hard use knife

T

thebladeguy

Joined
Jul 5, 2005
Messages
239
HI I'm looking for a hard use knife that cost less then $100. I want the blade length to be at least 7 inches. I will be using it for chopping, prying, and all sorts of extreme use. I want carbon steel and a good synthetic handle material. I also want a kydex or a nylon/codura sheath. NO leather. I will be looking forward to receiving your suggestions.

TBG
 
Ranger Knives fit the bill perfectly. I have the RD9 and it is a great chopper and prybar.
 
Get a Camillus/Becker BK-9 "Combat Bowie" and be done with it.
 
i second that. becker BK7 or BK9 are excellent knives. best bang for the buck in a fixed blade at the moment, IMO.
i absolutely hated the sheath at first, but its grown on me. much lighter/quieter than Kydex, and more weather resistant than leather.
cheers,
-gabriel

bk7.jpg
 
Blackhearted said:
becker BK7 or BK9 are excellent knives.
Click to expand...
Not for the uses described, these are blades made out of thinner than average stock, with high flat grind and thin and acute edges, they are optomized more for cutting than extreme use.

-Cliff
 
I'll 3rd the Ranger Knives RD7 or RD9. I have an RD6 that is one tough blade. Also have another RD6 with flat grind and Orange handle slabs on its way to me now :D
 
ive never had problems doing heavy chopping and batoning with my BK9. i use the hell out of all of my knives, but i never abuse them. it hacks through a 2x4 better than anything else i have.
but then i guess 'hard use' is always relative. to me, hard use would be something like batoning - still doing what the knife was intended for (chopping/cutting) but taking it to the extreme.
ive seen people doing the most abusive things with knives - beating on their spines with rocks, trying to pry apart logs with their tips (ive even seen someone stand on the hilt while doing this), using them as screwdrivers or chisels, throwing them into the dirt and trees, etc.
i think some people should be carrying cold chisels and crowbars instead of knives.
 
On the low end, have you thought about a Cold Steel Bushman? I know they look like a blade turned shovel handle but I think it is a very ingenious design and for your budget you could own a trunkful...I use mine as a thrower and it can take abuse. A synthetic handle? I wrapped mine in Filipino kraton...inner tube. Being around edged tools all my life, I found the trusted bolo knife to be a hands down proven winner, although it is past your 7" requirement. Mine is made of leaf spring as many are with huge pinned water buffalo handles. The Busse Aftershock is a direct descendant of the bolo. Take Blackhearted's advice as I too agree, too many go beyond the tools intended use and then when it fails, it's "junk". I would not rely on any "knife" as a do it all.
 
cliff - what soured you towards the becker BK7/9? i remember reading some of your older posts and you used to recommend it quite a bit... or at least you steered some people towards it when they were looking for choppers.
did one fail on you?
 
Blackhearted said:
... you used to recommend it quite a bit
Click to expand...
I think the CU/7 and Combat Bowie are solid knives, very high performance/price ratio. However they are not what I would recommend for "prying and other extreme use", especially the larger one, they are more towards bushcraft and general cutting utility. The only real common complaint about them is with the handles which while I don't find optimal, I don't have as much of a problem as some and work decently well with some grip tape.

-Cliff
 
i see...
ive pried with mine, but then again i dont think i really pried that hard.. around the house there are always other things (like crowbars, heh) that will do the job far better, and in the woods ive never really run into a situation where prying was absolutely necessary. i havent tested the knife to its limits mainly because i dont want to throw away $50 to see :) if i had money to burn id be doing all sortsof crazy things, like chopping at cinderblocks, just to see how things hold up. i might do it with a $10 knife, or even a $50 knife i loathed, but i love my BKs so i would feel bad 'killing' them, heh.

i think it would help if the original poster would actuallly list some of the type of work he wants to do with the knife so people can give him better recommendations. like exactly what *type* of prying, and what his definition is of 'hard use'.

cheers,
-gabriel
 
If you want to chop and pry, why not simply buy a small axe and a pry bar?

I mean, we all know we LOVE knives. But, there're more practical and economical options. No??
 
What about the K-Bar large Bowie?
(or other large K-Bar knives)
Or the Kershaw D2 Outcast?
 
The reason I don't won't to get a axe and a pry bar is becuz the get kinda cumbersome in the field, especially a pry bar. Let me tell you why I want a knife like that. I already have a short Ka-bar that I have had for many years. It has served me very well and I like it but it is a little small and I want a bigger knife to go along with it. And I have abused this knife. I have chopped with it, pried apart dead logs (a good source for fishing bait), hammered with it, dug with it and thrown it allot. It has done fine but sometimes it feels like it is about to break, especially when prying.It is also not a very good chopper. I really don't know how much abuse it can take before it breaks. And I don't care to find out. So I want a bigger knife that can do all those things without breaking or even coming close. Write now I am leaning towards the RD7 cuz I don't really like the BK's handles. Thanx for all the suggestions,

TBG
 
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