Fixed blade for backpacking/ camping? <$300

J

JDX

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I have a mora bushcraft black, I used to own a DPX HEFT 4 but sold it. I was wondering what blade would be good paired up with the mora, I have a small gransfors bruk axe, so I don't need something like a kabar becker bk2 for batonning. I just don't like not having a full tang knife on me. And I'm not interested in the new mora. Not really familiar with fixed blades as I tend to stick with folders, but I want a good fixed blade.

Some things I would like are:
-90 degree angle spins
-micarta or wood scales
-no black coating
-drop point or robust, stout clip point
-quality sheathe


Any feedback would be great
 
Since you mention backpacking, I'll assume your weight conscious also.

Check out the Ontario SK5 or Anglesey Rival.
 
My preferred source of fixed blades has always been our own knife makers' market here on the forums. Both the variety and quality of knives advertised there are excellent, and from what I have experienced they are often excellent value for money. You will also see knives in steels which are less often used by mass producers. I am pretty sure you'll find something that suits you.

I have bought well over 20 fixed blades from our makers. In every case I have received exactly what I was expecting and in the vast majority of cases the quality has been awesome.

A word of advice if you do go that route; don't limit yourself by only considering the US made stuff. There is some very cool stuff coming out of countries including Croatia, Slovakia and Italy.
 
If you don't mind the wait, typically 2 to 4 months, I suggest you talk to a few makers and have a custom made. :thumbup: Go over all the details and you will end up with exactly (or close) what you want and it will be your own design. :cool:
 
You have a small utility knife, in truth there are plenty on offer to cater for this market. I like what Survive Knives are doing. The two considerations here are exactly what length and what stock thickness/how robust to go for. Really is your call.
You have a good axe. Presume its a small forest axe.
A Silky Saw compliments both axe and knives, so that might be something to get.

If you are looking for something in between knife and axe then I am a fan, and being encouraging, the Skrama. Plenty info out there now on y tube and write ups. Its a pretty useful and original tool. Nothing quite like it. Best bit its not very expensive. When back in stock just get one, and while doing so you might like a puukko from the same stable.

Thing is we are so spoilt for choice. Go to a knife show and see the custom ones on offer. Always an education and there just might be something to take your fancy. Any knife is a leap of faith that its been made correctly. The vast majority hae been made very well. Have to make the jump sometime... best if you like it... and only you will know that.

Lastly, you pack it, you carry it; so go for a lighter build if at all possible.
 
My fixed-blade use revolves around makers on this forum........you just can't go wrong.

Chris Larrikin said:
My preferred source of fixed blades has always been our own knife makers' market here on the forums. Both the variety and quality of knives advertised there are excellent, and from what I have experienced they are often excellent value for money. You will also see knives in steels which are less often used by mass producers. I am pretty sure you'll find something that suits you.

I have bought well over 20 fixed blades from our makers. In every case I have received exactly what I was expecting and in the vast majority of cases the quality has been awesome.

A word of advice if you do go that route; don't limit yourself by only considering the US made stuff. There is some very cool stuff coming out of countries including Croatia, Slovakia and Italy.
Click to expand...
 
So you're looking for something between a Mora, and a small forest axe, to complete a three blade setup? The small knife role seems pretty well taken care of by the Mora, and with an axe you don't really need a knife for chopping/batoning (I'd think?). What type of use will this knife see? What size of knife are you looking for?

Depending on where/how you backpack, I'd probably (personally of course), think about substituting a folding saw for the axe, and then making this second knife a mid sized knife that could split wood if needed. It would save some weight, and space in the pack. Thats really your decision though.

As a guy who is more into fixed blades than folders, here are some random thoughts for you.

Looking at your requirements, there are quite a few Bark River knives that fit your criteria and price point. They tend to be in A2 and CPM3v. They come with leather sheathes. Then seem to cost ~$180-250 or so from what I can remember, depending on the model.

Survive knives is another company that produces pretty much exactly what you're looking for. They can be harder to find (they seem to be limited in their production numbers atm), but there are usually some on the secondary market.

If you're open to some modifications, you can easily get what you're looking for from many manufacturers.

ESEE and Becker are among the more commonly recommended "outdoors/camp knife" brands. They meet lots of your criteria, but miss on the coating portion. The upside, is you can easily strip off the coating (paint stripper works to get it all off). And because the handle scales are just bolted on, you can change them for anything you'd like. ESEE comes with Micarta, Becker comes with Grivory/zytel. The only other thing you'd "have" to do, is put the 90 degree spine on the knife, and maybe buy a custom sheath (depending on what you find nice/good). And, you'd likely be between $100-200 if you went this direction.

There really are many good manufacturers here in the forums. And at your price point, you can easily afford anything you want, and get the knife just how you want it. At lower price points its a bit less feasible, but for your price its totally doable, and might even be the best choice. I've not actually purchased one from there. But I think that personally, once I start looking at fixed blades > $120-160 ish dollars, I'd rather just get exactly what I want, and would work with one of the builders here. Just my two cents though.

Good luck on the search :).
 
Hard to beat the Fallkniven SK-1 Jarl, laminated 3G steel, birch handle. Extremely well made knife by Hattori of Japan, and retails right at 300$. Comes with a quality sheath. This has been my backpacking knife for many years.

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Fiddleback Forge Hiking Buddy from their mid-tech line. It has CPM S35VN Stainless and canvas micarta for under $200 with sheath. Or go a little larger with their Kephart or Duke models which are still in your price range.

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Go to the custom maker fixed blade portion on this forum. You will find some awesome options.
 
I agree! Go to the knifemaker's for sale area, go to fixed blades. There are tons!!

Also, I just got my Bradford Guardian 6 in the mail a few minutes ago. Has a great ergo Micarta handle! I can't say how much abuse it can take yet, but I am going to see how it handles different tasks tonight. From what others have said, they are great knives. We will see.
 
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Go to the knife-maker's for sale area and find something you like there.

Or even better yet, place an order with JK knives (from here on the forums) for one of his offerings.
 
Fallkniven nl4 , survive gso5 , barkriver bravo 1.5, all around the size I think you would be looking for. I'm suggesting these because I own them and trust them but there are so many options out there good luck !
 
I'd like to contribute here because I've spent the last month or so researching and eventually testing knives for this exact purpose. I actually reached a point where I needed to feel and use the knives so I purchased several and settled on a couple that I will keep for extended testing and real-world use -- one stainless steel and ones high carbon steel. I will sell the others that didn't make the cut.

Hinderer Fieldtac 5.5
This doesn't meet your < $300 requirement but it landed at the top of my list for a couple reasons. The 5.5" blade length is the sweet spot in my opinion for this application. Also, I live in the rocky mountains in Colorado at almost 10,000' in elevation so most of the year when I go out backcountry skiing, camping, or snowshoeing there is lots of snow. The snow gets into every little opening and crevice of your gear. It's everywhere. For this reason, I wanted a stainless steel knife because it is inevitable that it will be exposed to water via the snow in these conditions.

The runner-up in the stainless steel category is the ESEE4-SS (440C) because I want at least a 5" blade when I go into the backcountry. ESEE does not make a stainless steel version of the ESEE5 or ESEE6. If a 4.5" blade would be sufficient for you the ESEE4-SS might be an option and it meets most (if not all) of your requirements.

Both the Fieldtac 5.5 and the ESEE-4 have excellent sheath options -- I like the Kydex sheaths with molle compatible backing for both knives.

ESEE-6
I actually bought several ESEE fixed blades during this testing -- ESEE3, ESEE4, ESEE5, ESEE6. They're all excellent knives but for this specific purpose the ESEE-6 is the winner for the high carbon steel category. I wanted it to be the ESEE-5 because it hits that sweet spot 5.5" blade length and it has a scandi grind but the ESEE-5 blade is so thick that it comes in at about 60% heaver than the larger ESEE-6 and for that reason the ESEE 6 becomes the winner. I'll use this when I'm not in a snowy/wet environment. It does have a black coating but it's definitely within the price range. I've seen videos of people stripping the coating but you are dealing with a non-stainless steel so doing so would require additional care to avoid corrosion. Like all ESEE fixed blade knives, the Kydex sheath and optional molle compatible backing make for excellent sheath options.

The runner-up here is the Zero Tolerance 0180 Fieldtac (Vanadis 4 High Carbon), again, because I want at least a 5" blade in the backcountry. Again, if a 4.5" blade would be sufficient I would highly recommend this knife and it satisfies many of your requirements.

Conclusion
I also tested a TOPS B.O.B. Fieldcraft and a TOPS Brakimo in the high carbon steel category. I also think these knives are terrific but they're definitely more bushcraft knives so they just didn't have that feel of a camp/backpacking knife that I was looking for. I'm planning to keep both for more extended testing but they weren't what I was looking in this particular scenario.

I decided to narrow it down to a stainless steel and a high carbon steel knife and then continue with actual real-world use. Once I do so I might be able to verify my assumptions or I might find that my assumptions were way off. You can only learn so much until you actually start using a knife. I feel like I've done as much as I can so that I am at that point. As I start to use these knives in the backcountry I'll learn a lot more and I'll likely come back here to share my findings.
 
Got to test the blade out a little last night.

OK spent an hour beating on my Bradford Guardian 6. We had a big winter storm here and have tons of fallen trees. It is 20 degrees out right now, so first thing, I stabbed the tip into 3+inches of solid ice, breaking up drinking water for to outside animals. Then I chopped about 30 bamboo trees down and sectioned them off into thirds. Half were very hard and dry, the others were half dead from falling from the storm. After that I chopped some aged wood, quite hard. After all that, I could cut through paper, but it was on the verge of not cutting.

It does have a fine tip and is a good thickness behind the edge, not too thick, not too thin. Handled all that chopping and stabbing really well!!! I am definitely keeping it.
On a side not, it is CPM 3V, so it is not stainless, but does have good corrosion resistance for a carbon steel.
 
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