Fixed blade opinion

C

CauseforAlarm

Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
37
How's the Benchmade Nimravus and BK-7 stack up compared to the Swamp Rat and Chris Reeve mid sized knives, with the Shadow series being the interest in CR? Digging and prying are not of interest, I have other tools for those tasks. I would like a strong, sharp knife of solid build and with good cutting, slicing, and chopping abilities for its price. I have no way to handle any of the knives I am interested in, but I'd like to hear what you guys think of them. I recently purchased a BM 732 to replace my broken tipped EDC, and its easily my favorite, with only a CRKT and the broken S&W being close. From what I've read on search, the Nimravus is an impressive cutter, but the BK-7 has an impressive reputation for its price. Thanks for any help.
 
The BK7 would compare with a Camp Tramp from swamp rat. These are very large blades. If you are not in need of prying or digging or really hard use, I think these blades might be overkill. The only knife that I can really speak on is the Tramp. Not a great cutter out of the box. I use this blade to do heavy rough work and it is great for it. If you want something that has more finese, look elsewhere.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums! You're not going to go wrong with this decision :)

I personally think the CRK knives are the best of them, but given my experience with Swamp Rat and Becker, I would rate them very highly, too, especially for the money. If you are looking for a bit more finesse rather than brute force, the Nimravus is a classic. By the way, compare the blade with your BM 732 -- they're both designed by Elishewitz, and the Nimravus is almost a fixed blade Ares.

I like the round CRK handle. Some people do not. Some have slipped a section of inner tube over it to soften the feel. The Swamp Rat resiprene handle is incredibly comfortable, shock-absorbing, and damage-resistant. All the Becker handles are alike: great grip for my big hand, too big for most small hands, comfortable but hard. The Nimravus has a very comfortable, shaped grip.
 
You need to consider the weight and size of the blade as it compares to your needs.

http://www.equipped.com has a lot of good advice regarding blade size, shape, and features for "survival knives":

If interested, start at http://www.equipped.com/devices5.htm and read from there.

I have the Becker Crewman BK10 and like it a lot. Very solid 5.5" blade, but still a good slicer. I especially like the handle - very comfortable. The sheath is OK. There are real advantages to a cloth sheath. The Kydex sheaths are prone to breaking/shattering in very cold weather. Leather sheaths can be heck to dry out when they get wet, which isn't a good thing for carbon blades.

As others have said, you can't beat the price too. $50 for the Crewman from knifecenter.com -- $130 for the Camp Tramp on swamprat.com. Of course the 7" Becker BK7 is only $57 - if you want to carry that big a knife.
 
Among you choices Swamp Rat Camptramp is easily best chopper ( it is most blade heavy) and toughest with differntial temper blade, this much is not really disputable. Only knfe you mentione in this size class is Becker and it is much more neutral balanced, the Reeves and Nimravous are smaller then either Rat or Becker.
For slicing cutting, Reeve and Becker probably have finest angle edges and Swamp Rat have hardest edge- 60RC. Reeve is hollow grind too if you prefer that. Nimravus is smallest and is "stainless," altough all others have good coatings- I like the Reeves kalgard the best but this is subjective, longest lasting coating maybe belongs to Swamp Rat.
Martin
 
The Nimravus is much smaller than the others - a wonderful cutter, slicer and stabber, but not much of a chopper. IMHO it kicks as and takes names as a utility knife.
 
Thanks for the helpful comments, through them I've discovered that Elishewitz is the maker of pretty much all the BM's I'm attracted to, as my 732 decision also weighed against the 690. I'm really impressed with the quality of my 732, so I'll probably pick up a Nimravus at some point, but the low cost and durability of the Becker series is pretty enticing. All of my folders are sub 4" and my non-fishing fixed blades are of sentimental value, so I've got a decent void to fill. Sometime's the limitations of the checkbook do serve a purpose.
 
:) Might want to look at the Ontario RAT 7 or TAK in D2 steel. I have one of each, like both of them.
 
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