Help for a new boy PLEASE

A

Arclightuk

Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Messages
208
Hi I am brand new to this so please be gentle HaHa :)

After a few years of being very very interested in Hunting and Survival Knifes, I finally took the plunge and got myself a few

SOG Seal 2000
SOG Seal Pup camo
Kabar Kukri

I also have 2 that I know people do not rate but there you go at the time I knew no better :rolleyes:

Colt Pathfinder Tactical
Colt M4-K folder

I have 2 questions really, the first is reagrding a decent folding knife, something like the CRKT M21 SF version, i would like a blade length of 3 - 4" if possible, i have about £50 or $100 depending where i buy from, I like a nice rugged design

Also on a side note have you any ideas on good places to buy from in UK and also any good suppliers from the USA who will ship to the UK as buying from abroad is so so much better value

My second question regards care and sharpening, are there any specific things I should be doing to keep everything looking really good, any cleaning materials etc, as for sharpening I will admit being CLUELESS I have searched the forums but really I guess I am asking will one tool do it all regarding sharpening, does practice make perfect!!

Sorry for all the questions and i thank you all in advance :D

Cheers
Gav
 
Get a Lansky Deluxe Diamond Sharpening Kit, but make sure you protect the blade. The steel clamp can and will scratch blades, I always use a small folded piece of paper to sandwich between the blade and the clamp. Use regular writing paper folded once and cut down to size. You just want to trim it down enough so that it doesn't hang up on the file when you're sharpening. Don't fold the paper more than once, if the paper is too thick it can flex and screw up the angle of the edge. The Lansky is the single most useful knife accessory you will ever buy for your knife collection. It pays for itself if you use your knives a lot. Warning: Using a large knife on a clamped sharpener will result in a noticably shallower angle near the front half of the knife, and a steeper angle on the back half. Clamping in the center helps but will give a slight 'U' shape edge, the tip & furthest back portion of the edge will be shallower. The diamond kit is great if you own lots of carbon v, S30V, D2, M2, and any of the other harder tool steels. It's really useful if you want to reprofile your knives, or quickly remove unwanted toothy serrations. But if you have mostly Aus 6 and 400 series steels and only plan on touching up worn edges, the standard non-diamond kits are fine n' much cheaper. Also, the clamp style sharpeners with clamps can be hard to evenly center blades thicker than 1/4" because of the stair step design made for small knives on the edge of the clamp. That's 1 major design flaw I'd like to see changed on the Lansky. It's more suited for use on smaller knives, but can be tweaked for use with large fixed blades.
 
i would skip the lansky (and the blade scuffing clamps that go with it) and get a spyderco sharpmaker, its the easiest thing to use imho.

the CRKT knives are "ok" but i would prefer a BM griptillian or a spyderco endura or delica myself, the liner locks on CRKT's are "iffy" and the steels not the best, but they are ok and have a good warranty.

IIRC www.newgraham.com ships int'l.
 
Thanks for the help, so the CRKT folders are not so good, are there any better knifes out there of a similar design
 
I had a CRKT M16 in Aus 6 and the steel was soft, bad heat treat most likely. SOG makes better Aus 6 than CRKT, but I avoid Aus 6 all together. CRKT liner locks are on the thin flimsey side, similar to Kershaw Whirlwinds and Blackouts (the Polymide plastic handles aren't the grippiest either). The wear has more to do with the soft steel of the blade than the liners. Lesser quality folders: Benchmade Pikas with oval holes and slippery smooth plastic handles, most of CRKT's offerings, Benchmade folders with AXIS locks (omega springs can break with hard use), new Gerbers made by Fiskars (older Gerbers, back when they were 'Legendary' are much better than the new ones!), 420, 440A, etc. Higher quality folders: Frame locks and lock backs from Spyderco, Kershaw (& the new Zero Tollerance Series), Cuda & Darrel Ralph frame locks, Al Mar folders w/ G10 handles, Cold Steel Aus 8 folders (Ti Lites with the wave blade opening feature), etc. Then before you know it, you've aquired a taste for folders that feature bank vault-ish feel, G10, Carbon Fiber, Titanium, and high end steels like M2, S30V, S60V, VG-10, etc... Take this addictive hobby one step at a time, it only gets worse with time!!!! Eventually you'll find your$elf in the Chri$ Reeve $ebenza Fan Club, that'$ when you'll be looking for a 2nd or 3rd job to fund your expensive hobby.
 
For the amount of money you want to spend, you can find a lot of Spyderco models as well as some Benchmades.

If you like flat handles which take up less space in your pocket, get an Endura, a Native or a Delica (depending on the blade size you want) from Spyderco. If you want something thicker, look no further than the Benchmade Griptilian or Mini-Griptilian.

I live in Argentina, so I buy most of my knives from American on-line stores, so far I've been using www.knifeworks.com and I'm very happy with their service and prices.

There are lots of sharpening systems out there, I like freehand sharpening more than using all those jigs, although they do come in handy if you need to reprofile the blade edge. Get one of those (a Spyderco Sharpmaker, a Lansky or something like that) to make your life easier as you learn, but practice freehand sharpenning on some crappy knives, just to learn without ruining something nice. If you're into outdoors activities, carrying a small stone to touch up your knives will be a lot easier than carrying one of those sharpenning systems.

IMHO, the important thing is to never let a knife get really dull. Get a very, very, fine grain quality stone (diamond, ceramic, your choice) and a charged leather strop (you can make one with an old belt with some buffing compound on it). Stropping often will keep your knife's edge polished and will keep it sharp for a longer time.

Get something cheap to practice on, maybe an easy to sharpen carbon steel folder (like an Opinel), so you don't mess up your pricier knives.
 
 
of the BM knives you have selected id definatly go with the BM 710. A truely awsome edc. Strong, reliable and looks good. I would get a plain edge version rather than the combo edge which you have pictured.

As far as places to buy your knives id reccoment new graham knives (NGK). I live in canada and they ship to me=). They also have very competitive prices. Another couple knives i would suggest are

Spyderco mini manix or plain manix (tough strong user at a very good price)
http://newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=4399

Benchmade mini skirmish
http://newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=3967

and Benchmade hk knives :
http://newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=5125

Good luck and let us know what you choose to get=D
 
Thalestin, I am sold on that knife :D just got to get my hands on one now, in Uk they are so pricey and i dont think the person i have been using can get them :grumpy: thing is you see I will pay shipping and duty on top of the list price....what to do :rolleyes:

All the others have gone in my wanted list....starts thumbing through paper for that 2nd job haha :D

So anyone from the UK here that may know of a good reliable seller in the USA who they buy from on a regular basis, the 710 is about $115, the best i can find, but how much is shipping and duty I am close to saying giving up and paying the dumb UK prices:(
 
Spend the money now and grab the Rukus or the 710. You will spend less money down the road if you buy high end now. Just wait until you are looking at a price tag of $400 or so. In my experience, going cheap will always let you down in the end. BM make a great knife.
 
Hey Gav,

Wish I had some answers for you, but I'm new to all of this myself. I was looking at the Kabar Kukri and was wondering what you thought of it?? Have you put it to work yet??
 
I got my knife at new graham. Shipping wasnt too much. I think it was 10 bucks and customs charged me another 10. So it totaled about 130 dollars canadian. From i can see you would pay much much more in the UK. Another option is ebay. Just be careful on the sellers feedback=)
 
books said:
Hey Gav,

Wish I had some answers for you, but I'm new to all of this myself. I was looking at the Kabar Kukri and was wondering what you thought of it?? Have you put it to work yet??
Click to expand...

Still waiting for it to arrive, once its here and I have got down to business I will let you know :thumbup:

Cheers
Gav
 
I ordered my 710 from GPKnives. I got the BK1 coated half serrated one so it was $110 plus about $6 shipping.
 
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