One or Two

O

On The Rocks

Joined
May 31, 2013
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I will be buying my first quality knife here shortly and was only considering one in the 5"- 6" range for all my camping wilderness needs. I have not done a lot of camping but will start doing it a lot more here shortly. I have researched so many different brands out there and now looks like I am leaning heavily to my first purchase being a Swamp Rat.

Everytime I went out before I had a hatchet and my grandfathers really old fillet knife with me as fishing was the main activity. That poor old knife though is now razor thin and narrow as an ice pick.

My question to you guys is should I look into getting the 5-6" knife for chores around the campsite (won't be doing a lot of battening but will be cutting spears and stakes and such) and then get another smaller knife for field dressing of small game and fish? Maybe an R3 or the Solution?? Maybe you can recomend another knife that would be better suited for this purpose? Not looking for something so specialized as I am not a hunter mostly fishing and if can snare a rabbit or two once in awhile would be good.

I was thinking the R5 or 6. Could this knife be good enough for field dressing and slicing fillets as well?

Also how easy is it to sharpen or touch up the edge of this type of steel after doing the campsite chores and before needing to clean my fish? I hate trying to cut up a fish with as dull blade.

Thanks.
 
OTR, welcome to the Swamp!

I'd say that you might look at getting a R4 and R6 (or7) combo. For the smaller tasks R4 won't be beaten for comfort of use and how well balanced it is! RS would be my second recommendation as R3 is fairly small.
R6 will handle chopping down trees and batoning without any problems! R7 is a bit bigger and the reviews/opinions are split regarding the handle shape. General consensus is that forlks with bigger hands will like it more than the smaller pawed.

Sr-101 (it is 52100 ball bearing steel that has been given a special Busse heat treatment) is a very good and tough steel. It will take a wicked edge and hold it for a long time! And the edge is easy to maintain by steeling it or stropping.
It is quite prone to corrosion, so it will require a bit of maintenance (No worse though than the so popular 1095).
Here for size comparison:


(My R6 had the top guard removed and blade shape changed to drop point, but the size is the same as stock model)
 
if you have one knife, it should be a ratmandu. Be warned. Its a gateway knife......
 
Pairing a small knife like the R3 with something a couple inches longer like the R5 doesn't make much sense to me. The R5 could easily handle anything you'd want to do with the R3, so it would be quite redundant to pair those two up.

The Rodent's 5 & 6 should be able to handle everything you've listed, so I'd almost be tempted to just say pick one of those and be done with it. You could always add a tomahawk or large knife/machete later and have a great pair.

I will usually bring a tomahawk, machete and belt knife with me in the wilderness. The belt knife is always on your person, while the larger blades would generally stay in a pack until needed. The tomahawk/machete combo is very versatile setup and they complement each other quite well, what one sucks at the other should excel at.

Now, what I would bring camping with me would ultimately depend on whether I was base/car camping or hiking and primitive camping. If I was travelling long distances on foot I may be inclined to just bring a large knife like the B10LE. You could also choose something smaller as a single knife solution, but will lose some utility value as smaller knives won't be as good for the larger tasks.

If you wanted something to work WELL as a filet knife, your best option from the Busse Kin would be a Scrap Yard 460 Elmax. It's thin enough to be a great slicer and should hold a great edge and resist staining. It will also work very well for game processing and possibly woodworking if you're careful about not applying too much lateral force to the blade.
 
aaaa_cccc said:
Pairing a small knife like the R3 with something a couple inches longer like the R5 doesn't make much sense to me. The R5 could easily handle anything you'd want to do with the R3, so it would be quite redundant to pair those two up.

... If I was travelling long distances on foot I may be inclined to just bring a large knife like the B10LE. You could also choose something smaller as a single knife solution, but will lose some utility value as smaller knives won't be as good for the larger tasks.

If you wanted something to work WELL as a filet knife, your best option from the Busse Kin would be a Scrap Yard 460 Elmax. It's thin enough to be a great slicer and should hold a great edge and resist staining. It will also work very well for game processing and possibly woodworking if you're careful about not applying too much lateral force to the blade.
Click to expand...

:thumbup:

The large choils on the RMD, R5, etc. allow them to be used as if they were smaller blades, suited to the same tasks only not quite as well due to weight.

I am a strong supporter of the big knife + little knife + saw package for woodland camping, and would argue that the B10LE + ScrapMax460 make a GREAT package because of the weights and geometries involved, as well as handle comfort.
ResC is great stuff (and easily modified to suit a user's hand), very tough/durable/grippy and insulates against impact shock as well as temperature!
The Basic 10 weighs only ~14.5 oz, is very well balanced and nimble in hand, thin enough for machete work but stout enough for heavy chopping & batonning, carving wood, etc. INFI :thumbup:
The ScrapMax460 weighs only ~3.3 oz, is 0.095" thick with a full flat grind that slides effortlessly through thick material, and is a perfect fillet knife for pan-fish and pike, also well suited to animal hide and boning cuts of meat. ELMAX for corrosion resistance and edge retention :thumbup: It'll take you generations of game processing to sharpen this knife down to a toothpick ;)


But if you are only taking ONE knife, I'd chose the RMD - long enough to baton through thicker wood, but small enough for the smaller chores and not as bulky/heavy as the 6-7" blades. Ask the shop for a specific edge-angle or you might have a lot of work ahead of you, bringing down the edge to a more efficient angle for carving and fish-filleting. If you can, look for one of the custom-shop FFG blades ;)
 
chiral.grolim said:
:thumbup:

The large choils on the RMD, R5, etc. allow them to be used as if they were smaller blades, suited to the same tasks only not quite as well due to weight.

I am a strong supporter of the big knife + little knife + saw package for woodland camping, and would argue that the B10LE + ScrapMax460 make a GREAT package because of the weights and geometries involved, as well as handle comfort.
ResC is great stuff (and easily modified to suit a user's hand), very tough/durable/grippy and insulates against impact shock as well as temperature!
The Basic 10 weighs only ~14.5 oz, is very well balanced and nimble in hand, thin enough for machete work but stout enough for heavy chopping & batonning, carving wood, etc. INFI :thumbup:
The ScrapMax460 weighs only ~3.3 oz, is 0.095" thick with a full flat grind that slides effortlessly through thick material, and is a perfect fillet knife for pan-fish and pike, also well suited to animal hide and boning cuts of meat. ELMAX for corrosion resistance and edge retention :thumbup: It'll take you generations of game processing to sharpen this knife down to a toothpick ;)


But if you are only taking ONE knife, I'd chose the RMD - long enough to baton through thicker wood, but small enough for the smaller chores and not as bulky/heavy as the 6-7" blades. Ask the shop for a specific edge-angle or you might have a lot of work ahead of you, bringing down the edge to a more efficient angle for carving and fish-filleting. If you can, look for one of the custom-shop FFG blades ;)
Click to expand...

Last time I talked to Josh about it you could still order a FFG SE model straight from the Swamp Rat custom shop, so no need to pay second hand mark up on them. However with Blade just passing by I am not sure if this is still an option or not however a quick email over should net you an answer fairly quickly.
 
PatrickKnight said:
Last time I talked to Josh about it you could still order a FFG SE model straight from the Swamp Rat custom shop, so no need to pay second hand mark up on them. However with Blade just passing by I am not sure if this is still an option or not however a quick email over should net you an answer fairly quickly.
Click to expand...

Hmm... maybe I'll drop them a line and get a quote on a new FFG-RMD or for re-profiling a standard RMD...
 
Yeah, I talked to Josh about the cost for the FFG RMD's with Two-tone G-10. I think he said they were about $190 + shipping, but I may be wrong as it's been a while and my memory tends to be foggy.
 
Just came back from a day of rock climbing and was not expecting so many responses. Thank You everybody. However, now you have all given me several new options that I must look into before making the final decision. I agree with what a couple of you said and what seems to be a recuring note here in that i do not think I ill only be buying one or two after my first purchase. I have a feeling there will be Many orders in my future. I was dumbfounded lurking here seeing the pics of members collections which i am sure are just a fracton of what they actually have. Amazing. I must admit I know a little about it as I have 4 ropes for climbing only need one as I am a sport climber but....

So let me look at these options you ahve told me about and get back to you guys. I am pretty certain will go big knive little knive to seperate the camp chores from the field dressing duties.

Thanks Again.

Joe
 
On The Rocks said:
I am pretty certain will go big knive little knive to seperate the camp chores from the field dressing duties.
Click to expand...

That is not only a good idea from a utility/ease of use standpoint, but also from a food safety standpoint. Toxic resins can stick to blades when processing wood which in turn could make you sick if used for food prep without thoroughly cleaning the blade.

That being said, I'd strongly recommend again finding yourself a Scrap Yard Elmax on the exchange for your field dressing chores. The thickness of most other Busse kin knives will be less ideal as they are generally very overbuilt for simple field dressing. If only I could convince Dan Busse to make a 5.5" Elmax blade.....:)

Dan has also stated recently that the Scrap Yard 1111 will be available for pre-order in a "week". It will feature an 11.5" blade made from .265" thick SR-101 and should be priced around $200. I'd highly recommend ordering one of these when they are made available as you will not find a better value in a large chopper. Here's a couple images that were taken at Blade by Dericdesmond, hope he doesn't mind me sharing them.

d01qx5a.jpgSPywW6F.jpg

If that size range is too large for your applications, I'd then have you look at either the Scrap Yard 911 or 711. Both are great choppers which are also very versatile and affordable. If you wanted something with from Swamp Rat with a traditional full tang handle, the Rodent 7 or 9 would be great choices.

Also, if you've got the coin the Basic 10 LE is a great choice for the reasons mentioned in the above posts. I'd have to agree with what was said in another thread about the B10LE being one of the most underrated Busse releases in the last five years. It's that great, IMO.......:thumbup:

I tend to prefer 9-10" blades for all around utility as they are large enough to do well at wood processing or other heavy tasks, while remaining nimble/light enough to be good for the smaller chores. Many prefer 7-8" for this role, but I find the extra couple inches adds to the utility without really being too large to easily handle the small stuff.

Here's a pic for your reference, pic taken by Need2Know.

photo-392.jpg

From Top to Bottom :

B10LE - No Choil
B10LE - Choil
Rodent 9
Scrap Yard 711
Scrap Yard 511
Scrap Yard 460 Elmax
Scrap Yard 375 Elmax
Scrap yard 340 Elmax
 
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On The Rocks, First off WELCOME to the family. Sorry I am a little late in responding. Blade took a lot out of me. If you have any questions just let me know. Also if you want to get some more opinions you can check out Swamp Rats other forum. Go to swampratknives.com and click on the forum there. My forum name there is Joshua R. Good luck with your choice.
 
I say get a large Scrap Yard, like the 911 or 1111, and a Rodent Solution with canvas micarta. You can't beat Res-c in the comfy department, and that'll come in handy when using it for high impact stuff.
 
amflud said:
I say get a large Scrap Yard, like the 911 or 1111, and a Rodent Solution with canvas micarta. You can't beat Res-c in the comfy department, and that'll come in handy when using it for high impact stuff.
Click to expand...

I'd second Res-C for a chopper. There's virtually no vibration transferring to your hand when chopping or batoning, which allows for much more comfort and extends the time you can do the heavy tasks.
RS is a great companion blade, but I'd probably lean towards R4, but that's just me.
 
For me, if it's going to be one knife, easy choice...........RMD.

However, I found I prefer two-knife combos. Just easier to perform all tasks well.............and it's a heck of a lot of fun trying to put that 'perfect' combo together. :)
 
Since everyone is telling On the Rocks to order a SYKCO, you might explain to him the site is down for "2 weeks".... ;)
 
I agree 2 blades is a better choice than one for your intended purposes. I also prefer to use a separate knife for food prep than what i use for wood processing. But im one of the few that dont care for res-c.
You can get a rig to keep the knives together too so you dont need to carry them separate....

ymcb.jpg

sjtf.jpg



I like a 3 blade setup myself. Small for food prep or opening food packages and similar. Medium for all basic camp chores or just playing with a knife, and a larger chopper for fire wood prep. But a RMD can handle all this by itself. I have chopped wood larger than needed with just the RMD.

dsc01235l.jpg



And then i also bring this guy just for fun.

gpjj.jpg
 
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