New Field Knife..

[Petunia D. Feeble]

Cold Steel SRK in 3v,kind of good all arounder.

This is what I carry. Sort of the poor(read smart) man's Fallkniven.

Though, I'm not a fixed blade guy. Found one that worked and quit shopping. Also have a few Moras of course, for beaters.

 

[Dangerously]

Found one that worked and quit shopping.

This mindset is the key to happiness. It works for all sorts of things, including knives and more importantly wives.

 

[22-rimfire]

This mindset is the key to happiness. It works for all sorts of things, including knives and more importantly wives.

Wise words. I still shop for knives just because, but I have pretty much stopped shopping for machetes. I really like them and find them very useful in the woods. I bought a discontinued Condor (18" El Salvador type design) at Blade in 2016 for $20 at the Condor booth. Still haven't used it as I have a lot of other choices. But it's there if I need it.

 

[leghog]

I'm a big fan of my Ontario SK5 Blackbird. The grip is one of the most comfortable I've ever used. Good steel (154CM), full flat grind, and nice edge geometry. Comes with a nice sheath as well.

They were around $160 when I bought mine a couple of years ago. The prices have come down to $110 or so lately, but they switched from green micarta scales to black G10.

Looks very basic, but when you get it in your hand you realize how much thought went into the design. Perfect for general woods use. Not a great chopper (light and balanced closer to the handle) but useful for just about anything else you'd need to do.

Pretty much just a 5" Kephart. Classic design.

 

[GREENJACKET]

This mindset is the key to happiness. It works for all sorts of things, including knives and more importantly wives.

Is that a beater or something more refined?

Cold Steel SRK a very sound choice. The classics seem to hold up well. So much of the new stiff is trying to better them and really don't bring much to the table. There has been some progress in steel, and general quality, but designs that work haven't changed much.
One other problem with a knife forum is that the enthusiasm for new knives rather gets in the way of reality. Most people can do just fine with "a good knife" and not everyone has unlimited funds.
There are those that work in the outdoors and those that play. There are knife enthusiasts that go to the woods to play with their knives, and there are those who go to the woods and what knife really isn't of much interest. Occasionally some with a bit of both. Who doesn't grab the chainsaw when there is a lot of wood processing to be done? Who treks long distance with heavy kit?

I do plenty of work in the woods. I would be the first to admit I like my knives too much and the ones I really like I don't use for the work. My work knives are far more basic, far less sexy, and just good at what they are for. Most importantly, not too expensive, easy to maintain, and repeatable if lost. What most people want. However, the knives I really like are about knife "things" as in steel, grinds, and grips; with a bit of romantic macho thrown in.

 

[22-rimfire]

....One other problem with a knife forum is that the enthusiasm for new knives rather gets in the way of reality. ....Who doesn't grab the chainsaw when there is a lot of wood processing to be done? Who treks long distance with heavy kit?

Yes, the enthusiasm does tend to get in the way of a reality check at times. The chain saw works if you own one, or you aren't camping in a state park campground wanting to process wood for your fire. I don't carry stuff a long distance unless I feel I really need to use it. Hence I stick to the simple basics. That does not usually include a hatchet, axe, or bigger saw for processing larger wood.

 

[Emre]

Pretty much just a 5" Kephart. Classic design.

Most Kepharts I've seen are hollow ground (not full flat ground). And pretty much all have small and relatively straight wooden scales. The SR5 grip is very deeply molded and made of micarta, so it really locks into your palm.

I'm also a fan of the lanyard slot rather than hole. You can carry a looped piece of paracord (useful as a tourniquet) and slip it through the slot whenever you need to. No need to tie and untie the knot each time. Also allows you to easily swap between a short wrist lanyard and a proper belt lanyard.

 

[leghog]

Most Kepharts I've seen are hollow ground (not full flat ground). And pretty much all have small and relatively straight wooden scales. The SR5 grip is very deeply molded and made of micarta, so it really locks into your palm.

From Horace Kephart himself: "...a rather thin, broadpointed blade is required, and it need not be over four or five inches long. Nothing is gained by a longer blade, and it would be in one's way every time he sat down. Such a knife, bearing the marks of hard usage, lies before me. Its blade and handle are each 4 1/2 inches long, the blade being 1 inch wide, 1/8th inch thick on the back, broad pointed, and continued through the handle as a hasp and riveted to it. It is tempered hard enough to cut green hardwood sticks, but soft enough so that when it strikes a knot or bone it will, if anything, turn rather than nick; then a whetstone soon puts it in order. The Abyssinians have a saying, "If a sword bends, we can straighten it; but if it breaks, who can mend it? " So with a knife or hatchet.

The handle of this knife is of oval cross-section, long enough to give a good grip for the whole hand, and with no sharp edges to blister one's hand. It has a 1/4 inch knob behind the cutting edge as a guard, but there is no guard on the back, for it would be useless and in the way. The handle is of light but hard wood, 3/4 inch thick at the butt and tapering to 1/2 inch forward, so as to enter the sheath easily and grip it tightly. If it were heavy it would make the knife drop out when I stooped over. The sheath has a slit frog binding tightly on the belt, and keeping the knife well up on my side. This knife weighs only 4 ounces. It was made by a country blacksmith, and is one of the homeliest things I ever saw; but it has outlived in my affections the score of other knives that I have used in competition with it, and has done more work than all of them put together. "

Kephart's knife is in the museum Western Carolina University. I've seen no reference it was anything but flat and find it impossible to believe the country blacksmith who made it had the tools to hollow grind the blade.

http://www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/Kephart/onlineexhibit/outdoors/Hunting.htm

 

[jdigi101]

I'd say order a $1.75 and a $2.00 Kephart. You can't go wrong for the price.

 

[leghog]

I'd say order a $1.75 and a $2.00 Kephart. You can't go wrong for the price.

I picked up a Condor Kephart for $31 after tax last weekend?

Close to the original in design and dimensions, excepting for the sheath.

 

[cbach8tw]

There are good quality knives out there that will not cost too much, try them out and see how it works for you, the Condor is a good one as well as Moras. I have also liked the old Hickory modified Keppies.