What the best blade for General outdoor.

T

Trekker

Joined
Apr 30, 2003
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I'm looking to purchase a new EDC wilderness/outdoor fixed blade. Something to carry with me all the time, blade length between 3-5". Nothing too pricey.
 
Trekker said:
I'm looking to purchase a new EDC wilderness/outdoor fixed blade. Something to carry with me all the time, blade length between 3-5". Nothing too pricey.
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What's pricey to you? :) And also what kind of overall length are you looking for.

You have things like the Becker Necker ~$30-35, Becker Crewman ~$45-50, Swamp Rat Bandicoot or Howling Rat $89 and the Spyderco Morans ~$65. What kind of tasks do you have in mind? :)
 
In my humble opinion:

that is like saying: "I like music, what kind of cd should I buy" to the boys in this forum ;) !


I like these guys for just an all around good production knife that isn't tooo pricey:

BK&T
BK&t Crewman

Cold Steel SRK

order from knives plus I love their prices, been dealin with them for years!!
 
For a good cheep knife try the $9.00 mora



You can buy it at Ragnar's Ragweed Forge

For a more traditional style check out a Marbles Woodcraft knife.
 
I own 3 knives that fit into the size you are looking for and all have been used as a stand alone wilderness blade with varying results.

The Frost Mora Swedish Army Knife ($10.00) is a pretty good outdoors blade, but it's thin blade and short tang make it weak for doing any kind of prying with the knife and bataning could shorten it's life. Many do not consider it a stand alone survival knife, including me, but if you have a small axe with you, the SwAK would be a good and inexpensive blade to team up with it.

A better choice for an all around outdoors knife is the Eriksson Mora 2000 ($30.00). A stronger knife that is capable of bataning, but still not a good choice if you plan on doing any prying with it. I wouldn't hesitate to choose it over a lot of other knives as a stand alone blade, but would need to alter how I do some of the heavy wood work.

BRKT's NorthStar (100.00+) It's fully convexed blade takes and holds a very sharp and strong edge. I have put the knife through everything that I would normally use a stand alone knife for in the field, including bataning, chopping and lite prying. It handled everything easily except the chopping. Too short and too light to do an adequate job in that area, but there are other ways to shorten a piece of wood.

Blade Steel: A-2 Tool Steel
Hardness: 58-60RC
Thickness: .170 inches
Blade Length: 4 inches
Overall Length: 8.5 inches
Weight: 4.625 ounces
Construction: Full Exposed Tang
 
My suggestions:

Cold Steel SRK: 6" Blade is a little longer than you specified though, but it is lighter weight than many shorter bladed knives. ~$50

Cold Steel Master Hunter: 4.5" blade, excellent geometry for general outdoor use. ~$45

Becker Necker: the weight of a small folder, but realiability of a fixed Blade. Excellent blade geometry for general outdoor use. Cord wrap the handle to improve the comfort. ~$32


If you want to spend more money, take a look at Swamp Rat knives.

Will
 
Will said:
Becker Necker: the weight of a small folder, but realiability of a fixed Blade. Excellent blade geometry for general outdoor use. Cord wrap the handle to improve the comfort. ~$32


Will
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ashknife.jpg


I love my becker necker, so does she (bottom knife). It is one solid knife that has a ton of potential.
I saw one go on ebay for approx $25
how did you wrap yours?
 
commandojoe said:
how did you wrap yours?
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Using paracord: I started at the hole closest to the blade, pulled the cord halfway through, then wrapped the two strands together toward teh bottle opener end, passing each strand through one of the two hole on either side of the bottle opener, knotted each to hold it, then used a hangmans noose to close the loop and for a wrist lanyard.

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Will
 
You've gotten some good choices already. It's a popular size of knife, so most makers have offerings in that range. As noted, how many choices will depend on your definition of "pricey".

Check out the Swamp Rat Howling Rat (slightly taller blade spine-to-edge), Bandicoot (slightly narrower blade), Rat Tail, or Bog Dog. The Howler and Bandicoot are both super-tough knives sporting handles that most folks find very comfortable in extended use. The Rat Tail has a Japanese type wrapped handle and the Bog Dog has a more radiused nubbly handle.
http://www.swampratknives.com/knives.html

If you're looking for stainless, the Spyderco Morans noted above are good choices, either the trailing-point or the drop-point version. Another option is the Benchmade Outbounder in either 440c steel (model 180) or D2 semi-stainless (model 180D2-01).

For a slightly smaller stainless blade, there's the Fallkniven WM whose blade is 2.75" of VG10 steel.

All of the above range from about $70 to about $90. My personal choice would be a Swamp Rat D2 Bog Dog (if you can find one, it's discontinued), the Bog Dog SR101 steel (tweeked 52100 steel) version, or the Swamp Rat Howling Rat.

For cheaper blades, check out the Becker line of blades. The Crewman model or the Necker fit your size window. They offer great "bang for the buck" value IMHO. Even cheaper are some of the blades from Kabar and Ontario.

Other small even cheaper blades are the Mini-Bushman from Cold Steel (check that you can live with the handle in actual use) and the Mora knives mentioned.

Happy Hunting! :D
 
Will said:
Using paracord: I started at the hole closest to the blade, pulled the cord halfway through, then wrapped the two strands together toward teh bottle opener end, passing each strand through one of the two hole on either side of the bottle opener, knotted each to hold it, then used a hangmans noose to close the loop and for a wrist lanyard.

Will
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It feels alot better, I love this knife!! Thanks for your info
 
Go to your local Wal-Mart and you'll find some "not to pricey" knives in the sports/Camping/Fishing section. Usually you can findsomething around 20-40$.
 
[digidude] said:
Go to your local Wal-Mart and you'll find some "not to pricey" knives in the sports/Camping/Fishing section. Usually you can findsomething around 20-40$.
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I wont even touch that one. :rolleyes:

Skam
 
blgoode said:
if I had to go out and buy one I'd look a the the Randle Training knives...
any one of these would be my choice..
http://www.knifeworks.com/browseproducts/Ontario-TAK-Training-and-Aventure-Knife.html
I'd get one like this :)

http://www.knifeworks.com/browsepro...ure-Training-Knife--D2-Steel--Plain-Edge.html
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The Ontario TAK is one of the best all around knives I have carried. The only other suggestion I would make is save some loot and by a Brian Goode knife.... :D Yeah and try and stay away from the wally world knives :barf:
 
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