- Joined
- Oct 8, 2005
- Messages
- 317
First, if you've 250$ for a budget there's absolutely no need to think in terms of 'one knife'.
Identify your needs. It really helps when purchasing to consider what you'll actually DO with this knife, and your own sharpening skills in relation to that use.
How sharp must it be, when, for how long before you can take the time to make it sharp again? To do what job?
How big/old/in shape are you? What's your local terrain like, and will you go into other locales where vegetation and water and woods are very different?
Most folks want a big knife and a small knife once they've been in the woods a bit.. or possibly a medium knife and a saw or hatchet, the big knife isn't something everyone loves. If you'll go into snow country you need a different blade than if you don't, equally if you go rafting or kayaking or diving, you'll need to accomodate that in your choice.
Generic choices fit most folks, but a recommendation is only a guess, and when it comes to what you'll do with the knife, you're the expert... your guess is going to be the most informed.
I like several knives that cost not so much. I am very able to maintain 1095 steel, and it's one of my low cost favorites. The Air Force Pilots Survival Knife, by Ontario, is about 40$ with sheath and stone. It's a gem. Worth double that, lasts for decades, nuf said. Works. ONLY downside, it's heavy.
I like the D-2 Outcast by Kershaw, roughly 65-75$ depending. Good steel, a purgatorys worth of reshaping the factory edge into a full convex edge... you heard it here first, to make the edge proper takes a bluidy belt grinder and a good eye, OR some diamond hones and the patience of Job. I did it, diamond and garnet hones, took too long for me to volunteer to do another one any time soon.
still, now that it's done, a gem. D-2 stays sharp and cuts green wood like buttah, the knife is a survival shelter maker par exellance.
A better one is the RTAK which I just picked up for 85$ delivered, go me, a considerable discount and I got lucky. . but a heckova knife, and one of the reasons I like 1095 so much. Chunky choppah.. and a low rent copy of some more pedigreed blade one might claim in a dim light..
certainly a lotta bang for THAT buck, I think a more common number would be like the Browning, about 100-125 range. In fact, that Browning is very similar indeed to the specs of the RTAK in the blade.. the handle's a little smaller and the blade is uncoated, but there's a strong family resemblance.
I've been very intrigued by the Browning and would likely buy it if I thought I was getting any sort of bargain.. i'm a cheap bugger. It tempts anyway, nice blade..
There's another one, the Blackjack Panga, 1095, 13 3/8 blade, kraton handle & leather sheath, about 80$.. mo' knife than the law allows a lotta places but it'd cut stuff. I have been tempted on it, too.
There are certain knives that have classic lines, you'ld get a rep for good taste if you carried one. One of those is one of the very few knives cold steel makes that i can honestly recommend, they are a company with an extremely variable product line, and some of their stuff is IMO pure crap, and some is highly overpriced, and ONCE in a while they make something i consider good value and worth talking about. They have one called a military classic, a randall design in SanMai VG1 that don't suck, findable under 200$ and I dunno how cheap, maybe 150 even. Worth owning, like the right Puma is worth owning.. if you got a used White Hunter original under 200, in good shape, you'ld not be stupid and you'ld get smarter every year you owned it. Lots of custom knives under 200 used, even a few new ones. What do you need?
I built myself a knife, about 15 years ago, in a fit of creative frustration that nobody would sell me what i wanted. It took ages, I'm not a knifemaker and did it by main strength and ignorance, and it's awfully rough lookin in a spot or two. . but i did get the SHAPE of blade i intended.
Might be, you'ld carve out the knife you want in wood, and have someone build it. I know a couple knifemakers that do good work and aren't backed up for ages. . that work under 200$.
Which means there are lots more, besides the two I know.
Some folks can be happy with a sharpened crowbar .. ie, Glock Knife, or a swedish bayonet that's been properly sharpened.. (a Very Good Bargain and not stupid) ... something under 50$ and generic and mil spec and purely a tool. Others want a pedigree and wind up with art that they dare not scratch up lest it depreciate..
With your budget I'd suggest, an AF Pilots Survival Knife, first.
I'd get a sharpening gadget next, a DMT duo sharp fine/x-fine.
Example ONLY: do not know vendor or recommend for or against them, YMMV,
http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=5751 the whole kaboodle, fine/x-fine + base..
and then the browning competition knife. You'll be into the deal for $250-275 depending how hard you chase the free shipping and trim the corners on price. You'll have blades you can count on for 20 years, amortized out that's a dollar a month. That hone will keep them sharp the whole time if you're sparing of it. Done deal. Might seem finicky and/or cold blooded to think about it that way, but those knives are solid and will stay with you a couple decades.
Razor sharp is what wears least, and lasts longest, and works best... investing in continuous sharp isn't wrong.
That AF survival knife has been more than good enough through several wars and has jumped out of perfectly good airplanes.. I'll not attempt to defend it's utility, it doesn't need it. That Browning, or a RTAK if you can find one, or similar if you run across the equivalent, (100$ ish 10" heavy blade full tang) is nearly a hatchet, cuts small saplings and branches quickly, also bamboo or canes, vines or brush in general.. a kukhri is a little specialized and generally needs a handle rebuild but CAN be a superior version of a choppah. . How much if any you need slicing capability determines if the kukhri shape is useable.. generally for me it isn't, but ymmv.
so, medium knife, big industrial sharpener, big choppah knife, 250'ish. you can play around with different versions of that idea and likely beat any/all of the individual elements but the idea is flexible. I could likely figure out several versions of similar value.
It's what I think you'ld settle out to after several years experimenting, unless you're extra-fond of hatchets.
Identify your needs. It really helps when purchasing to consider what you'll actually DO with this knife, and your own sharpening skills in relation to that use.
How sharp must it be, when, for how long before you can take the time to make it sharp again? To do what job?
How big/old/in shape are you? What's your local terrain like, and will you go into other locales where vegetation and water and woods are very different?
Most folks want a big knife and a small knife once they've been in the woods a bit.. or possibly a medium knife and a saw or hatchet, the big knife isn't something everyone loves. If you'll go into snow country you need a different blade than if you don't, equally if you go rafting or kayaking or diving, you'll need to accomodate that in your choice.
Generic choices fit most folks, but a recommendation is only a guess, and when it comes to what you'll do with the knife, you're the expert... your guess is going to be the most informed.
I like several knives that cost not so much. I am very able to maintain 1095 steel, and it's one of my low cost favorites. The Air Force Pilots Survival Knife, by Ontario, is about 40$ with sheath and stone. It's a gem. Worth double that, lasts for decades, nuf said. Works. ONLY downside, it's heavy.
I like the D-2 Outcast by Kershaw, roughly 65-75$ depending. Good steel, a purgatorys worth of reshaping the factory edge into a full convex edge... you heard it here first, to make the edge proper takes a bluidy belt grinder and a good eye, OR some diamond hones and the patience of Job. I did it, diamond and garnet hones, took too long for me to volunteer to do another one any time soon.
still, now that it's done, a gem. D-2 stays sharp and cuts green wood like buttah, the knife is a survival shelter maker par exellance.
A better one is the RTAK which I just picked up for 85$ delivered, go me, a considerable discount and I got lucky. . but a heckova knife, and one of the reasons I like 1095 so much. Chunky choppah.. and a low rent copy of some more pedigreed blade one might claim in a dim light..
certainly a lotta bang for THAT buck, I think a more common number would be like the Browning, about 100-125 range. In fact, that Browning is very similar indeed to the specs of the RTAK in the blade.. the handle's a little smaller and the blade is uncoated, but there's a strong family resemblance. I've been very intrigued by the Browning and would likely buy it if I thought I was getting any sort of bargain.. i'm a cheap bugger. It tempts anyway, nice blade..
There's another one, the Blackjack Panga, 1095, 13 3/8 blade, kraton handle & leather sheath, about 80$.. mo' knife than the law allows a lotta places but it'd cut stuff. I have been tempted on it, too.
There are certain knives that have classic lines, you'ld get a rep for good taste if you carried one. One of those is one of the very few knives cold steel makes that i can honestly recommend, they are a company with an extremely variable product line, and some of their stuff is IMO pure crap, and some is highly overpriced, and ONCE in a while they make something i consider good value and worth talking about. They have one called a military classic, a randall design in SanMai VG1 that don't suck, findable under 200$ and I dunno how cheap, maybe 150 even. Worth owning, like the right Puma is worth owning.. if you got a used White Hunter original under 200, in good shape, you'ld not be stupid and you'ld get smarter every year you owned it. Lots of custom knives under 200 used, even a few new ones. What do you need?
I built myself a knife, about 15 years ago, in a fit of creative frustration that nobody would sell me what i wanted. It took ages, I'm not a knifemaker and did it by main strength and ignorance, and it's awfully rough lookin in a spot or two. . but i did get the SHAPE of blade i intended.
Might be, you'ld carve out the knife you want in wood, and have someone build it. I know a couple knifemakers that do good work and aren't backed up for ages. . that work under 200$.
Which means there are lots more, besides the two I know.
Some folks can be happy with a sharpened crowbar .. ie, Glock Knife, or a swedish bayonet that's been properly sharpened.. (a Very Good Bargain and not stupid) ... something under 50$ and generic and mil spec and purely a tool. Others want a pedigree and wind up with art that they dare not scratch up lest it depreciate..
With your budget I'd suggest, an AF Pilots Survival Knife, first.
I'd get a sharpening gadget next, a DMT duo sharp fine/x-fine.
Example ONLY: do not know vendor or recommend for or against them, YMMV,
http://www.rockler.com/findit.cfm?page=5751 the whole kaboodle, fine/x-fine + base..
and then the browning competition knife. You'll be into the deal for $250-275 depending how hard you chase the free shipping and trim the corners on price. You'll have blades you can count on for 20 years, amortized out that's a dollar a month. That hone will keep them sharp the whole time if you're sparing of it. Done deal. Might seem finicky and/or cold blooded to think about it that way, but those knives are solid and will stay with you a couple decades.
Razor sharp is what wears least, and lasts longest, and works best... investing in continuous sharp isn't wrong.
That AF survival knife has been more than good enough through several wars and has jumped out of perfectly good airplanes.. I'll not attempt to defend it's utility, it doesn't need it. That Browning, or a RTAK if you can find one, or similar if you run across the equivalent, (100$ ish 10" heavy blade full tang) is nearly a hatchet, cuts small saplings and branches quickly, also bamboo or canes, vines or brush in general.. a kukhri is a little specialized and generally needs a handle rebuild but CAN be a superior version of a choppah. . How much if any you need slicing capability determines if the kukhri shape is useable.. generally for me it isn't, but ymmv.
so, medium knife, big industrial sharpener, big choppah knife, 250'ish. you can play around with different versions of that idea and likely beat any/all of the individual elements but the idea is flexible. I could likely figure out several versions of similar value.
It's what I think you'ld settle out to after several years experimenting, unless you're extra-fond of hatchets.
