What's your favourite high-end fixed blade

XtianAus

XtianAus

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Mar 3, 2016
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I'm currently looking at gso's as my next purchase. I only own average priced knives like ka bars and schrade. I also liked the zt 0100 but cant find any anywhere. Does anyone have any other recommendations to add to my upcoming list?

Thanks
 
Your post created some confusion for me....
You asked about "high end" fixed blades; but mentioned a ZT0100 and Survive GSO. I'm not knocking either of those knives; but I wouldn't consider either of them high end. It might be worth including a price range, or some features, if you don't want a list of $1000+ knives.

What blade length appeals to you?
 
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This one. I bought the materials years ago and they have been sitting around waiting for me to get good enough to make this thing.

Harley Davidson chain Damascus with a 52100 core.
Black dyed maple burl. Camel bone and red G10 spacers

Hardened 80CrV2 guard.

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hhmoore said:
Your post created some confusion for me....
You asked about "high end" fixed blades; but mentioned a ZT0100 and Survive GSO. I'm not knocking either of those knives; but I wouldn't consider either of them high end. It might be worth including a price range, or some features, if you don't want a list of $1000+ knives.

What blade length appeals to you?
Click to expand...

I agree with hhmoore here. I quantify knives like this. If you can buy it in the big box stores (Academy, Dicks, Walmart, etc.) then it's going to be the low end of the spectrum and what most would consider an "average" knife, usually less than $100.00, most less than $75.00.

Next are the mid- techs Like the GSO's, Bradford Guardians, ZT's, Spydercos, Chris Reeve, Busse, etc. that will run you around $100 - $350 for a decent example and you can't buy them in the stores but must go online to their respective websites or an auction site in the secondary market. High quality steels, materials, and fit and finish but still production knives.

Beyond that, you finally get to the "high end" knives that start at the $200-$250 mark and go up to whatever you want to spend, and made by custom makers.

Just my opinion. Lots of good folks here to help you.

What is your budget? What is your intended use of the knife? That's usually the best two questions to start with and then the members here will have multiple suggestions for you based on real world ownership and use of the blades. Most will even provide pics for knives you've never seen before.

Good luck in your search for "the next level" and welcome to BF.
 
Hale Storm said:
I agree with hhmoore here. I quantify knives like this. If you can buy it in the big box stores (Academy, Dicks, Walmart, etc.) then it's going to be the low end of the spectrum and what most would consider an "average" knife, usually less than $100.00, most less than $75.00.

Next are the mid- techs Like the GSO's, Bradford Guardians, ZT's, Spydercos, Chris Reeve, Busse, etc. that will run you around $100 - $350 for a decent example and you can't buy them in the stores but must go online to their respective websites or an auction site in the secondary market. High quality steels, materials, and fit and finish but still production knives.

Beyond that, you finally get to the "high end" knives that start at the $200-$250 mark and go up to whatever you want to spend, and made by custom makers.

Just my opinion. Lots of good folks here to help you.

What is your budget? What is your intended use of the knife? That's usually the best two questions to start with and then the members here will have multiple suggestions for you based on real world ownership and use of the blades. Most will even provide pics for knives you've never seen before.

Good luck in your search for "the next level" and welcome to BF.
Click to expand...



Yo ye true, my bad, i guess there are high end knives up to $1000 but i can't afford them.

@ Hale storm & hhmoore
Thinking up to $350.
Intended use is a survival knife but one that can also double as a tactical knife if need be.

I do like the spartan blades also but people seem to say s35vn wouldnt hold up to hard use.
So i guess it would also need to be a knife i can rely on even in the most extreme cases (to a certain degree of course) such as infi and 3v steel (usually) can.
 
XtianAus said:
Yo ye true, my bad, i guess there are high end knives up to $1000 but i can't afford them.

@ Hale storm & hhmoore
Thinking up to $350.
Intended use is a survival knife but one that can also double as a tactical knife if need be.

I do like the spartan blades also but people seem to say s35vn wouldnt hold up to hard use.
So i guess it would also need to be a knife i can rely on even in the most extreme cases (to a certain degree of course) such as infi and 3v steel (usually) can.
Click to expand...

If you like Spartan, I'd say buy a Spartan. Their S35VN should be more than tough enough. Our very own Mistwalker is pretty hard on blades and it's his steel of choice for outdoors knives. He's actually reviewed a few Spartan blades. You can probably find his reviews fairly easily with the search function and I suspect they'll go a long way towards easing your mind on the capabilities of S35VN.

Just adding a link. :)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-(VERY-Pic-Hvy)?highlight=mistwalker+spartan
 
Insipid Moniker said:
If you like Spartan, I'd say buy a Spartan. Their S35VN should be more than tough enough. Our very own Mistwalker is pretty hard on blades and it's his steel of choice for outdoors knives. He's actually reviewed a few Spartan blades. You can probably find his reviews fairly easily with the search function and I suspect they'll go a long way towards easing your mind on the capabilities of S35VN.

Just adding a link. :)

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...e-(VERY-Pic-Hvy)?highlight=mistwalker+spartan
Click to expand...

Ill most definitely check that out, thank you!
 
Marfione Socom Alpha

 
Now that we have a budget, how about a blade size?
Seems my current favorites are under 5.5" or over 12"; with the most used/carried being 3-4".

In that budget, though, I recommend scrolling through the Bark River section of your favorite seller.
I also agree with the Ratmandu recommendation - it's one of my favorite fixed blades; and, if I lived where it would be acceptable, it would likely be my regular carry. (My only complaint being that the handle is a bit on the thin side, for my taste).
The biggest issue with Survive is the unlikeliness of making a quick score without paying a premium on the secondary market.
 
Ratmandu is nice too. I have 2 on order.
 
Anything by Mad Dog knives!!!!!!!
In all seriousness though check out Bark River, they have a traditional fixed blade for everything.
 
How about the JK Handmade XD Modern Bowie Series - following are pictures of the XD XT , but there are two smaller versions -

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DSC_3245.JPG


DSC_3251.JPG


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[youtube]Z8Dskb-Mne4[/youtube]

best

mqqn
 
My thought is, for fixed blades, the ideal mix of Quality of materials, design, F&F, and warranty reaches its peak at Survive! and Busse/kin.
After that, its easy to spend upwards of 2000 dollars on a custom, but will the materials be any better? Will the maker back up their product to the same level?
I don't believe so, which is why I don't really look elsewhere at the moment, but again YMMV.

Until Nathan the Machinist ramps up production,, I'll keep spending my money with these guys.
 
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