Looking for a good blade, i will specify my needs in the post.

T

Tuffblade

Joined
Apr 13, 2008
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Hello bladeforums, i am one of those people serious about camping, i actually find it fun to not have a lot and using a knife to meet a lot of the needs. i go and see these campers with these tents and mini televisions and so on and i say to my self, "thats not camping. thats fake camping.
right now i have a blue SAK huntsman and a Gerber folding knife and i want something with a little more character. Every year i go camping for a week and this years camping trip is coming up. i also work with wood a lot and find that i would need a fixed blade knife. a Ka-bar just doesnt cut it.
my favorite brands so far are, scrapyard knives, swamp rat knives, and those really expensive busse combat knives. im looking to spend about 200 dollars tops maybe more. i need the knife to perform well at chopping, batoning, i basically need a good survival knife. the tip needs to be very durable. At knifetest.com, the scrapyard scrapper 6 tip had broken off fast and thats not really what im looking for. the blade needs to be thick but still be able to cut well. so far a lot of the rat knives seem to be the best. but i really like the game wardens size from busse.
the blade can be 7 inches or more tops but cannot exceed 8 inches.
i would also prefer the knife to be able to convert to a spear.
oh and the knife must be full tang, or the length of the scrapyard knives are fine.
I would prefer a convex edge so its very chip resistant.
well i hope i gave you a general idea, sorry if i was too demanding.
so thats that and i hope i will have a wonderful time at blade forums.
 
i forgot about this, so important im ashamed.
the blade should be a carbon steel and able to hold an edge and be sharpened easily, i wouldnt mind buying an arkansas stone and a nice sheath to go with it
 
If you can wait a bit, the Sarsquatch might be just what you are looking for.
 
Might want to try posting this in the wilderness and survival forums. We might be a little biased towards Busses and INFI here, and a $200 cap would put most Busses out of your range. :D

That said, looking for something in a carbon steel I'd turn you towards Justin at Ranger knives or maybe a Becker.

-Dan
 
Im looking for steels like INFI, sr77 and maybe d2 and the steels used at swamp rat knives, i will look for the sasquatch knife or whatever its called, thanks.
keep the recommendations coming. if the thread can be moved to survival section i would very much appreciate that. again, thank you.
 
Look over at the SWAMP RAT forum. They have Ratmandus available now at the company store for under $150. At least it is a relative of a Busse.
 
You should definately check out RAT Cutlery's RC-4 and (soon to be available) RC-6. Great wilderness knives in 1095 carbon steel, both under two bills. One very good source is Two Wolves Outdoor (twowolvesoutdoor.com) -- wilderness folk who took care of me!
 
First off, welcome to the forum!

Hmm..

7"
Tough
Chopping
Batonning
Character
Full Tang
Thick, but still a decent slicer
Convex Edge
Carbon Steel
Nice Sheath

How about the Ranger RD7? Have Justin put a convex edge on (they may now come with them already). It'll set you back around $100, so you can buy a nice sheath for it if you don't dig the tactical sheath that comes with it.
 
almost perfect, i actually will put my budget up to 300, what steel is that rd7,
looks nice, never heard of the steel but i really like the design and the tang looks really good, thanks for the recommendation. that ranger will be on my top 5 knives im looking to buy. keep the recommendations coming, i would prefer infi steel after what ive heard from it.
 
Ray Laconico can make you something to your specs well within that price range. He works with carbon steels like 5160, 1095, and 01. His knives are TOUGH. There are plenty of knives that might come close to what you want, but Ray should be able to make exactly what you want in your price range.

I just had this one made: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=549818

It sounds pretty close to what you are looking for, but maybe an inch too long. It is 1/4" at the spine and will still push cut newspaper.

The RD-7 from Ranger Knives is great too. Justin is a class act. He will do custom work as well, so you can purchase a custom RD-7 from him.
 
5160 :thumbup: It's not INFI, but it's about as tough as they come. I shudder to think what you would have to do to snap the tip off a 1/4" thick 5160 RD7. I mean, unless your camp chores involve chiseling your likeness into cave walls or something.

I'm not stomping for Rangers in particular or anything, but don't let a $100 price tag lead you to assume that it's only 1/5 as good as a $500 Busse INFI. And with that, I'll stop now lest this turn into a Busse vs. everything else thread :)

It's the 7" that's going to limit you. There a lot more options in the 5ish" range.
 
i meant that it could be any length but 7 inches tops, with still the ability to do what i specified it in the post
 
Tuffblade said:
i meant that it could be any length but 7 inches tops, with still the ability to do what i specified it in the post
Click to expand...

Ahh.. well now there are quite a few options.

The first important question is which one of these are you?
A) Willing to spend up to $300
B) Will be spending $300

:)

There are a LOT of nice production knives in the $100 range that are very tough and very reliable. Ranger Knives, Fallkniven, Rat Cutlery, etc...

For $300, you're talking Busse or individual makers. If you want to go individual maker, I don't even know where to start. There are soooo many awesome makers on these forums. Dan Koster made my woods knife, FWIW.
 
I'm willing to spend 300 dollars. i would prefer it not to be custom made, but if thats what it needs to be to meet my needs, what the hell. as for the question about the spear, its just the knife is really versatile
 
You know, if your interest in a knife with CHARACTER can outweigh your "7 inches max" criterion, you might check out what they've got over at the Himalayan Imports forum. Their knives are hand-forged by the shop that has served the King of Nepal. The blades are differentially tempered to leave the tips tough and hard to break, while the main cutting area of the blade (just distal to the curve) is made very hard. If you have any questions about durability, check out Cliff Stamp's reviews of Himalayan Imports khukuris. And if something more interesting than a factory Ka-bar is what you're looking for, I have trouble imagining anything that'd be less like the Winnebago-mobile-home-camping tool than a curved knife with a water-buffalo-horn handle and a ten-inch blade hammered out of a cannibalized Mercedes truck spring by a bunch of guys whose great-grandpas taught them how, and who routinely use them to decapitate goats. I guarantee you there won't be another exactly like it, because they're handmade. What's more, if you lurk on the H.I. forum and are quick to e-mail your interest in an offer (discount offers are made almost daily), you may be able to snag a good one for $70 or thereabouts on a good day (if you don't mind a cosmetic blemish or two). Delivered. If you don't like the first one, you can still order three more and still not break your $300 ceiling.

Just a thought.
 
All good suggestions IMHO, I like the RD7 a lot, here is mine as modded by Ilbruche:

mike053.jpg

mike036.jpg
 
well 1st of all welcome to blade forums.

2nd Do not be afraid to get a BUSSE ASH 1, they are great!!! They would be right around your 300 dollar mark, and i do not think you will brak it with the tasks you list,

3rd there are many other options BRK&T bravo 1 our any of there bushcraft knives would suit you well. They haev convex grinds and are very easy to maintain with some practice

and lastly check out some of the knife makers, Koster, Gossman and many others, thay all have some knives that meet your criteria.
 
Sound like your dying to pick up a Busse Combat, if you bump your $300 to $350 you can pick up a BATAC...INFI and it is a great knife..but If you want to keep your budget around $150 less RAT Cutlery 1095 or Ranger 5160..WELCOME !!!
 
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