large fixed blade for the bush

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firstblood

Joined
May 29, 2003
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your choice of fixed blade 7 inch blade length and up.what blade shape.steel, and grind.for the bush
 
Yeah! That there Tramontina Machete's is wickely effective.
But "firstblood", a CS Bushman is probably what you really need!
I seriously can't think of any other knife that works out to be so highly invaluable in any environment for the price of 2 machetes...
 
Since no price range was stated I will mention a few affordable and easy to to acquire. Ontario Rat-7(1095 or D2) to start. A Scapper 6 (SR77) if you can find one??? Cold Steel Recon Scout (SK-5). There are a couple of Bark Rivers that would fill the bill size wise (Rogue in A2). Ontario Spec SP1 (1095) is in your size range for $30.00. Theres just a few....
 
firstblood said:
your choice of fixed blade 7 inch blade length and up.what blade shape.steel, and grind.for the bush
Click to expand...

It depends heavily on where in the world you would use it, and for what...

But assuming a big, tough chopper for all manner of abusive tasks, then I'd consider getting an RD9 from Ranger Knives. It's not a machete (which is either very good or very bad, depending on whether you need a machete or not - over here in Scandinavian forests, few things could be of any less use than a machete), but it is a large knife, 9.5 inches of blade. It's a full flat grind, .25" thick, made out of 5160 spring steel, so it should be more than tough enough for any use in any way resembling reasonable. :D It's certainly one of my favourite big knives. Bear in mind that a knife that large is not well suited for precision work, so you might want to bring along something smaller, like a 3 to 4" fixed blade. If you're not much for lookers, then a couple of bucks invested in a Mora knife or a basic Marttiini puukko would be well spent. :)
 
A good old BUCK 120! for $57,99 --- or a cheap spring steel bolo machete for $12 with a little frost mora knife for $12
 
Well I recently bought a CS Recon Scout. It is a bit too thick a blade for my taste but that is minor. What I really dont like is the guard, it stops me from being able to choke up on the blade. I think the knife's design is good for the bush but a better, or none at all, guard would go a long way to improve it. For a general bush blade up here in Canada I like the clip point bowie. I like carbon steel for its ease of sharpening and strength, and I like falt grinds because they allow for more cutting abiltity in a large knife.
 
Does anyone know of a similar styled knife to the Recon Scout that is thinner, ie lighter, with little to no guard, and a shorter handle, within the same price point?
 
The Bark River Rogue would be good, but from Bark River, I'd probably go with the Canadian Camp knife for 7" and under, and the Bark River Golok for over 7". Their Golok is an awesome tool! I wouldn't think of heading into the bush without it!
 
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4846/knifeandgun168fi7.jpg


Here is one thats done it for 15 years at about 3.00 per year. I can see no need to spend more. This old Ontario has chopped through ice, cut hundred of walking sticks, Made a truck load of fuzz sticks, skinned hogs and cows and deer , stired the fire, stired the soup and made me feel confident on every outing. I expect it will out last me and be handed down. If I loose it I can replace it in a matter of hours for about 50-60 bucks.
 
Yeah Ontario Spec Plus Marine Combat its a good knife too and the sheath is incridible ! I have give mine to a good friend.:rolleyes:...maybe i will buy it again.
 
In the Large Fixed Blade department, I stick with Ranger. RD6, RD7, RD9, any of those will do you just fine. Hey, that rhymed!
 
Ka-bar's large "heavy" Bowie is one to consider. I think they made a mistake in naming it, since the blade is not really that heavy, and may actually be less heavy than many common production Bowies out there. It's got a flat grind, which makes it better at slicing than some other large knives, but it seems quite tough, and chops well. You can get one for under $50 delivered. Steel is 1085, I believe.

For a bit of a walk on the wild side, consider a khukuri. Go with Himalayan Imports (via the forum of that name under "Manufacturers" on BladeForums). Browse around the old posts a bit, and note that most days there are a number of their knives offered at a deep discount below the standard asking price. You can predictably get a good bush knife for $75 or less there (especially if you don't mind browsing and waiting for one that got a little rust during the journey from Kathmandu, or some other usually-cosmetic blemish). H.I.'s main website is here: http://www.himalayan-imports.com/ ; links from there will give details of various models. The H.I. khukuris each come with a smaller knife called a "karda" for finer cutting tasks, as well as a honing steel, both of which fit into little pockets in the back of the khukuri scabbard. I'd suggest a British Army Service ("BAS") model as a starter, all-around bush knife. For a SUPER-tough one, consider the Chiruwa Ang Khola model (slab handled, blade usually half an inch thick at the thickest part of the spine, H.I. guarantees to the original purchaser that if this model is bent or broken, they will send TWO replacements; it's thick enough, though, that it can be awkward for some non-slicing tasks.) Himalayan Imports khukuris are hand-forged, differentially tempered (upper 50s to lower 60s in the main cutting portion of the blade, less hard elsewhere, to provide edge-holding as well as resilience), very tough (see reviews here, in which they leave other "tough" production knives in the dust:
http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/face_off_II.html
http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/face_off_III.html
http://funditor.110mb.com/Chiruwa Ang Khola Khukuri Review.html
http://www.outdoors-magazine.com/spip.php?page=article&id_article=72),
backed by a great guarantee; also, because they're hand-forged by expert craftsmen in Nepal, they've got a heck of a lot more "character" than anything you're going to get from a factory in New York or Taiwan. Oh: you asked about steel. The steel for these is cannibalized leaf-spring steel from trucks and cars that find their way into central Asia, and from old files and the like. I think the conventional wisdom is that it's usually something like 5160 steel, but I'm not sure.

For inexpensive, I've really never had any problems with Ontario's Old Hickory knives. You can pick these up on eBay in all kinds of sizes and shapes, and it's not hard to get them for under $3 apiece that way. They fill a niche of an inexpensive, tough knife that you can keep as a backup in case your $400 custom-made knife gets dropped in the lake or falls off a cliff.

Have fun!
 
I bought a Camp Tramp from Swamp Rat a few years back. I think it was within the first month or two that it was released. A very nice Large Bowie Style knife. It's in a modified 52100 steel. An excellent chopper and back woods knife. I'm not sure if they make them anymore in that style. Check out the Swamp Rat website.
 
Just a thought, if your looking to go cheap you can get a cold steel bushman for around $20 bucks. There is a bunch of good knives out there just a thought if ya didint have a lot to spend.- Joel
 
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