newbie knife question

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ryanryan

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Nov 27, 2007
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Hi. This is my first post on this forum. Basically I'm looking for a knife recommendation. If my quesiton has already been answered in another post please let me know.

About me:
- I'm looking for a "daily carry" knife.
- I know almost nothing about knives or how to judge the technical quality of a knife.
- I've only ever owned three knives and all are from Cold Steel (Recon Tanto, Land/Sea Rescue, and Vaquero.)
- I'm in the military, serving overseas, and looking for a good, high quality knife. BUT... I really don't want to spend more than $100 on a knife at the moment. (Yes, yes. I know this limits the quality I'll be able to find at that price but, again, I'm new to knives in general and am not ready to lay down several hundred dollars for something I don't use that often.)
- I don't typically find myself using a knife. I'm not in infantry or something else that's on the "front lines". I neither hunt nor fish. I'm basically just looking for something high-quality that won't let me down if, god forbid, I should ever really need to use it (e.g. in a survival/evasion or self-defense situation).

I have been very pleased with my Cold Steel knives, but I've read a lot of bad things about them on this forum and elsewhere. I don't know enough about knives to understand why Cold Steel has a bad reputation or creates such a controversy, but they "feel" good to me. My friends carry around knives by Gerber, Spyderco, SOG, and CRKT, but these knives are NEVER as sharp as my Cold Steel kinves and they feel lighter and lower-quality than mine.

I have two serrated knives (the Land/Sea Rescue and the Vaquero) and I don't need another big fixed-blade knife (like my Recon Tanto). So I guess I'm looking for a folding knife. I also don't have a knife with a Tanto point so I was thinking of going in that direction. Since I only know Cold Steel and haven't seen any other brands (Gerber, Spyderco, SOG or CRKT) that I like, I've been looking at the Cold Steel Recon 1 or the Voyager.

So... am I completely clueless? Going in the wrong direction?

If you have any recommendations I'd greatly appreciate them.

Thank you very much for your time.

- Ryan
 
If your looking for something tough to do some hard work id go for the spyderco manix or its smaller brother the mini manix

For just an overalll great folder I would go for the Benchmade 710--overall I think it is the best knife you can get for 100 dollars
It has an axis lock which is very strong and easy to use
good blade steel (d2) which stays sharp long and is relatively stain resistant.
great ergonomics--the knife just feels great in the hand

Do a search on the BM 710--very little bad stuff to be said about this knife

Good luck
 
I would say in that price range, Spyderco Military, Doug Ritter Griptilian, Benchmade 710, or Benchmade Nitrous Stryker. For less money I could recommend the Spyderco Endura, Delica, or Native. Benchmade Griptilian or Mini-Griptilian.
 
If you want a knife that fills your needs (except folding and tanto) my choice would be the Fallkniven F1 (surprise).
It is a good EDC knife when in uniform or outdoors.
It is one of the best knives you can get for under 100 bucks.
It has a 4" blade so it is shorter than a CS Recon or a SRK.
It is very popular with outdoor people, bushcraft people, reserve military and active military. They are issued to the Sw AF, Norwegian specops and allowed for use in the US Military.
It is a very sharp and sturdy KNIFE, not a prybar.
It is originally developed for the Swedish AF as a survival knife.
It can be bought with different sheaths. The scandinavian open leather, the closed leather, the old kydex and the new zytel sheath. All have different pros and cons. If you use it in the military my suggestion is to get the zytel sheath. It can be attached to your combat west, in your belt or wherever.
It can be bought with black coating, like the CS knives, but I recommend you get the uncoated.
The CS knives are made from carbon steel and by that easy to get sharp but they also get dull fast. The F1 is made from convex laminated stainless steel, a bit harder to get sharp but they stay sharper much longer.
Comparing the F1 with any CS knife is like comparing Volvo and Lada.

If you want a sturdy folder with tanto, a Strider knife can be a choice, but they cost alot. Fallkniven have folders too, but not Tanto. The U2 stays sharp forever.

If you happen to be stationed somewhere in sandland or balkans then try to find some swedish units, they usually have Fallkniven knives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallkniven
http://hem.passagen.se/nodh
http://www.fallkniven.com/a1f1/f1_en.htm

Good luck.
 
Welcome to the BF forums. Go to this site.
http://www.newgraham.com/default.aspx
They have a wide selection and I believe they will ship overseas to you. How would you feel about a small fixed blade? They will take more abuse and are easier to maintain in harsh conditions. Benchmade has a very good selection of fixed blades in your price range. Find what you would like and ask if any of us has used one.
 
Just my humble opinion but look at the Kershaw Lahar...I just got mine....3 1/2 inch VG-10 blade, G-10 handle and built like a tank.....It retails for $100.00 but I got mine for $67.00 on line. This is one tough bugger and it should stand up to anything you can ask of it.

It looks way bigger than it is because of the shape of the blade and fits my hand perfectly.......at least look at one on line....I like this knife so much that if you buy it and don't like it, I'll buy it from you...How's that for a recommendation. It also has a flipper and thumb stud. I didn't like the flipper at first but after a while it grows on you and it's as fast as any switchblade made.

edit....I just saw it online at the Knifecenter for $62.00...You can use the extra $38.00 and buy a gallon of gas.
 
You might look also at the Carson design CRKT M4. It definitely is an option in your situation. The Veff serrations have their advantage..... I agree with T-Bag, the Kershaw Lahr is a dandy. I like the VG-10 steel. The M4 is AUS8 steel of which I have three knives made of it. It's a good steel that field sharpens easily. Check AG Russell's website.
 
I second the Benchmade 710. Look at Benchmades with the axis lock--all are US-made and start around $50 for the mini-griptilian, but there are many choices in the $100 range.
 
Get yourself a Kershaw Cyclone...It can also be bought with a Tanto blade, known as a Tanto Cyclone.
 
Benchmade makes a Tanto large Griptilian, you may want to take a look at those.

Plus, there are the Cold Steel Voyager Tantos; definitely worth a look.
 
+1 for the 710 in D2, you'll like it!

733qsle.jpg
 
My first suggestion would be to hassle your CO for a knife. It sucks ass that we ship folks into harms way and leave them wanting for a good knife to work with. Man, what's the deal with that?!?

My second suggestion would be to get a Delica. Under a hundred bucks, and don't let the light weight fool you. I carried one of these for 10 years and still have it. It's very strong, very fast one-handed opening... great knife indeed. No matter what knife you wind up getting, do yourself a favour and pick one of these up one day. You'll love it.

It's right here: http://www.newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=6614

Like someone else above said, NewGraham is a good company to deal with. I know it's not overseas, but they just shipped a Bradley Alias II to me here in Canada for peanuts, and in record time. I can recommend them as a good outfit to order a knife from. Plus, they sent me a free fridge magnet/band-aid dispenser along with my knife. Not something you'll likely have a use for wherever you are, but still...

Keep your head down and remember, the weapon you're carrying was manufactured by the lowest bidder.
 
The best knives i have handled were my spyderco Delia(mini endura) and my benchmade minigriptilian. Both were excedeingly sharp out of the box, but since you are in the military i would sugest that you look for the larger models if you decide to get one of these. if you want to stay with Cold steel The Recon 1 and Scimitar are decent. Hope this helps. Note many of the other knives posted are better then what i have handled
 
dulleddown said:
My first suggestion would be to hassle your CO for a knife.
Click to expand...


Ahhhh, don't bother. If it's that important, the Supply Sergeant will just hand you one, and you can always "facilitate" that transaction by generating a genuine appreciation for him/her in their job. Anyway, the CO will just turn the problem over to the Sergeant with the comment, "get this whiner off my back," which is the best you can expect.

Issue knives are actually easier to get in non-combat units - but they aren't what you described at all, so move on down to the PX if available and pick up the first decent one you see that meets your specs. BM, Spyderco, Cold Steel, it will get the job done and cost you less in time and money than a special order. Unless Supply actually has a NSN Benchmade in the drawer, it takes months to get them - and the military Budget is presently a hostage of Congress, so don't bother.

It will also look like everybody else's knives and get under the radar if the Command Climate changes and goes negative - especially if someone has been ignorantly jerking the CO's chain about something silly, like Why doesn't the Taxpayer give us knives?

Military units are POLITICAL in a very non-party way, you learn what is important to the chain of command, and what you should just expedite on your own.

But, I'm pretty sure Ryan has an idea about that.
 
If you're looking for a tanto folder I definitely recommend the CRKT M16 series.

M16SFGRP07.jpg


This is just one example, they come in many different colors/sizes/styles.
 
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