if you'd think they'd be back in stock somewhere by then I'd say it looks like a very viable option.
 
If your in the price range of gso just go bark river in 3v with any handle or blade shape that fits your style.
 
survive knives gso 3.5 of 4.1. or if you wanna go a little smaller they are coming out with a 2.7.

EG
 
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