looking for some advice

E

egroeg555

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Jun 4, 2006
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Last June I came in here asking some questions and ended up with a knife that I really like. It was a Benchmade mini-griptilian. So, I've come back with different knife need.

I'm looking to get a larger, most likely fixed blade knife for camping and other outdoors stuff. I do a fair amount of camping, hiking, and backpacking. I think that it would be very useful for me to have a knife that I can hack things with and in general do things that I can't or won't with my folder.

From what I've seen the ka-bar USMC knife seems like it might work well, but I'm very interested in hearing your opinions.

Also, for sharpening is the spyderco sharpmaker pretty much the best way for me to go?
 
Cold Steel SRK is a another good choice

Benchstones are the best way to go, but the Sharpmaker makes things easy
 
From what I've seen the ka-bar USMC knife seems like it might work well, but I'm very interested in hearing your opinions.
Click to expand...

The Ka-Bar is a good knife with a proven track record.
But you really don't need a big knife.
The more you know, the less knife you need.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
I was just reading the post on the K-BAR 14 1/4 bowie. It sounds like that might be something to consider. 14 is the total length, right?

The cold steel SRK looks like it could work. I see it on the cold steel website and I assume that it can be bought for less elsewhere. Where would I buy it? It isn't on the site that I have bought stuff from before.

What would be a good benchstone to get? Although, I should probably go for the easy and get the sharpmaker.


allenC, I understand what you are staying, but I still think that I'd be nice to have a knife that is a bit more rugged than my folder and if I get one big enough, I won't ever want a hatchet.


As for talking to Scottang1, I'll send him an e-mail, but custom knife maker sounds like he would be out of my price range; however, I'd be interested in seeing what he offers.
 
Buck 119 /budget bad boy
Fallkniven survival knife /euro goodness
scrapyard 6 or MFS strider /200$ americans
himilayan imports kukuri / exotic and usefull
 
OK, I should have mentioned this earlier. I'm looking for something probably around $50 and pretty much definitely not over $60.
 
I'd complement the Mini-grip with a Khukri, they are good for hiking/camping chores.

A small sharp and a solid workhorse.

//Jay
 
Is the knife pretty much going to be used to chop with? If so you really might want to consider a small Khurki or a Kershaw Outcast. The Outcast has D2 steel. Also look at the Becker lineup as they have a few in that price ranfe that make outstanding outdoors knives for what you have in mind! Let us know what you pick up.
 
Try a custom from Justin @ Ranger Knives.... my RD-4 (4inch cutting edge) is amazing.... the prices are extremely reasonable.... and the materials (5160 carbon steel and micarta) are proven to do pretty much anything you could throw at them.... if your interested let me know and i can get you links....

mmmotorcycle
 
I think a Khukri isn't quite what I'm looking for. I'm pretty sure the the curved edge would make it not as useful for me.

The kershaw outcast looks pretty nice, but it's a little bigger than what I want.

Those becker knives look nice, but I don't know anything about them. Anyone have experience with them? know how they preform?

Feel free to send links about the ranger knives. I looked around some, but didn't have too much success.


Currently I'll leaning toward a cold steel SRK or a K-BAR 14 1/4 bowie. I know these knives are fairly different, but these are the ones that stood out to me as good price, good quality and most likely what I'm looking for.
I like the SRK because it's compact, simple and seems to be decent quality. I'm not sure about the sheath though. Does a hard sheath get annoying?
The bowie seems to be a very durable knife. The weight and the handle design would make it great for hacking stuff.

What do you guys know about these knives? Opinions? Comments?
 
I would go with the Becker family , they have a couple of 5" pieces , the Crewman IIRC .

Chris
 
Go to www.newgraham.com. Though they are currently out of stock, they carry the cold steel srk for $56.24 plus shipping. Newgraham is pretty much the only online company I order from. It's hard to beat their prices, and I've ordered from them a half dozen or so times and have never had any problems.
Also, to me, a hard sheath is no more annoying than a soft sheath, since soft sheaths usually have a hard liner to keep the blade from cutting the sheath. Also, all the hard sheaths I own have a fabric belt loop which allows the sheath to move with you some what when you lean over etc.
 
I only own one Becker (the Becker Necker), but I love it. The steel Becker uses is easy to sharpen and holds a good edge, and the blade coating is very tough and prevents blade rust. I've used mine alot, but have not managed to scratch any of the blade coating off. From what I've read, Beckers are great knives and usually cost less than knives of similar quality and size. Newgraham also carries the Becker line.
 
So, I've realized that I don't really want a knife as big as the ka bar bowie. I think a knife more of the SRK size would work better for my purposes.
The becker knives are growing on me a bit, but I'm wondering why the crewmen and companion are so different in price. They seem very similar to me, but I'm probably missing something. I've put the crewmen into the knives I'm considering category, but the companion is too expensive. I am concerned a bit about the handle. My hands tend to sweat a lot and I'm concerned that it may become difficult for me to grip the smooth metal on the handles of the becker knifes. On the other hand, from what I can tell from pictures the SRK it has a griping surface similar to my mini-griptillian, which I have no problem gripping.

Also, I was reading around about the SRK and some people were talking about having to grind down the edge of the SRK in order to get a sharp edge. Does this mean giving it a shallower angle? Anyone know anything about this?
 
I have the Companion and really like it. The only difference I know of is a bit different blade shape and the Companion has a Kydex sheath. Btw, I bought mine NIB at a B & M for around the same price as the Crewman.
 
Thanks, please post on my other thread titles "Cold Steel SRK or diff knife for outdoor use"

I had started a new thread because this one slipped down to the 3rd or 4th page
 
This thread is only on 1 page. And there is no need to start a NEW thread on the same topic; as that is bad form. And it is very easy to click on "View First Unread".
 
The K-Bar USMC is a good choice. I have had mine for 16 years, and it has seen some abuse, and has never broken. It`s easy to sharpen, and can be purchased for around 50 bucks
 
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