good neck knife ?

Camillus is reliable, the 420HC isn't 420J2, it's a cheap but effective steel used extensively by others, including Buck.

But 440C is excellent. It sharpens well and is more corrosion-resistant than most, even stainless, steels. Benchmade has been doing it very well.

You don't want the Becker unless you are going to put a handle on it. It's too short for big hands, and if you palm it, the bottle opener at the butt will cut into your palm.
 
440C is a better knife steel than the 420HC, and is still reasonably stainless. My guess is that if you just go for either one of the knives you would be fine. Just remember to clean them off in fresh water and some soap when you get home. What it really comes down to now is how much do you want to spend, and which knife you like better.
 
I'm a big fan of the ArcLite design. Don't know how well it will go with large hands. I've seen the weight listed as 2.2oz which sounds a lot closer to right than 3.8. link
The Benchmade costs twice as much, and doesn't have as much blade, but it's better steel, better made, should have a better fitting sheath, and probably a better factory edge. Customer service is also MUCH better from BM than Camillus in my experience.
But for a cheap beater, I'd buy the ArcLite.
 
Not to de-rail the thread, or anything...

Until I read the posts here, I would have thought a good neck knife was something 4-5", double edges, and smooth with a blood groove, and a sure grip. You know, so you can slide it down the inside of the neck cavity quick-like, get it out, and go onto the next guy.
 
jemelby said:
Not to de-rail the thread, or anything...

Until I read the posts here, I would have thought a good neck knife was something 4-5", double edges, and smooth with a blood groove, and a sure grip. You know, so you can slide it down the inside of the neck cavity quick-like, get it out, and go onto the next guy.
Click to expand...

I fully intend to stab my bait (and the fish I catch) and go on to the next fish :)

BTW - after reading all your comments and thinking about it, I decided to go with the Benchmade 160 which I feel is well worth the extra price.

Thanks for all your advice!
 
The ArcLite is a good choice especially if you are tight on cash. True the steel is not the greatest but for around water and humid enviroments you can't beat it for being corrosion resistant.

I have carried mine almost daily for over three years in places like Diego Garcia and Okinawa. The only time I ran into corrosion was after running a race and not wiping it down afterwards. No problems during typhoon season in Okinawa.

It is currently with me here in the big sandbox. No problems with corrosion yet but I haven't started sweating yet
 
Someone mentioned the sheath on the ArcLite maybe not fitting well. The fit of my ArcLite in the Kydex sheath seems better than the fit of my Camillus CQB2 (a knife many times the price) in its sheath. Plus it seems to be a standard blade-tech sheath so you can add a belt loop or tek-lok and convert it from a neck knife to a hip knife (which i did with the belt loop that came with the CQB2). I also dipped the handle of my arclite in some of that rubber tool-dip stuff and it provides a great grip with virtually no size increase. All-in-all at $20 one of the best knife bargains out there. Came very sharp out of the box, but i can't speak to the edge holding ability of 420 HC because i really have nothing to cut in my daily routine except mail. My one experience with Camillus customer service was very positive. They quickly replaced an EDC that had a faulty lock.
 
I'm certainly no expert, but the A.G. Russell Woodswalker I have seems to be a great knife at a great price.
 
if anyone decides on a russell woodswalker, better get two the wife took the first one I got for a kitchen knife.
 
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