Now I want a 4" fixed blade . . .

Take a look at Doug Ritter's RSK Mk3 fixed blade made by Benchmade. This big brother of the famous Rittergrip is really a nice knife:

rskmk3withsheathnr6.jpg


-Drop point full tang 4.5" S30V blade
-0.140" thick blade with wide chord and a high grind for great slicing
-Half guard to protect your fingers
-Rounded machined G-10 handle for comfort, durability, and good grip
-Lanyard hole sized for paracord
-MOLLE compatable nylon sheath w/ kydex insert and lots of carry options
-A portion of the price goes to support the not-for-profit equipped.org's efforts to save lives

More info here:

http://www.equipped.org/rsk_mk3.htm
 
Thanks for the feedback, particularly the comprehensive description of the Mora 2000. Moras are cheap enough to try even if I intend to get something else besides.

The F1 and Mora 2k are at the top of my list at the moment. Obviously the F1 is the better knife, but the Mora 2k is surely adequate. I'm going to wait until Riley gets his F1 and then see what he has to say about it. He seems to be refining his "Nessmuck" combo (chopping tool, fixed blade, folder), which is what I am doing. I'd like to avoid spending that much, but I have never regretted coughing up extra for top-shelf stuff in the long run.

The CS Master Hunter reminds me of the F1. I saw one in a local shop recently - what's a good price for one?

As for my Mini Canadian, there's nothing wrong with it - I love it. It is particularly a joy to keep sharp, once I learned the trick of doing convex blades. It has become my edc pocket knife, and my folders never see the light of day anymore. I did notice a couple of weeks ago however that I kept scraping my hand when trying to whittle some slivers off a piece of firewood to supplement the tinder. This was due to the shortness of the blade and I thought a somewhat longer one might be useful to have.

As for my Becker Crewman, yeah, I probably should keep it. I do like it and it is useful to have around for abusive sorts of tasks like taking care of windfall tree limbs or fileting Buicks.
 
Foilist said:
The CS Master Hunter reminds me of the F1. I saw one in a local shop recently - what's a good price for one?
Click to expand...

I would say around $60,mabye $50 for a Carbon V one. I found a Carbon V in canada for $80 and I was smiling.
 
the cheapest I've seen the master hunter at is at instawares they have the carbon v master hunter for 54.99 good luck....Foilist what else is in your trio???
 
The CS Master Hunter and the F1 might look the same but the steel is different. The MH has something called VG1 San Mai III and the F1 has laminated VG10, where the VG10 sits in the middle and some softer steel on the outside.
The MH has flat grind and the F1 konvex grind (a bit more advanced but still easy to keep in shape, abrasive paper and mouse pad) with more steel in the blade.

If you look at it marketing wise, there are big differences in approach on their respective homepage. You know what I mean. One is "american" in approach with ho-ha-defence-kill-ho-ha the other is more well "swedish" with pictures of moosehunting, Peters grandchild and other things.

What I have heard about CS is that lots of knives has broken, or maybe its just because the fuss with CS and Strider.

Anyway. You also buy an image. When you buy a CS you do your part in the "war on terror" etc. When you buy a Fallkniven knife its more like wiking heritage, red cabins with white corners (like the banner on knifeworks), calm and peaceful walks in the forest and so on. Even though the F1 was initially developed as a pilot survival knife (like the Ontario JPSK) it does look like something a regular hunter would bring in the forest and as such it has become very popular in the bushcraft community as well as in many military units (young homeguard soldiers tend to buy BIG knives to look macho but later change to F1 after some time :) ).
I used one while in Bosnia and I know of some US soldiers using it in sandland.

When you get your F1, get some different sheaths as well.
*The now discontinued kydex is best for combat type jobs, taped to combat wests and such since it holds the knife upside down.
*The open leather is traditional scandinavian way to carry it.
*The closed leather looks fancy and is nice if you dont use the knife often. You just tuck the flap inside the belt when you want it out of the way.
*The new zytel sheath is extremely good for hunting and other messy jobs since you can put the sheath in the washing machine afterwards. Its the main sheath shipped with all knives nowadays. I have attached a firesteel on mine and it works great.
*The airforce sheath (only issued to airforce crews) looks like a mix between cheap mora sheaths and the zytel but has no locking strap.
Usually people carry the F1 crossdraw with the open leather sheath, like old times or the more popular neck sheath (easily made by converting the open sheath).
 
nodh said:
The CS Master Hunter and the F1 might look the same but the steel is different. The MH has something called VG1 San Mai III and the F1 has laminated VG10, where the VG10 sits in the middle and some softer steel on the outside.
The MH has flat grind and the F1 konvex grind (a bit more advanced but still easy to keep in shape, abrasive paper and mouse pad) with more steel in the blade.

If you look at it marketing wise, there are big differences in approach on their respective homepage. You know what I mean. One is "american" in approach with ho-ha-defence-kill-ho-ha the other is more well "swedish" with pictures of moosehunting, Peters grandchild and other things.

What I have heard about CS is that lots of knives has broken, or maybe its just because the fuss with CS and Strider.

Anyway. You also buy an image. When you buy a CS you do your part in the "war on terror" etc. When you buy a Fallkniven knife its more like wiking heritage, red cabins with white corners (like the banner on knifeworks), calm and peaceful walks in the forest and so on. Even though the F1 was initially developed as a pilot survival knife (like the Ontario JPSK) it does look like something a regular hunter would bring in the forest and as such it has become very popular in the bushcraft community as well as in many military units (young homeguard soldiers tend to buy BIG knives to look macho but later change to F1 after some time :) ).
I used one while in Bosnia and I know of some US soldiers using it in sandland.

When you get your F1, get some different sheaths as well.
*The now discontinued kydex is best for combat type jobs, taped to combat wests and such since it holds the knife upside down.
*The open leather is traditional scandinavian way to carry it.
*The closed leather looks fancy and is nice if you dont use the knife often. You just tuck the flap inside the belt when you want it out of the way.
*The new zytel sheath is extremely good for hunting and other messy jobs since you can put the sheath in the washing machine afterwards. Its the main sheath shipped with all knives nowadays. I have attached a firesteel on mine and it works great.
*The airforce sheath (only issued to airforce crews) looks like a mix between cheap mora sheaths and the zytel but has no locking strap.
Usually people carry the F1 crossdraw with the open leather sheath, like old times or the more popular neck sheath (easily made by converting the open sheath).
Click to expand...


Well, thats one thing most like about the master hunter, CS never went through the same marketing "shemes" that they did with the other products, though their site inst the most friendliest, they didnt go through the same hoop-la with the MH as others. It was sold as a hard use hunting knife, plain and simple. Also, it can be had in VG1, Aus-8 and Carbon V should you be able to find one.
 
I'd go with the F1, Master Hunter, or one of my favorites, the Sibert Proteus, although it is a bit more than 100.00.
 
Carbon V is actually 0170-6C tool steel which is the same steel that Becker used and that Marbles uses. All of Cold Steel's knives made in that metal were made by Camillus and since Camillus went under the production of Carbon V knives has stopped. The 0170-6C tool steel has been in use by American knife makers a long time. It was used extensively by Western, who called it 'Chrome Vanadium' and by Schrade. Many older knives that people think are 1095 are actually 0170-6C, which is a much knife steel - tougher, a bit more rust resistant, and holds an edge longer.

For their carbon steel knives, Cold Steel is taking a step backwards to SK-5 (what the Bushmen are made out of and what the older carbon steel SOG Tigersharks were made out of) which is a lot like 1080 or 1085 carbon steel (what lawnmower blades are generally made out of).

Since Cold Steel likes to obfuscate what their knives are really made of and who makes them under contract, it's a pretty safe bet that 'VG-1' laminated stainless is the same material as VG-10 laminated stainless which Fallkniven uses in the F-1, and Cold Steel's 'VG-1 San Mai' knife blades might even be made under contract by Fallkniven themselves. The specs that I've been able to obtain on VG-1 are the same as VG-10. Cold Steel always does this - re-labeling their knife steel.

Myself, if I were to get a Cold Steel Master Hunter right now, I'd get it in 'VG-1 San Mai'. The VG-1/VG-10 laminated steel has the same amount of carbon in it as Carbon V (0170-6C), but without the rusting.

The San Mai Master Hunter and the F-1 are the same metal, but I like the grind better on the Master Hunter and the tang is better and stronger on the F1.
 
It would be interesting to abuse the knives really hard. Both the Master Hunter and the F1. The F1 has a full tang that comes out in the end (except the very first ATS34 models) where you can pound it and not destroying the handle. I am not sure the MH has that feature.
Fallkniven knives are actually produced in Japan, also except the ATS34 models which were made by Linder in Germany.
 
nodh said:
It would be interesting to abuse the knives really hard. Both the Master Hunter and the F1. The F1 has a full tang that comes out in the end (except the very first ATS34 models) where you can pound it and not destroying the handle. I am not sure the MH has that feature.
Fallkniven knives are actually produced in Japan, also except the ATS34 models which were made by Linder in Germany.
Click to expand...

The Master Hunter tang is much wimpier. The F1 has a much better, more useful tang.

The Master Hunter and the SRK both use the same handle and have the same tang. Here is a picture of an SRK with the handle off. NOTE: The SRK in the picture is one someone seriously re-did the grind on, and I like the job they did.

srk.jpg
 
Pairing your mini Canadian with a hatchet is a good suggestion.

For novelty, I'll add the Himalayan Imports JKM-1 or Kumar Karda to the above suggestions.

If you go with the Grohman, I'd try to get one in carbon steel. The steel genies in my stainless #1 seem to make the edge dull as it's sitting around.
 
F1 all the way. If CS made their own knives and didn't run the killem and stackem tactics in their advertising, I might own one.
 
mrostov said:
The Master Hunter tang is much wimpier. The F1 has a much better, more useful tang.

The Master Hunter and the SRK both use the same handle and have the same tang. Here is a picture of an SRK with the handle off. NOTE: The SRK in the picture is one someone seriously re-did the grind on, and I like the job they did.

srk.jpg
Click to expand...

That Tang should still be plenty tough enough, the only weak spot would be those square corners !!!
Chech out a Swamprat or Scrapyard Tang they are only about the same and you never hear of them breaking, although they don't have any square edges !!!
 
RescueRiley said:
Foilist what else is in your trio???
Click to expand...

Well, when I am camping I like to carry a either Vic Swisstool or SAK Outrider, BRK&T Mini Canadian, and I recently saw an awesome small hatchet at a local outfitters shop that I MUST have. I just would like to try a fixed blade in between the Mini C and my Becker BK10 to see how I like it. The F1 is impressive, but I don't want to cough up the dough for both it and the hatchet I saw so I'm seeking some decent alternatives.
 
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