thanks guys. I really do like the look/design/materials used in these blades, hopefully i can get one and put it to good use. I enjoy capming a lot, can anyone suggest a model for general chooping/fielding, I would prefer the blade to be under the 9" mark, but am open to any suggestions.
Based on your rough description/parameters:
1) The Camp Tramp is an awesome Classic! and Awesome all-around versatile knife. - But, hard to find and usually expensive these days.
2) If you stay on top of things, you might have a reasonable shot at picking up one of the upcoming (someday ??) Ratweiler Choppers. The Ratweiler Chopper will be a good knife. The original Ratweiler was very similar to the Camp Tramp, but with micarta scales. Historically, there have been many debates over Res-C vs. Micarta. But, aside from subjective opinions on comfort, the Res-C is lighter. The Micarta will provide a full tang and the full tang along with micarta will make the handle much more heavy. Most people would generally try to argue about the strength advantages of a full tang, but I have yet to see or read about a hidden tang from Swamp Rat breaking. And I know there have been some seriously abused Camp Tramp and Battle Rats out there with hidden tangs. The strength issue is a
non-issue.
----
The Desert Jack is getting very hard to come by. I would describe it as a great fielding knife, but not a great chopper. It can manage battoning. It is a slender knife, but very cool.
Personally, I feel the recently "missed by many" Ratmandu to be an INCREDIBLE all around use knife. I would compare the Ratmandu to the Desert Jack in many ways and I would prefer the Ratmandu over the Desert Jack in many ways. But again, an awesome fielding knife and not a great chopper. MANY people are hoping that the Swamp will release more of these!!!! There is a reasonable good chance to pick one of these up on the bladeforums for sale section since they were recently released. If the Swamp doesn't release more of these, there will probably be many sad Rats and the value of this knife will probably go up quickly. I can't recommend holding your breath for the Swamp to release more. There have not been any good indications they will - even if we are hoping. It is strange that nobody really even knew this knife was coming. To me, the Ratmandu is one of the best feeling and balanced knives I have come by in this size a knife.
The Dog Skinner and Bog Dog are both just slightly smaller than the Ratmandu. I am personally a huge fan of the Bog Dog and the mudder grips. This knife is very light-weight at about 5.0 ounces and is a great field, hiking, chore knife, but not a chopper. The Dog Skinner is very similar, but has micarta handles and heavier in the handle because of it. My Dog Skinner weighs about 7.5 ounces. Both are VERY sweet, but both are very hard to come by.
The Swamp Rat M6 is a good mid-size blade, but I don't feel the weight and balance make it a good chopper and I feel the Ratmandu and many others are better as field/chore type knives. Unfortunately, I feel the M6 falls into no-mans-land. I don't feel it is a good chopper or a good field/chore knife. It is a decent attempt at all-around knife. I prefer the Scrapper 6 from Scrap Yard knives over the M6. However, I am considering reshaping the handle of my M6. I think I can make the knife fit, feel and balance better by reshaping the handle. It has potential.
The Camp Tramp is a little longer than the M6, but way better in many ways (IMO). The Camp Tramp is actually about 2.0 ounces lighter than the M6, but larger blade and more blade weight make the Camp Tramp a much better chopper and similar capabilites as a chore knife.
The Ratweiler Chopper will be an awesome knife. However, I hope they finish the micarta scales to a similar level of quality as the original runs of the Ratweilers.
The very last run of the original styled Ratweiler had (IMO) poorly finished micarta scales. The pictures that have been shown of the upcoming Ratweiler Chopper have these same poorly finished scales.
The early Ratweiler micarta scales were more radiused and polished. The scales on the last run were more square and raw looking. The earlier handles felt better in the hand and looked much nicer.
I personally don't like these handles:
-----
These older Ratweiler handles were much nicer:
------
I think the Yard Guard from Scrap Yard knives has been under-appreciated and may be worth considering based on what you have described. They can still be found on the secondary market at reasonable prices. The Yard Guard is very similar in size and weight to the original Camp Tramp and with the same handle as the original Camp Tramp. But, the Yard Guard is SR77 instead of SR101. SR77 is probably a little tougher for beating and abuse whereas SR101 is probably a little better at keeping a sharp edge.
The Yard Guard has a recurve blade and a little bit thicker blade than the Camp Tramp.
The Yard Guard weighs about 16.0 ounces vs. about 14.5 ounces for the Camp Tramp.
To me (IMO), the Camp Tramp has a little better feel, balance and function, but the Yard Guard is
very Reasonably close on
all most counts. (*Recurve blades at least "Look" cooler!) However, when comparing the two, the Yard Guard feels a bit blade heavy to me, but many people probably like that (???). In any event, the Yard Guard can still be had for a very good price!!! :thumbup: :thumbup: and a MUCH better price than the Camp Tramp (if you find one) and better price than the upcoming Ratweiler Chopper will be. Price no object, I vote for the Camp Tramp if you can find one and add a second smaller knife such as the Ratmandu, Bog Dog or SS4 as an awesome combo.
.
