Getting annoying...knife I pick has something wrong!

I love my swamp rat ratmandu. dont go buying a knife to impress other people though. theres always going to be someone, somewhere, who claims your knife is junk and that theirs is the best. Use your knife, if you like the way it fits your hand and it does what you want it to do then that is the best knife for you. The knife that is best for you might be different that the best knife for me. But in my honest opinion, i dont think there is a better knife out there for the money than the Swamp Rat Ratmandu.
 
The F-1 was specifically designed for survival in an Arboreal environment (primarily softwood). It has been accepted by Swedish and U.S. military organizations as a pilot's survival knife. To point out one deliberate feature, the sharp edges of the spine strike good sparks from a ferrocerium rod ('AKA "hot spark" or "metal match"). I can't add to what has been said about its quality and the customer service that stands behind it.

Having said that, a knife of that weight and length is not a great chopping tool, although it can be batoned, including point-first (I've done it lots.) If you are, in fact, looking for something to sorta' replace an axe, something heavier and longer might be better.

Don't have a Bravo.
 
Well I also ordered an ESSE-5. I will have 3 knives to check out and hopefully one of them will be good to go.
 
Hahahah.. wow.. I really liked the part where Mike Stewart came in there pretending to be "Mr. Peabody", an old man with missing an eye and confined in a wheelchair, yet with a memory as sharp as it could be to remember every fact, like he was Mike Stewart himself... that is the lamest thing I have ever seen... that thread almost makes me want to give up my north star. Definitely won't be purchasing any Bark river knives again.


But.. again... the Busse Boss street is going to be the OPs best bet... ;)
 
kman300 said:
I live in Manitoba and it gets cold here during moose season. -40 (same in celcius or F) isn't unheard of and when it's that cold I wear lots of clothing so the knife will not be on a belt but rather in my backpack. When it's that cold and I need to chop some wood to help me butcher a moose can it do that? What will happen when I stick it into a warm moose and the knife is that cold? I need to baton the knife through the chest and also the pelvis. Can it take that?
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shit, i don't know if the knives can take that temp... i expect they can, but i don't think that *I* want to go out and play in that temp!


I will take a look at the esse-4. Looks like a no nonsense knife but the handle seems thin and the scales are attached with ellen screws?? Do these come lose at all? Are they screwed on so you can replace them easily? I don't really want scews falling out of a knife after riding a quad for a day or something.
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my ESEE 4 hasn't shown any signs of having a screw come loose... unlike the owner. if it's really concern, get some blue loctite, take it apart, apply the threadlocker and put it back together.

if you do lose a screw, they'll send you replacements for free.


I know this is somewhat offtopic but if any of you are familiar with Glock pistols there was a wonderful hard core test on them where the owner did virtually everything to try and make it fail. From freezing it to putting sand in it, not cleaning it for thousands of rounds fired, shooting it with other firearms and leaving it in saltwater. He even threw it out of an airplane and found it barried I forget how deep in a farm field. I bought a Glock after reading that and have ZERO doubts that if I need one handgun that won't break that's the one (not counting single action revolvers because my criteria was semi automatic).
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no argument, Glocks have been repeatedly tested in every extreme way you could reasonably expect to use them, and then a few not so reasonable ways. problems are rare, but stuff occasionally happens.


Thanks for helping me stay sane!
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great, at least one of us is sane! :rolleyes:
 
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i havent read all the posts but i was once in your shoes....i wasnt quite as anal about my choices...but i did TEST all the knives i bought...if you research for a month and never TESTED a knife then i think you should re-evaluate your knife choosing methods. there are tons of do-it-all knives...personally i prefer a 2 knife combo. time is money and if youre spending months researching knives then youve really spent alot of money already. not trying to sound like a ----head but i use/used a mora #2 more often than the other $4k worth of knives i own/owned. if i had the cash id snab that F1 from you!
 
tonym said:
I am so glad I don't give a crap if someone else thinks my knife is good or not. I use my knives and make my own oppinion based on their performance. Both the knives you list are very good knives, but until you do the things you say you want to do with them, you will never know...

Welcome to the forums
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Your knives are better than Tonym's and look at all the posts that guy has :D

Augest West has its right. You are putting too much emphasis on your knife and not the skills. Give an experienced woodsman any knife and he will come to figure its limitations and use the appropriate technique. If you are stressed so much about the one knife, you already have two really good ones, so carry them both. Use one as a back up, or get a cheap mora as your back-up. If you should mess up the good one, I'm not sure how you would do that, then just reach for the back-up and be a bit more careful.

There is no such thing as a best knife and most of the expense of knives goes into fit and finish issues or making them 'over built tanks' which ultimately detracts from their usefulness for 99% of the chores you want to use your knife for. Of the two, the falkniven is much more utilitarian and was designed as a survival knife. The Barky is a survival knife with a lot of style and judging from your price point, you paid a lot for fancy dancy scales. Use it an enjoy it for what its meant to do.
 
Zombie Zeke said:
Welcome to the forum.

The knives you bought are great, not good knives as evidenced by the majority of people supporting them on this thread.

Sounds to me like your letting the minority dissent shape your view of the knives you own, don't. Get out there and use them and see for yourself what they can do.

If you don't like them go to the Trade section and get involved with a whole new drug, flipping knives until you get the one you really want.

Until then support the good guys of Becker, ESEE, Fiddleback, Busse, Swamprat and the many other fine makers that make Bladeforums the best in the business.
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+1 on everything he said. Go out and start using them and find out for yourself what you need.
 
I've got a Fallkniven A1, S1, and H1. All are better knives than I could hope for.

I have numerous Bark Rivers, too. The CEO's ethics are not my responsibility as long as he isn't cheating me, and he hasn't. I have quit buying Bark Rivers, though, because I think they are way overpriced. Nice knives, and I believe quite capable, but unnecessarily expensive.

I have used both the S1 and the H1 to field dress, skin, quarter, bone, and butcher deer. Each of them has gone through a full deer process and still shaved (albeit more like scraping) hair off my arm. I've never had an issue with chipping or rolling, even with the A1, which has been used mercilessly. Fallkniven is probably my favorite brand off knife overall, although I don't like Kraton handles (which my H1 and I think A1 have). I am looking to get an F1 soon.

I have a Becker BK-2 which is an excellent knife, but I would never pick it for hunting. I have several ESEE's, of which the ESEE-4 is probably my favorite for general usability for what you have mentioned. I would be quite comfortable with an ESEE-4 as my only knife.

I've got a crap-load of knives, from Buck to Benchmade to Spyderco, most of them in the 3 to 5 inch range. When it all comes down to the nitty-gritty, about any one of them is as good as another for bushcrafty type stuff, which your description says to me (including the hunting, but that is my personal opinion). Pick what you like, and go use it. You'll be a happy man. Or is that "Kman." :) :thumbup:

Edited to add: Should have read the rest of the thread. If I was playing in -40C weather, there is only one knife I'd use: Fallkniven. Or at least something similar with an enclosed tang, but I have and trust Fallkniven's.
 
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Kman300:
The Falkniven and Bravo-1 are two of the best choices for what you want to do. A lot of people like the ESEE-5 as well, though it's a bit too thick at t hat length for most people's tastes.

Take them out and test them. You can do most of the "bushcraft" tasks right in your back yard. Take your kids, show them what you're doing.

When you pick the one you like best, it's yours. Teach your kids to use the others, and whichever each kid gravitates to, make it theirs.

There, problem solved. If you have more than 2 kids, don't worry, there's plenty more knives out there you'll find that you HAVE to have.

Also, now that we have the knife thing sorted out( :p ), since you live in Manitoba, it's time to look at axes. . .;)
 
kman300 said:
I live in Manitoba and it gets cold here during moose season. -40 (same in celcius or F) isn't unheard of and when it's that cold I wear lots of clothing so the knife will not be on a belt but rather in my backpack. When it's that cold and I need to chop some wood to help me butcher a moose can it do that? What will happen when I stick it into a warm moose and the knife is that cold? I need to baton the knife through the chest and also the pelvis. Can it take that?

I obviously have done this before and have used an axe or saw to preform the butchering but I want a knife that can do all of it incase I lose my backpack, forget my other tools or whatever.

I do have moose hunting planned yet this year and would like to test whatever new knife I end up keeping and do a whole moose with it. If it can pass this test I will be happy and know it can process animals. The next test for me then would be to do bushcraft with it.
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Well, I used a Dozier KS-3 to dress and quarter an elk in Montana once, but I won't forget my folding saw or a little axe again. That was no fun.

I'm sure a Fallkniven would have done just as well.
 
Use the force kman300...it will guide you...Don't fall into the Dark Side of other people's reviews...it is seductive and easier but realize what you need is not necessarily what others need. I bought 700 dollar knives that made me happy and I bought a 26 dollar knife that also made me happy because they were for COMPLETELY different tasks. So everything is relative.
 
A little off topic but why do people keep talking about enclosed tang knives for really cold weather. If it's that cold do ya not wear gloves anyway ?
That's one of the reasons I like big chunky handles because I can still maintain a good grip when wearing gloves.
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Both knives are good choices for the tasks you listed, mid-size knives with good track records in outdoor activities.

There are also good knives in that class that cost less.

Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin of Randall's Adventure & Training developed the original RAT-4 design manufactured by Ontario. When they started up their own knife company, they sold the same knife as the RC-4. Because of confusion with so many knife companies using "rat" in their names, they changed to ESEE, and the RAT-4/RC-4 came to be called ESEE-4. And not a bad choice for what you described.
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I Think he Meant 3 1st :D, their was not a Ontario 4

Both knives you named are excellent knives with great reps :thumbup:
more using since you own them ,less reading on someone misconception or misinformed post.
I had both & used 'em plenty and neither blade cried foul :thumbup:
ESEE, Becker and toss in Scrapyard as mild price ,hard users ;)
 
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