Is an AUS8 knife good enough for me?

First, let me say that either knives should be fine for what your husband will be doing. Personally, for the price you would pay on an SOG knife, I'd go with something from the following names:

Fallkniven (S1 Forest Knife)
Spyderco Street Beat
Ranger knives (RD6, RD7, Shiv or Shank)
Scrapyard Knives (pick any)

This is in no way a scientific opinion, but I think that any of the above knives will out perform the SOG models you've looked at. In my opinion, they're all better quality for the same money. Lastly, if you do buy an SOG knife, don't buy directly from their website, you'll pay about 50%+ more than you'd spend elsewhere. There are plenty trustworthy online stores to choose from. I'm sure some of the other guy/gals can give some names if you wish.
 
Guys,

thanks again for the suggestions. This is proving to be more difficult than I thought.

The funny thing is, I ended up on this forum because I gave up on watches. Years ago, I made him get rid of his Les Bear (is that how you spell it?) and he was all pissed off for a while. So I started thinking along the military lines. Looked at a bunch of Luminox watches, esp. the ones labeled "spec forces" and such. Then I started thinking, this has got to be a joke, I bet all the serious military people probably laugh at these labels (somebody from the military can confirm this, maybe? I can't believe the Navy SEALs wear these Luminox or Chase Durer or whatevre) so I figured, forget the watches, I'll get him a knife instead.

I tell ya.. this like a full time job, almost. It's hard thinking like a guy :) who knew...

I'm sort of leaning towards the pup now. A folder doesn't seem to be as strong and the big one looks to be better but kinda is too big. Just need to find a reputable merchant.
 
logastellus said:
Ryan -- thank you for your suggestion. Now, these knives fold and I read somewhere that a folding knife would be inferior to a fixed blade. Is that true?

CRKT seems like a very fine choice, otherwise. Back to google, I guess...

Now, where do you all buy your knives? Local hunting store or online somewhere?

Also, that online knife store I mentioned above has these darkops knives for sale. They seem pricey, which normally would be indicative of quality but I searched this forum and found nothing but derision for this product. Anybody can clue me in, perhaps? Is there some inside joke in the knife community about these guys? I guess with a name like "dark OPs" it's hard to take them seriously, right? I even saw a picture of a man chopping one in half with a sword. Wow. The specifications seemed ok though so I'm wondering what the deal is.

Thank you, guys.

- S.
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Folders are generally not as strong as fixed blades, but compensate with convenience.

Dark Ops is not really liked in this community, mainly (If I understand it correctly) because:
-They appear to have taken similar designs from a reputable company- Extrema Ratio
-There marketing makes the knife community look like blood thirsty murderers.
 
as long as your husband isnt a steel junky or steel snob then AUS-8 will more then meet his needs.

Personally if i was buying a sog knife id be looking for a fixed blade field knife with bg-42 blade or a team leader with duratech20cv blade but i probably all into the steel junky/snob category
 
If aus8 is good then vg-10 is wayyy better. it'll put a big smile on your spouse's face. Fallkniven makes some good knives in vg-10, S1 model will be plenty good for all around camp chores. Spyderco also make some good knives but they're mostly folders. VG-10 is a very good stainless and quite tough compared to most other stainless and keeps an edge much better than aus8.

A lot of people swears by new "super steels" like s30v but they're hard to heat treat and in the early days (6+ months ago) there are few reputable companies can't get the final heat treat right and a few people had problems with it chipping.
 
ignoramus said:
First, let me say that either knives should be fine for what your husband will be doing. Personally, for the price you would pay on an SOG knife, I'd go with something from the following names:

Fallkniven (S1 Forest Knife)
Spyderco Street Beat
Ranger knives (RD6, RD7, Shiv or Shank)
Scrapyard Knives (pick any)

.
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well, a dumpster mutt seems to be a pretty good knife. But there is no way to buy it!! The website only sells a "yard stick", nothing else.
 
logastellus said:
well, a dumpster mutt seems to be a pretty good knife. But there is no way to buy it!! The website only sells a "yard stick", nothing else.
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I think you're referring to the "Yard Hook", which seems to be a great knife itself. Apparently, they're all out of the other knives. If you really want a Dumpster Mutt, check out the "For Sale" section for Busse/Swamp Rat/Scrapyard:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=804

The problem with the Busse/ Swamp Rat & Scrapyard knives are that they can sell out the knives in a matter of minutes from being put up for sale on the websites. What that also means is that a lot of them may (& most likely)be sold at higher prices at that point. If you do decide to get one of those knives though, I can assure you that they'll be a helluva lot tougher than anything you'll find from SOG.
 
logastellus,

Alright, you've narrowed the folder out of the mix, but I would still highly recommend the Leatherman Charge TTi. This knife has an S30V blade which is like "second place" for edge retention - AUS8 would be like a five or six (right guys?). Anyways though, it has a saw, a file, a fully serrated blade w/ gut hook, and a straight blade that is the S30V. It has tools and all these things are handy, and the blades are accessible with one hand. Also, you have to think, is he camping more often than he's living day-to-day possibly at a job where he could use a multi-tool (you can carry it on a belt line or in a pocket) whereas a fixed blade he can only use on the weekends when camping or in the garden.

So, unless he's going on the Appalachian trail for months on end, I would seriously consider a Leatherman Charge TTi. Or, at least consider a Benchmade Mini-Rukus (the full-size version is probably too large).

But, if you go fixed blade, ignoramus had some good advice in post #21. The Spyderco Street Beat is among my favorites and the VG-10 is amazing too... probably ranked like "third place" right under S30V (I'm not going to get into heat treating and all the technical stuff so please refrain steel nuts out there).

Anyways... good luck again... you might want to aim for something better than AUS8 if he might get hooked on knives and research. If he's not that kind of guy, then AUS8 is good, and just a note, I've used my CRKT M16-13M in much harsher environments than camping and yard work. So, unless he needs it for chopping (which, in that case he should have an axe), it holds up EXTREMELY well as a beater - especially with that Gerber pocket diamond sharpener I mentioned in my last post. I'm in the military and I use all my CRKT M16-13M and Leatherman Charge TTi pretty hard and they've held up nicely.

This is strickly my opinion and I will probably get flogged for it, but I will dare say that in most cases a folder can be used where a fixed blade is being used... personal preference rules the day though, so... hope my .02 helps.

Goodluck,
Ryan
 
Ryan,

I looked at the leatherman you mentioned. It just seems like an overkill for him. He's in the office all day, so he won't be able to use it at work.

Street beat -- looks very nice but seems to be $130 cheapest I found. The pup elite can be had for $75. Is the difference worth the price, you think? And the spyderco has a smaller blade than the SOG also.

Also, my sister's friend is an avid hiker and he recommended a Gerber LMF II. What do you think of that one? It's priced right about where the pup elite is and the specifications seem to be similar also.

OK, off to work. Thank you, guys!
 
ashtxsniper said:
It also wouldnt hurt to look into the Ka-bar knives.
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I did. The problem was that I read the steel faq and then looked at Ka-bar knives. But I couldn't find anything in under 6", using D2 steel. (I can't believe I'm so versed in this terminology by now!!!) All I found was 1095 steel and the faq said those corrode easily. They have a d2 knife like this one:

http://www.knifeworks.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=9148

but that's 7" and that seems rather large.
 
IMHO if he is not really serious camper then he will be more happy with a folder - you can carry it much more easier.

I'd avoid anything with "special forces" and similar ads.
Get him something from Spyderco, Benchmade or Kershaw.

From left to right: Camillus CUDA EDC ($25, discontinued), Spyderco Military sprint run with carbon fiber and BG-42 blade steel (around $170), Benchmade Gravitator (around $105, discontinued but it is still available), Benchmade Opportunist (around $95, discontinued)
IMG_4336.jpg


IMG_4233.jpg


IMG_4341.jpg


You can also consider Benchmade 710, 630, 740, 940, 960 Spyderco Manix, Spyderco carbon fiber Caly3, Kopa or Kiwi, Kershaw ZDP Cyclone (limited run), SG-2 Blur or if you want to stick with SOG Tomcat 3.

BTW if you want to rather not spend too much, give a try to Byrd knives (they are owned by Spyderco, they are made in China but they are very good) -e.g. Cara Cara is very nice.
 
logastellus,

After narrowing it down it seems like you still want a fixed blade made of pretty good steel...

Here are my suggestions after your narrowing:

SOG's Daggert 1 or their Hunter Revolver. Both seem to be great knives. Especially with the Daggert 1's five and half inch blade, that is sharp on both sides and features a small serration spot for sawing to a small degree.

Also, look at Benchmade's Outbounder in D2 steel and Ka-Bar's Impact Spear point also in D2.

You are right too, the Street Beat may be a little small, but I would be weary in approaching 6" for blade length. Over that practicality for most uses goes out the window...

Let us know what you're thinking...
Ryan
 
AUS steels are just fine but for that price or less for an outdoor fixed blade I'd go with 1095 either from Ka-bar, Ontario RAT, or TOPS. 1095 is soft so it needs sharpening more often but it is for the cost one of the strongest steels available, not to mention it is much easier to sharpen than most other steels.
 
In my experience, AUS8 will take a razor sharp edge, and is very easy to sharpen.

OTOH, I need to resharpen after every use.:grumpy:

Personally, I will never own another AUS series blade. There are far too many better steels out there.

Ben
 
I wish I posted sooner.

Benchmade Fixed griptilian is the perfect blade. I even think it costs less and has better steel than the SOG. Although I think AUS8 is a very good steel.

You can get the Griptilian for $65. and it has 154cm. Excellent all around outdoors knife.
 
Thanks, everyone.

At this point, it's between the daggert, pup elite and gerber LMF ii. The daggert looks a little too "special forcey" for me. I can see being dropped behind enemy lines with it or something like that but for camping (with GPS, no less).. I don't know.

I think I'll just get the pup elite & be done with it. I can't take so many choices, it's just overwhelming.
 
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