Recommend a 5" fighter

I recently got a Junglee Baby Hattori, that I am impressed with. It is ground very thin and is balanced as a pure fighter.
 
Joe Talmadge said:
I've asked Bob to give me a quote on the attached pic (I know you'll all be in awe at my photo re-touching virtuosity).
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It's funny how my tastes have changed in the few years since I ordered that knife. If I were doing it today the design would look more like your version.

I still like drop-points for a lot of things, but I'm finding that the narrower point on a clip-point is a bit more versatile. On the other hand, I have yet to run across a task that my drop-point Dozier didn't handle well anyway, so I don't feel that I made a mistake. :)

--Bob Q
 
Bob, one question ... does your Dozier feel as fast in the hand as it looks? Or does it feel more utility-ish?
 
Joe Talmadge said:
Bob, one question ... does your Dozier feel as fast in the hand as it looks? Or does it feel more utility-ish?
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Faster.

:D

The balance is perfectly neutral. Combine that with the amount of metal removed by those deep hollow grinds, and the slight taper to the tang, and you have a knife that's a whole lot lighter than a 5-1/2" x 3/16" blade has any right being.

As a point of comparison, it is perceptibly quicker than my Greco Whisper, which I consider a fast blade. It's quicker than most of the 3" to 4" knives that I've handled.

--Bob Q
 
Report: Bob quoted me a reasonable price for doing that knife, but his backlog is 10-11 months at this point, which is definitely much too long for me. Well-deserved backlog, but I'd like to pick something up sooner, so I'll go through the other recommendations here and let you all know what I end up with.

Joe
 
There is another maker that I just thought of, not sure if he has done anything in 5" yet but it would not hurt to check.

Phil Tham

http://www.thamknives.com/

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Postmortem:

I was stymied by wait times and prices for the customs, although many discussed here were amazing. I have a buddy whose brother is a knife dealer, and who will occasionally give me a killer price on a knife, in return for a little knife knowledge instruction and a beer. So, I went back to the production knives, and my "buddy discount" brought just about all of them into my price range.

So I just received my SERE Operator. I won't have time to take it for a test drive until this weekend at the very earliest, but overall impressions: Fit and finish is fantastic, with one exception discussed below. It feels fantastic in the hand. In fact, my buddy liked it so much, he's getting one too.

The reversible polymer sheath with Teklok I'm of two minds about. On the one hand, I really like the lightweight package. On the other hand, I wish that the sheath held the knife in more tightly when the rubber restraining ring wasn't engaged. To really get a secure fit, the ring has to be on.

The knife came with very thin edges, this thing is going to cut like nobody's business. The one disappointment alluded to above is that there really isn't a proper edge -- a couple inches of the edge are just one giant turned burr. Of all the problems to have, this is the easiest to fix, probably just take a few minutes on the Sharpmaker. If I'd paid anything like full retail for this, I'd be annoyed though.

Overall, I predict it'll be a great little fighter, just gotta sharpen it up and see how it handles. Probably stick with the current sheath, but if I decide I don't like it, I'll grab an aftermarket kydex sheath instead.

Joe
 
Does the Sere Operator have a secure grip? I have been put off by the small guards on them - what looks like just a slight swell at the front from the pictures I have seen.
 
A little bit ago I also looked for a knife designed just for fighting, but my blade range was from 5" to 6".

Ka-Bar makes a 4.5" blade out of D2 called the Impact Spear Point.

If you could get a customized Mission MPT-Ti, that would be exactly what you are after. The knife is amazingly light and has a fighting blade's design. You would just want it without the serrations and a tiny bit shorter (the blade, minus the choil, is about 5").

The coming Busse Satin Jack TAC or Satin Rat (by their Swamp Rat line) would fit the bill nicely. The Busse is what I'm looking at for my dedicated combat knife.
 
Joe- try a Schrade 150T. The big size sharpfinger. They feel great in the hand and are wonderful in a reverse grip. They are also inexpensive.
 
W.T. Beck said:
Does the Sere Operator have a secure grip? I have been put off by the small guards on them - what looks like just a slight swell at the front from the pictures I have seen.
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The grip feels secure but the guard is definitely smaller than I'd like. I'll do some hard stabs with it in the coming weeks to see.

Joe
 
Thanks for the reply. Be careful with those hard stabs. We don't want to know how well the Operator cuts fingers.
 
Joe, any updates on your Operator? I'm considering getting one myself. I have a SERE 2000 and I absolutely love it. It just feels so great in the hand and the blade cuts like no buddy's business. So, I'm guessing that the Operator should feel just as good....EXCEPT the fact that if the handle is bigger (I'm assuming its longer) it might not fit my hand as well as the folder. I'd love to see a picture of the folder next to the fixed blade.

Mark
 
Possibly a dit late in the day for you , my Al Mar 25 th. anni. Shiva would be perfect . Laminated blade , stoopid sharp , good szed guard , sharp false edge , very pointy , and not too hard to look at . The sheath is good quality , but of conventional design .If it had been me I'd have gone to Bladart and got a Dozier . Bob has a good grasp of what a small tactical /utility is about !
 
cdf said:
Possibly a dit late in the day for you , my Al Mar 25 th. anni. Shiva would be perfect . Laminated blade , stoopid sharp , good szed guard , sharp false edge , very pointy , and not too hard to look at . The sheath is good quality , but of conventional design .If it had been me I'd have gone to Bladart and got a Dozier . Bob has a good grasp of what a small tactical /utility is about !
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What exactly is a "sharp false edge"??? Is it an edge or a false edge? Is that a swedge on the Shiva or a real edge?

Thanks
 
cdf said:
Possibly a dit late in the day for you , my Al Mar 25 th. anni. Shiva would be perfect . Laminated blade , stoopid sharp , good szed guard , sharp false edge , very pointy , and not too hard to look at . The sheath is good quality , but of conventional design .If it had been me I'd have gone to Bladart and got a Dozier . Bob has a good grasp of what a small tactical /utility is about !
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That Shiva knife is gorgeous, but pricey in its limited-edition form. Hopefully they're release a production version.
 
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