Good 5 - 5.5" outdoor knife kit or blank

Mentor

Mentor

Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Messages
3,124
Hello all,

How's this for going backwards - I have recently acquired an excellent Spec-Ops Brand survival sheath (the 6" variety), and I am now looking for something to fill it.

Not just any something, though. I have been dabbling in knifemaking for several years now, and - while I'm not quite at the point where I trust my skills enough to make a solid bushcraft / outdoors knife from scratch - I would like to base my new knife on a kit or blank.

So, here's what I'm looking for.

  • Knife blade (ground) or blank (unground)
  • 5 - 5.5" blade length
  • ideally, around 1/8" thick
  • under 2" wide
  • full tang or hidden tang
  • can be either stainless or carbon steel - I have used both. I'm leaning towards stainless for this one, for maintenance reasons.

Not exactly a precise set of requirements. I camp, fish, and hike as often as possible, and I am a reasonably experienced outdoorsman. This will be a general-purpose outdoor knife, and will be carried alongside an axe and multitool on serious outings. A balance between slicing and chopping capability would be ideal.

So, what's out there? I have built a number of Darrel Ralph Delta 5 kits, and could always use one of those - but they are a bit thick (and I'm looking for something different!).

Right now, I'm leaning towards a Fallkniven S1 blade. Opinions?

I'm particularly interested in any recommendations of blanks / blades that are not available through Texas Knifemaker's Supply or Knifekits.com (again, looking for something a bit different).

Any help would be appreciated.

All the best,

- Mike
 
Check out snakeriver knives on ebay.He's got some really nice damascus blanks.Affordable too!

Good Luck,
 
3wolves said:
http://www.knifesupply.com/eshop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=FNBS1
Click to expand...

Bob's Banana!
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but all good suggestions, I've always wanted to try a Fallkniven blank.
 
The frost laplander is 1/8 thick and scandi ground.
Its about $30 and can be found a smkw.com.
Its great.
 
Sounds like we're in a similar place. I've been looking at Brisa lately for traditional Scandi blades, haven't ordered anything yet though. Check out Ranger Originals in Calgary - Rob is on here and works mainly in stainless. He's got some blanks, but they're the same as the catalogs and not as many as TKS.

Just a heads up - SMKW doesn't ship free to Canada (no surprise).

I've been working on a particular design for a while and I'm getting one of the makers here to do it in cable 'damascus' for me. I'd suggest going that route if you want something truly unique.
 
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