The best fixed blade camping knife for ME

R

raiz

Joined
Jun 10, 2010
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10
I've been looking at several different fixed blade knives to take with me when I go camping and backpacking. Currently, the Leatherman Charge TTI and an Estwing E24A Sportsman's Hatchet. These two have served my needs pretty well, but I'd like to get something in between.

The knives I've been comparing are the:
Gerber LMF II
Bark River Bravo-1
ESEE (RAT) RC-4 or RC-5
Ka-Bar Becker BK2
Fallkniven F-1

Now comes the part where you guys help me decide between them. I know how I treat my knives. I use them, and then bring them home and throw them in a drawer. The Leatherman Charge I use and abuse on a daily basis. It's never shown signs of rust or wear. I live only about 10 blocks from the beach on the west coast. It's gotten wet several times. I use it for everything from slicing steak to tree branches. I believe the Leathermans use the typical 440 steel with an S30V main blade.

Knowing the way I treat my knives, which one of the above do you think would be best suited to me? I liked the LMF II at first, but saw a review where a guy messed up the handle and it separated from the metal. I liked the Bark River and RC-4 until I read reviews about them rusting...

This is my first post. Please help a fella out!

EDIT: The sheath matters too. Since the knife will probably be strapped to my backpack, and I'll be crossing streams and getting it wet, something synthetic might be best. I like the kydex sheath of the RC-4 quite a bit.
 
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You can't go wrong with the F1. It will do anything you ask of it and it's stainless.
 
I can't believe your Leatherman has no rust. Every Leatherman I have ever owned has rusted to some degree and I live in Michigan. Which is why I switched to Victorinox multi-tools. The SwissTool Spirit and SwissTool RS to be specific. But onto the knives....

From your list, I believe the Falkniven and Gerber are the only stainless steel ones. The others are carbon steel (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and require more maintenance than the SS ones. Easy to do though, just wipe it down and oil the exposed steel before putting it away and sharpen when needed.

I have the RAT (ESEE) RC-4, and Becker BK2. The ESEE RC-5 is very comparable to the BK2. Almost the same size, shape and thickness blades. Both are very beefy and built like tanks. I have only handled the RC-5. I like the BK-2 handle better, but that is just me. I would recommend the RC-4 easily. It is a nice size to handle most of my camping duties and nott too over-built like the 5 inchers. I also have and use the same Estwing Leather Sportsman's Axe as you but use the aforementioned Victorinox MT at the campsite (car/boat camping). I carry at least one folding knife like my Kershaw Skyline or Spyderco Endura 4 G-10 and a Victoinox SAK or 2 also (Rambler, Farmer Alox, etc.).

Oh, and welcome to BF! :D
 
go with the Bravo-1
I've tryed a few 4" in the last 2 years and the Bravo-1 along with the NorthStar are great companions, give them a light cleaning and you're done
Maxx
 
Go ESEE.

If a touch of oil (or even chapstick) on the edge once in a while is too much maintenance...well, then I dont know what to tell ya.
 
Welcome to BF raiz :) :thumbup:

I have the ESEE's and they're nice. The ESEE "no questions asked" replacement guarantee is very attractive too. The handles are a bit flat in the hand - sort or like Spyderco folders feel flat when gripped.

I'd like to try the Bark River Bravo-1 as well, they're awfully nice looking and seem to have good handle ergonomics.
 
UpChUcK said:
I can't believe your Leatherman has no rust. Every Leatherman I have ever owned has rusted to some degree and I live in Michigan. Which is why I switched to Victorinox multi-tools.
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What do you do with your Leatherman tools? My LM Wave is about 9 years old, I never oil it, I carry it every day and I can't see a single speck of rust anywhere on it. It lives in a LM leather pouch on my belt, 24/7 in a leather pouch isn't supposed to be a good idea from what I have read - and yet no rust! I live in a humid country too (not rain forest humid or anything, but we get over 80% humidity often enough).
 
Fallkniven F-1

The sheath matters too. Since the knife will probably be strapped to my backpack, and I'll be crossing streams and getting it wet, something synthetic might be best.
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Gadgetaholic said:
What do you do with your Leatherman tools? My LM Wave is about 9 years old, I never oil it, I carry it every day and I can't see a single speck of rust anywhere on it. It lives in a LM leather pouch on my belt, 24/7 in a leather pouch isn't supposed to be a good idea from what I have read - and yet no rust! I live in a humid country too (not rain forest humid or anything, but we get over 80% humidity often enough).
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Gadgetaholic - I'm the same way. Been using my LM Charge for a while and it would look great if I cleaned the pocket lint, wood shavings, and drywall dust out of it! :D No rust on the west coast.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. The info you've provided has helped a lot.

So far we have:

0 votes - Gerber LMF II
3 votes - Bark River Bravo-1
2 votes - ESEE (RAT) RC-4 or RC-5
0 votes - Ka-Bar Becker BK2
6 votes - Fallkniven F-1

So, I'm going to narrow it down to the three knives you guys have voted on so far. The Fallkniven knife would save me $50 or so over the Bark River, however this is hopefully going to be a once in a lifetime purchase, so the $50 isn't a big factor.

What is the slip factor of the handles on the F-1, Bravo-1, and RC-4/5?

Can anyone compare the laminate VG10 steel (F-1), to A-2 steel (Bravo-1), to 1095 steel (RC-4) as far as sharpening, edge retention, and rusting? I guess the F-1 shouldn't rust since it's stainless?

Can anyone compare the sheaths of these 3 knives? This will probably be the final selling point for me. It needs to snap in, stay put, and give me a sense of security that it won't fall out when I'm runnin around in the mountains. I don't want to worry about losing my knife.
 
I would like to go on record as saying - at the risk of sounding like an a** - I can't stand Fallkniven's. They're not a USA company, they're overpriced for what you get IMHO and they have a ton of selections that look pretty much the same as the rest. ESEE - Cold Steel - KA-BAR :thumbup:

Goes, hides under his rock to avoid the flames. :(
 
I got a B1 recently, and I can comment on the sharpening (only that knife, haven't got the others). I'm not sure if you've sharpened a convex knife before, but I learned to sharpen convex edges on my Bravo 1, and whilst it got a little scratched up, it only took me a couple of hours to get my technique good and able to get a nice consistent really sharp edge. My technique still isn't perfect though, do have a few minor flaws to work out, but for my first ever convex knife/attempt at sharpening it it was actually quite easy once I figuredout what I was doing. I only went as high as 2000 grit sandpaper, but it could still easily slice paper.

My vote is for the Bravo 1, but I don't think you can go wrong with the ESEE 4 or the F1 either.

EDIT: The sheah of the bravo 1 isn't that bad I think. Sure its not very thick kydex and the knife may rattle around in it (my stock sheath is fine) but it does work IMO.

The handles of the B1 are pretty good, depends on what you get as handle materials, I got canvas micarta and they are smooth, but it doesn't feel like its going to fall out of my hand due to lack of grip. On that note the handle is very ergonomic, really comfortable.
 
i have the lmf ii, esee-4, esee-5, and bk-2 but since you'd rather not oil them my vote goes to the f1. but who am i kidding? hang out here and in a few weeks time you'll own all of them anyway, muahahaha!

...welcome to bladeforums!
 
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