General outdoors knife

[AreBeeBee]

Also consider the Condor Kephart. Within your price range, has an excellent all-purpose blade (except you may want to remove the black paint), and a comfortable handle.

 

[353]

I'd stay away from the Buck 119 as a woods knife. Its one of the more hunting specialized fixed blades, and has a hollow grind (less metal behind the edge to make it thinner and cut meat better). That leads it to being a bit less durable for that type of work.

+10....

 

[22-rimfire]

My answer to that question was the Kabar Becker BK-15 which has been discontinued. I really like this knife for general purposes and it's light. My next choice would be the Becker BK-16. It's a really good comfortable knife, but I believe it runs a bit over your price point now.

I am in the process of "upgrading" the BK-15 with probably a Bark River knife of essentially the same design; just a lot more expensive. Just haven't decided yet.

In the sub-$50 area, I have been pleased with the Condor Bushlore, but you can choose any model you like as they run in the $50 area generally. Been really happy with the little Mini-Bushlore, but I believe it would be too small for what you want. The Condor Kephart is a nice knife, but it feels more like a steak knife to me. If you buy one, get it from 42 Blades and have him thin the edge down. Then it will cut really well.

The new Swamp Romper by Condor might be a really good choice. I haven't handled one yet, but will probably buy it when I see it in a store. It might in fact be an excellent choice if you blade length suits you. The Condor Two Rivers knife is another that is pretty nice and sized about like the BK-16 (drop point). It is in 420HC stainless. I like it too.

 

[353]

For the longest time I tried to find the "one knife does it all" outdoors knife. I REALLY tried. But for now I've come to the conclusion that I'm best off with two knives and a handsaw. One small knife on my belt(BRKT UL Bushcrafter), big knife for batoning/chopping(Fallkniven A1) in my pack and a Silky Gomboy 21 folding handsaw which also goes in my pack.

Off course you CAN make it with just one medium sized knife or one large knife but I just prefer my 3 tool setup for overall handiness and coverage.

 

[Eagle Scout]

The new Swamp Romper by Condor might be a really good choice. I haven't handled one yet, but will probably buy it when I see it in a store. It might in fact be an excellent choice if you blade length suits you. The Condor Two Rivers knife is another that is pretty nice and sized about like the BK-16 (drop point). It is in 420HC stainless. I like it too.

I was able to pick up a Swamp Romper earier this year. It's another really nice all around knife for the money. The sheath is excellent.

The only thing with that knife is the blade thickness, meaning it's thin. A great slicer, but nowhere near as stout as some of the other fixed blades mentioned to this point.

 

[mec003]

I can't begin to express how impressed I was with the mora companion when I first got one. I thought that it was surely a piece of over hyped cheap junk. I could not have been more wrong. It is one of my absolute favorites for bumming around the woods and for short hikes. It's light, sharp, inexpensive to replace, and I'm still amazed that I haven't broken one yet. The companion might be a bit on the short side, but the new kansbol looks promising.
That said, I still prefer my becker 16 over most anything g else. That knife is fearless for its size. I don't baton much, but I have used my 16 for that purpose. It's just a solid knife for times when you don't feel like lugging around too much steel (if there is such a thing).

 

[Spey]

For the longest time I tried to find the "one knife does it all" outdoors knife. I REALLY tried. But for now I've come to the conclusion that I'm best off with two knives and a handsaw. One small knife on my belt(BRKT UL Bushcrafter), big knife for batoning/chopping(Fallkniven A1) in my pack and a Silky Gomboy 21 folding handsaw which also goes in my pack.

Off course you CAN make it with just one medium sized knife or one large knife but I just prefer my 3 tool setup for overall handiness and coverage.

353,
I am there with ya bud.
OR
One knife, one hawk, one saw.
My What-a-saw lives stored vertically on the side of my pack in the Molle loops. Slides right into the loops like someone thought about in the design phase ... :-o

Regards,

 

[22-rimfire]

I was able to pick up a Swamp Romper earier this year. It's another really nice all around knife for the money. The sheath is excellent.

The only thing with that knife is the blade thickness, meaning it's thin. A great slicer, but nowhere near as stout as some of the other fixed blades mentioned to this point.

Thin generally makes for a good cutter. I would guess that the steel is the same thickness as the Two Rivers skinner that I have and it should work just as well as the BK-16. Condor tends to use the similar steel thicknesses for similar sized knives. But I have not handled on yet. I would call the Condor Kephart a little on the thin side.

When the Bushlore first came out, it was in 1/4" blade stock and quite a beast. They thinned it down to something I felt was more practical for the kind of use it was intended for.

Added: The Swamp Romper is listed as 3mm 1075 steel. The Two Rivers knife is 3.5mm. No mention of the steel thickness of the Kephart or Bushlore models. Guessing that the Swamp Romper is the same steel thickness as the Kephart. Just need to hold one to find out. So, maybe the Two Rivers skinner at 4.5" is a better general purpose blade. Just thinking out loud. (Stuck this in the first posting and chopped it back out and placed it here.)

 

[62tc]

I'm prettyyyyy sure I'm leaning towards the bushlore. I do worry about some reviews I've read about it not being super sharp out of the box (some say theirs are, some have to sharpen immediately). I have no clue about sharpening and wouldn't want to worry about it right away..... makes me think of maybe trying the Mora, but it looks so much less robust. Tough decisions.....

 

[ocnLogan]

I'm prettyyyyy sure I'm leaning towards the bushlore. I do worry about some reviews I've read about it not being super sharp out of the box (some say theirs are, some have to sharpen immediately). I have no clue about sharpening and wouldn't want to worry about it right away..... makes me think of maybe trying the Mora, but it looks so much less robust. Tough decisions.....

The bushlore that I had, was not condors best work. The grind was slightly flubbed up by the handle, and took a while to get truely sharp. However, it wasn't awful, and it had a workable edge on it. Just took a while to get it to where it should have been. This was ... almost 4 years ago though. I hear that Condors quality control has gotten much better since then, and if its not perfect, I think they'd replace it/fix it for you. For what its worth, I think the Bushlore is around 1/8in thick. So its plenty beefy, especially with the scandivex grind it has (which leaves the blade stock at almost its normal thickness for most of the blade).

My Mora was ground much better, and was much sharper out of the box for sure. They're strong, but not as strong as the other knives mentioned in this thread. They do make the "robust" or "HD" version though, which is a good bit stronger. There is also the Garberg, which is a full tang Mora (it is more expensive though).

Since the Bushlore was gifted away, I don't have it handy to take any photos of. But here are a few of the photos I saved after imageshack started charging, from the comparison review I did between the Kabar MK1, Bushlore, and BK17 (very similar to the BK16).

 

[Boozoo Chavis]

Hard to beat a Mora Campanion for quality, price and durability.

 

[62tc]

Are there any pull through sharpeners that work on scandi grinds? Is that blasphemy?

@ocnlogan, thanks for making my decision harder! those were great pics

 

[ocnLogan]

Are there any pull through sharpeners that work on scandi grinds? Is that blasphemy?

@ocnlogan, thanks for making my decision harder! those were great pics

I don't know of any pull through sharpeners that work on Scandi grinds. That said, most people have very low opinions of pull through sharpeners, so maybe thats for the best. Scandi grinds are actually very, very easy to sharpen by hand. The part about sharpening that is hard for most people is finding the tiny final grind/bevel (the shiny bit on the edge), and keeping that flat against the stones. On a scandi ground knife, that bevel, is literally a full 1/4in - 1cm wide. Its really, really easy to lay that flat on a stone, and keep that angle correct (because if you press on it, the knife will just stay in that position, kind of like a kickstand on a bike).

And, I respect your comment about not being good at sharpening, but personally my take on it is that its just about practice. Its worth it to me personally to just spend the time to practice up a bit, and get ok at it. I took likely a month or two of sharpening almost every knife I could find (kitchen knives, friends knives, etc), before I got "decent" at it. I'm no expert, but getting a knife to shave is kind of what I expect after I've sharpened, rather than a milestone. And I'm not particularly fast learning, or talented. Just took some practice.

Here is my original comparison review I mentioned. A lot of the photos got lost when imageshack started charging, but the text is still valid.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-review-(photo-heavy)?p=10723542#post10723542

The short version, is that for your original budget of $50, I do quite like the Bushlore. If you're willing to stretch a bit further, there are more options. And of those, I do really like my BK16.

And sorry I keep causing you problems . Good luck sorting through the information.

 

[Spey]

With consideration of some of the discussion on Condor Bushlor, thought I'd answer a few Q's asked.

My micarta Bushlor measures 0.1042" ( ~2.65mm ) at the spine. SA2 written on the belt-loop (assume ...? this is a second gen version - after they corrected some of the really horrid grinds of the first gen's).

From the factory, it did not come with what I would call a Scandi (it had a secondary bevel to the cutting edge).

Sharpness ... it did not possess that quality :-/

I was lucky in that the primary grinds were not that bad (fairly even, and equal back to the ricasso). I was lucky enough to find one local to inspect b4 acquiring it.

I removed the secondary bevels, true Scandi grind to the cutting edge now. Additionally, sharpened the 90° angles on the spine (throws nice sparks off a fire-steel now

I believe research I did indicated it should be 1075 steel. Nice black leather sheath (for the package price). Handle is also nice (comfortable to get some work done), but no where near as comfortable as my Spyderco Bushcraft (very comfy for me ;-)

Regards,

 

[Spey]

Hard to beat a Mora Campanion for quality, price and durability.

Have exact same knife/sheath by sister company. Agree wholeheartedly in exceptional value (emergency backup knife for me that weights almost nothing). I use this knife as a test knife against most I try. So long as I DO NOT take appearance into factor, it spanks many others.

Regards,

 

[Spey]

Are there any pull through sharpeners that work on scandi grinds? Is that blasphemy?

@ocnlogan, thanks for making my decision harder! those were great pics

Pull through sharpeners ..., put grind lines in a direction OPPOSITE of what you want when sharpening (bad).

May cut "ok" for a short period of time, but IMHO ruin the cutting edge bevels.

I suppose we all have individual levels of acceptability, however I would strongly urge you to skip these. Better to learn to use a stone, maybe a coffee cup (ceramic), a oven cooking stone, or a tool designed for knife sharpening.

If you are determined to use a pull-thru, that's ok. Just do it, they are your knives to do as you want. In time, all lessons first hand learned are better than those told by others ;-)

Regards,

 

[AmericanKraut]

I like my mora's and ESEE, but I think the Buck Selkirk deserves more attention than it gets. It is in your price range and flat ground unlike most bucks. Although it is made in China, and that puts some people off. It comes with an ok sheath, and a ferro rod / whistle combo attached. This accompanied with a hatchet and folding saw works well on camping trips for me.

Almost forgot, one reason I sometimes like to carry this over a mora, is that the pommel is more useful for pounding if I don't take my hatchet...

 

[62tc]

Pull through sharpeners ..., put grind lines in a direction OPPOSITE of what you want when sharpening (bad).

May cut "ok" for a short period of time, but IMHO ruin the cutting edge bevels.

I suppose we all have individual levels of acceptability, however I would strongly urge you to skip these. Better to learn to use a stone, maybe a coffee cup (ceramic), a oven cooking stone, or a tool designed for knife sharpening.

If you are determined to use a pull-thru, that's ok. Just do it, they are your knives to do as you want. In time, all lessons first hand learned are better than those told by others ;-)

Regards,

Thanks! So maybe I should be thinking about a sharpening stone and knife under $50 then.

Does anybody have an opinion on the Ka-bar magnum camp knife?

 

[ocnLogan]

Thanks! So maybe I should be thinking about a sharpening stone and knife under $50 then.

Does anybody have an opinion on the Ka-bar magnum camp knife?

Do you mean the Becker BK5?

Its a good knife (Just like all Becker knives), but altogether different than what you've been looking at so far (8in blade. Its a much larger than those discussed earlier). Also, I've not seen them being sold for under $50 anywhere. They tend to hover in the ~$55-60 range from what I've seen.

Another option in terms of sharpening gear, is to get a wet dry sandpaper variety pack from your local auto parts store for a few dollars, and learn on that. I've been sharpening with sandpaper like this since I joined, and I believe I've had to buy... maybe two packs so far? It lasts fairly well (given, I don't sharpen all that often), and is a good option if you're short on cash.

 

[Angus McGunnigle]

Gerber Fixed Gator is a good knife for 40 bucks...made in US.
Gerber Strongarm is ten bucks more.......made in US

Or..as others have said....a Mora and a saw or hatchet....you can get good stuff for little $$ that will just about serve you forever it you don't outright abuse it