I need help from serious knife people only

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learnme

Joined
Oct 30, 2009
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Hi all, I am quite new to knives but am quite serious to purchase the best survival knife FOR ME. I know there are many great knives out there but the defining factor is its functionality with the user. I am a person that tends to buy once but buy right. That is why I am here looking for help as I am swamped with google links and every other tom dick and harry saying his word is fact and not opinion. What I am looking for are facts.

The knife I want above all has to have the hardest steel in the market. I need it to be durable and strong and last through years of abuse but still be sharp. Naturally the second factor is its sharpness. IT HAS TO BE SHARP. Third is the functionality. Since this is to be used as a survival knife, it has to be portable so I am thinking a maximum of 8" tip to butt. It should chop, carve, skin, stab, etc etc etc. Looks and price are irrelevant. PLEAS HELP ME FIND A KNIFE.
 
learnme said:
I need it to be durable and strong and last through years of abuse but still be sharp.
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You are going to need a good diamond sharpener and a strop.;)

There is no such thing as a knife that can be used without ever dulling. All steels need to be sharpened. Some steels will stay sharp longer than others, but they take a lot longer to sharpen.

Welcome to bladeforums!!! There are a lot of really nice steels that will work for you. For sharpeners, I like DMT brand.
 
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There are great serious knife people, and even greater non serious knife people. It can be argued that the terms; hardest, strongest, durable, and edge retention are conflicting in regards to blade steels. Most knives come sharp from the manufacturer, but if they have to be remain sharp, learn how to sharpen, or be willing to pay someone to do it. I bet you will find that a Busse knife will suit your needs quite well. Welcome to BF.
 
You need to learn to sharpen a knife then all the steel talk just goes out the window.

Go and get a entry level folder from any of the reputable company, spend some money and get a good stone/ system. Use the heck out of the knife, and sharpen often. That's the best advice I can give you. In 5 years you know exactly what grind you want, type of characteristic you look for in a steel, ergonomics etc.

What's better in a woman, brain or boob? Everyone has their own preference and no one can decide for you.
 
You won't be doing much chopping with a eight inch (total length) knife, it's just not practical. That's about a three inch blade which doesn't provide with much cutting area for chopping.
 
There is no all around knife. There will always be tradeoffs.

But after thinking about your post, I believe that you can come very close to what you're looking for in the $250-$350 price range at

www.dozierknives.com

The D-2 semi-stainless tool steel is heat treated by Bob Dozier himself in his shop. His knives are well known, and well liked by professional hunters, forest rangers and outdoorsmen all over the world.

The KS-7 Wilderness knife should come very close to what you're looking for.

The only downside is that you might have a 2-3 month wait for delivery.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums! Let me start this off. We'll have plenty of others joining in soon.

If you ask the wrong question, you'll get the wrong answer. You tell us you are new to knives but proceed to describe what kind of steel you want. You need to learn more about steel before determining that.

A blade's capabilities derive in part from the composition of the steel, but also from the heat treat and edge geometry. Also, a steel that can be heat treated to a high RC (hardness) may not be as tough as you need for a survival knife.

There are different challenges that go into survival, most based on the particular environment. A general purpose blade shape might not be ideal everywhere.

"Best" is often a reasoned compromise among different excellent offerings.
 
learnme said:
Hi all, I am quite new to knives but am quite serious to purchase the best survival knife FOR ME. I know there are many great knives out there but the defining factor is its functionality with the user. I am a person that tends to buy once but buy right. That is why I am here looking for help as I am swamped with google links and every other tom dick and harry saying his word is fact and not opinion. What I am looking for are facts.

The knife I want above all has to have the hardest steel in the market. I need it to be durable and strong and last through years of abuse but still be sharp. Naturally the second factor is its sharpness. IT HAS TO BE SHARP. Third is the functionality. Since this is to be used as a survival knife, it has to be portable so I am thinking a maximum of 8" tip to butt. It should chop, carve, skin, stab, etc etc etc. Looks and price are irrelevant. PLEAS HELP ME FIND A KNIFE.
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Welcome to BF :)

First problem, we too would all love to find this knife you speak of. As others have said, learn how to sharpen because nothing will stay sharp forever no matter what steel you have (I know I'm a steel junky).

A overall of 8" for a knife does not put you in chopper territory, a blade length of 8" yes a overall of 8" no.

Most of us consider 3 knives to be best for outdoor/survival needs, a multitool, a 3-4in fixed blade, and a large fixed blade 8-10in or a small axe. Most of us are here in search of the perfect knife but if you ask us you will find we bought 10, 20, 30, maybe even 100 knives before finding that one that works perfect for YOU.

Knife suggestions: Mora, BRKT bravo1, bravo2, Gameskeeper I&II, RAT RC-4 or 6, Becker BK-7, BK-9...... the list could keep going and going but these are some of the better ones.
 
I agree with the post above that 8" OAL won't be much of a chopper. Choppers, by their very nature, aren't that portable. You may have to compromise in a few of your categories to get what you'll consider to be a good all-arounder.

Dozier does make an excellent product, and is worth consideration. There are many custom makers that frequent this site that make excellent products. If you want to make the most informed decision I suggest that you spend a few weeks checking out the forum and reading a variety of posts.
 
JCavSD said:
I agree with the post above that 8" OAL won't be much of a chopper. Choppers, by their very nature, aren't that portable. You may have to compromise in a few of your categories to get what you'll consider to be a good all-arounder.

Dozier does make an excellent product, and is worth consideration. There are many custom makers that frequent this site that make excellent products. If you want to make the most informed decision I suggest that you spend a few weeks checking out the forum and reading a variety of posts.
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GOOD ADVICE!:p
 
There is a version of the Fallkniven F1 - a well-proven modern survival knife- that comes with a blade in their "3G" powder steel which is one of the hardest on the market.
 
learnme said:
The knife I want above all has to have the hardest steel in the market...
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Here is a perfect example of where you may need to compromise. Steel, as it becomes harder, also becomes more brittle. And it may also lose it's ability to hold an edge, because the brittleness could lead to chipping. Typically, most makers aim for a good compromise, where the edge is hard enough to hold a good edge for a whail, but also be reasonably easy to re-sharpen, which is a vital skill to develop. Almost any hardenable steel can be hardened to the point where it can shatter like glass, and softened to the point that it won't hold an edge, but could be used to pry with. It takes a skilled craftsman to find a good balance between the two.

So, as you can see, there are very few simple questions, when it comes to knife use. I wish you well on your search.
 
As others have stated, your question is pretty broad. So, I can only offer my own opinion. For me, I prefer something medium sized as a "survival knife". I prefer something with excellent steel and a manageable size but that could be used hard without concern.

These are my Scrapyard Dumpster Mutts. They can be had for less than $150 and are, what I consider, "hard use knives".

HalloweenpartyLRSH09020.jpg


Of course there are many other choices as well. Good luck in choosing.
 
The Holy Grail of knives, the perfect combination of fit, form and function, of flexibility, utility, sharp without bein' brittle, soft enough not to break not to mention good lookin' and reasonably priced.

In 30 years if tried a lot of "Survival" knives and the best advice I can give you on this subject is to read a lot of reviews, spend the most you can comfortably spend buy quality, make sure the knife matches your needs, different survival situations need different knives.

In the end though your gonna find that the best survival knife to have is the knife you have on you and if it's a quality manufactured blade it'll serve as a useful tool in a survival situation.

Check out WS&S in Practical & Tactical and read the survival knife reviews there, these are people usually out there using them.

BTW welcome to the Forums.:thumbup:
 
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