What is the best all purpose fixed blade under $300

B

briansting

Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
3
I want to buy one knife that can do it all. I want a fixed blade that stays sharp longest, does not rust easily, and will not break down on me. Basically something that can take abuse and keep on producing great results. I am unsure what type of blade (tanto, serrated,etc) is best. I want to spend less than $300 dollars. Any ideas?
 
Being one who has recently asked a similar question on the forums I will tell you that you should try to give ‘em a bit more info if you can. Perhaps length and primary use(s)—I know you said you wanted a do-it-all kind of knife but I would assume that you can think of a few chores that you most likely will be doing with that knife. Also, do you want to wear it in public? If so, and your local law says it is ok, do you want it concealed? If so think about the length that you are thinking about.—I don’t know if any of this helps, but I have learned from experience, the more info you put out for these guys, the more help you will get back! Good luck.

Oh yeah, my first fixed blade was a tanto, it was a mistake. But live and learn. And I personally don’t like serrations, unless you a planning on doing A LOT of fruit peeling--I heard they help there, but I have yet to find a practical use for them (not to mention the fact that they are quite hard to sharpen, unless you already have great skill in that area)—I’m not an expert, just a fellow newbie.
 
Yes, it would certainly help if you narrow the field a bit. Since you are looking at spending $300, the field is wide open. I'm suprised the Busse gang hasn't gotten here yet.
 
Now of course that is gonna leave you with about $250 to have to spend on something else.

:D
 
Ok, I guess that a little more information would be helpful. I want to find something with a blade length between 4-6.5 inches and an overall length of between 8-10 inches. The purposes will be for mostly outdoor/camping use but also would like to be able to carry it at other times. I want to pry, puncture, cut, strip and defend if necessary. I liked the look and idea of the strider EB LT SS with the top blade with a serrated style edge. This is a tanto blade and if not the best why?
I also needed to know which blade material is the best SV-30,420, 440A, etc. I have read and heard so many things it is hard to know which the best type for what I am looking for.
 
The Camillus CUDA CQB-1 is an excellent knife...(ATS-34 steel, canvas micarta scales, full tang, kydex sheath, etc...). You also might want to take a look at the Camillus/Becker "BK" series, as you can buy a stack of those for WAY under $300 total.
 
Since you indicated general purpose for camping, I would probably stay away from a tanto shaped blade, and also away from the serrated edge. For general purpose, I would stick to something with a nice drop point for maximum versatility, and a plain edge for ease of sharpening.

That said, I really like Dozier knives and Darrell Ralphs designs. But as others indicated, with your budget and specs you have a very large selection of knives to choose from.

Good luck!

Greg
 
Again, this is just my personal opinion… the reason why I bought a tanto was, because it looked neat. I’m not saying that that is the reason why you want one, just that it was mine. It looked more like a “fighter” and so that is why I bout it. However, I have no clue when it comes to actually “knife fighting” so it was a pretty dumb thing for me to do. The tanto blade is great for stabbing, and if you want it for SD, then great, (SD master Massad Ayoob has a MOD tanto that he designed after time clocked in local emergency rooms seeing which blade type does the most damage). However, you said that your primary purpose was for camping/outdoors use. Again, I have just recently ordered a knife for that very reason. I went in thinking that I wanted a Buck/Stryder solution, but after doing at bit of research I realized that that blade was not what I wanted. Again, there was part of me that just wanted the strider name (I don’t think they make bad stuff, I just think their product is targeted towards “the fighter” which is neither a good description of my primary needs, nor yours…I say that only ‘cus I thought you said you wanted it for outdoors stuff…and just about any knife could be used for SD). All that being said, I would agree with what was said by others, get a drop point, clip point (Beckers), or modified spear point (maybe). However, my personal findings have led me to the Swamp Rat line as well. For the little that I know, there steel is good, there handles are great (very important with outdoors type stuff were you may be chopping a lot or other repetitive type tasks) and last but by no means least, there warranty is unbeatable (almost unbelievable). They simply say, “if your knife breaks doing something that YOU think it should do, than our warranty covers it.” Check them out, www.swamprat.com either as was said above, the camp tramp (blade of 7.5’’), the howling rat or (what I recently ordered) the battle rat. Also, do a search for any of the knives people suggest on the “knife reviews and testing” form, lot to be learned there.
Good luck!
 
Swamp Rat Howling Rat (Camp Tramp is larger than what you're looking for, although I love mine.)

Soon to be Swamp Rat in D2.

Busse

TOPS

Dozier (this could be a chant all of it's own.)

TAK (Made to very specific specs - see Outdoor Forums - Randall adventures)

Greco

Livesay
 
Swamp Rat Camp Tramp.

This is my do it all knife.

Large Bowie clip point design. Full belly for slicing and chopping. Not so great for stabbing. 1/4" thick stock for strength.

Coated modified 52100 carbon steel. Sharp, tough, coated to guard against rust. Toughness; edge may roll, but won't chip. Easily repaired and sharpened.

Handle is rubber (respirene C) - does not absorb anything, immune to DEET. Fully covers tang to insulate user from heat/cold. Absorbs shock.

(Kraton handles found on Cold steel knives and Falkniven knives wears easily and absorbs fluids.)

$120 + shipping + lifetime unconditional guarantee.

For the money you would be hard pressed to find a better knife.

Its a production piece, so if you lose yours, you can order and recieve a replacement in a few weeks.

If you are hell bent on spending $300+ there are other choices:

Production -
Busse
Strider
Chris Reeve

Custom -
Bill Siegle
Robert Hankins
 
I never found the Strider EB series knives to be comfortable in a regular grip. The rear hump always digs into my palm. These knives were optimized for a stabbing hammer grip and thus designed for close quarter combat.
 
The Green Berets from Chris Reeve.
The Ravens from Rob Simonich.
Branton\Brend#2
Becker Knife and Tool #7
Entrek makes some really good users.

Some of my favorites that fall in the category.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top