Looking to add another knife to my 'Outdoors' collection

I did not see a Swiss Army Knife on your list. I am not suggesting it for the hard use stuff but I think you will be surprised how useful one can be. Check out the SAK Forester or a nice Alox Farmer.
 
Alright, pretty sure I haven't done any actual work this morning lol. I've been looking at knives since 6:45 when I got here, haha.

Anyways, I've narrowed it down (after I expanded the search well beyond the original list). I plan on getting another fixed blade to carry as my main instead of my M16 after this, either a 4" or 5" from ESEE or one of the Busse lines. This leaves a disconnect for me between having a 4/5" and getting a 6" (ie ESEE-6), which I also am not convinced would accomplish the potential chores I want, with the expediency I am after. Sooo, that puts me firmly into the 7-9" category now.

I just can't decide if carrying a 15" blade is practical...it won't fit across the small of my back, and strapped to my thigh it is really pushing it as the tip would stick out from my leg almost 2" (big quads), so that really only leaves pack carry or back carry as realistic possibilities. A 13" blade I could still accomplish all of the carry situations I would like to utilize, though that's pretty much at the max OAL.

So with that in mind it drops me to the 7-8" range, consisting of the following that I've identified as viable, both for use and price:
OKC RD7
Becker BK7
OKC RAT7
SYKCO 711 (used)
SR Rodent 7 (used)



I really wish ESEE made a 7.5/8" blade...my decision would already be made. Oh well.
 
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flatblackcapo said:
I did not see a Swiss Army Knife on your list. I am not suggesting it for the hard use stuff but I think you will be surprised how useful one can be. Check out the SAK Forester or a nice Alox Farmer.
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That's what I have the leatherman for. It covers almost all of those tools, but I can use it harder.


My swiss army was my EDC from age 7-15. I still love the one I have.
 
I own Esee and Becker, awesome knives, but I love my Browning Crowell/Barker when going big. It feels fast in the hand and the performance is almost unbelievable for low tech steel made in Taiwan. I think the foreign manufacture is why so many around here don't even try it. Their loss. I understand their reasoning but I can't find a US made knife designed like it for less than three times the money. It doesn't hurt that it really looks good too. If you look you can find it for around $95 on the web which is an amazing deal.
 
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I would get the Rodent 7, but I'm a sucker for SR101 and micarta. The Rodent 7, 711, and RD7 will out-chop the BK7 and RAT7 because of the extra weight, but then you are stuck carrying extra weight. It's too bad the BK9 is too big--it chops better than most hatchets I've used.
 
nhtool said:
I own Esee and Becker, awesome knives, but I love my Browning Crowell/Barker when going big. It feels fast in the hand and the performance is almost unbelievable for low tech steel made in Taiwan. I think the foreign manufacture is why so many around here don't even try it. There loss. I understand their reasoning but I can't find a US made knife designed like it for less than three times the money. It doesn't hurt that it really looks good too. If you look you can find it for around $95 on the web which is an amazing deal.
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The original production version of that knife was on my wish lift for a long time, before it got moved overseas. The original outperformed the current version by leaps and bounds.

CloudsRest said:
I would get the Rodent 7, but I'm a sucker for SR101 and micarta. The Rodent 7, 711, and RD7 will out-chop the BK7 and RAT7 because of the extra weight, but then you are stuck carrying extra weight. It's too bad the BK9 is too big--it chops better than most hatchets I've used.
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I wish I could do the BK9, but it just isn't gonna work. I really would love the Rodent 7, but just need to find a deal, otherwise I'll probably end up with the BK7 with some micarta handles.
 
The LMFII is a higly underrated knife and functions well IMHO. ill get bashed for saying it but 420 hc is not a bad steel at all. it takes a good edge easily and holds it fairly well. also this knife has one of the best sheaths on the market for a production fixed blade. Take a second look and for the price its great. handle is very comfortable ( I wear large size gloves) functional and not too expensive ( can be had for around $65) just look into it. other than that you have many good knives on that list. Esee is a great quality knife. also would suggest looking into Himalayan imports here on the forum as they have some awesome stuff. Try a BVCAK (Babay Villager Chiruwa Ang Khola) around 9.5-10" overall 4.5"ish sharpened edge and mine weighs 10 oz super solid little knife has all but replaced my other normal sized belt knives since I got it. best of luck
 
I think I've settled on the BK7.

I need another project (cause I don't have enough already haha), so I'm going to do custom G10 scales and a custom kydex sheath. May or may not Cerakote or blue the blade...I wanna see how much I like the stock coating first. Only thing that sucks is finding G10 slabs in the colors I want, that are 3/8x2x5.5+...almost all I can find are 3/8x6x12 or 3/8x1.5x6.
 
ESEE 6 is a lot of knife for very little weight, and a lifetime warranty. I have the 4 and 6 but use my Izula 2's the most. The only real gripe that I've read on the ESEE's is that the grip on the 6 is too large and square for some, and that the grip on the 4 is too small for others. The 6 feels fine in my XL's but if you have smaller hands the 4 may feel\work better for you. I got the obligatory high end European axes, and they ARE great tools. But I also picked up a Fiskars splitting axe and their tiny hatchet. They both work quite well for my uses. I really like the hatchet, it weighs next to nothing.
 
upnorth said:
ESEE 6 is a lot of knife for very little weight, and a lifetime warranty. I have the 4 and 6 but use my Izula 2's the most. The only real gripe that I've read on the ESEE's is that the grip on the 6 is too large and square for some, and that the grip on the 4 is too small for others. The 6 feels fine in my XL's but if you have smaller hands the 4 may feel\work better for you. I got the obligatory high end European axes, and they ARE great tools. But I also picked up a Fiskars splitting axe and their tiny hatchet. They both work quite well for my uses. I really like the hatchet, it weighs next to nothing.
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I wear a size M glove lol. But I find I don't have any issues with large handled knives or pistol grips, so I doubt I'll have an issue either way.
 
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