Hello!! Great forum ya'll have here. Been lurking for a little while and just soaking up the info.
I'll start off by saying that I have just recently started to give more consideration to the quality of knife that I carry. I CCW a sidearm regularly and have usually had the mindset of transitioning to an ASP baton if the situation dictated such. I still regard the baton as a capable weapon, but I would also like to have an alternative to that as well which leads me here.
Currently, I have an Al Mar SERE 2000 en route from CSI. I've been contemplating purchasing this knife for over a year now and just had to make the plunge. I've yet to come across anything significantly negative regarding the 2000 model. With that said, though, I've never physically handled this particular knife, but have handled a bud's older SERE (IIRC, he mentioned that he got it as a gift in 1984-86). Now, his SERE was pretty massive and had a bit of heft for a folder, IMO, which I liked and sort of impressed me as being a good choice for a general purpose folder to take with me to Iraq here in about a month or so. For those of you that are in the know, how would you rate the overall size of the 2000 model to the older SEREs? I really like the idea of the belt-clip and lanyard hole features, as well. Are there any particular issues I need to be aware of?
One of my concerns also is keeping the edge. I've been using a Lansky kit for quite a while now and have been generally very pleased with it. I will say that I am absolutely horrible with a regular wet-stone/bench-stone (barely able to hone much better than a butter knife, and usually end up with a ratty looking edge). However, from reading through a lot of posts I see that quite a few are recommending the Spydie Sharpmaker kit over Lansky's for keeping good sharp edges. Are they actually that good? Would I benefit any by switching to the Spydie kit? How would the ease of use be rated?
Also, I'm considering picking up a Black Bear Classic. I haven't had any opportunities to handle the knife, but I've handled others of similar design and really liked them. I'm not really anticipating having to use it, but wouldn't mind having it with me if the need arose. I admit that I haven't found much info on this knife, what little I did was positive, though. Right off the bat I'm considering a Blade-Tech kydex sheath to carry it in. Again, a bud of mine had them mold a sheath for one of his knives and struck me as being very well made and able to stand up to bad environments, and seemed somewhat carry flexible, i.e. belt worn, drop-leg rig, etc.
I've always had the impression that Cold Steel is kind of hit and miss in the QA/QC department, but is that generally held only for their economically priced knives, or all of their products, including their Bowies and Black Bear Classics? Also, again, I would be purchasing it from CSI at $200. Does it seem to possess good quality at that price? Are there better knives available at, or around, the same price? Others that I am considering are the BK&T Brute, and the Ontario RTAK.
Thanks in advance for your input, it is very much appreciated.
I'll start off by saying that I have just recently started to give more consideration to the quality of knife that I carry. I CCW a sidearm regularly and have usually had the mindset of transitioning to an ASP baton if the situation dictated such. I still regard the baton as a capable weapon, but I would also like to have an alternative to that as well which leads me here.
Currently, I have an Al Mar SERE 2000 en route from CSI. I've been contemplating purchasing this knife for over a year now and just had to make the plunge. I've yet to come across anything significantly negative regarding the 2000 model. With that said, though, I've never physically handled this particular knife, but have handled a bud's older SERE (IIRC, he mentioned that he got it as a gift in 1984-86). Now, his SERE was pretty massive and had a bit of heft for a folder, IMO, which I liked and sort of impressed me as being a good choice for a general purpose folder to take with me to Iraq here in about a month or so. For those of you that are in the know, how would you rate the overall size of the 2000 model to the older SEREs? I really like the idea of the belt-clip and lanyard hole features, as well. Are there any particular issues I need to be aware of?
One of my concerns also is keeping the edge. I've been using a Lansky kit for quite a while now and have been generally very pleased with it. I will say that I am absolutely horrible with a regular wet-stone/bench-stone (barely able to hone much better than a butter knife, and usually end up with a ratty looking edge). However, from reading through a lot of posts I see that quite a few are recommending the Spydie Sharpmaker kit over Lansky's for keeping good sharp edges. Are they actually that good? Would I benefit any by switching to the Spydie kit? How would the ease of use be rated?
Also, I'm considering picking up a Black Bear Classic. I haven't had any opportunities to handle the knife, but I've handled others of similar design and really liked them. I'm not really anticipating having to use it, but wouldn't mind having it with me if the need arose. I admit that I haven't found much info on this knife, what little I did was positive, though. Right off the bat I'm considering a Blade-Tech kydex sheath to carry it in. Again, a bud of mine had them mold a sheath for one of his knives and struck me as being very well made and able to stand up to bad environments, and seemed somewhat carry flexible, i.e. belt worn, drop-leg rig, etc.
I've always had the impression that Cold Steel is kind of hit and miss in the QA/QC department, but is that generally held only for their economically priced knives, or all of their products, including their Bowies and Black Bear Classics? Also, again, I would be purchasing it from CSI at $200. Does it seem to possess good quality at that price? Are there better knives available at, or around, the same price? Others that I am considering are the BK&T Brute, and the Ontario RTAK.
Thanks in advance for your input, it is very much appreciated.