Looking to get first knife

invictus35 said:
Thank you!! I'll make sure to read up on all those. If you had to pick one larger one which would be your go to?
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No problem bro.

Well..... I am biased because I love my Fallkniven , it is truly a great knife that will last you a lifetime if you take care of it , and being 'stainless' there is far , far less worry about rust like on our Carbon steel friends and , I love carbon steel blades too !
Becker has a great , loyal following and for good reason , Becker makes some wonderful knives , reasonably priced that will also last you a lifetime.
ESEE , the same can be said for them as Becker. You cant go wrong with any of those.
Cold Steel makes the SRK which looks exactly like the Fallkniven S1 and it is a lot cheaper but with CS you get Aus8 steel , with Fallkniven you get VG10 , in my opinion VG10 is far better than Aus8 , although Aus8 will get you where you need to go.
both are 'stainless' but VG10 is not only stronger ( laminate) , it has better edge retention.

If I had to pick one out of what I listed it would be the S1 , and that's only because I have used it extensively in the woods , at home , at work.... pretty much bombproof , although some folks do not dig on a rubber handle , doesnt bug me though.

Tostig
 
One last thing , I noticed you too , live in the Republik. I would be wary carrying a largish fixed blade in the city , especially up in the Bay Area where folks are a bit.... easily frightened.. shall we say :)

Tostig
 
From reading all the posts I have a few recomendations. First for a small utility knife, esee izula extremely handy little knife available in mulitiple colors with scales or without, you can wrap paracord around the grip or leave it bare. For a combat knife the esee6 either with or without clip point, i'd look into the laws first, the becker bk7, the cold steel recon bowie is first rate as well, the zt100 if you prefer a stainless blade, or if you want to take a big jump in price one of chris reeves green beret or pacific fixed blades.

all of these will work very well and i've used all of them.

cricket
 
all the above mentioned, ESEE, Becker, Fallkniven...you can't go wrong. That said, I just got a ZT0100 and ordered a Scrap Yard 511 last week. They're not out yet though, and no sheath included in the $90 price. Well within your price range.
 
The short Kabar might be something you would be interested in. It is a slightly shorter version of the standard USMC Kabar(5.25 vs 7 inches), and is a fighting knife, but one that has proven itself as a good "regular" blade. It is also quite cheap, and would be a good starting point. Kabar makes a very similar knife based on a WWI blade called the MK1 that could also fit pretty well.

For a larger woods knife, I think Beckers are pretty great for the money. They're best general use and fighting knife is probably the BK7 (the one moose recommended), but that is a bit larger that what you are looking for. It is however incredibly tough(and sweet :)).

Why don't you take a look at some of these and see what you think you're interested in, and we can all go from there.

As for the laws in CA, I'm not good with those, but I remember hearing somewhere that they are strict with fixed blades there, and relatively lax with folders. I could be completely off on that though.
 
Hi invictus -

You will get good information here, but coming here and asking what is the best knife is like logging into an ice-cream affection-ado forum and asking what is the best flavor.

Ultimately, it will boil down to what you want to use the knife for and your personal preference.

Additionally, for every person here who hates CS, there is someone who loves them.

Welcome to our sickness - I predict around February 2012 you will be buying your first custom made knife. :^)

best regards -

mqqn
 
I get it OP, you want a "tactical" knife but are somewhat wary that you might get ridiculed. Well, don't mind 'em, if you want a tactical knife say so, so we can make recommendations that might fit what you want.
 
Ok, i think i get ya. i was asking about environment because i didn't know if stainless was a must or if a high carbon blade would be acceptable. i was asking about laws because a sharpened clip point aids in penetration thus adding a little more fight aspect to an otherwise utility knife, but can result in it being labeled a "dagger" which is a problem in some places. as far as an "all round" knife, i personally don't see that happening with a 2-4 inch blade, sorry :( if you don't mind going a little bigger, these would be my suggestions -

(1) Cold Steel SRK
(2) Cold Steel Recon Tanto
(3) ESEE6CP
(4) Buck Nighthawk
 
invictus35 said:
well i wont be fighting illegally if that makes sense. I dont plan on going to jail anytime soon. And the point of it would be to train and then if ever need be use it. sure there are other defense solutions. but i like this way better. and My friend will be getting whatever he chooses. I think he wants a cold steel spike series blade. or a tanto.

yeah i was htinking cold steel till i read a thread on them sucking. its above in one of my replies.
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OK....I think I'm getting there. You want a knife that you can have on you to defend yourself if need be...and that would be it's primary purpose. Purely self-defense.

Again...that's fine...I'm sure you have fully thought through the practicality and legal ramifications of using a knife for self-defense.

I'll throw this blade out....the Boker Plus CLB Microcom. Small, not terribly expensive, and purpose-designed for self-defense by Chad Los Banos...a guy who knows what he's talking about.

It doesn't look particularly great for other applications, but it doesn't seem that that is a concern for you.
 
marcinek said:
OK....I think I'm getting there. You want a knife that you can have on you to defend yourself if need be...and that would be it's primary purpose. Purely self-defense.

Again...that's fine...I'm sure you have fully thought through the practicality and legal ramifications of using a knife for self-defense.

I'll throw this blade out....the Boker Plus CLB Microcom. Small, not terribly expensive, and purpose-designed for self-defense by Chad Los Banos...a guy who knows what he's talking about.

It doesn't look particularly great for other applications, but it doesn't seem that that is a concern for you.
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Hehehe, I think he wants a big phallic symbol Marc. ;)
 
I like the Ontario Ranger RD lineup. It goes from an RD-4, RD-6, RD-7, and RD-9. Blades are actually 1/2" longer than the number of the knife, ie, the RD-4 has a 4.5" blade. These are big knives with 5160 as the blade steel, a very tough carbon steel, and blades are 1/4" thick. There is a new lineup of Ontario Ranger RD's called the Bush Series, and these are 3/16" thick, but all else is the same. Prices around the $100 mark.

Though I don't have it, I like the design of the ZT0160. It is a simple clip point with a 5" blade of .160" thick Sandvik 14C28N steel. Comes with a kydex sheath. Also around the $100 mark.
 
You might wanna look into this:

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Okay Fixed blade.... Cold Steel and SOG are good blades to start out with. The Trailmaster is the one Cold Steel blade that grabs me. In the SOG line, I would look at the Seal Pup Elite (plain edge) and NW Ranger. I am a lot more familiar with the SOG blades than Cold Steel since I have quite a few.

The Fallniven fixed blades are gorgeous. They aren't cheap, but you won't be unhappy if you buy one assuming it is of a size that works for you. Look at the F1 and S1 and the less expensive versions have zytel handles. I just recently picked up a F1 (3.8" blade) with the ivory micarta handle. Absolutely beautiful knife. I can't help but just pick it up and fondle it. Honestly, I have not been affected this way in a couple years when I bought a SOG Mini-Vulcan (folder) that just facinated me. Before that, it was a Randall blade that had that effect on me like in 1990. I have bought customs that really didn't make me want to fondle them.

Some of the Bark River knives are quite appealing to me. I like the Aurora and North Star.

Black Jack knives Model 5 or 7 are a medium to big bowie type knives and very appealing to me as well. Good quality as well. They definitely have that appeal that makes you want to fondle them.

Check out the ESEE knives. I have the -3, but the -4, -5, and -6 are cool knives and very tactical looking. They are well made knives and the cost won't cause you to mortage your home to buy one.

Go to some of the advertisers here at BF and look at pictures of these knives and you'll see the pricing.
 
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how do you not have a house or apartment to ship things to? most things you will find much cheaper to buy online. lastly, coldsteel makes a lot of good knifes.
 
ono724 said:
You might wanna look into this:

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A HUGE +1 :)

i have a Nimravus. i've carried it on duty and off duty. i've carried while on post disaster security assigments in high risk areas and have carried it while vacationing in South East Asia. that knife has seen more carry time and use than ANY other knife i own (although my ESEE5 is catching up fast). the only reason i didn't suggest it was he seems to be looking for a well rounded ALL purpose knife and it sucks as a chopper.

edit to add - the coating on the Nimravus is garbage. it wore off so bad that i just sanded it the rest of the way off and polished the steel underneath. the cool part is, with the 154CM atleast, the steel is actually pretty nice and polishes up to be pretty good looking.
 
singularity35 said:
Hehehe, I think he wants a big phallic symbol Marc. ;)
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It's a possibility, my friend. I still can't quite figure out if our new friend is looking for a big ol' smasher/chopper/basher like a Ranger when he is talking about a "combat" knife, or a light concealable agile fighter when he is talking about a "combat" knife, or a knife that is actually used by people currently serving in combat.

I get the feeling that he's looking for a single knife that is all three, and that doesn't exist. Those three are mutally exclusive.

Or maybe he's just looking for something that looks "sexy"....nothing wrong with that either.
 
What about the standard or short KaBar fighter/utility knife. It looks like most people expect a fighting knife to look, and has plenty of utility.

But like others, I'm not quite sure what the OP is looking for, hence the generic answer.
 
marcinek said:
It's a possibility, my friend. I still can't quite figure out if our new friend is looking for a big ol' smasher/chopper/basher like a Ranger when he is talking about a "combat" knife, or a light concealable agile fighter when he is talking about a "combat" knife, or a knife that is actually used by people currently serving in combat.

I get the feeling that he's looking for a single knife that is all three, and that doesn't exist. Those three are mutally exclusive.

Or maybe he's just looking for something that looks "sexy"....nothing wrong with that either.
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Agreed.
 
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