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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Fixed blade decisions needed.
- Thread starter cgreenaliens
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2005
- Messages
- 755
I really like small fixed blade knives for their simplicity and the fact that I can purchase a quality knife at a lower price when compared to a folding knife. I missed if you stated your budget.
I work in an office environment and have no problem carrying and using small fixed blades. For $50 for can purchase an ESEE Candiru or Becker Necker; $70 gets you an Izula. Then at $100+ you can get a Swamp Rat Rodent 3 or even some of the small custom fixed blades found in the exchange. I have one for Drew at DCL and one from Damon at Alfa Knife.
Let us know what you decide.
I work in an office environment and have no problem carrying and using small fixed blades. For $50 for can purchase an ESEE Candiru or Becker Necker; $70 gets you an Izula. Then at $100+ you can get a Swamp Rat Rodent 3 or even some of the small custom fixed blades found in the exchange. I have one for Drew at DCL and one from Damon at Alfa Knife.
Let us know what you decide.
I'm convinced that Arno Bernard makes the finest fixed blade in the world. Everything is hand crafted. Exotic scaling. Lifetime guarantee. N690 steel containing cobalt vanadium. Edge retention is top of the line, superb. Can be edged to shave your girlfriends legs several times before honing again. Feather light compared to most bulky over-done fixed blades. Tapered tang. They are works of art. Spend your money once. I'm not a salesman. I don't have anything to gain from this advice. The advice comes from experience. Nothing more. I'm not typing this just because I own a few neither. I type it because its true. For the money, there is no better fixed blade. You can spend more but I'm convinced that you won't get a better , more exotic, beautiful, light, hand crafted, cryogenically treated, razor edged blade.
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- Joined
- Nov 20, 2005
- Messages
- 19,385
I suspect you aren't going to carry it "downtown" and it will be used when you are out and about hiking, perhaps camping or hunting. But essentially field use. First of all, the 5.5" limit in Texas applies is an non-hunting or field limit. So, if you want something bigger, I think you could do it. But.... after buying lots of knives, I find the 4-5" blade length the most handy for general purposes. You aren't likely to be chopping limbs off a tree with it, but it will work for most other tasks and even some light batonning if that is something you might do or try to do. My recommendations are all knives that I own and have used.
My first recommendation is the most expensive: Bob Dozier Custom Pro Guides Knife (5" blade). It is a new favorite of mine since I got it in December/January. I even carry it on my belt occasionally with jeans shopping (Walmart and so forth) and nobody notices it. Been carrying it in the woods on my hikes, but I have not used it for skinning/field dressing game as of yet. For this I lean a little smaller, but for "one knife", I could handle it for those chores quite easily. These are commonly available from AG Russell who sells a number of Dozier's customs and appears to have standing orders all the time from them. I suspect he is Bob Dozier's biggest customer.
Next recommendation: Fallkniven F1. Great knife. I prefer the ones with a non-plastic or rubber like handle, hence micarta which tend to be more expensive. At one time this, was my most expensive fixed blade purchased in the last 5 years. Nearly custom knife quality and a great general purpose knife. You will have to get used to sharpening it properly if you are used to flat ground knives common on folders.
Something much less expensive is the Kabar Becker BK-16 or BK-17 or the ESEE 4. I prefer the Beckers, but that's me. Both companies have very supportive customers who use their knives and frequently have more than a couple. I do.
If you like SOGs stuff, the Seal Pup Elite or Northwest Ranger. These are priced about the same as the Beckers and ESEE's. I started with these about 10 years ago for a general purpose fixed blade, but have gravitated to different knives. Never cared for the Seal Pup Elite plastic handle and I always think the rubber like (grippy) handle might wear out more easily than other materals.
There are quite a few Bark River knife models that would work and they are all generally quite good. You tend to have a lot of handle choices which is nice. If you like the classic look of a Randall knife, the Blackjack Classics might work for you. I like the model 125 the best. But there are other options in their lineup. These are made by Bark River for Blackjack.
My first recommendation is the most expensive: Bob Dozier Custom Pro Guides Knife (5" blade). It is a new favorite of mine since I got it in December/January. I even carry it on my belt occasionally with jeans shopping (Walmart and so forth) and nobody notices it. Been carrying it in the woods on my hikes, but I have not used it for skinning/field dressing game as of yet. For this I lean a little smaller, but for "one knife", I could handle it for those chores quite easily. These are commonly available from AG Russell who sells a number of Dozier's customs and appears to have standing orders all the time from them. I suspect he is Bob Dozier's biggest customer.
Next recommendation: Fallkniven F1. Great knife. I prefer the ones with a non-plastic or rubber like handle, hence micarta which tend to be more expensive. At one time this, was my most expensive fixed blade purchased in the last 5 years. Nearly custom knife quality and a great general purpose knife. You will have to get used to sharpening it properly if you are used to flat ground knives common on folders.
Something much less expensive is the Kabar Becker BK-16 or BK-17 or the ESEE 4. I prefer the Beckers, but that's me. Both companies have very supportive customers who use their knives and frequently have more than a couple. I do.
If you like SOGs stuff, the Seal Pup Elite or Northwest Ranger. These are priced about the same as the Beckers and ESEE's. I started with these about 10 years ago for a general purpose fixed blade, but have gravitated to different knives. Never cared for the Seal Pup Elite plastic handle and I always think the rubber like (grippy) handle might wear out more easily than other materals.
There are quite a few Bark River knife models that would work and they are all generally quite good. You tend to have a lot of handle choices which is nice. If you like the classic look of a Randall knife, the Blackjack Classics might work for you. I like the model 125 the best. But there are other options in their lineup. These are made by Bark River for Blackjack.
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- Joined
- Feb 17, 2013
- Messages
- 6,172
I live in rural Texas but go to "town" (Austin/etc, Killeen, Belton/Temple) 3-5 x /week and I open-carry paired fixed blades everyday. My town carry knives are all "Texas legal" and I primarily carry Kabars/Beckers/Westerns. As Western has been out of business for years, they all come off fleabay. The only questions by LEOs have been "Why 2?" or "What are they?", usually after asking "Why 2?" Transplants from knife unfriendly locations who make comments about them are either politely advised of Texas law or politely told to go back home (when they bring up a BS comment on the order of "Well, back in XXXXX,....." pick your place where the non-knife-friendly person came from).
My choices/recommendations that are legal for in town carry for Texas city carry are: (except Corpus Christi, which bans the carrying/use of ANY fixed blade in public, technically including plastic picnic knives and Dallas County-owned/controlled buildings (4 inch limit), Houston city-owned/controlled property - any knife):::
Kabar Traditional Stacked leather hunters: all under 5"
1226
1232
1233
Kabar 3/4 sized "shorties" - all 5.25"
1250 through 1259
Kabar USN Mk1 reproductions:
2221, 2222, 2225, 2226 - 5.125"
any "shorty" - 12
Becker neckers/tweeners
11/13/14/15/16/17/24 - 5.5" for the 15, 4.325" for 16/17, under 3.5" for all neckers
Westerns (without respect to handle material letters- L/H/W/2/5/6)
28/40/48A/48B/46-5/71 - all under 5"
All of theKabars/Beckers and most of the Westerns can be found for well under $100 (the 46-5 and 71 will sometimes push or exceed that amount).
Depends on the state and/or city. With the exceptions noted above, in Texas, no one gets wrapped around an axle over fixed blades. A Sgt. w/ the Leander PD (just north of Austin) told me they use a $1 bill (~6 inches) to measure knife blades. If the blade is shorter than a greenback, they don't really care, unless you were stopped for being an idiot/criminal/dumb-a@@.