Newbie needs suggestions on hard use knife

N

ninjabob79

Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
17
Let me start off by saying hello. I'm new here, and I'm relatively new to the whole knife scene. Last month I bought some assorted Spyderco knives and that lead to a pair of ZT knives. Now I want some good fixed blade knives to go with the folders. I want something I can use camping/ hiking. Size and price don't really matter, as long as it holds up to abuse well. I was looking at some Strider, Chris Reeve, Busse knives. I was hoping that someone here would help me out since my local shop only carries CRK.
 
If you're looking for tough, hard use knives, you might want to look at:
Busse
Swamp Rat
Scrap Yard
Custom

Welcome to the forums:).
 
all good choices. you would likely be happy with any. i would also suggest rat cutlery. i have the older ontario rat, and from what i understand, there have been several improvements to an already very good design.

boils down to how much you want to spend.
 
Welcome to BF NB!

I'd suggest reading as much as you can here for suggestions, idea's and good reviews. Then ask more question and narrow it down to what you exactly need/want. Their is an exchange forum here if you want your blade now! The suggestions given so far are good ones!
 
I am partial to the Ranger, Bark River, and Busse-made knives, but since you have started out with the ZTs, they also make a fixed blade.
 
If you don't mind the cost, then I suggest a non-painted Busse. One where you can see the steel.

The INFI steel used by Busse is fine for hard use. But, I have a problem with the painted Busse knives. The paint wears off relatively easily and with at least one of my painted Busse knives there were major machining marks hidden under the paint. I was not very happy about that.

Strider knives look as if they are painted but Strider uses a very thin, very tough oxide coating. It does not hide any surface defects in the metal. While INFI may be better for very hard use, the way Strider makes their knives using S30V stainless they will take some darned hard use. I have no problem trusting my Striders.

Quite a few of the Busse knives have very wide blades in relation to the blade length. I'm not overly fond of the look, but I guess they work well for chopping.
Again, if you want a Busse, pay the extra money for their higher end, non-painted blades.
 
If you're going to get a hard use knife for actually hard use, instead of just decoration, then I'd leave out anything made from stainless steels. Yes, that includes Fällknivens and Striders, although their knives are tough - but not as tough as some others made from non-stainless steels.

In the inexpensive end of the spectrum is the Ka-Bar Large Heavy Bowie. It's a good knife for the price. Next up, I would say, are the Ranger Knives RDs - very tough knives indeed. Finally, if you wish to spend over 200 bucks, I would go with the kind of Busse that happens to float your boat. Sure, there are ScrapYards and SwampRats that, at times, come with a good price, but their availability is sketchy, and they demand a premium on the secondary market, which means you might as well get a Busse, since those are better anyway.

There really is no arguing it: INFI is far superior to S30V and any such stainless steel in hard use. Arguably, INFI is best even among non-stainless steels in hard use.

As for the finish, if it's a hard use knife, I wouldn't spend the extra bucks on a satin finished LE Busse. The coated, CG Busses will see coating wear in use, but what does that matter? The machining marks under the coating are hardly surface defects. They're just machining marks. In fact, the more uneven and rough the steel is, the better the coating will stick to it. Plus, not doing an elaborate satin finish on a knife that's going to be coated anyway saves money. So, I very much disagree with Rich357: if you're really going to use the knife hard, then don't bother getting a satin finished Busse, unless you're just swimming in dollars, in which case go for it if you'd like.

Personally, I'd start with getting a Ranger Knives RD9 or smaller if you'd like from Justin. After that, I'd look to buy a Busse, if I still felt like I needed it.
 
Welcome! You received some good advice on choosing a knife. Good luck. My knife motto, FWIW---Use---don't abuse. That knife will be a best friend, Bro.
 
Welcome to the forums!

Personally I'd go for a RAT Cutlery. These guys are very serious about their knives. They will withstand any abuse you care to throw at it, and they have a lifetime no questions asked warranty. The RC-4 is a fantastic knife in materials, build quality and price.

Take a look at their BF sub-forum here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=816 and ask your same question. For a quick overview, their website is www.ratcutlery.com.

Hope this helps!
 
hello and welcome,

For a hard / heavy duty use, and a standards size fixed blade, I would say BUSSE Combat or RAT Cutlery. Both are selling at the same price or so.
I have a couple of their knives and not one betrayed me when I deserved to use them.

If you deserve a longer blade, sort of camp knife-machete type, my choice still is the KERSHAW Outcast. Best choice for price.

take care,

Bob
 
Hello and welcome to BF!!

I would suggest you look at Chris Reeve knives, Busse, Scrap Yard, and Swamp Rat. You can not go wrong with a knife from one of these companies!!
 
Every knife suggested here will hold up to hard use.

I agree that Ranger Knives should be considered for the simple reason that it is cheap (compared to these other brands) and because it will stand-up to brutal "lets try whacking this" sessions that new knife collectors tend to go through.

After familiarizing yourself with this rugged blade, you can go from there to collect the other makers.
 
I don't mind using these hard. My BT is the one that has seen most of the hard use. These three
Striders are made with S30V stainless steel.

While I've not used a hammer on my Strider BT, I have used the 1/4" thick spine of my BT as a hammer.

Strider MT
Strider BT
Strider VB
 
These two Striders I've had the longest and used the most. They are made of ATS-34 steel (at least that is how they are stamped).

I've not used a hammer on them but have done quite a bit fo cutting and prying with them. It is hard to see the rub marks in the photos.
Partly because the oxide coating is darned rugged. BTW, they take a heck of an edge.

Strider ATS-34 MT
Strider ATS-34 MT-L
 
I suggest the ZT0100 fixed blade, available for about $235 if you check around. It is CPM 3V steel, very tough. Perhaps not quite as tough as the Busses, but better edgeholding. No painted on coating--it uses a black DLC (diamond-like carbon) coating that is very hard & thus very scratch resistant, applied by plasma vapor deposition (PVD). So you get carbon steel + good corrosion protection (except at the edge, which of course is not coated, but can be easily protected with WD-40, tuf-glide, etc.).

Personally, I would choose it over any of the ones mentioned, although admittedly I have owned none of them except the Fallkniven.
 
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