Knife/Survival Knife Info.

How functional are your hand made knives?

I like my folding Osborne Benchmade, it has a really amazing swing/lock mechanism that will not say die as well as an ideal(at least for me) alloy. You would do good to look into what properties your blade has and compare that to your skill of maintaining the edge, it will save you grief if you know how to maintain it. I keep it with me at all times and it's not too big. When I had to replace it(because my first one got stolen) I had the money for a more expensive knife but I still stuck with my same knife if that says anything to ya. As for a fixed blade, my buck knife is one tough piece of metal, and not expensive either.

Well, they gut and skin critters better than any metal blade knife. Hogs especially as there is alot of grease and fat. Metal blade knives, the micro edges fill in with the grease and you have to keep scrubbing your knives. Flint and obsidian knives for some reason don't to that. I have flint tools that have skinned three hogs out where the metal knife could only get a quarter of the job done.

They are what they are, primitve knives.

I always carry either a flint knife or flint tools. The flint tools don't look like much but they are compact and come in real handy.

I use to do knapping exibitions for the boyscouts years ago. To show them how sharp the rock knives were, I would take a heavy piece of deerskin and take a razor sharp knife and do a slice. Then I would do the same with a rock knife and would amaze all as the rock knives, although they look primitive, were much sharper.

FVR,
check out the Master's of Defense (M.O.D.) Close Quarters Defense (CQD) Mark I (auto)

It's usually a bit pricey if you don't qualify for a discount, and its usually illegal for most folks. But one heck of a good pig-sticker and of course (grin) its hella' fun.

Use it mostly for work, but dependible works outdoors too.

Checked them out, really nice and compact and yes, pricey.

I found the SOG SEAL Revolver to be an ideal folding survival knife. And the SOG SEAL Pup Elite is really reliable fixed knife.

I always carry one of the Gerber Gators as I call it. Nice grip for a folder, has serrated blade at the back and sharp.

When it comes to knives, quality counts. It's gotta hold up. I look for a Rockwell hardness rating of between 48-52. I use both folding & fixed blade knives, depending on the circumstances. The one I stay away from is the "Rambo" style knife with the hollow handle. This design creates a weakness where the blade joins the handle, unlike a regular fixed blade that is all one solid piece of steel from heel to toe. Good names to trust are Buck, Gerber, K-bar, Ontario, & Camillus. Gerber makes a knife that was the result of a collaboration with the military that I like for about $100 called the "LMF Knives". (view them at cabellas.com and click on "knives") It's not a huge knife, but just the right size.

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Originally Posted by volwest

I always carry a folding knife, but, my fixed blade is a RAT-7.
Best knife i've ever owned.

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If I recall right, the RAT-7 is made by the Ontario Knife Company. Great choice!

It depends where you are and what style you are. If your gonna have lots of cutting go with a big fixed knife. If you like to improvise go for a leatherman wave. if you like a smaller knife that can still to big knife jobs go for a folding large knife. the most important thing is to make sure the handle is solid and try to stick to trusted manufacturers like buck. I have 20 knives all different styles and i have to say if i was dropped into the wilderness with one knife (or multitool) and nothing else it would be my leatherman. but my favorite knife is my buck zipper with rubberized handle (with gut hook used by bear grylls in his everglades episode). if your gonna get a big fixed blade knife try to get a gut hook with it, its well worth the extra price!

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Originally Posted by paul vs wild

It depends where you are and what style you are. If your gonna have lots of cutting go with a big fixed knife. If you like to improvise go for a leatherman wave. if you like a smaller knife that can still to big knife jobs go for a folding large knife. the most important thing is to make sure the handle is solid and try to stick to trusted manufacturers like buck. I have 20 knives all different styles and i have to say if i was dropped into the wilderness with one knife (or multitool) and nothing else it would be my leatherman. but my favorite knife is my buck zipper with rubberized handle (with gut hook used by bear grylls in his everglades episode). if your gonna get a big fixed blade knife try to get a gut hook with it, its well worth the extra price!

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Paul, I have a couple of Buck fixed blade knives. One is like the one you mention without the gut-hook. I bought it many years back after seeing the same thing used by a survival expert on the video: "The Ultimate Outdoorsman" by Bob Newman. (The video & book is available from Paladin Press.) I also have the Buck "General", which is the "old line" style of hunting knife with the black ebony handle. It's just a bit longer than their "Special", which Wal-Mart sells. Have you heard of that one?

Hey PaulvsWild, do you know which folder bear had in some of the shows. it looked to be a part serrated folder with a 4 inch blade or so.

Just got a Benchmade Vex, Hope to go to the mountains this Sunday for a hike to try it out.

I love my osborne benchmade, you'll be very happy with your Vex for sure!

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Originally Posted by wolf

What are you going to use it for? if survival then get a good reliable blade maybe with a saw on the back GET CARBON STEEL preferably with full tang. cold steel is a good company http://www.coldsteel.com/fixed-blades-bushman.html VERY GOOD BLADE HERE <-- iwould recommend it if you dont have anything else you were already going to get.

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Cold Steel does make a good knife. I have one of their Survival Rescue Knives that can do everything from skin squirrels to split fire wood if needed. It's a little big for my taste, but It's a lot of knife for the money.

The Osborne is a nice looking knife, is the Axis lock holding up well. I'ts supposed to be a pretty tough lock. I'm thinking about getting a Griptilian because of the price and the axis lock.

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Originally Posted by Woodland

The Osborne is a nice looking knife, is the Axis lock holding up well. I'ts supposed to be a pretty tough lock. I'm thinking about getting a Griptilian because of the price and the axis lock.

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Yeah the lock is a beauty I've never had a problem with it and I use it for everything, period. it's also easy to keep clean because it's so simple and it's my favorite part about the knife and i catch myself opening and closing it all the time. It's the smoothest action I've ever known and I'm hooked for life.

i just bought a kershaw blackout. it is pretty nice. i went with the serrated blade. its really solid but as far as a survival knife goes i think im going to go with a kabar or another fixed blade knife of that type. Kershaw is a good name for folding knifes though.

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Originally Posted by jimjimjimmyjim

i just bought a kershaw blackout. it is pretty nice. i went with the serrated blade. its really solid but as far as a survival knife goes i think im going to go with a kabar or another fixed blade knife of that type. Kershaw is a good name for folding knifes though.

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I own a Kabar & it's a great knife, however check out the Gerber LMF knives at www.cabelas.com. It's made for the navy seals and can be lashed to a pole to make a spear.

Hi, new here, but I am a true knife knut, and a newbie maker. I would like to suggest a fairly affordable custom for those seeking a heavy duty survival type knife. Get ahold of Justin at Ranger knives. You could get one of several customs around 150 some even less. He's also willing to modify knives or build to your specs all for a reasonable price. They really are bomb proof knives.
I am not affiliated with them at all, just used the knives. Thought I'd pass it along. Later, Steve

I carry a sog fllash 2 as my everyday. but for a fixed blade i really like the glock knifes.

Fvr I like your tru-bal throwers!

I have always wanted a glock knife, but never got around to getting one. I may try one , they're pretty stout I suppose?