Help me choose a knife

im also looking for a fixed blade combat knife and have found a couple i really like the look and sound of. What do you guys think from experience? Dark Ops Paul Basal "Shadow" and SOG Seal Team Elite. Please can someone help myself and floydfloyd out :)
 
pick the one you like best. If you dont like it you can trade or sell it and buy the other
 
dcomerford said:
im also looking for a fixed blade combat knife and have found a couple i really like the look and sound of. What do you guys think from experience? Dark Ops Paul Basal "Shadow" and SOG Seal Team Elite. Please can someone help myself and floydfloyd out :)
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OK, plz , let this be a troll ...

but if it isnt ...

if you are planning on combat ... go enlist

preparing to fight and probably kill people WITHOUT govt sponsorship .... can make any claim of self defense hard ( you bought people killing tools in preperation for combat .. can be called premeditation ..heard of it being done before )

what kind of knife for comabt tho outside of govt sponsored combat ? ... you havent specified enough .. are you going to just be murdering folk in their beds , slitting throats at the rail station , running amok doing a massacre at a market ?
Whatever you do , outside of govt sponsored killing .. youll want to get rid of your tools fast .. so keep that in mind when you are deciding your budget ..

OK Ill stop feeding trolls
 
Id steer clear of Gerber...Ive owned a few, and really wasnt all that impressed. You sound like you want a bushcraft knife. A handy do all. You can whittle a spoon with a Busse Battle Mistress, as well as a Mora. Skill dictates what you can make the knife do for you, so no knife will work without putting in the dirt time to learn to use it. Hell, fuzz sticks can be made with broken glass and knapped rock.

ESEE makes a good knife, although they are thin in the handles, and that choil and drain spraypaint make it a nogo for me. The BK2 is a nice knife and with a propper edge will serve well for the finer stuff, and some serious work. Im in the process of stripping, convexing and rehandling mine to better suit me. Moras are good, proven and cheap, but the sheaths suck and they arent a hard use knife by any means. Since you are new to this stuff, I suggest a more overbuilt knife to make up for the learning curve. Rangers are nice, from Justin, not sure about Ontarios offerings, but I think their quality has taken a serious slide in recent years. Guarantee is only as good as the product. As Tommy Boy says "I can take a crap in a box and mark it guaranteed"

A good option with that budget is to scour the secondary market right here on BF. You can score a helluva good knife for 100 bucks. Even a custom. A F1 from Falkniven is IMO what you need. They are flat awesome, perform well, and can be had in your price range used. You can also score blade blanks for cheap and handle them yourself or send it off to one of the skilled guys around here for a handle job.
 
floydfloyd said:
yeah, the ka bar looks nice, but probably too much a combat knife for what I am envisioning. Those ZT knives look interesting too. Thanks for the suggestion.

I envision me using this knife for light wood chopping, camp chores, maybe some carving, and for making small wood bits for fire starting (probably mostly camp chores and batoning of already small wood pieces). Seems the RAT 5 would be capable of all those things. As far as the LMF II, do you suppose that the serration would bother me at all for these activities? As I think about it, I can even envision it coming in handy for some of the camp chores like cutting rope, etc.

Thanks again everybody for all the replies. This seems to be a good, active community.
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Another suggestion could be the new kabar Mk1 USN? It would do prety much what you stated and would be well under your budget. Its not too combat looking after all it was designed for sailors on ship duty.
 
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j williams said:
A good option with that budget is to scour the secondary market right here on BF. You can score a helluva good knife for 100 bucks. Even a custom. A F1 from Falkniven is IMO what you need. They are flat awesome, perform well, and can be had in your price range used. You can also score blade blanks for cheap and handle them yourself or send it off to one of the skilled guys around here for a handle job.
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Since I found the F1, I will probably never be without one no matter what other knives I do purchase.
 
Alan2442 said:
pick the one you like best. If you dont like it you can trade or sell it and buy the other
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Yeah, the market here is pretty liquid, so I never have to hold a knife that was not meant for me very long.
 
I own a BK2 and really think it's great. It can chop, slice, and built like a tank. It does have some heft to it, but it fits my hand very well.

I was looking at getting a SOG Seal Pup Elite, but changed my mind to the SOG NW Ranger 2 and have been extremely happy with it. It's just under 3/16" thick AUS8 steel, 5.25" full flat grind blade, and takes a razor sharp edge with little work. It can even chop surprisingly well for it's size. The sheath leaves something to be desired, but the knife fits the nice Seal Pup Elite nylon sheath just fine (can be had for $15-20). Bought mine on a site with free Super Saver Shipping for <$60. A Fallkniven is no doubt a better blade, but I think it's a good alternative given the price. I'm a little surprised the NW Ranger doesn't get more talk on the forums.

Here's some links:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/742244-SOG-NW-Ranger-Review...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dzn69U-0FrE
http://www.woodsmonkey.com/index.ph...hwest-ranger-review&catid=34:knives&Itemid=55
 
I would recommend without any hesitation the Fallkniven F1. If you can afford it, you won't regret it. That being said, I think that before you splurge $150 on a 'super-knife' get yourself a couple of mora's! You won't regret these at $12 a pop and they'll always compete with your most expensive knives. :)
 
BK2 and a mora and you're still under 100. See what you use more. If you really like the mora than maybe check out the f1. If you use the BK2 check out similar offerings like the ESEE 5 or others. I wasn't a huge fan of the lmf2 though.
 
I've had an idea, and want your input:

What if I got that new Becker Eskabar knife as my fixed blade and also carried a Gerber Back Paxe? That way I would have a very light blade to make kindling and do any carving or camp chores and also a light hatchet for any chopping duties. This would keep total weight down for hiking and I think I would have a lot of bases covered. What do you think? Would I be better off combining the two into one large knife?

Side question: do the micarta scales for the ESEE Izula also fit the Becker Eskabar?
 
The Eskabar is also a great choice. I pocket carry one every day. It will handle small chores well, but can also handle some rough use if needed.

The ESEE izula scales will fit with some slight modification, just a little filing on the liner.

lots more information on the Becker forum.
 
Welcome to the forum Floydfloyd.

You sound kind of like I did when I first got here. Trying to find that camping/hiking/all around knife.

On my quest I got the Gerber LMF, its a neat knife, good idea, beefy, I like it, (heavy) but not the knife for me. Sog Seal Pup was next, awesome knife, perfect size, super light, well balanced, (this is a good choice), but I still thought it wasn't quit right....Ill speed things up...RD6,a beast, too big, too heavy. Sog Field Pup, still not what I'm after....next Camillus pilots knife, this was finally what "I was looking for." Good weight, felt good, pummel for hammering, saw on spine, nice knife. So I was happy...but as we all do, I was still buying knives, when I came across the Mora 2000.

I thought I needed, some big, thick, survival knife,:rolleyes: and came to love this inexpensive, plastic handled knife. This is the knife I use 80% of the time.

To sum it up, of my knives #1 Mora 2000 #2 Camillus Pilots knife # 3 Sog Seal Pup (a close #2) The Gerber LMF is down on this list...a good knife...just not practical for the woods IMO. I'm sure the knife you do chose will suit your needs, Good luck on your quest.
 
I recommend the Becker BK-7. A little lighter than the BK 2 but more than enough blade for any chore....better to have too much than not enough IMO
 
I'm gonna go with the Mora suggestions some others put out there. It has a scandi grind, which is a good grind to learn how to sharpen on. Get a carbon steel mora and keep it oiled. Learn how to sharpen, learn how to cut properly, have fun, and then get into more serious blades. My 2 cents.
 
I think your idea of a lighter blade for cutting and an axe for chopping are a great way to go. I personally don't like knives with blades longer than 3.5" to 4" for utillity use. When it comes to chopping I want something designed to chop (like a hatchet - not a Bowie knife). There are people that can use one knife for just about everything, but I think that for a beginner using specific tools for specific tasks is the best way to learn safely.
 
russamurai said:
I'm gonna go with the Mora suggestions some others put out there. It has a scandi grind, which is a good grind to learn how to sharpen on. Get a carbon steel mora and keep it oiled. Learn how to sharpen, learn how to cut properly, have fun, and then get into more serious blades. My 2 cents.
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I am not clear what the OP wants to do with his knife?
Semi combat??
Pry bar survival?
A sheath knife for the woods?

If you want a comfortable woods knife that cuts well, has a great steel that takes a sharp edge and is easy to sharpen and you are not going to beat on it then...
The Mora Triflex for $20 is a suberb knife
 
The knifes I gravitate to for woods use are:

BRKT Bravo-1
Fallkniven F1
ESEE-4

In no particular order, but teh F1 is stainless, and while the others are fine in humid/water environments you should wipe them with an oily rag after use to prevent rust. The F1 you don't really have to worry about much.
 
Gerber LMF 2 is a sturdy, comfortable knife that also doubles as a hammer, which I have actually used more than the blade itself.
But...it is butt-heavy (sucks for chopping) and the serrations are annoying if you don't need them.
Sheath is very solid though.
I suggest (for your under $100 budget) you check out the ESEE 4 / Benchmade CSK 2 / Ranger RD4 (easy to carry and you can still beat on them)
 
floydfloyd said:
Price range is under $100 (starving student budget) and I'd like a blade that is shorter than 6 in. If I need to do some crazy chopping or wood splitting I'll use a hatchet, so 6 in. or less should be plenty for me.

I guess I missed that the Rat 5 has the kydex insert in the sheath. Does that mean that the sheath has good knife retention? Even upside down? I'm having trouble finding videos showing it.

The ESEE knives look really nice and just about exactly what I want, but a bit pricier.

Thanks for the reply.
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The Cold Steel "Master Hunter" would be a good choice. It has a Kraton non-slip handle with a lanyard hole, a 4 1/2" VG-1 stainless steel blade that is very sharp right out of the box and is priced competetively. You can get them for less than $100. I own one and use it as a hunting/fishing and general outdoors knife. They come with a rugged Kydex sheath which will definitely stand up to hard use. All in all, a good bargain.
 
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