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- Jan 28, 2006
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Kman300: Seriously, don't take this wrong, but you may want to come up with a different way to phrase field dressing an animal, or butchering at home other than "doing an animal". For some reason, it brings up images of Rick marchand and Pitdog that are best left unimagined. 
The three knives you posted first: F1, Bravo-1 and ESEE-5.
Bravo-1, legend has it that it was spec'd out by a Marine Recon unit as their "one knife"
ESEE-5: Spec'd out by Air Force SERE instructors as their "one knife"
F1: doesn't claim such an illustrious beginning, but spec-wise, there's no reason it won't do the things the others will. Falkniven are considered high-end knives by most. They're all great knioves and will do what you want.
IF you still want to go higher-end, the Busse and Busse kin knives (Swamp Rat, Scrapyard) will be tougher, but really won't cut better. Some Busses in that size range you're looking at are the ASH, Tank Buster, SFNO, SARsquatch, FSH, Skinny Ash, Hellrazor -- from thickest to thinnest. I don't know the SR and SY equivalents, but the others have already mentioned several. You can also look at Fehrman.
Fact is, on the InTeRwEbZ, you're going to find people who will piss and moan and denigrate any choice you make. So, just pick what looks good and refine it from there (there's a reason we have dozens of knives, we buy what looks good to begin and our tastes refine from there, it's not just a compulsion to buy more steel, though that plays a part).
Now, in reality (and I harp on this a LOT), you really want a system on knives. Look at what people who LIVED what we take as hobbies. What did they use? Let's look at Sami moose hunters (since that seems to be the hardest task you want to put these through). They'd carry a puukko as a daily-use utility knife. A Leuku would be for some machete-type tasks (cutting light brush and such) and some of the moose/other critter butchering, and an axe for the heavy work. If you can't carry those 3, get stronger. BTW the axe can be a small 14 incher, a 19 incher, maybe even a 25 incher, I'm not talking a full size felling axe here.
In reality, you want to do everything? Great pick:
1.) Small utility knife. Can be a cheap ass Mora, or a better puukko style like the Jarvenpaa Lapp or Aito, the Helle Viking, or the full-on, balls-out modern ones like the Skookum Bush Tool, Koster Bushcrafter, or the Fiddleback or Brian Andrews versions. It can be an ESEE-3, a Busse BAD, or any other small knife. Don't be stupid and pry with it, and you won't have to worry about it breaking.
2.) Decent filet knife.
3.) Midsize knife. This can be one of the thinner 6-inch blades mentioned earlier, or a Leuku, or a Chef's knife. It's for butchering and food prep mostly. It's not a Rambo knife, and doesn't have to be thick (in fact the thinner the better for those uses).
4.) Big chopper. Can be a large knife, a machete, an axe, or a kukri. This is your heavy worker, and is the only one that needs to be able to take punishment.
When you go out, you determine which of the set you will need, and you don't have to bring them all.
The three knives you posted first: F1, Bravo-1 and ESEE-5.
Bravo-1, legend has it that it was spec'd out by a Marine Recon unit as their "one knife"
ESEE-5: Spec'd out by Air Force SERE instructors as their "one knife"
F1: doesn't claim such an illustrious beginning, but spec-wise, there's no reason it won't do the things the others will. Falkniven are considered high-end knives by most. They're all great knioves and will do what you want.
IF you still want to go higher-end, the Busse and Busse kin knives (Swamp Rat, Scrapyard) will be tougher, but really won't cut better. Some Busses in that size range you're looking at are the ASH, Tank Buster, SFNO, SARsquatch, FSH, Skinny Ash, Hellrazor -- from thickest to thinnest. I don't know the SR and SY equivalents, but the others have already mentioned several. You can also look at Fehrman.
Fact is, on the InTeRwEbZ, you're going to find people who will piss and moan and denigrate any choice you make. So, just pick what looks good and refine it from there (there's a reason we have dozens of knives, we buy what looks good to begin and our tastes refine from there, it's not just a compulsion to buy more steel, though that plays a part).
Now, in reality (and I harp on this a LOT), you really want a system on knives. Look at what people who LIVED what we take as hobbies. What did they use? Let's look at Sami moose hunters (since that seems to be the hardest task you want to put these through). They'd carry a puukko as a daily-use utility knife. A Leuku would be for some machete-type tasks (cutting light brush and such) and some of the moose/other critter butchering, and an axe for the heavy work. If you can't carry those 3, get stronger. BTW the axe can be a small 14 incher, a 19 incher, maybe even a 25 incher, I'm not talking a full size felling axe here.
In reality, you want to do everything? Great pick:
1.) Small utility knife. Can be a cheap ass Mora, or a better puukko style like the Jarvenpaa Lapp or Aito, the Helle Viking, or the full-on, balls-out modern ones like the Skookum Bush Tool, Koster Bushcrafter, or the Fiddleback or Brian Andrews versions. It can be an ESEE-3, a Busse BAD, or any other small knife. Don't be stupid and pry with it, and you won't have to worry about it breaking.
2.) Decent filet knife.
3.) Midsize knife. This can be one of the thinner 6-inch blades mentioned earlier, or a Leuku, or a Chef's knife. It's for butchering and food prep mostly. It's not a Rambo knife, and doesn't have to be thick (in fact the thinner the better for those uses).
4.) Big chopper. Can be a large knife, a machete, an axe, or a kukri. This is your heavy worker, and is the only one that needs to be able to take punishment.
When you go out, you determine which of the set you will need, and you don't have to bring them all.
Chris
:thumbup:
