help to buy a fixed blade

I

iht@intekom.co.za

Joined
Jun 19, 2004
Messages
51
Dear all,
I am thinking of buying a fixed blade with sheath. folders are really my thing and I have read and thought a lot about them - but fixed blades are something I am pretty ignorant of - so I would be very grateful for advice.
My thoughts thus far
Size - this would be a camp knife. Should be able to handle tasks from food prep to chopping firewood - I am thinking 7.5 - 8 inches with a 1/4 inch thick spine.
Shape. I really like the flat ground wide blades that I see in some Busse models - this is my ideal blade shape. I don't like double ground dagger like blades at all - or the classic Bowie shape.
Steel - From what I can gather if a knife is going to take hard impacts its probably better to stay away from the very wear resistant but relatively brittle stainless blades, and go for a tougher non stainless - but my problem is I live in a very hot humid place - though not usually near sea water. Rust could be a problem. I really don't like coatings - a satin finish would be my ideal, or another fairly high alloy tool steel would not be ideal. Perhaps infi or such like but NOT a blade that rusted easily
Handle. Full tang with something like G10 or micarta slabs.
I know a Busse blade would seem to fit the bill but they seem very hard to come by. I think $300 would be about as high as I would like to go - though perhaps my arm would be twisted for a bargain a little higher. it would need a sheath - I think a plain leather although I could probably get that made locally - South African Knife makers are very good value for money.
 
Well your going to get alot of recommendations on blades I am sure with your felixibilty in price and what not. I would suggest Swamp rat Camp Tramp, or Ratweiler, or Ranger knives RD7or RD9 for the price they are great. Busse of course are on the top of my list w/o going to a custom maker. There is also Becker Knife and Tool BK7/9, but there handles are plastic. You could pick up an RTAKII from Randall Ontario or a RAT7 depending on what size exactly you want. There is also Fehrman, you could look at them www.fehrmanknives.com, look at thier First Strike. Then there's the chris Reeve knives like the Green Beret or the Project 1or2. There's lots of knives out their in that price range and some makers as well like Bill Siegal who makes a 7 inch knife for around 250 but there are other makers if you float around the makers section like Scott Gossman at razorback-knives. Most of them will do about what you want but you might have to break that 300 mark. I hope this helps some and I am sure I missed a bunch. You could always wait for a junkyard knife when they start comin out more prevalently.
 
I would suggest a Bark River "Huntsman" model. It isn't too big. The price is right. It is made for the outdoors knife user. It is the sharpest knife you can buy from anyone. It is made from A2 tool steel, some of the toughest stuff around, with a convex blade grind.

http://barkriverknives.com/gallery/album68

http://barkriverknives.com/gallery/albums.php

Click on this link. Then click on "current production" to see a list of specs for all their models.


http://barkriverknives.com/home.html

I believe these are tougher than a Busse.
 
Get a Ranger knife - for $300 you can ask Justin to make a customized knife to your needs (although I think you could be more than happy with normal RD7 or RD9 and those are around $100 :)). You can also contact him on knifeforums.com (where is Ranger knives forum)
 
From what I can gather Busse Steel heart is no longer made (looks gorgeous to me). Seems very hard to come by because of this. Fehrman looks just like the Busse, but in a different steel. Hard for me to sort out infi/ CPM3V hype from fact. I don't like coatings as they scuff up terribly - a nice satin finish is timeless, but rust seems to be a problem especially with the CPM. Fehrman seems readily available and I guess this would sway me in that direction thus far.
Swamp Rat also look very nice, Much cheaper, but is the steel as good and it seems only available coated.
Any comments - I need swayed one way or the other - as I will never get to handle these knives unless I buy one!
 
I have 4 Fehrman knives and I think that indeed the First Strike would suit you well. There are still a couple of the Busse Hell Razors available at the Busse Company Store. You would be hard pressed to make the Hell Razor cry from what ever you expect it to do.

If you like the 8" range then I would suggest that you consider the Fallkniven A2 laminated VG-10 steel. It is quite heavy and like the Busse's I don't think you can over use this one. If I have any bones to cut through then I reach for the A2 and I have yet to sharpen it as it's still a sharp as the day I got it.

FWIW,
Ciao
Ron
:D
 
for 300 or less, the red scorpion six predator, or tops tom brown tracker (essentially the same knife) both perform well for camp duties. Busse's are nice but a little more, you could get either of the tracker style knives for 220$ish and i believe Busse's are a little more than that (though a nicer knife )


Edit
I havent used a red scorpian six blade yet, so i cant actually quantify whether they perform the same as a tops tracker, but since its the same blade I'd expect it to.
 
Give the Rangers a serious look. They seem to fit your specs and are very affordable not to mention great customer service from the owner, Justin Gingrich.

I think the RD7 will set you back around a 100 bucks and the RD9 a bit more but not by much. Don't let the cost of these blades deter you. They are very hard use blades.

Here is the RD7 which is just over 8" and my favorite, the RD9 with thinned edge, thumb grooves and striped finish. Kydex sheath by David Brown.

rm1.jpg


rs5.jpg
 
The Fusion Battle Mistress will be the next knife made available from Busse, but it will be well over your price range, especially if you want an uncoated LE model. You can find smaller Busse knives that are in that price range, such as the Hell Razor that was mentioned earlier. Also post on the exchange in "wanted to buy" and see what kind of offers you get. There are many good blades floating around the secondary market.
 
You know for that price you can probably get a lower-end custom ... since you're in S. Africa have you thought about Arno Bernard?

I don't own any of his knives but they seem to be very well-made and great value for money, as well as good workhorses. I believe he works mostly in natural handle materials but I'm guessing you could probably get him to do one in micarta/g-10. He works in a type of Swedish stainless steel (I'm not familiar with it though so I can't comment on its properties); I think a water buffalo hide sheath is standard.
 
Despite mentioning that you'd like a micarta or G10 handle, I would recommend getting a Fallkniven A1.
I have several F1, S1, A1, NL4 and NL5.
They're all awesome working knives!

Regards,
Mike
 
If you want a big chopper with a stainless blade, look no further than the Bark River Forester. AWESOME knife. I don't really like big blades, but I needed one for some SAR work and chose the Forester, that thing is a great cutting machine.

You can get it with micarta handles, too.

http://barkriverknives.com/gallery/album60
 
A customized Ranger gets my vote with a little $$$ left over to add something in the sheath pouch.

Matador-
 
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