Quality Fixed Blade for $200 or less....any suggestions?

Thanks for all the suggestions. I really appreciate it. Now I have alot to think about.
 
I have a Esee and a benchmade 375. Both are awesome and within your price range.
 
Check around - you can find made-in-South Africa Arno Bernard, Jr 'Wild Dog' models - see below - for ~$200 shipped. Bohler N690 blade steel, tapered tang, interesting handles (giraffe bone and spalted maple shown), and water buffalo sheath. Great hand fit and quality.

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You can always find free s/h on a CRK 'Nyala' in S35VN - okay, also designed by a South African chap - but made here. Something different - a bit more ($229).

Stainz
 
I vote the zero tolerance 0150, 0160, or 0170. Every knife I have ever handled by zt has been extremely impressive and well made.
 
You may want to list more specific criteria...i think these are less than $200.



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You have an awful lot of really good options, especially among the custom makers on this forum. You also haven't given us much to go on, so I'm going to suggest 2 of my all-time favorites that are a reasonable size to actually carry and get some use out.

Fallkniven F1- 4" blade, convex blade (easiest to sharpen, cuts well), sheath is functional, but not spectacular, but you'll have enough money left to get a custom kydex if you want to.

And, the already mentioned RatManDu- a bit larger and heavier, but a seriously great knife. I have an Azwelke sheath that I am very satisfied with, and that gives me lots of carry options.

Both of these knives have huge followings, and will stand up to anything you're likely to throw at them. I also think either one would make a great first, or even, 1 and only fixed blade. Let us know what you end up with and how it works out.
 
Hard to go wrong with a Scrapyard knife. It's like Busse's little brother... and for the money, I don't know if there's a better knife out there. It's not fancy, but it's very practical. You could spend more for a Busse or a Treeman, and those are great knives. But for the money, I don't think you can beat a Scrapyard Knife. Just my opinion.
 
You cant go wrong with Bark River knives. They are great quality for the price. However, I do think there is a trend to make fixed blade knives thicker than they need to be. I look for distal taper and tapered tang as well.
 
akadave2 said:
You cant go wrong with Bark River knives.
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Unless you get one of the ones that spews huge chips from the edge cutting a twig or a chopstick. In which case you'll find out "lifetime warranty" means that they'll grind past the break and you'll get the mis-shapen poorly heat treated abomination back in six months... (And no, I'm not using exageration there - those were all real cases. BKRT make some stunningly pretty knives, and some are even very well designed - but they also send out obviously faulty products and treat the people who get them like crap.)

Otoh, if some maniac damages a Swamp Rat because he chops steel pipe with it day after day, they send him a new one. I much prefer the looks of a BRKT Rogue River or Golok or Bravo to those a Swamp Rat 911, but in reality I'd buy the Swampie.
 
Most of my seven BRKT knives are low-end handles - plain canvas Micarta - and A2 steel - ie, the 'cheaper' variants. All arrived deceptively sharp. Some of the sheaths were just 'acceptable', but the knives were all top drawer - great examples of a more custom made than production knife. My knives came from different vendors at different times - I feel it's a cross-section. None of my friends have had any troubles with Barkies, either. I don't baton with my usual fb knives. Certainly not with a Barkie. I just wanted to state that they aren't all 'bad'!

That said - I still feel that either of the South African made knives, the Arno Bernard, Jr (Son) made shown earlier or, perhaps - if you can find an affordable one by the father, Arno Bernard - will be finer examples of beautifully made user knives. Neat sheaths, too.

Stainz
 
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