newbie looking for 1st good knife

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foreveryoung

Joined
Feb 26, 2008
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Trying to pic my first good knife for all around bushwacking/camping. Looking at Gerber LMF II, Fallkniven A1/F1 or Scrapyard Dumpster Mutt/Scrapper 6. I'm A bit confussed on the blade steels. Did research but now I'm more confussed. Please give me some advice. Thank you!
 
There are a lot of choices out there; you have found a few of them.

I'll throw out some more suggestions: Bark River, multiple good choices there.

Really, your basic decisions should probably be these;

1. What type of steel - carbon or stainless?
2. What size - small, medium, large?
3. What kind of handle material - natural or synthetic?
4. What kind of sheath - leather, kydex?

As far as steel types - any designation starting with "10", "A", or "O" are usually carbon steels, which will be more subject to corrosion.

Most any other kind of steel will be some sort of stainless.

There are good types of both stainless and carbon. If you choose a knife from any well-known maker, mentioned often on this forum, you will likely have made a good choice.

Do some reading, follow up on some links, you'll soon find that your choices are greater than you ever imagined.

Andy
 
+1 on the Bark River line. They've got something for everyone.

Jeff
 
in a fixed blade, a RAT 4 will do the trick.

folder, i'd haveta say a BM griptilian.

im of course speaking as a poor teenager, if you have more cash go for somehting more extravegent.
 
Well, you listed fixed blades..so I'll assume that's what you're interested in. That's what I'd go for.. A folder wouldn't really make a whole lot of sense in a camping scenario.

You have many options. It depends on your budget. You listed some of the higher end knives available, so I'll assume you're in the 100-150 range which is pretty much the bread and butter of high end knives. You'll find some semi-custom work like Bark River as well as some mass produced stuff like Fallkniven. Both would treat you extremely well.

Most people find that a 4" blade is all you really need. Personally.. I like a little longer so I can "whack" stuff. You can do that with a shorter blade, but when you get into 6-8" it's MUCH more efficient.


My ideal knife would probably be the Fallkniven A1 and if the A2 weren't priced so high..I might go with it. The A1 is a 6.3" blade. Pretty nice blade geometry (they call it a modified spear point..i wouldn't necessarily argue, but it's more of a drop point). The Fallkniven is also what I'd consider a "high end" knife. There are some customs that would rival and/or exceed it's performance, but the price isn't worth what you get in my opinion.

If you find yourself thinking a 4" blade would be sufficient.. Check out the Bark River Bravo 1. It's gotten wonderful reviews since the day it was made. It's a a great knife. Bark River also makes some larger blades (Rogue Bowie which is a beast, big sky camp, and canadian camp...to name a few).



But for the sake of argument..this is what I'd buy in length ranges.

4"= Bark River, Bravo 1
6"=Fallkniven, A1
7"= Ranger, RD-7

If you want to go larger than that..You're getting into machete/khukri/golok territory. Bark River makes a nice Golok (about 200 bucks, but it's a beast)..but for the money I'd get a simple Ontario Heavy Duty Machete. You can get one of those for like 25 bucks.



This isn't to say that you couldn't get a simple KaBar camp knife and be perfectly happy with it. You just might. It all depends on what you want to get out of it. You listed higher end knives..so that's what I suggested. If you want to go cheaper..check out the Ontario Spec Plus line. They're cheap, but pretty good. They have a Marine Raider Bowie that's fairly large and would make a great brush beater.




Oh, and blade steel.. The only steels I would concern yourself with if you're a new person are: the 10xx series (1095/1085), 5160 (only if you want to get a ranger knife [brand]), A2 (if you want to buy a bark river), and VG-10 (if you want to buy a fallkniven).

The basic rule of thumb is that a good carbon steel like: 1095/5160/A2 will perform better and hold it's edge longer than a good stainless: VG-10. Stainless has the added elements like Chromium that add in stain resistance. Which means it'll prevent the blade from oxodizing in things like blood and/or water..things like that. It WILL still rust. It just needs less maintenance. If you buy from a good, reputable, company.. Ranger, Bark River, Fallkniven, etc. You'll be less likely to have to worry about your blade tarnishing, but that's not to say it won't happen. A little bit of food grade mineral oil (laxative) goes a long way. It's not toxic to you and will keep your knife in good shape.




A lot of information, I know. It's just the basic rundown. Good luck.
 
welcome to blade forums.
i would recommend a rc 4 for fixed blade and for a folder i would recommend a spyderco military or spyderco para-military
 
If you are looking at a folder for camping, you could always just get a Buck 110 at Walmart for $27. They are 420 HC, which is an all-around good blade material for a beginner, despite what many of the steel snobs might say. They take a beating, last for a really long time, hold a good edge, and are much easier to sharpen than many of the new wonder steels. For fixed blade, I would try one of the fixed blade Buck knives also available at wallyworld. I wouldn't go putting a huge chunk of change down on your first knife on other people's say so. You don't know what features you do or don't like yet. Or how you like particular steels. Get something on the less expensive side and use it for a while. Then start looking at the other stuff that is out there. If you want a big chopper, look for any of the Cold Steel machetes on ebay. You can normally pick them up for about $20 including shipping. There are several different blade shapes to suit people's fancy. And they come in 12" to 18" lengths. I prefer the 12", as it is small enough to pack easily, and big enough for most tasks. If you are planning on clearing lots of brush, go with one of the larger sizes. I like the Barong version, but the latin, bolo and parang versions are also very efficient choppers. Take your time looking, and don't waste your money on a very expensive nife until you know exactly what you will be getting.

-Mb

-Mb
 
Now I get really confused. Carbon rusts easier than stainless. We all can agree on that, right? I was also under the impression that carbon steels usually were "softer" than stainless, everything is naturally relative. Am I still right?
Here comes the strange part. Lets say you have two knives sharpened to the same sharpness, one carbon and one SS. I have always believed that the carbon, since its softer steel got dull faster. However it is also "easier" to sharpen a carbon, also since it is "softer". The SS keeps the edge longer but is harder to sharpen again. Harder and harder, a 600 paper and a leather strap and it is dangerously sharpa again. Anyway, most people never use a knife to its top of its potential so I guess you could probably just buy a knife based on what you feel looks cool, it will never fail you... as long as you buy Fallkniven, Bark River, RAT.

To give you a perspective. Swedish survival instructors use cheap Mora knives that cost something like 5 USD in their survival/SERE training. It is usually more than enough if you dont abuse it too much. The soldiers learn to survive with a crappy knife, then they dont learn wrong ways to use it and will not destroy the F1 they are issued when it gets real.

I know people like the LMF II, I dont. It is just too much, too bulky and the sheath is so tight that is is almost dangerous. If it came with a normal kydex sheath and no serrations I might like it.

The Dumpster Mutt as well as the RAT 3/4 has a hug choil. I do not like that either, I do not understand the point of ending the cutting edge far from the handle. How safe is it to have your finger there anyway?

Good luck with your choice of knife.
 
Buck 119. It will do everything you need it to. It holds an edge well and is easy to sharpen.
 
A lot of kitchen knives made in the "western" tradition are both stainless and fairly soft so that they need to be sharpen often but can be sharpened quickly. So not all stainless knives can be considered harder than carbon.
 
Thanks to all that replied. I went with a rc 4. Again thanks it's nice to have knowledgable people willing to give advice to someone new!
 
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