Swamp Rat, Esee or Becker for field work

S

Spartankid

Joined
Jun 20, 2012
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So I was considering what knife to choose for field dressing and small amounts of bushcraft, as i have just learned about it from one of my buddies. It has to be 3 to 4 and 1/2 inches of blade. I heard great things of the Swamp Rat RMD (RatManDu), Rodent 4, Becker Knife and Tool 16 and the Esee 4. My price range is set at a max of $120, but it may rise if one great blade is suggested. are sheaths for Swamp Rats expensive (they don't come with sheaths, do they?)and if so, are they still worth it.
 
The RMD is a great knife. It is a little above your budget, but it has an incredible warranty, feels great, and it is a good all around size. Once you hold one, you have to have one. Of course I'm a bit biased, but it truly is a great knife.

As far as sheaths go, they can get as expensive as you want. Leather sheaths will cost a bit more, but we have some excellent leather guys on here. Kydex will be a bit cheaper. A lot of that depends on what you want out of a sheath.

I have a couple RMD's and love all of them. That was the first Swamp Rat knife I purchased, and I got hooked after that.

You may also look at a Rodent Solution if you want a smaller blade. It is in the 3" range. I haven't played around with the Rodent 4, but I have it's big brother.
 
RMD, excellent all arounder

Howler LM, shorter blade, drop point, same handle.

ESEE 4 has performed well for me so far, small handle though.

The Becker Campanion falls into that category as well, massive compared with the others though.
 
For smaller tasks and ease of handling, the Rodent 4 and Rodent Solution as well as the BK16 and similarly designed knives are my preference. The RMD is a phenomenal "all-around" blade with excellent ergonomics but might be more than you are looking for in a tool given the tasks listed... Just my $0.02
 
For just fields dressing and small bush craft needs look into the ESEE 3. Its 3.5 inch blade is awesome, comes with a great sheath and its a bit thinner stock than the others which does make field dressing a bit easier.

However you cant go wrong with swamp rats I have an RMD inbound and really looking foward to beating its brians out but I wouldnt want to use it for field dressing most of all if I had my ESEE 3 with me which that little tank never leaves my side.

The scrapyards arent bad but I personally hate the res-c handles
 
I have the rmdle and it is hair popping sharp sent it out to nathan at knifemods.com and he polishes and puts a zero degree convex edge that is insanely sharp and for an incredible price, I have had a ton of knives and anyone that has seen it is blown away. But it is a 5 inch blade and a bit much for game, its superb for all around bushcraft, also bought a 5 inch bushcraft from Abe Elias diving swallow knife works (wanted a Ray Mears but not waiting 11 years but am thrilled with it now). Superb knife. The knife for game I would recommend that could be used for bushcraft is the bravo 1 rampless cpm3v, it is ridiculously sharp and resists rusting and is the perfect blade geometry for game. I have a brkt bravo 1.5 cpm3v on order rampless cut down to 5.25 inch blade psyched for that to come in. Anything more than a 4 inch blade is touch on game, the rmd allows you to choke up on it buts its still a good size blade but boy its like butter on a 100 degree day. Abe also has some amazing knives in the 4 inch range too. Fallkniven has some pretty nice hunting knives but the 3v steel takes a while to put an edge back on, the rmd and bravo 1 are much easier to field sharpen...... good luck good hunting
 
rolandsilvajr said:
...The knife for game I would recommend that could be used for bushcraft is the bravo 1 rampless cpm3v, it is ridiculously sharp and resists rusting and is the perfect blade geometry for game...
Click to expand...
:( I gotta disagree with this assessment of the B1's characteristics. CPM 3v rusts/patinas pretty easily, even when polished, chromium levels aren't high enough to stop that, not that that is a problem with user blades. At 0.22" stock thickness & 7.5 oz, it's a beastly knife comparable to the HRLM but fatter. While the grind is quite shallow making for excellent slicing performance, the thick stock and short blade limit its abilities in many applications. The handle is polished very pretty but slick and easily twists in the hand under wet conditions. Finally, what is really lacking for use as a game knife is the blade profile - puukko-style straight point vs the superior drop-point. But if you can find a drop/spear-point version (or grind it down yourself) you've got a pretty neat tool... of course it is also a very expensive tool and, from what I've heard, you might need to purchase a usable sheath besides. *shrug*
 
Swamprat Rodent Solution. Much handier choice than the RMD for skinning. They can still be ordered from ratknives.com

But for general purpose use, including skinning the RMD is very hard to beat. They are also still available from ratknives.com
 
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