Help choosing a fixed blade, a little overwhelmed.

savage99 said:
I believe every one of theese threads needs a guy that suggests the makers exchange. I haven't seen it yet so I guess I'll be that guy. Seriously check out the exchange very good knives for reasonable prices
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That's just what I was going to say. ;)

Check out the sweet knives offered over on the Knifemakers' sub-forum - http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/789-Knife-Maker-s-Discussion-Forums


... the law where I live is that you can only have bigger knives on your person if they are for hunting or fishing ...
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Better double-check that law again and make sure it doesn't say WHILE hunting and fishing, not just FOR. Other states have similar laws that permit the carrying of large knives while actively engaged in hunting/fishing but you'd better not try walking around downtown with one.


For under $100, the BUCK's are very nice, especially the 119, 103, and Vanguard. The Ka-Bar Becker BK15 and BK16 can be hard to beat. But some other nice brands have been mentioned.

For $100~$200, probably something like the Bark River knives would work well.

But once you go over $150, check out the Knifemakers for sweet dedicated hunting knives.
 
It's a little out of left field, but I have an old K. Tragbar knife (which is absolutely not for sale) that I have been quite happy with since my grandpa gave it to me when I was 11. It holds an edge really well, and has stood up to everything I've put it through over the years, and the blade still looks great. I think they're pretty knives. They are often bowie style. They're cheaply priced. They are old 1970's Solingen steel. Mine has shown no significant deterioration over the years. For the price they are pretty great, and they are almost always available on ebay.

Here's a picture of mine on the top (the other is a knife I made when I was 14. It's not great, but I keep it for sentimental reasons)
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Modern knives tend to be more sturdily constructed, but my K Tragbar has worked well as a can opener, whittler, skinner, and I have jointed and cleaned animals with it. So I am pretty sold on the toughness of my knife.

Plus they have a very traditional bowie style hunter look that I would think would satisfy any legal definition of a hunting knife, and the slim blade design is perfectly capable of getting just as stabby as you want.

There is one for auction on ebay right now that is of a very similar design as mine, but a different maker's mark. But I think I might get in trouble if I posted a link. It's listed as "VINTAGE BARON SOLINGEN GERMANY STAG HUNTING SKINNING BOWIE KNIFE" I'm sure that if you pasted that into an ebay search you would either get that knife or a number of other similar ones for under $40.
 
The Blackjack (BJ) 1-7 is a very cool and traditional fixed blade along the Randall vein. I have always preferred the BJ 125. I actually purchased the 1-7 first and then got the 125 after really handling the 1-7 a bit. For me the 1-7 was just a tad too long for my woods stuff, but as a defensive weapon, there is no question that I would choose the 1-7. It is one of those knives that I would lean toward in a "if you could only choose one". I don't own the other ones you mentioned. I do like the Buck mentioned by Jeepster (but dislike the black blade) sold by that C company but I don't think it is what you are looking for. It is on my buy list.
 
Have you looked at the Benchmade 162 bushcrafter? Pretty traditional styling and S30V blade. I really like the feel of mine, I haven't had it long enough to thouroughly test it out, bit I have heard it is a good user.
 
Better double-check that law again and make sure it doesn't say WHILE hunting and fishing, not just FOR. Other states have similar laws that permit the carrying of large knives while actively engaged in hunting/fishing but you'd better not try walking around downtown with one.
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Always good to check the law. In my state, there was a 4" blade limit which I always thought was a 3" limit. The only time I carried a fixed blade with rare exceptions was in the woods anyway and I didn't worry about "the law". This past year the law was changed where any knife may be carried. But I would suggest that you don't tote your large bowie strutting though the downtown part of town for any reason. The same would apply to inner city minority neighborhoods in my opinion. Common sense.... I would absolutely not carry openly a Blackjack 1-7 as some sort of urban edc regardless of the law. Reminds me of that dude in NYC selling cigarettes and apparently dying from a police choke hold. One has to exercise judgement.
 
So I did spend more time looking up local laws and state laws. And it does seem like my plan of going with a hunting knife isn't going to work, because several local laws don't have that exception. I can, however, openly carry large knives. That makes sense. Well, anyway, while I did find many, many knives I'd like to one day own, I settled on getting the thing I said I wouldn't get from the beginning; a black, tanto Ka-Bar fighting knife. At least when backpacking or in the country, I'll have a good defense knife. I am also legally allowed to have it in the car for defense wherever I please, so that's where it'll stay otherwise.

Still, thank you all for the help. I expect I will probably buy me a few of the knives I've come across, thanks to all of your suggestions. I will also be keeping an eye on that exchange from now on.
 
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