What purposes to buy a knife

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partisan1911

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I recently became a member of the forum so I read through a couple dozen of the threads to get a feel for what people are posting. I figured I might as well start my own thread. So what are the intended reasons why these knives are being purchased?

My reason are mostly for hunting purposes. Secondary is the survival scenarios. With both of these I try to keep in mind weight/bulk and utility. When going after mountain goats and sheep I quickly find myself weighing my load and finding places to fit everything. For utility I have find multiple uses for every tool I pack. Using this criteria it has taken me years to fine tune what I carry through trial and error. I have found I need four blades.

First knife is a scalpel with three blades to do all my caping.
Second knife is a small knife around 3" blade to do most of the skinning and small chores around camp.
Third knife is a fold out saw to cut trees, limbs, bone.
Fourth knife is a thick blade of minimum 5-6" to build and split whatever any of the other tools can't do.

I see in one thread discussing 10 things you need as bug out kit and there are alot of blades getting packed. So how do you determine what blade length is good for what? Why by a 3" blade versus a 4" and why a 6" blade versus a 6"? I found a 3" and 5" blade work for me. Why did you choose a 4"?
 
I think its all personal preference...

Way more important to me than blade length, is blade THICKNESS or THINNESS

This is why the RC3/ESEE3 is my favorite ESEE and one of my favorite knives I own - simply because it is a nice and THIN blade - the thinnest of all the ESSEs...
 
most folks are gear nuts .... like to use & try many different things nothing more , I go camping and I pack my ESEE3CP & Lite Machete and a folder and that is all as far as tools go
 
Great topic and I bet you get a lot of different answers.

Like you, I came from the hunting side of things I will never forget when I was a kid and wanted my own knife for field dressing and skinning whitetails, but dad said “I’d buy something this size.” Well being the 9 year old expert I was, I wanted something bigger and allowing me to fail mom and dad got me that oversized Buck. That thing was worthless. Turns out, old dad was right again. Seems to be a pattern, even today.

From then I started looking at 3-4” blades. Easy to control, can split the ribcage, then choke up on it to do the rest of the field dressing. To skin it out, that same blade does just fine. This deer season, for the first time, my trusty Case will stay at home and I’ll be taking out my ESEE-3 MIL to try out. I think it will make an excellent whitetail knife.

Other than hunting purposes, I prefer a 4” 3/16” thick blade. A prime example of this is the ESEE-4. It can be sharpened to a wicked edge, but is still thick enough that it can do every task I need it to including splitting/batoning firewood. Is a 4” blade ideal for chopping? No. Is it idea for carving very fine detail? Not really. Is it a very universal blade that can do that full range of tasks fairly well with one knife? Absolutely. That is why I carry the ESEE-4 98% of the time when I’m in the woods.

Opinions of survival knives vary greatly. Some think it needs to be at least 7” long or whatever. Personally I prefer a capable smaller knife that I can have with me all the time and carry comfortably on my belt.
 
personal preference and what you're going to be using it for.

sometimes the difference between getting a 3" or 4", or a 5" or 6" will be finding a deal on one over the other, or simply finding one in stock and not the other. or the ergos of the handle or whatever.

most of us can't have everything, sometimes you just have to make a choice that fits the budget and see how it performs. we sure can't haul everything. i've seen plenty of lists for gear, often for bugout bags that make me wonder if the person posting the list has ever hauled all the junk, or spent any time using it.

a lot of the time excess gear is covering for a lack of skills or experience.
 
I have often wondered the same thing about the weight people carry. I routinely carry over 100 pounds for good distances because I tend to hunt in the mountains. It always sucks but I do it enough I know what to expect. "Ounces make pounds". On top of all the kit and how to get it to fit there still must be more room to pack an animal or in a survival sense anything you find along the way that is going to be useful.

Blade thickness has proven to be a determining factor for me as well. After breaking a knife or two I know that 3/16" or thicker is a must before the knife is used for anything other than slicing.

Cost is always the last thing I look at. Not that I am rich or anything but lessons learned you get what you pay for.

Adaman04-great story. I think many of us have been there.
 
I was allways a 2 blade person. 1 smaller blade for detailed work and being light to carry. And my 2nd blade was Allways large. I kind of came to see that the large blade was being used alot more than the smaller one, even for small tasks. And the large blade could allways chop or batton, or much better self defence from most any wild encounter. (When I was working in the Mont. Glacial Nat. forest by myself I carryed a waki with me cuz of the bear probs) The ranger would not let in a firearm at that time. So the waki was Very good defence there. But it semed to me that a big blade could allways do the job of a small one, but the small one could not do the job of the big one. I can't go to those places anymore, so I carry a very well made strong small blade. An Izula II fit this nitch quite well. I guess its where you go, and what you are going to do when ya get there that will tell you what you need. edgy :thumbup:
 
I'm a knife addict and a Beckerhead, with ESEE friends. I like large to small knives of all makes and models. Uses include skinning and dressing game to whittlin', making shelters, bow drills and such.

Most of my knives have led me to try to find "THE ONE KNIFE", you know, the one we are all searching for. I have come REAL close in my efforts to find "THE ONE KNIFE", but, alas, the search continues.:D

I have always been fascinated with edged tools since I was a kid, I've had hundreds of knives in my life, and I either use'em up, or give them away. I tend to spread my knowledge of knives to others that seem to lack basic knife knowledge. I find that very rewarding.

Knives were apart of my ancestors lives, and they are apart of my life and I want them to be apart of my childrens lives as well. We must pass our love and knowledge along, or else it will be forgotten, and fall by the wayside.

Its a love and a passion, and I never met a knife I was interested in, if but for a brief moment.

Moose
 
Quick side note on bears: The amount of blood flowing through the bears in my AO allow for them to go a long ways after the heart has been shot. Even after a fatal shot they have been known to be quite active for over 8 seconds. That is alot of butt whoopin coming your way.

I read in another post someone was talking about using a spear against a bear. Have fun with that. I keep shooting until it stops moving and then I shoot again just to make sure. When I encounter a bear that I don't intend to harvest I keep my distance or put some distance between us so it doesn't get any ideas about me being a play toy. I guess a spear would lessen the extent of a whoopin if it came to hand to hand with the little fellars.
 
partisan1911 said:
Quick side note on bears: The amount of blood flowing through the bears in my AO allow for them to go a long ways after the heart has been shot. Even after a fatal shot they have been known to be quite active for over 8 seconds. That is alot of butt whoopin coming your way.

I read in another post someone was talking about using a spear against a bear. Have fun with that. I keep shooting until it stops moving and then I shoot again just to make sure. When I encounter a bear that I don't intend to harvest I keep my distance or put some distance between us so it doesn't get any ideas about me being a play toy. I guess a spear would lessen the extent of a whoopin if it came to hand to hand with the little fellars.
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Junglas- it'll take down hogs, lets see it on bears. SemperParatus, you got some small brown ones up your way, get you a Jungas and a recorder, and take one for the team.

Moose
 
I don't hunt so really the knife is just to play with whittling and things like that. For that reason I lean more towards thin short bladed knives. Most of the work that needs doing when I camp is done with an axe or tomahawk and a SAK. I think that's one of the reasons I'm so indecisive on belt knives. I really don't need one for anything I just really like them. :D
 
moosez45 said:
Junglas- it'll take down hogs, lets see it on bears. SemperParatus, you got some small brown ones up your way, get you a Jungas and a recorder, and take one for the team.

Moose
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TOOOOO FUNNY, you just made me shoot gatorade across the room Moose.... :eek::D
 
When I choose a knife I try to choose something that will do what I need knives to do. Lots of little day to day tasks. Other knives I get specifically to do outdoors stuff. I try not to buy a knife for the tacticool anymore. I did, some of those knives are ok in their own way, but I'm learning. Kinda like Moose I want to find THE Knife. One knife to rule them all and in the darkness... wait, no, never-mind, I don't need THAT knife.

God bless,
Adam
 
This may seem odd , but the very occasional time I forget to put a knife on me , I want to cut something and I can't. Why ? Because I don't have a knife on me :mad: This may be because I changed pants and forgot to transfer , was too busy to grab one , got distracted , etc. Every darn time.
Normally I make it as natural as breathing. I always have to have one ( or two or three) on me at all times. The only time I won't (on purpose) is when I enter a Federal building , Airline , or some such other controlled environment where it most likely will get confiscated. Normally , there is always something to cut. Therein lies the purpose of always carrying a knife , and why non knife-carrying people are always asking for yours ( Don't give it to them:D)
 
Just the other day I had to go to the federal building to update a document. It was really cold outside and the entrance is a good walk away. As I was getting ready to round the corner towards the front of the building I noticed there was a door ajar. So naturally I go through it to get out of the cold and the fact that it looked more efficient.

I go and take care of my business, get ready to leave but the door I came through is now closed and it is "fire door/open in emergency and alarm will sound". So I head back and exit through the front door passed the metal detectors.

It didn't dawn on me until I was in my truck and I felt my Strider in my pocket.
Whoops!

I told the spouse about it and she laughed. She constantly tells me that we can't move out of AK because I wouldn't make it on the outside. I have gotten too used to my lifestyle up here.
 
I needed a hard-use/survival/SHTF knife, so I got a 5.
I started getting more involved with this forum and decided to give an Izula a good home too - I now EDC it everywhere - simply a great knife.
Then the HEST pass-around thread came out and I HAD to have a HEST after reading it... now I'm looking to get a Junglas, and an ESEE3MIL may be a nice addition to the collection - round it out a bit. Maybe a 4... who knows. They're so darn collectible!

I have 2 boys, so some will get handed down when they're old enough.
 
I'm a Marine, gear junkie, and an avid outdoorsman. So certain things within the tactical, outdoors, gun, and knife market really catch my eye. I got my first knife when I was 5, a SAK my Dad gave me for our first camping / fishing trip and ever since then I've had a major appreciation for what a knife can do for you. I'm really pretty picky when it comes to my knives, if it doesn't have the right feel and balance in my hand then it's no good for me. Also no one knife can do everything great so I like to have blades of different length, thickness, and shape for what I'm asking it to do. My BOB has my Junglas and my ESEE 3 MIL hooked up to it all the time, so between the two of them they should get me through anything I need them to.
 
partisan1911 said:
What purposes to buy a knife
Click to expand...
Oooops,have we gotta have a purpose???? :o :o :eek: :D

If we do I am in serious trouble....... ;)

No, seriously; good thread. :thumbup:
I have everything I "need"..... I just like sharp things so I get and try new ones all along.

For deer size game on up I like and use a 3 to 3.75 inch drop point. I prefer no guard. I also carry a Case Trapper.

Case Trapper handles small game most of the time.

General EDC is a BM folder and an IZULA [or now, an IZULA II.]

I can pretty do whatever I need with those.

I do have larger knives that I carry when the situation calls for it.
Usually I also keep one with a 3 to 6 inch blade in each car or truck. Shorter blades in car... longer in trucks.

Anyway, that's me. Nothing real exciting there, but that is it. :)
 
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