Hello to all. I've been a knife user all my life, lots of hunting and fishing and home butchering, camping, etc. I finally got tired of buying cheap (and not so cheap knives) and had some money burning a hole in my PayPal account from selling a bunch of stuff on Ebay, so I decided it was time to invest in some good knives, both for me and my daughters, one of whom practically lives in the forest. I thought I'd post some quick notes of my first impressions of what I've bought (after countless hours of research here).
1. For myself, for a pocket knife, I bought a Spyderco Mini-Manix. I'm glad I didn't buy the Manix. I'm a big guy, and it's still at the upper limit of an EDC for me. This is the first time I've ever actually used the clip on a knife, as it just takes up too much pocket if dropped loose into the pocket. It's substantial, everyone who sees it is very impressed with the ergonomics. The scales are great, very grippy, but not rough on the hands. It has two good handle positions, you can grip the handle for hard cutting or choke up on the choil and the thumbrest for more detailed work. Good cutter, takes a great edge and holds it pretty well.
2. For my youngest daughter (18), I bought her a Spyderco Native in S30V and a Becker BK10. The Becker is a great knife, well balanced for it's size, takes a very good edge very easily. Small enough, and sharp enough, to clean a deer while being big enough to be a decent chopper and camp knife. For a person who is 5' zero inches and 110 pounds it's a big knife, but it's still light enough to find a place in her kit for backwoods travel. The Spyderco Native is also very nice. The scales aren't as nice as the Manix but it's very light, which is important to her, and a good cutter.
3. For my oldest daughter I bought her a Browning Ice Storm when I found a great deal on one. Made in Seiko, Japan, by Mcusta, it has a VG10 blade and very attractive styling. Very nice knife and a steal at the price. She's not a camper, she's a city person, so this is more than enough knife for her.
4. Just out of curiousity, I ordered 6 different Swedish Moras by Frost, all different styles and blades. These are truly the most amazing knife deal on the planet. At $8 - $14 each they're incredible. I got the high carbon, stainless, laminated and Triflex blades. My favorite is the traditional #2 in laminated steel. The sharpest knife I have, and holds the edge very well. All are extremely usable working knives at a great price. When I'm out clearing brush or just working around the property it makes a lot more sense to beat up a $10 mora than a $100 Spyderco, and they're all very light and easy to carry on the belt, although I will be making some better sheaths for them. If you haven't tired these, buy some!
5. Finally, I treated myself to one indulgence. I bought a Fallkniven A1. This is the knife I've been looking for all my life. Great balance, perfect size for multiple uses, fits the hand perfectly. It just calls to me and says "hold me". A couple of weeks ago I had a big chunk fall out of an Ash tree in my back yard, a limb about 8" thick at the base, probably 30-35' long. Just for grins I took the A1 out and chopped it into pieces small enough to move and carry to the burn pile. It sliced through the wood like butter, and after an hour of serious chopping, it was still razor sharp without a defect in the blade. I am completely impressed with this knife.
I didn't claim this would be scientific testing, but wanted to report on some good knives that I found, hopefully someone else will find this of interest. I spent many, many hours reading this board before buying these knives and I am completely satisfied with all of my purchases as the result of all that research, so thanks to everyone here who has contributed towards these wise purchases!
1. For myself, for a pocket knife, I bought a Spyderco Mini-Manix. I'm glad I didn't buy the Manix. I'm a big guy, and it's still at the upper limit of an EDC for me. This is the first time I've ever actually used the clip on a knife, as it just takes up too much pocket if dropped loose into the pocket. It's substantial, everyone who sees it is very impressed with the ergonomics. The scales are great, very grippy, but not rough on the hands. It has two good handle positions, you can grip the handle for hard cutting or choke up on the choil and the thumbrest for more detailed work. Good cutter, takes a great edge and holds it pretty well.
2. For my youngest daughter (18), I bought her a Spyderco Native in S30V and a Becker BK10. The Becker is a great knife, well balanced for it's size, takes a very good edge very easily. Small enough, and sharp enough, to clean a deer while being big enough to be a decent chopper and camp knife. For a person who is 5' zero inches and 110 pounds it's a big knife, but it's still light enough to find a place in her kit for backwoods travel. The Spyderco Native is also very nice. The scales aren't as nice as the Manix but it's very light, which is important to her, and a good cutter.
3. For my oldest daughter I bought her a Browning Ice Storm when I found a great deal on one. Made in Seiko, Japan, by Mcusta, it has a VG10 blade and very attractive styling. Very nice knife and a steal at the price. She's not a camper, she's a city person, so this is more than enough knife for her.
4. Just out of curiousity, I ordered 6 different Swedish Moras by Frost, all different styles and blades. These are truly the most amazing knife deal on the planet. At $8 - $14 each they're incredible. I got the high carbon, stainless, laminated and Triflex blades. My favorite is the traditional #2 in laminated steel. The sharpest knife I have, and holds the edge very well. All are extremely usable working knives at a great price. When I'm out clearing brush or just working around the property it makes a lot more sense to beat up a $10 mora than a $100 Spyderco, and they're all very light and easy to carry on the belt, although I will be making some better sheaths for them. If you haven't tired these, buy some!
5. Finally, I treated myself to one indulgence. I bought a Fallkniven A1. This is the knife I've been looking for all my life. Great balance, perfect size for multiple uses, fits the hand perfectly. It just calls to me and says "hold me". A couple of weeks ago I had a big chunk fall out of an Ash tree in my back yard, a limb about 8" thick at the base, probably 30-35' long. Just for grins I took the A1 out and chopped it into pieces small enough to move and carry to the burn pile. It sliced through the wood like butter, and after an hour of serious chopping, it was still razor sharp without a defect in the blade. I am completely impressed with this knife.
I didn't claim this would be scientific testing, but wanted to report on some good knives that I found, hopefully someone else will find this of interest. I spent many, many hours reading this board before buying these knives and I am completely satisfied with all of my purchases as the result of all that research, so thanks to everyone here who has contributed towards these wise purchases!
