tomh1426 said:
...I like the CR sebenza but Its sooo expensive and I dont see how it could be any better than a $100. Benchmade...
Take it from a guy who has a Benchmade in his pocket, one on the dresser, one in the desk drawer at school, and one somewhere else in the house (unknown where at the moment) - The Sebenza is a hell of a lot better. I know, I have and use both. I like both. But if I have to carry just one pocket knife I trust not to fail, it's a Sebenza. I'm not taking anything away from the Benchmade, they're great knives, but Chris makes much more than knives, he makes Armageddon knives.
I posted a thread about a Kershaw Outcast I bought for $55.00. It's a great knife, I love D2 more than just about anything else for knife blades. I don't have any problem recommending them for a larger blade.
That said, if I'm going to rely on one knife for everything, I'm going to choose a medium size blade, maybe 5-6 inches. I've become a big Busse fan since they're about the only thing that's going to be left intact after the rest of the world blows up (well, them and cockroaches.) Their INFI steel is the stuff legends are made of. My one-knife choice would be my Busse ASH (American Steel Heart) like the one pictured on top:
However, I know that a lot of people won't pay what a Busse costs. To me, if I'm in the middle of the Tundra I want to know I can depend on my knife ABSOLUTELY not to fail. But for those who don't want to spend what it costs to get a Busse, I have two recommendations:
RAT Cutlery's new
RC5 or their
RC-6. RAT makes an incredibly tough knife that is simple, well designed, and high quality. ***PLEASE NOTE*** Don't mistake the Ontario Knives RAT line for real RAT Cutlery stuff. There's a reason Ontario's knives are less expensive: They're cheaper. With respects to other's opinions here about their ASEK knife (I know nothing about them) I can say that from what I've seen, Ontario's quality Control has gone into the crapper recently. I know they got a military contract, but unfortunately to the detriment of some of our servicemen, sometimes the military goes with the lowest bidder and gets what they pay for. Those of you who carried an early M16 can back me up on that.
The other suggestion is a
Fighter from Valkman. Don's knives are beautiful and tougher than nails (literally, I'd bet you could cut a nail in half with one of his CPM-D2 fighters.) There are obviously plenty of people here who can vouch for his work, and it's obviously a group who know what they're talking about. You carry one of Don's knives, you'll be proud to show it, unafraid to use it, and grateful for the peace of mind you have from having a knife that defines what a "custom" maker is.