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TOP choices in Monster folders??
- Thread starter BLM4L
- Start date
wow! thanks for the link. wow - i'm stunned. i could spend money there. wow. there're..quite a few knives i'd like there. unfortunately, none available. oooh, there's really a case of "you call that a knife - THIS IS A KNIFE!" that japanese style short sword, the rustic-looking hunter with the FAT blade, the long curvy pointy one with the red-and-black handle....i want them all.- Joined
- Feb 11, 2003
- Messages
- 332
I've owned nearly all of the production monster folders available as well as a gigantic custom by Reese Weiland so I can put in some thumbs up on some of them. The ones I still have are the SOG Pentagon Elite II, REKAT Sifu, CS Vaquero Grande, CS Ti-Lite VI, CS Gunsite 5", and Gerber large Applegate. The ones I owned and moved out were the Camillus Aftermath and Camillus Maxx 7". The Maxx 7" was too big and the Aftermath I regret getting rid of. For the most part though, the ones that see the most carry time and carry my recommendation are the Vaquero Grande and the Pentagon Elite II. They are both light weight and strong as well as sharp. I just got a ZT0200 but don't consider that a mega folder. The BM LFK is next on my purchase list. As was already mentioned though, no compromise should exist in the wilderness. Fixed blades only! Gotta stress that. Sheeple be damned!
Ouch hope you recovered from that. If its not too personal or painful can you elaborate on that experience? Specifically how did you use the knife to extricate yourself?
The "what if you get trapped under a rock" scenario gets brought up a lot in the "folder vs. fixed blade" and "large knife versus hatchet and/or small knife" threads.It would be nice to hear the details of an actual real life experience and not just the usual "what if" speculations.
I thought the Rukus was the biggest - longest - Benchmade; I'd better look again.
PS: oh, it's that one with the cover. And 440 and Santoprene, yegh.
Milli was reprofiled with a DMT Fine diamond stone and the Byrd was re-ground flat to the stone on sheets of griptape stuck to blocks of wood.
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2005
- Messages
- 4,761
I wouldn't call it a monster, persay, but the Ti Bump from Kershaw is a rather large knife that I love.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
- Messages
- 1,526
Sure can, tholiver.
First and most fortunately, I didn't have to extricate myself with my knife. At the time of the leg crushing and trapping, I was accompanied by one of the survival instructors, an ex-Army SF and Air Force PJ (he cross-trained from one branch to the other). The rock, which was later estimated by the university to weigh between 600-800lbs, was flat in shape. It came to rest both on my leg and a neighboring boulder, which itself was pitched in the middle. This lower boulder acted as a fulcrum, allowing the class instructor to push up on one side of the trapping boulder, causing it to slide back off my leg. Think of a teeter-totter that's perfectly balanced and resting horizontally: it would take very little effort to push up on one side, dropping the others end back. That's how the boulder was moved from my leg & foot. Not to mention that the instructor was very strong and regularly lifted weights, focusing on heavy lifting.
So, I was extricated due to a seeming fluke in where the boulder came to a rest. I attribute it to divine intervention. Had I been by myself, I may have been able to reach the boulder's edge with my knife (at that time, I was carrying a Cold Steel SRK) and lever it off of my leg. I would've been blowing frantically on my signal whistle for a long time, though, I can tell you that!
Most likely in my case, had the signal whistle failed to get anyone's attention, I'd have had to cut my leg off, tourniquet it, build a fire, and pray for a quick extraction. Even with the immediate, expert rescue I had, it took 3 hours to get to the university hospital, my state's only level 1 trauma center. By the by, the surgeon had to wait 3 days before he could do the first surgery on my leg. It was so swollen, they had to wait and see if amputation was indicated. When the surgeon was finally able to go in, he said that all of the bone shards had been put perfectly in place by the instructors' expert traction on the leg when in the mountains. Had the traction been done by anyone less capable and experienced, he would've had to amputate. Yes, I believe in God and I believe He saved my leg.
As for my conviction on the necessity of carrying a strong fixed blade in the wilderness, getting my leg crushed by a boulder (ironically, while taking a wilderness skills course
) proved to me that *it*, whatever *it* may be, can and does happen to ordinary people. A strong, fixed blade knife is a very basic and useful tool, particularly when out of civilization.If you have any more questions, tholiver, or anyone else for that matter, feel free to ask! I'm currently recovering slowly but nicely from my third surgery, a total reconstruction. Yep, 5 years after the fact and I'm starting to heal up...
But, I'm not shy about talking 'bout it.- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
- Messages
- 1,526
Trent,
The instructors issue Cold Steel Bushman knives to all of the students on the first day of class. We students were also told to bring any and every knife or multitool we could find in order to test them out while in the course. In short, the instructors wanted us to get as much real-world experience with as many tools as possible while under their capable instruction.
They did give us some basic parameters for a wilderness knife, based on their experience. The criteria are:
- carbon steel
- fixed blade
- thick blade stock
- single-piece construction (no 2-piece, screw-together "survival knives")
- sufficiently sized, tough handle
- good guard preferred
- reliable sheath, leather or kydex
- "longer" blade instead of "shorter" blade. They said that 7.5" blade length is prototypical for survival knives; their own preference was for closer to 8"-9" blades.
Two of the four instructors carried Cold Steel Trailmasters. They all advised us to avoid (yes, avoid
) K-Bar knives. Their reasoning was that, for survival usage, the blade and tang of K-Bar knives are too thin and weak, making them unreliable in a survival situation. All of the knife info and advice given us was under the guidelines of "any sharpened steel is better than nothing, but some variables are preferable to others".
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
- Messages
- 3,736
IMHO stick with a fixed blade, get one that when in sheath can be strapped comfortably to your thigh and stay with in the range of motion and not act like a club attached to your thigh.
Aside from that Benchmade has some really large folders, but they are exported so the quality might not be there.
Aside from that Benchmade has some really large folders, but they are exported so the quality might not be there.
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2007
- Messages
- 209
:thumbup:thumbs up for the opinel 12. yeah i know its cheap and looks it. but what it will do is outcut darn near everything out there. i use knifes everyday and have in my 52 years serched for the perfect do it all blade. from the buck 110 to the sebenza but none of them will keep up with a opinel in terms of cutting. that very thin blade even when dull is still safe and usefull. the only other knife in my collection that can keep up with the humble opinel is my wayne clay and i still wince when i think what it cost me.you will have to make your pouch to keep wear in on your belt i drilled a lanard hole in mine and superglued a cutoff 22shell as a lanard tube and let the strap dangle out of my pocket.its very quick to pull out and open ,also the opinel locks closed so theres no chance of me haveing to change my name if it opens as iam pulling it out in a hurry. and it is very easy on the eyes of the sheeple of this world.give one a chance it will only set you back 10 to 15 bucks .
. and it is very easy on the eyes of the sheeple of this world.give one a chance it will only set you back 10 to 15 bucks .For we mere Mortals, a shorter (3.75" or so) Buck 110 may just suffice. For a fixed blade, their Vanguard runs 4.1" - and the venerable and traditional 119 'Special' at 6" is a good bet.The basic 110 & 119 are discount store goodies at $30-$35 in properly heat treated SS - 420HC. The 110 & Vanguard can be found at Cabela's in S30V ('Alaskan Guide' - ie, '110AG') for $65 & $85-$95. Every single example I've bought of these knives have been 'keepers'. A 110AG and a horizontal pouch, with s/h, would leave enough for dinner out of your $100. Not as cool as some of the hi-techers, but everything I mentioned is 'available' easily - and 'Made in the USA'.
Oddly, I thought of my Dad's (USCG '42-'45 - S. Pacific) USN KaBar as hellbent for stout... until I dropped it forty years ago onto a concrete garage floor - the 'rugged' bolster broke-off at the reduced tang of the blade. I finally fixed it with a monel bolster - and some new leather washers, reshaped to the carefully reground new small tang - and secured with JB Weld epoxy (It worked!)! My recent era KaBars seem perhaps a bit better made.
Stainz
Oddly, I thought of my Dad's (USCG '42-'45 - S. Pacific) USN KaBar as hellbent for stout... until I dropped it forty years ago onto a concrete garage floor - the 'rugged' bolster broke-off at the reduced tang of the blade. I finally fixed it with a monel bolster - and some new leather washers, reshaped to the carefully reground new small tang - and secured with JB Weld epoxy (It worked!)! My recent era KaBars seem perhaps a bit better made.
Stainz
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2002
- Messages
- 3,179
Here is my favorite 5 inch folder by Gene Anderson. Mirror polished and acrylic pearl handle. For reference I wear an XL glove.
I have had some of the above mentioned folders, Gunsite 5 inch(CS) XL Voyager serrated, Ti Lite 6 inch. I also have a benchmade ruckus(large model)! The ruckus is a large beefy folder that would be hard pressed to pass up. I know the budget is blown on that model, but...with that being said if given the choice, fixed over folders.
I wonder what the old Gerber Parabellum sells for on the used market. That was one strong and large folder with a bolt action lock that seemed solid as heck to me. It came with a neat pouch that could also be used as a sheath if you kept the knife locked open. IIRC, Jim March used to call it the first of the megafolders.
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2005
- Messages
- 2,826
Amen on that. Also, does your state have concealed weapons permits? If so, you can usually carry blades as well as firearms. But not living in such a state myself, I carry an extending baton and a 6-inch Voyager XL, as well as a small CREE LED light. At night those things are blinding.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2005
- Messages
- 19,385
Personally unless you are a LEO, I'd keep the blade length under 4" as measured from the handle to the tip, not the sharpened portion of the blade. Reduces the aggravation factor if for some reason you are searched by a police officer. Some states have a blade restriction except for normal outdoor use (many have "intent" wording in the statutes as I understand it) . I have been pretty impressed with the new SOG Vulcan knife so far. It's my latest toy and I've been carrying it of late just to get used to the larger size and weight relative to what I'm used to.