Survival knife- best for the money, no laughs!


MY main camping/outdoor survival knife combo:
Busse shII and cold steel master hunter, those 2 seemed to cover all the bases for me.

Now I am thinking the dexter fish splitter and a cold steel master hunter.


but it is always evolving that is the fun of the knife world....isn't it?
 
Originally posted by Cliff Stamp:
You want a full warrenty, not because your blade can be replaced in an emergency or survial situation, but because ; (1) it allows you to field test the blade with confidence before you have to rely on it in a serious situation, and obviously you evaluate all life saving gear before use, (2) there is a very high correlation between quality and coverage. Quite often, the knives with the best warrenties don't actually need them and the ones without them do, which is why they don't have them and the ones that do can afford it.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

That gave me a headache to read but it's so true. I have beat the crap out of my Battle Mistress and Natural Outlaw and they just keep comming back for more. I will go to the store today and buy a coconut and see what happens.
 
the way i look at it,in a survival situation,cost should be the LEAST of your worries.that doesnt mean im going to just up and dig a hole with my kabar,id use a stick or my hands or something.but if its a "gotta run,NOW!" situation,i wouldnt worry about leaving a 200 dollar knife behind,your life is worth more than that.besides,survival knives are supposed to be tough,and able to stand up to some abuse.
~MAURICE

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the pompetous of love lame bastid
 
Chris,

Exactly what custom knives are you saying your $32.50 Dexter are tougher than?

Which ones did you personally test?



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Les Robertson
Custom Knife Entrepreneur

http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
 
I guess the moral of this story is that we're being taken for a ride by companies like Busse, Chris Reeve (especially Busse, CR fixed blades are reasonably priced at least...) and others that charge these outrageous prices for their products. Guess what? The only reason they are charging is 'cause we keep paying! Christ, one could get a true custom from any number of makers for what some of these companies want for their run of the mill production pieces. Talk about "paying for the name..."

PM
 
Les,

The one I have tested most was my Busse A2 steel heart II, I have owned it since 95 or so. I have been camping in the cascades, the olympics, and a few out like places.

Les I'd be willing to bet that my dexter could outlast any customs.

My personal opinion is that customs are way OVERRATED. I think It is great that we as americans have awesome knife makers I am proud of that. But as far as using knives go I'll stick to cold steel, benchmade, spyderco and dexter russel. There are very few customs that I would purchase.

aesthetically speaking I love custom knives they are beautiful but I also love fineart paintings and go to museums often but I am not gonna pay 300.oo and over for a knife when an under 100.oo knife can outperform it or equal it.

I do think Newt livesay has done a great job of providing a great knife at a great price.

but I can't say that about some of the customs I have owned. I work in a knife shop and we sell some custom knives from wayne clay, gary mosser, tim macdonald, chris reeves, I have owned some by randy lee, al polkowski, kevin schmadeka, bob dozier and bob kramer. I really cannot say on a using level and a comfort level that they gave had some advantage over my 10 yr old SRK.

respectively,

chris
 
Hi Chris,

You'd be willing to bet! How much would you be willing to bet.

I think I have a few custom knives here at the house that would every factory knife ever made to shame.

I do agree with you that there are a lot of over priced custom knives. Just as there are a lot of over priced factory knives. Take Kershaw's new Onion Whisper. The MSRP on this knife is $300.00. Ken is coming out with a new line of custom made knives that are $400.00. Guess which one will have a better fit and finsh, work better and hold it's value better. Ok, so it was a rethorical question.

As we read time and time again (and what I have witnessed) is that factory knives that are used hard, generally do not hold up. Actually, that is how I got in to custom knives I had a Gerber fall apart.

So let me know how much you can stand to lose .


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Les Robertson
Custom Knife Entrepreneur

http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
 
Les, you may want to do a little research before putting one of your blades up for a comparison. A picture of the fish splitter can be seen here :

http://www.netten.net/memnet/FishCatalog/SaniSafeKnives.html#anchor255919

Since it is supposed to be a "cleaver" class blade, the edge is probably very thick and thus resistant to impaction or fracture. As well the very low sabre grind will give it decent lateral strength as compared to a hollow or full flat ground blade of similar thickness. It is probably fairly soft as well (low fifties to high fourties I would guess) so it would be decently tough.

I have no idea what the steel is, I looked up a bunch of pages and they had varied descriptions "super stainless steel", "high carbon steel", "high carbon stainless steel" etc., I would guess 420-J2 or 440A or similar class. The stock width was spec'ed on one page as 3/16" .

I would not expect it to cut overly well, or hold and adge any length of time, but it would take a fair beating. It would not surprise me if it held up better in high stress impacts and such than say a similar sized forged camp class bowie from one of the ABS smiths and most if not all of the large tacticals you have listed simply due to the much larger cross section of the edge and the blade body as a whole, combined with the strength and toughness of what is probably a medium carbon low end stainless steel.

You could of course have a custom maker grind you a blade with a similar profile and he would give you a better blade, but most of the stock work (like say the Brend #2) is not nearly as obtuse.

-Cliff
 
Hi Cliff,

I was refering to Chris's Dexter model (I have to admit I have never heard of this company, nor do I know what the knife looks like).

Whatever it is, Im sure I have something from the custom world that will go toe to toe with it.

You know me, I just hate when some one claims that their factory knife is better than any custom knife out there. Ususally, these people have never even used as custom knife.

However, it looks as though Chris has owned or still owns some custom knives. So at least he a small sample to compare to his factory knives.


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Les Robertson
Custom Knife Entrepreneur

http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
 
Les, the link above is to the blade in question :

http://www.netten.net/memnet/FishCatalog/FishArtHeads/S112.gif

The Dexter Russel Fish Splitter. It looks to be some kind of cleaver / parang .

In general no, I don't think production blades are better users than customs, however in this case the shear mass of steel of the Fish Splitter gives it a huge advantage.

Which customs would you put against it in terms of durability?

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 10-17-2000).]
 
Dexter Russell are brands of Russell Harrington Cutlery, the largest maker of professional cutlery in the US, and the oldest. Russell is from John Russell of Green River fame, who started his cutlery company in 1834. I think that most of their business comes from industrial knives.
 
I've used some of their industrial knives. At least they said 'high carbon' on the blade, instead of the general 'stainless.' Seemed well-built for knives which probably sold for $2 each. My only real complaint was that they wouldn't hold an edge very long, and the handle was round which, combined with the nice thin blade that these particular knives had, meant you couldn't easily tell if you had the edge or spine to your work, until you started to cut. I know this has nothing to do with the topic, but I just felt like posting it, so sue me!
smile.gif


--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
MadDog. Bet they can't stand up to a MadDog.
wink.gif


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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Best for the money? Well now that an interesting question. The only way I can answer is that I have a Busse BattleMistress E model but I also have several Cold Steel Bushmans...you can beat the piss out of these things and still have a working blade. Another Cold Steel product (cheap) that makes a good user is the single edge throwing knife (can't remember the name). It holds a pretty good edge and is very tough.
I don't know if this is an answer you were taking about but if you have the knives you want/can afford, and they work for you then those are the one to have with you when the tree falls.

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Ron,
Bremerton, Washington
 
If you're new to the survival scene and don' have alot of money. Then I recommend a Cold Steel Bushman knife.
biggrin.gif


http://www.colsteel.com/Bushman.gif

It's a dman good knife for the price!!!
Besides being hollow handled, you could possibly put a small survival kit in the handle. Such as the kit at http://www.angelfire.com/il3/bobsplace/Bushmankit .

The only negative is it sheath. IT SUCKS!!!!! PERIOD!!!! Get rid of it and spend the extra money on a kydex sheath That you can purchase at http://www.mnsi.net/~nbtnoel/ .
It worth the extra money !!!!
wink.gif


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Big-Target>>>>>I'm not called that because I'm an anorexic midget!!!

[This message has been edited by Big-Target (edited 10-12-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Big-Target (edited 10-12-2000).]
 
Hey Cliff, WOW! thanks for the photos it would have taken me a while to get that job done. on the steel issue I know a custom maker who buys his blanks from Dexter/Russel and it is 440C. That is the stainless they use.

It is tempting to bet you Les but I wouldn't abuse my customs that much cause I still like them. That is exactly why I was attracted to the Fish splitter in the first place.

Cause I would never jump on my customs or throw them against a tree to see how strong they were. I couldn't imagine how any knife could be stronger than the FISH SPLITTER cause after all the testing it is as good as new except some scratches on the handle. The advantage the customs have is comfort and aesthetics and you get no argument from me that customs are better in those categories.

I have done similar testing but over a 10 year period of time with my c/s SRK and it has held up incredibly well. I had to send it back to c/s once to have the handle restabilized. It actually saved my @$$ once.

I actually just received a custom from a trade with a forum member. It is a rj macdonald huge 14" chopper Barongish style. I love this short sword and NO Production company can equal its beauty but I am not gonna jump and it with all my might. If I was rich and can have another one made I would but I am not $$$$$$$.

 
chris :

It is tempting to bet you Les but I wouldn't abuse my customs that much
Click to expand...

Since Les was the one who issued the challenge, it is only fair that he provide the custom knife. The Brend #2 seems to be the obvious choice as it is the one Les recommends most often and he has jumped on it.

Interesting that they use 440C and don't specify it. Do you know how hard it is?

-Cliff
 
Well it sounds like a challenge has been issued and its time for the talk to stop and the testing to begin. Cliff Stamp if you would honor us by agreeing to perform the test that would be a great first step. If Chrisaloia is willing to donate the Dexter knife in the interest of testing that's another hurdle cleared. Finally either we can get Les to donate a Brend #2 or take up a collection and buy one for testing. I am positive there are enough of us who would like to see this test done that we can come up with the money. What do you say gentlemen?
 
count me in!

Only if Cliff promises to throw both knives at a rock wall from 20ft. 10 times each.

leave them in a barrel of water overnight.

jump on them like kindling.


This is very exciting!
 
count me in!

Only if Cliff promises to throw both knives at a rock wall from 20ft. 10 times each.

leave them in a barrel of water overnight.

jump on them like kindling.

besides all the usual cutting tests
This is very exciting!


[This message has been edited by chrisaloia (edited 10-13-2000).]
 
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