opinions needed

A

albertwas27

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May 3, 2013
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I'm looking into buying my first fixed blade and I've narrowed down my choices to two knives, the fallkniven a1 and the ratmandu. id like a sort of all around camping knife, the locations where i usually camp are the mountains here but id also like to bring it with me in the tropical rain forests here and also some remote beaches. i like the looks of the ratmandu better but I've been hearing about how rust is an issue with this knife(IF it really rusts that easy) while the a1 has the vg10 blade. i can't handle both these knives because no one sells them over here. but i really2 like the looks of the RMD compared to the a1. which one should i pull the trigger on?
 
Fallkniven and SwampRat make great products, but as for which of the two I'd pull the trigger on....honestly, neither.

That ~5-6 inch range, to me is too big for fine work and too small for chopping.

I'd consider what I would really expect to do most of the time with a knife while camping and get a knife that does that well. Maybe back it up with a less expensive knife that does the other thing well (like a Vic SAK like the Farmer for slicing, or a folding saw for "chopping"/wood processing).
 
what range would you suggest? thanks for your suggestion but as much as i hate to admit it my collection won't be complete without a fixed blade haha and i would feel much better having something and not need it than not have it and need it haha
 
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Ultimately...that is really up to you. You want to slice, or you want to chop/bash/smash? Either one of those excellent knives you cited will do those jobs, but none will slice as well as a thinner, smaller slicer, and none will chop as well as a thicker longer chopper.

If that is OK with you...then that is great! I'd go Fallkniven...I like them a lot.

I feel fixed blade slicers are around 3-4 inches and choppers around 7-ish.

One thing to note is I am, and always will be a sucker for that "do it all 5-6 inch fixed blade wonder knife"...even though the logical side of me says that it is a compromise, and that one would be probably better served with a SAK and a folding saw. :)
 
marcinek said:
Ultimately...that is really up to you. You want to slice, or you want to chop/bash/smash? Either one of those excellent knives you cited will do those jobs, but none will slice as well as a thinner, smaller slicer, and none will chop as well as a thicker longer chopper.

If that is OK with you...then that is great! I'd go Fallkniven...I like them a lot.

I feel fixed blade slicers are around 3-4 inches and choppers around 7-ish.

One thing to note is I am, and always will be a sucker for that "do it all 5-6 inch fixed blade wonder knife"...even though the logical side of me says that it is a compromise, and that one would be probably better served with a SAK and a folding saw. :)
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your not the only one who is a sucker for the wonder knife haha thats why i chose these 2 blades :) just curious what makes the fallkniven your pick?:)
 
Richardlittle said:
I myself would go with the Fallkniven A1 but It seams you want the Ratmandu so get the Ratmandu. neither knives are perfect and neither are a bad choice so get what you are wanting in your mind.

Myself I would get a BK9 and a BK16 and get out of this knife thing while you can.
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in a perfect world id get a ratmandu with the vg10s rust resistance but heck its not a perfect world haha its too late to get out of this knife thing, already have about six folders, its about time to get a fixed blade :)
 
what are your guys take on the RMD's rust resistance? and how are the handles on the a1? i have fairly large hands
 
albertwas27 said:
...just curious what makes the fallkniven your pick?:)
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- The Fallkniven people are nice folk (not that the SwampRat people aren't...just never encountered them)
- I don't like coated knives (though you can get a coated Fallkniven)
- Most importantly...I prefer a convexed knife.
 
+1 on the fally... i have 3 different models now (f1, a1, and s1) and love em. got the F1 6 years ago or so now and have taken it everywhere and tested it thouroughly and its never let me down. i now have the A1 on my chest rig and am a huge fan.
 
If you have large hands, the handles on both knives might be an issue. I don't much like the Fallkniven standard handles, but their blades rock, so it's worth exploring the options of getting with something like the Bark River handles that are available, or getting a blade blank and getting someone to make handles to your spec. The slightly smaller S1 makes an outstanding bushcraft knife (as indeed does the smaller again F1).

I found the RMD handles even worse and offloaded it very quickly.

If you are wanting this sort of size knife, and have big hands, investigate the Becker BK-7, BK-15/16/17, Bark River Aurora, Bark River Fox River Magnum, ESEE-4, or ESEE-6. All have handles that, in my experience, fill a big hand better and all boast great steels.
 
I would go with A1 it is a nice knife solid, thick, convexed, splits well, is stainless.

But as one knife option it is too big also consider pairing it up with Fallkniven F1

A1+F1= Excellent all round set up
 
I really like the ratmandu out of the choices. I'm thinking about getting one for myself but i don't think you could go wrong with either
 
Both are great knives. My personal choice is the ratmandu. I had a sykco 511 it was great but the handle was just a touch small. I really like the ratmandus though.
 
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