So much information! And fantastic suggestions all around. And thanks for informing me about the 1095 steel. I dont have any hesitations about buying a blade made out of it now. But are there any steels I should avoid? Im looking at the Ontario, ESEE, and TOPS knife lines now. And of course anymore knife suggestions would be great.
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Survival/Tactical blade suggestions?
- Thread starter ImANinja
- Start date
So much information! And fantastic suggestions all around. And thanks for informing me about the 1095 steel. I dont have any hesitations about buying a blade made out of it now. But are there any steels I should avoid? Im looking at the Ontario, ESEE, and TOPS knife lines now. And of course anymore knife suggestions would be great.
420J, 440A, 5CR13Mov, 7CR13Mov, AUS6, 1055 are worth avoiding, not because they are terrible, but you can do better on almost any budget.
Im really leaning towards the Esee 4 right now. I just have one concern, the coating must make it hard to strike a fire steel. Ive seen pictures online where people have sanded the top of the knife to use it for that purpose. I was wondering could I do the same with the choil? Has anyone tried this? And yes I know you can just carry a dedicated striker but I would just rather have less stuff to carry personally.
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2003
- Messages
- 747
Im really leaning towards the Esee 4 right now. I just have one concern, the coating must make it hard to strike a fire steel. Ive seen pictures online where people have sanded the top of the knife to use it for that purpose. I was wondering could I do the same with the choil? Has anyone tried this? And yes I know you can just carry a dedicated striker but I would just rather have less stuff to carry personally.
Uncoated Esee 4's are now available....
Im really leaning towards the Esee 4 right now. I just have one concern, the coating must make it hard to strike a fire steel. Ive seen pictures online where people have sanded the top of the knife to use it for that purpose. I was wondering could I do the same with the choil? Has anyone tried this? And yes I know you can just carry a dedicated striker but I would just rather have less stuff to carry personally.
The choil would work, as does the spine. Just use some sandpaper to remove the coating.
One thing though, I chose to expose the spine rather than the choil because putting a 90 on the choil would be really uncomfortable on the hands. In either case, esee's non cutting edges aren't a sharp 90 degrees. You'll have to use a stone/file to put the nice edge on it, which is easier to do on the spin than the choil.
Lots of good suggestions have been put on the table. In light of the 'light camping/hiking and self defense' comment originally made, I might suggest the Agency by SOG. This is a VERY lively blade in the hand. It is more at home in the slicing department but could easily function as a camp knife.
I like the lines on the Agency and feel that it would make a nice, well balanced tool for the backwoods hiker.
I like the lines on the Agency and feel that it would make a nice, well balanced tool for the backwoods hiker.
Good choice Ninja. I think the corrosion concerns with 1095 are overblown. I have an Esee 3 and GEC pocketknife made of 1095. I haven't used the Esee much, but use the GEC #92 almost every day at work cutting my daily apple, and have had no rust issues. 1095 patina's nicely, and as long as after using it you can take a small amount of time (like 3 seconds) to wipe the knife on your jeans, shirt, etc., it won't rust. And it's super easy to maintain a razor edge just with a strop.