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SemperNovus

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I was looking for a knife and remembered seeing that Amazon.com had on OK selection so I went to the "Sports & Outdoors" section and searched on "combat knife". Several knives were returned in the search and a lot were sub $10 and sub $20 knives. It's been a LONG time since I've shopped for knives. My first instinct upon looking at the prices is that these must be crap knives. The makers are Mtech, "Elite Forces"(?!), etc. Are these manufacturers notorious for cheap products? Is the some kind of overstock situation going on where good knives are being sold for cheap? It's been a while and I don't know the knife manufacturing landscape any more. Help!
 
The brands that come to mind when I think knives are Ka-Bar, Gerber. What other brands should I look at? I'm not looking for a knife for looks (or anything else for that matter). It will be used and needs to hold up. I'm rough on EVERYTHING.
 
Stay away from that crap. 1st question is what are you going to use it for 2nd is how much are you looking to spend? Then we can get into edc or not and what are the knife laws like where you live etc. It's really hard to give an opinion or advice without asking a lot of questions. Hope I can help.
 
I have the MTech rescue team knife and it isn't that bad. It cost me about $10 (amazon prime so free 2 day shipping). I'd say it is worth it for that price if you are looking for something to destroy/give to a friend who doesn't know jack about knives. I just use the mtech for flipping now.
 
SemperNovus said:
The brands that come to mind when I think knives are Ka-Bar, Gerber. What other brands should I look at? I'm not looking for a knife for looks (or anything else for that matter). It will be used and needs to hold up. I'm rough on EVERYTHING.
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rkmoore said:
Stay away from that crap. 1st question is what are you going to use it for 2nd is how much are you looking to spend? Then we can get into edc or not and what are the knife laws like where you live etc. It's really hard to give an opinion or advice without asking a lot of questions. Hope I can help.
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I'm not too fond of Gerber (personal preference) but Ka-Bar makes good knives. I second what rkmoore suggested - we really need to know what you will use the knife for (work in an office environment and need to open the occasional letter, going on a camping trip, deploying to Afghanistan, etc.)

Just a few great companies (in no particular order): Benchmade, Kershaw, Spyderco, ESEE, Ka-bar, Cold Steel. {Fellow BF brethren - don't be offended if your favorite knife company is not listed -this is not an all inclusive list}.
 
SemperNovus said:
The brands that come to mind when I think knives are Ka-Bar, Gerber. What other brands should I look at? I'm not looking for a knife for looks (or anything else for that matter). It will be used and needs to hold up. I'm rough on EVERYTHING.
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Since you mentioned shopping on Amazon , see if they have any of the Kershaw Speed Bump G10 's left. It's a great knife..... ;)
 
All purpose camp knife = Becker bk2 or something similar. Personal protection knife usually =a trip to the hospital for you and possibly criminal charges. I'm fortunate enough to live in a state that will still let you defend yourself your property or the well being of another with deadly force if necessary. Check the laws in your area before heading down this road.
That being said most camp knives will suffice when it comes down to defending yourself against an unarmed attacker. An armed attacker should be met with the highest level of deadly force you can get your hands on. .45ACP is an excellent choice IMHO unless you can get to your 12 guage loaded with triple aught Buck.
 
CWL said:
Even if you never have to use the knife, do you really value your life at $10-20?
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CWL, I see what you are trying to say. However, if he valued his life at $500,000 is that what he should spend to protect it?

Semper, look at the BK2 for the camping knife. As for personal protection, I have a lot of ideas but need more info. Do you have any training?
 
you get what you pay for and if it sounds to be too good to be ture it probably is. Spend you cash on something good to start with.
 
Edit -didn't see your answer above

For camping a BK2 can't be beat as a do it all tough knife.
 
If you're looking for inexpensive camp knives check out Mora and Condor Knife and Tool. Both are highly regarded and very affordable. As for a self defense knife, you're probably not gonna get too many recommendations on this forum. While I may not totally agree with the wisdom that a knife is a terrible self defense weapon, many on here will make very good points about the liabilities of using sharp and pointy objects to defend yourself. I would recommend looking into a decent sized tactical style flashlight instead. Preferably one with an easily accessible strobe function.
 
I'd avoid lower-tier brand names like Mtech. But you can get extremely capable fixed-blade knives for around $50 (like the Ka-Bar Large Heavy Bowie) and extremely good EDC folders adequate for some kind of personal defense for $30-40 (a number of Kershaws and Ka-Bars).

Though I have to concur with what is always said about knives for self-defense: not the best choice of weapon and -- absent a valid legal basis for self-defense in your jurisdiction or use to merely scare off potential assailants -- an invitation to trouble.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
As for a self defense knife, you're probably not gonna get too many recommendations on this forum.
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That is true that a lot of people laugh at knives as defensive tools. However, they can't do this:

[video=youtube;4AN2PUzVYWQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AN2PUzVYWQ[/video]
 
sheepdog229 said:
CWL, I see what you are trying to say. However, if he valued his life at $500,000 is that what he should spend to protect it?
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If you value your life at all, would you go for the cheapest, questionable piece of equipment you can find? The OP has already stated suspicion. He doesn't need to go with the most expensive, but quality should be his concern.
 
Self defense issues aside, you need a folder for E. D. C. (Every Day Carry) for when a fixed blade knife isn't practical. For things like opening mail and boxes, slicing fruit, cutting sandwhiches at lunch, trimming loose threads, opening those terribly annoying plastic bulk packaging on almost any little thing you buy these days, cutting rope, twine, and tape, etc.

A mention of Buck knives is in order, as well.
 
CWL said:
If you value your life at all, would you go for the cheapest, questionable piece of equipment you can find? The OP has already stated suspicion. He doesn't need to go with the most expensive, but quality should be his concern.
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Heck no, I want a quality piece of equipment. I can get a quality (IMO) knife for $50ish although I value my life much more than $50ish. That is all I meant.
 
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