Knives that deliver a lot of cutting power

K

kidwholaughs

Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
1,189
Hey Guys,

To date, the sharpest knives that I have handles are differentially tempered puukkos. This knife, cuts into wood like a chain saw. However, puukos are not full tang knives. As a result, it may not take abuse.
Here is my question. Are there RC's , bushcrafters, kepharts and etc that can deliver the same cutting power as puukkos for less than 150 bux?
Thanks

God Bless
 
The Walter Davis Bushcraft has alot of cutting Power.

Dan Koster Bushcraft as well

And right at the 150 mark, you can get a Brian Andrews Bushcraft which has tremendous cutting power!
 
kidwholaughs said:
Hey Guys,

To date, the sharpest knives that I have handles are differentially tempered puukkos. This knife, cuts into wood like a chain saw. However, puukos are not full tang knives. As a result, it may not take abuse.
Here is my question. Are there RC's , bushcrafters, kepharts and etc that can deliver the same cutting power as puukkos for less than 150 bux?
Thanks

God Bless
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I don't think so or if so just barely.
 
I've gotten a lot of very fine work performance as well as some pretty heavy batoning out of my Fiddleback Forge Woodsman. I've shaved fuzz sticks, thumped it through 4" logs, and used it to hack/chop 2" branches to make them fire ready. The thing is still a lightsaber. I Just touched it up with an arkansas stone and a loaded strop.

Full tang with a gorgeous (and incredibly tough) two-tone hand finished handle. It has about a 5.5" blade and is $200 shipped and worth twice that. Andy is one of the best guys to deal with:thumbup:
 
The Bark River Bravo-1 cuts like a chainsaw. For realz. You won't be breaking one of those anytime soon, either. You can probably find one for around $150 on the exchange.
 
All of the blades from ML Knives and Dan Koster will cut like lasers right outta the box, not sure if you could pick Dan's up for less than $150 though !
 
Try any OPINEL I prefer carbon version and you´ll never go back they cut like laser.......
 
I just bought a frontier hunter from ML knives with elk stag scales and it is amazing. Cuts like a lazer and is very comfortable. Came with the best leather sheath I've seen in a long time and the price was 153.00. Some of the best knife money I've spent. Also, Rob Johnson is an excellent knife maker and his work is outstanding. I got a knife from him with denim micarta and 01 steel with a tooled sheath for 110.00. There are several out there if you look around...Jim
 
Sort of an unfair question. Scandi's cut wood especially well, but do not provide an edge that is robust to harder work. Even though cutting wood seems like a workout, it really isn't that much so. The majority of wood cutting is slicing with the grain rather than cross grain. Albeit, there is some cuts that are cross grain like in the case of notches, but those are usually done on thin sections.

One reason why traditional scandi grind knives might not but full tang is that the blade is designed in terms of its grind to maximimize cutting performance at the sacrifice of edge roubustness. Hence, the camp knives as per above have convex or V-grinds that are more rounded in how they are expected to perform. A compromise to cutting, but better able to take chopping, prying and other hard tasks.

As a bushcrafter you might say - "I don't need to do any of those things" and then opt for a scandi. Now, for the full tang custom scandi's where do they fit in the spectrum? I can only imagine that given their edges are as tuned as some of them are, they might not be able to take abuse, or at least the edge can't, either.

No one knife fits all the use patterns equally well and every one comes with some type of compromise on performance given its characteristics and intended function.
 
I have cut using the Bravo 1 and Fiddleback Woodsman and also tried one ML knife.

They cut fantastic but the cutting power is not near say a Lauri PT scandi blade. Now they are probably more durable but you said cutting power which I interpret as cutting the deepest with the least effort.

I forgot about BGA. What Barberfobic said is probably true. BGA could get you a fulltang that would be close to what you want. Also maybe Dan Koster's
01 fulltang scandis since he usually sells them for slightly less than the 3v's.
 
Lots of people batton puukos, and you can buy about 15 for your $150. The Swedish Army version has a very tough and comfortable handle and is about the same price as the wood handled versions.
 
m said:
Lots of people batton puukos, and you can buy about 15 for your $150. The Swedish Army version has a very tough and comfortable handle and is about the same price as the wood handled versions.
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If it's a Pukko that he really wants then Koyote on the forum makes some great full tang versions. I understand where you are coming from saying that he could get 15 army versions but if your knife breaks when out in the field it is of little comfort knowing that you have 14 more sat at home when you can't get at them !:(
 
Muskrat Man's full tang puukko.
One of my favorite and you can get a handmade forged puukko with full tang within your price range. ($125 for knife only!) Kaleb (Muskrat Man) is also a 'good guy' and pleasure to buy from.

http://muskratmancustoms.freehomepage.com/catalog_4.html

I also own plenty of Finnish, Kosters, ML and other puukko/scandi knives but the muskrat man full tang will always be a favorite.

Do an online search for reviews, including youtube videos of his blades.
 
CWL said:
Muskrat Man's full tang puukko.
One of my favorite and you can get a handmade forged puukko with full tang within your price range. ($125 for knife only!) Kaleb (Muskrat Man) is also a 'good guy' and pleasure to buy from.

http://muskratmancustoms.freehomepage.com/catalog_4.html

I also own plenty of Finnish, Kosters, ML and other puukko/scandi knives but the muskrat man full tang will always be a favorite.

Do an online search for reviews, including youtube videos of his blades.
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I have one and like it too but I had him make mine a tru scandi and the edge chipped off something awful like 3 times.

The Muskrat Man did great on pine and softwoods but when I tried it on some oak that was dried, nothing extreme just whittling thru maybe a 3/4" branch about half the edge chipped off.

I resharpened the whole thing, still scandi took it back out and same thing:thumbdn:

Finally I gave up and put a secondary convex on mine and it worked OK.

I like mine now but I'm lukewarm on the steel he is using for a true scandi edge(unless mine was just poorly tempered)
 
hollowdweller said:
I have one and like it too but I had him make mine a tru scandi and the edge chipped off something awful like 3 times.

The Muskrat Man did great on pine and softwoods but when I tried it on some oak that was dried, nothing extreme just whittling thru maybe a 3/4" branch about half the edge chipped off.

I resharpened the whole thing, still scandi took it back out and same thing:thumbdn:

Finally I gave up and put a secondary convex on mine and it worked OK.

I like mine now but I'm lukewarm on the steel he is using for a true scandi edge(unless mine was just poorly tempered)
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A little off topic but I have to take my hat off to you hollowdweller for telling it how it is, this does not happen enough on these forums because people don't like to hurt the makers feelings ! In truth what happened to your knife does not automatically make it a bad knife but we at least now understand the limitations of them !!!!
There is nothing worse than everyone saying how great their new knife is, we get one and are dissapointed and then receive an private e-mail saying " Yeah that happened to mine as well !!!! ":(
 
BarberFobic1992 said:
Brian Andrews at www.offthemapoutfitters.com has a couple knives with a scandi grind and a full tang, so that might fill the bill nicely.
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No other knife that I've ever used has the cutting power and efficiency of my Brian Andrews bushcrafter. (Nor anything as comfortable to use). But the scandi grind, 1/8" stock, and constant eliptical edge make it cut like a demon. :thumbup:

brianandrewsknifeandaxe002.jpg
 
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