Good Fixed Blades under $60

A Cold Steel Finn Bear Seconds will take care of 90% of our outdoor/bushcraft needs.

Itll build you a shelter and will have NO problem chopping through branches (since you mentioned that. It is NOT a heavy weight chopper but you specified branches and its more than fine for that).

It comes in well under your budget of $60.

$11 will buy you a CS Finn Bear Seconds. Shoot, at that price, buy two....or three (I did).
 
Might still be able to find a discontinued KaBar bk5 for $65 if you want something a little larger?
 
I didn't think about it, but the tramontina short machete mentioned above is a great deal and is very useful. I think i paid $8 for it and it's my favorite machete.
 
Kabar 1235, 1232: stacked leather handle and stainless.
or bk11 + tdi clip is right around $60, scales will run a little bit more.
 
OK, just looked at the Ontario Air Force knife and it looks pretty sweet with a good sheath.... I'm going to need a really good job when I'm older so I can buy all these. Thanks for all the suggestions and please keep them coming
 
Of course, you could go with one of the less expensive knives mentioned PLUS one of these and be within your budget:

sven-saw.jpg
 
a Trexler Ranger said:
So the only fixed blade knife I have right now is my dads old Herters knife. I don't won't to break that, though it is a fully working model. I was looking at the Gerber Strongarm, and am seriously considering buying it. Once school lets out and I have my summer job again, I'm considering purchasing an Esee 6 and a Spyderco Para 2 or 3.

Does anyone know of good beater knives that can chop through branches and used to build a good shelter? Preferably under $60 Please give me some thoughts

Edit: I worked at a Scout camp last year and I ended up borrowing several peoples knives (Thanks Matt) whenever I had my Wilderness Survival outpost which is why I am looking for a good knife for shelter building and some light digging

Edit 2: I'm looking for a blade length between 4 and 6 inches, but am willing to go up to seven or eight inches
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The Gerber StrongArm is absolutely amazing. I was having a lot of confusion before my fixed blade purchase. I brought the StrongArm and fell in love with it. I've chopped branches, batoning is fun with the knife. It takes very little time to sharpen it up. Good edge retention. True, there are better knives than this, but for the price its hard to beat this knife. I got mine for $49 from Amazon. And the handle is really comfortable. And the best part is, u can use the spine of the knife for ur firestarter rod.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using Tapatalk
 
A mora, and a pocket saw or a sportsman's belt axe for chopping and building a shelter.
Don't know what national or state park is going to let you build a shelter, though.
 
If you're looking to chop stuff and build a shelter for under 50$, then forget knifes and get a council tools hatchet or a folding saw. Look for the no.18 by a company called fanno saw works.
 
a Trexler Ranger said:
OK, so maybe a Gi Tanto and zip tie a Mora or a Finn Hawk/Bear to the sheath? Has anyone done this before?

-TR
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While zip ties aren't maybe super common to use, the concept of stacking sheathes is pretty common. And a Mora is a fairly normal "second" knife, because they are so useful and lightweight, that they pair well with many larger knives. Personally, if I was going to attach two knives, I'd use either paracord, or some for of screws (like you see in tek loks). But yeah, go for it if that is what will make you happy.

I usually prefer to keep my larger knife in my pack, and the smaller knife on my person. But thats more for maneuverability/comfort over a longer time period though. If I was actually building a shelter, I'd probably throw the sheath on my belt for the time being.

And, depending on the size of wood you're dealing with, I'd strongly suggest at least considering a folding saw of some sort (I use a Corona, which I got for ~$17). In my experience, its faster to use the folding saw to cut through things bigger than about... forearm/calf size (depending on who's arms/legs you're using as your reference point :p). Anything smaller than that, its usually faster for me to chop it with my BK9/hawk/etc.
 
I'm not sure if someone mentioned this, but Moras are great knives. Although they are only partial tang knives, (except their brand new model) it doesn't seem to make much difference.

I own the Mora Bushcraft Black which I believe is about $35-$40 (don't quote me on that) but it's a good knife. For a while I was practicing the minimalist backpacking and camping style, therefore leaving my small gransfors bruk axe at home and carrying my mora. I batonned through 7-8 small logs for kindling, and carried a bahco folding saw for backup.

Anyways, the mora held up great, and I was able to make a few feathersticks to use as tinder after. And if it breaks, you don't feel too bad


Or you can save up a bit (or look on auction sites) at the Kabar Becker line.

The Kabar Becker BK7 is a beautiful knife. I stripped the black coating off it, polished the blade and replaced the grivory handle scares with micarta habdles ans layer replaced those with these polished burl handles and it is just a beautiful knife
 
a Trexler Ranger said:
So the only fixed blade knife I have right now is my dads old Herters knife. I don't won't to break that, though it is a fully working model. I was looking at the Gerber Strongarm, and am seriously considering buying it. Once school lets out and I have my summer job again, I'm considering purchasing an Esee 6 and a Spyderco Para 2 or 3.

Does anyone know of good beater knives that can chop through branches and used to build a good shelter? Preferably under $60 Please give me some thoughts

Edit: I worked at a Scout camp last year and I ended up borrowing several peoples knives (Thanks Matt) whenever I had my Wilderness Survival outpost which is why I am looking for a good knife for shelter building and some light digging

Edit 2: I'm looking for a blade length between 4 and 6 inches, but am willing to go up to seven or eight inches
Click to expand...

At the moment the Ontario SP10 and 6240 is right at the edge of that price line. The KA-BAR kukri machete is slightly cheaper than them, and it's a savage chopping beast that I've carried quite a bit.
 
I might go Ontario SP2 ($37ish) + Bahco Laplander ($21ish) folding saw and still right your $60 budget. If you think/find you will be doing a lot of chopping, I'd go with a saw or htachet. I prefer a folding saw. They are lighter to carry and more efficient in terms of cutting vs energy expended.
 
If you want just a knife, the Buck Selkirk is a decent choice. The Condor Solobolo would be a good choice if you could find one used, but new it's a bit above your price range.

A knife and saw combination is good if you will be building shelters. A Corona saw from Lowe's and a Mora will easily fit in your budget. Come to think of it, Opinel makes a small folding saw, Corona makes a smaller saw than what Lowe's carries, Silky has the Pocketboy in a couple of sizes, and the Bahco is pretty popular.
 
OK, so interesting story, I bet my dad that I couldn't get so many points in a dive meet and if I did, I got a knife. He wanted me to get something USA made so he got me the Strongarm. So now I will probably save my $60 that towards my ESEE 6 or a Para 2/3. I will probably buy at least a few of the knives here, and I do like the idea of stacking a beater with a Mora, so I will most likely get that at some point. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

-TR
 
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