Need help picking out some knives

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VegasAR15

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I have quite a few guns now, but not much in the way of knives. I want to pick a few up, but I really don't know anything about knife companies. I am looking to get a serrated folder to carry in my pocket with me everyday. I probably want to spend somewhere around $50 or less on that one. I want to pick up a bigger fixed blade survival type knife to throw in my bug out bag. I figure in general that type of knife might run a bit more expensive, so I figure I will be spending a bit more than $50 for a good one. Then just for fun I think I want to pick up a kukri. I am sure I will get some pretty different responses, but anything can help, because I know pretty much nothing now. Hopefully I won't develope the same type of disease with knives like I did with buying guns, but I am sure it is inevitable. Thanks
 
My suggestion would be to spend about $75 or so, and get a decent kukuri, which will work as a survival knife, as well.
 
Your price point for a daily carry knife limits you to a few companies, all of which are good for daily carry. Kershaw, CRKT, and Cold Steel, and maybe a few others like Buck and possibly Spyderco. Any of them will last a lifetime and do anything you need to do if you take care of them. personally for more affordable knives I have been really liking and buying kershaws since I can get them pretty cheap at Wally World. Just got a nice one last week and the week before. On the camp/utility/BOB knife, any medium or large bowie or Kukhuri or something in a large Tanto will be great.
 
Are the SOG knives any good? I was looking at the SOG Trident Tanto Black TiNi Knife which retails for 110, but amazon and walmart have it for 50 shipped.
 
bigger fixed blade survival type knife
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Define "bigger". Look at many of the threads and you may be surprised that a 4" Mora will often be a better companion to a folder than a big blade.
 
You can get a Spyderco Tenacious for just over $40, shipped. (If you prefer a smaller blade, the Persistance would be a good choice.)
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The Tenacious looks like a nice knife that will fit my needs great, thanks for pointing it out. Pretty sure that is the one I am going to get.

Define "bigger". Look at many of the threads and you may be surprised that a 4" Mora will often be a better companion to a folder than a big blade.
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To give you an idea, the knives I had been looking at were the full size fighting Ka-Bars. Just something for camping, hiking type stuff and probably to toss in my bug out bag when I am not using it.
 
It's just my opinion, but a ka-bar sized knife takes up too much space and really doesn't provide any sizable advantage for the type of use you mention. I won't make a specific recommendation, but anything from a 20 dollar Mora (which are pretty popular "survival" knives) on up through a many-hundreds of dollars custom will fit what you want better. It's just my own personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt, but I really dig the RC4 from ESEE (Formerly Rat Cutlery). A tad expensive, but they have a fabulous warranty.

With that being said, what I currently use and enjoy in that general category is a plain ol' Becker Necker. It's not perfect, but I have yet to really find anything that I will reasonably ever need to do with it that it won't handle with ease. Plus, they are cheap, coming in at around $35 bucks or so for the plain jane model. I like the sheath OK, with it's biggest advantage being that it is flat and has plenty of lashing points. I guess my biggest recommendation for it is simply this: If I lost it, I would buy another one and I wouldn't feel all that bad doing so.

But, like I said, those are just my opinions. Plenty of dudes haul around ka-bars happily, and there are a ton of choices out there.
 
Leukku

VegasAR15 said:
. . . I am looking to get a serrated folder to carry in my pocket with me everyday. I probably want to spend somewhere around $50 or less on that one. I want to pick up a bigger fixed blade survival type knife to throw in my bug out bag. I figure in general that type of knife might run a bit more expensive, so I figure I will be spending a bit more than $50 for a good one. Then just for fun I think I want to pick up a kukri. . . .
Click to expand...


I have a religious problem with serrated blades, so I won't be much help there. If you're willing to consider a plain edged folder, I'll be happy to offer some suggestions. I've tried several in the last few years. Who knows? Could be useful.


John has addressed the kukri above. John will be your kukri guy. Seriously. Search this forum for posts by him containing that word. There's a wealth of information.


Bigger fixed blade? Well, at least you won't find any shortage of opinions. Considering that you will get plenty of suggestions for Ka-Bar, Ontario, RAT, Becker, and such. I'll take the brand less traveled. But first, a little story.

A few years back, I went through a discovery process to find what would work for me for outdoor use. I bought and tested Bowie knives, Ontario/Ka-Bar/Camillus mil-type knives, Glock, Gerber, Buck, Mora, Marttiini, Järvenpää, and some I'm sure I've forgotten.

What I found was that large knives don't really work well for me. I found Bowies particularly awkward. Larger fighting style knives turned out to be of limited usefulness. They tended to balance poorly for routine tasks, the blades tended to be thicker than practical for more boring applications, and so on.

I found that I really liked the standard Mora knives (blades in the 3.5" to 4.5" range) and their Finnish Puuko equivalents. The blades were long enough to be useful but not so long that they got in their own way. They were sharp and tough. I was officially a fan.

The Laplanders have another knife, the Leukku, that's kind of the Far North's answer to the Bowie knife. Well balanced, sharp as the dickens, suitable to all manner of camp tasks. Took a little getting used to, no guard, fat handle, broad blade, but I wound up liking them.


For myself, I have found that a 5" blade is a "large" knife for me. I can go up to 6", but general utility begins to suffer. An ideal knife, for me, is one with about a 4" blade. I find the Scandinavian grind produces a very sharp and usable edge, effective and easy to maintain.


It's getting late, so I'll leave it here. Perhaps more tomorrow when I'm more coherent.

 
Can't help with the folder,don't use them unless its a SAK. Can't help with the Kukuri either, I am an axe/hatchet/folding saw guy.

For this though...

I want to pick up a bigger fixed blade survival type knife to throw in my bug out bag. I figure in general that type of knife might run a bit more expensive, so I figure I will be spending a bit more than $50 for a good one.
Click to expand...

It matters (to me) if this will be paired with the Kukuri.

For me, I usually carry a knife for a certain use.When I expect a knife to only perform knife stuff like slicing/cutting/woodworking I like a thin stock ~4" blade Scandi ground knife.

For a more general purpose knife that may see light batoning/delimbing/sapling removal plus normal cutting chores I prefer a slightly thicker stock ~4" blade convex ground knife.

Most of the time I will have both.:) I keep a hatchet/folding saw in my bag, wear a ~4" convex fixed on my belt, and as I head out slip a ~4" Scandi fixed into my bag.:eek:

If I only head out with just one fixed blade, it is a 4" convex. (either a Fallkniven F1 or my JK Hiker). The SAK in my pocket is a given.;)
 
Good advice above so I will not recount it.

For my .02, before you purchase get some knowledge of steels types and uses. Once hooked, knives are addicting. Next comes sharpening education.

My preference, spyderco folders, specifically Native in s30v, delica, and 4 inch Endura in vg-20. Fixed = a Mora, or any old 1095 carbon steel blade you can find. 3 to 4 inch is sufficient for me.

Really want to get addicted! Buy a quality steel blank from Jantz supply and make your own scales!

Welcome to the world of sharp pointy things!
 
What I've found as I build my knife collection is that I try to avoid redundancy. Once you have a knife that fills a particular niche, you can cross that one off the list. Just like firearms, there's no one "perfect" knife for all purposes. A small automatic can serve as a general pocketknife, a large tactical is suitable if you're expecting trouble. What you take with you to work won't be what you'll want on the trail. So rather than focus on companies, I tend to study blade shape, materials, and operational design.

It's easy to, say, open the Cold Steel catalog and after flipping a few pages you pretty much want it all. Everything. So instead, to conserve your budget, figure out what it is that you need to get a certain job done, then shop for the blade that fills the role.
 
What sort of environment? For northern woods a small cruiser ax handles things quite well. For more subtropical environments a machete works wonders.

You'll find that you can do smaller choirs with a big knife, but they're easier with something with around a 4" blade. The larger blades have limited utility. Too big to be handy and too small to perform like an ax or machete.

Get something tough that you can baton.

As to the SOG, good knife, but you can get much better steel than AUS8 on a tough folder for the same price. Other options have already been suggested.
 
I agree with the mods on this one, I like the becker necker size, and use one.

I would pack a becker necker sized blade, a mora <super light> and a machete.

All those are relativelly light.
 
I'm a big fan of a 15-19" OAL kukri/khukri/kukuri, teamed with a 2.5-5" knife for smaller tasks. That's the traditional kukri pairing, a small utility knife and a steel to keep the blade profiled and remove any nicks. If you have more time than money, and want to avoid making common mistakes, go to www.Bladeforums.com, register for a free membership, and check out the Himalayan Imports forum. You'll learn a lot, and will also have access to weekly specials only offered there.

If you're trying to save money, you can get by on something like the Tenacious, and a hatchet, kukri, machete, bolo, or large bowie. You really only need one large "survival knife", and any of the above can qualify as the large tool/emergency weapon that you can use to build a shelter or fight off a wild dog.
 
I think this week I am going to order a Spyderco Tenacious. Then I think soon I will order a Mora and a kukri. The Mora seems to be a very well recommended knife by just about everyone. With them being so cheap I think I will pick up two, one in stainless and one in carbon. Then I will pick up a kukri to pair up with my Mora. I think I will still have to get a Ka-Bar fighting knife too, I think its the fact that I have been eyeing them in Cheaper Than Dirt since I was twelve that has me wanting it so bad. I probably don't need it, but then again, I probably don't really need thirteen out of my sixteen guns either. I really appreciate all of the advice that I have gotten. If I hadn't posted my first questions, I would not have even considered the Mora.
 
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