Recommend me my first fix blade

Scrapyard 911. Busse-made with Busse heat treat. You'll need to order a kydex sheath for it (or leather). I'd recommend Mashed Cat for the kydex. You'll still be about 40 bucks under your limit.
 
Somedayrockstar said:
I live in Alaska. So I should be good on blade length. The reason why I haven't stated a length is because I'm not sure what a good size is to start with? I guess I'm looking more for what you guys would recommend as a good stater fix blade. Something that is durable can do a variety of task. Doesn't have to excel at anything but could be used for everything. Price range I guess would be sub $300. Obviously the cheaper the better since it will be a user.
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Down that road lies repeated purchases and dissatisfaction.

The BEST have already been posted, but the only lower end brands that i can recommend are Becker and Condor. Esee is right there, but a little more expensive.

You won't find a tougher knife anywhere than the BK2 (it's basically a small crowbar with an edge). I have a BK7 and a BK9... they're both decent. They have nothing on my bussekin but they make great beaters and will do the job if needed
 
roninelh said:
Support a Bladeforums maker... Check out the fixed blade for sale section! Ive made many purchases and enjoyed every one! We have an amazing community of makers here. Everyone is legit too, your not going to get ripped off or anything.
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Exactly!
 
Somedayrockstar,
An inexpensive fixed blade and great way to start would be the same knife recommended by the Jack Mt. Bushcraft School in Maine for its students, the red wooden handled Mora Carbon Knife #2 (aka Mora Classic #2) for $13 plus shipping. You could learn to sharpen it, hit it with a baton to split wood, filet fish and generally use it every day and not worry about how much it cost.

Blade Length: 4.125"
Handle Length: 4.0"
Blade Thickness: 0.0984"
Blade Depth/width: 0.8125"
Weight: 2.5 oz.
Steel: high carbon, hardness 60 Rc

If you feel strongly that you need a lower guard for safety while learning, there is a similar Mora Classic 612 Carbon for $16 plus shipping.

My preference is to buy American and for grinds that are one-half to the full height of the blade, unlike the Mora which is made in Sweden and has a traditional Scandinavian, one-fourth height grind; but this is a great knife to learn the basics with at a low price.

Learn how to sharpen it and put a cutting edge bevel of twenty-one degrees on it. A double bevel of the factory Scandi grind it comes with plus a narrow, cutting edge bevel of 21 degrees will make it more stable for woodcraft tasks.

And study the Mors Kochanski book Bushcraft to learn about safe use of a knife and lots more. As others have said on this forum, your skills and wise thinking are what are most important.

Good luck.
 
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I find I use my ESEE Izula a lot.If you have large hands get the Izula 2. Others that I like but do not own ....yet are Fiddle back forge, Bark river knife and tool, Spyderco.
As for makers that are on here.a few that come to mind Daniel Fairly, American Kami, Snody ,Hoback,Jason Wilder.
 
You'll have to decide where your comfort zone is in terms of price. You can choose a knife and then adjust to the knife or know your preferences and choose a knife that matches those as much as possible. But when I first started buying knives, I really didn't know much of anything. I didn't have any preferences. I just wanted something that I could feel comfortable using, would sharpen up nicely, and one that I was not ashamed of. The big fixed blades always attracted me. They are just so cool. Yep. Did that.... Still do in fact. But I find that I actually use a fixed blade in the 3-5" blade length range more than any other and often choose to use a folder over all my options.

As mentioned above, Mora's are about as cheap as you can go. But the quality is amazingly good. You can spend a lot more and be dissatisfied over time. The Mora can always be moved into the kitchen for kitchen duty or stored with your camping stuff for those family camp outs. But for that knife size, I am much more comfortable using a kabar Becker BK-16 or BK-17.
 
For an EDC fixed blade knife in Alaska where you have snow about half the year, I would look at Fallkniven's VG-10 semi stainless steel. They have a good variety of blade lengths. Carbon steel blades are not optimum in a wet environment.
 
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