Knife/Survival Knife Info.

[chiye tanka]

Yep! My knife guy has them on order. He's got both neckers, companion, and the entry tool. I've heard that they won't be making the camp knife though.

[Blood Groove]

Wow that's quite impressive. IT must have taken a lot of planning and experience to come up with those few and totally necessasry items!

[Runs With Beer]

Knives are basically up to pers. preference. Some like them fancy, some like them bowie style and then there are the military styles.

I've gone through the phases like most. The big bowie was very attractive but just heavy and really a pain to use. Never been much on the fancy knives and most military styles are for killing rather than survival.

In the USMC many Marines I was with carried the Gerber dagger style, awsome knife but in the jungle it was worthless. Then there were the officers who carried the larger bowies, showoffs. I stuck to the good ol Kabar MKII. The knife blade was packerized and was a bit more flexible than the standard black finished brittle blades.

Nowdays I always carry a Gerber folder with the serrated about 2" back of the blade folder. Nice grip, on the belt will usually find the new model Kabar. Unless I'm doing a period trek then it's this old Union cutlery folder and a slightly larger steak knife made from an old file.

Either way, there is always a large palm piece of flint and a small hooked piece of flint that works much better than knives for skinning game.

Just my buck two fifty.

YOU have to love the Kabar!

[primeelite]

I have been out camping with someone who had one of these before. It seemed to work a lot better than I thought but still it can't hold up against a good survival knife. But yeah if someone is on a budget or especially needs a backup knife to throw in their backpack before they head out its not bad.

[FVR]

I have a few old sawzaw blades, a bit heftier than hacksaw blades. May just take one to the grinder this week.

[Dragonfyre]

Pretty nifty little knife. I like to carry knives in my pack, on my person....basically my thought is, one is good but more is better. I feel the same way with firestarters too!

[canid]

hey, not too bad. i've since started using small reciprocating saw bladed to make wood-carving knives and gouges.

[tfisher]

I used to make these when I was a kid(yes it has been awhile) and my parents would not let me have a knife. we made several and would hide them in the woods next to a river so we could go fishing when we skipped school.

[doug1980]

I just made one tonight. Was a bit harder than I thought. Might of helped if I had the right tools for the job though.

[sgtdraino]

Looks pretty neat. I just have one question...

If you lash it to a pole with some string, wouldn't the saw teeth cut the string?

[crashdive123]

Looks pretty neat. I just have one question...

If you lash it to a pole with some string, wouldn't the saw teeth cut the string?

Probably not, since it would be rigid and not moving back and forth (sawing) across your bindings. If you are concerned though, there are several things you can do. When you make one grind a portion of the saw edge so that it is smooth. Attach scales to it (I use duct tape). But, I don't think it would be a problem leaving it alone.

[Ameriborn]

RAT cutlery makes some beautiful blades, as you all likely know.

I was just wondering, do any of you think they will have an RC-7 soon? Of course, I mean after the Izula hype is down, and the RC-5 SERE is out.

I mean, RC-3, RC-4, RC-5 SERE, RC-6 .. what is next an RC-7? Or and RC-2?

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Leighman]

Hey, all.

New to this site (great info, BTW) but a veteran knife user/collector.
While we all have a personal preference as to what we like/dislike in a field knife (fixed and folder) I wanted to share some of my "less than stellar" performers over the last 10-15 years.

Please note, this is not intended to bash ANY company/manufacturer's products, just my own experiences.

Fixed blade:
Ontario Spec-Plus Bolo knife (no longer made). Rubber handle, razor sharp out of the box, so-so quality leather and thin cordura sheath. While clearing very light brush the blade chipped after striking a 2-2 1/2 inch green sapling. The chip itself was rather large (half the diameter of a dime and about 3 inches from the tip) and the exposed steel (1095, I think) looked very sintered and grainy. Poor heat treat? Ontario replaced it free of charge (kudos to them). The replacement was no better with similar (but smaller) chipping to the edge.

Buck dive type knife (cannot recall model) but it was copied after a custom maker's design. Full-tang, black plastic scales, kydex sheath. Top of blade featured a chisel type grind (dull) that was about useless. The blunt pointed blade had partial serrations and was very, very difficult to sharpen (Lansky). overall, too beefy and specialized for outdoor applications (at least for me).

Early production CS (Carbon V) Recon Tanto. Loved that darn thing but batoning very seasoned oak (using a small log as the baton, no hammer or hatchet) resulted in a wicked failure; 1 1/2+ inch of the tip snapped clean off! The weather was extremely cold (-5) but still I expected more. I did not contact CS over the matter.

Folders:
Emerson tanto type blade (not sure of the model). Liner lock failed while cutting through frozen garden hose. Luckily I was wearing heavy duty gloves but with the twisting motion I may have somehow disengaged the liner lock but could not figure out how (?).

Gerber Paraframe. While in the closed position I easily nicked my finger while retrieving it from my pocket. Cutouts in the frame was just plain poorly designed.

Buck Odyssy (tip up carry) would open in pocket enough to injure your fingers upon removal.

S&W...owned one, I'll say no more just poor workmanship overall.

Benchmade D2 Griptilian (from Cabela's). Loved this one but experienced blade edge chipping while cutting off the thin aluminum foil on the tops of wine bottles.

Again, not bashing any company just my 0.02 worth with a few of the many knives I've owned/used.

Comments welcomed.

[MCBushbaby]

Anything of those knives in the "camping" aisle, wrapped in that plastic stuff. I bought a couple because they were only a dollar each. While they are great to completely wreck on the trail, the screw holding the folding blade to the handle is loose from day one. I made one into a fixed blade by epoxying the crap outta that screw, and the others I had to continually tighten on the trail.

[chiye tanka]

I've carried CS knives for years, while I've never had a problem, the cold COULD have been the contributing factor there. I contacted Mission knives once and spoke with someone (can't remember name) who told me that most knives become very brittle in extreme cold weather. Thus the reason they offer their knives in titanium, which does not have that problem. Just a little FYI.

[klkak]

[QUOTE=Leighman;88983]Early production CS (Carbon V) Recon Tanto. Loved that darn thing but batoning very seasoned oak (using a small log as the baton, no hammer or hatchet) resulted in a wicked failure; 1 1/2+ inch of the tip snapped clean off! The weather was extremely cold (-5) but still I expected more. I did not contact CS over the matter.

I doubt that -5 temp would have caused the steel to fail. -50 might have. Sounds like your knife just had a poorly tempered blade. Although batoning is an excepted practice I am willing to bet that the manufacture does not recommend it.

I can honestly say that I have never subjected a knife to batoning. Grandpa taught me to always use the right tool for the job.

[Blood Groove]

Although batoning is an excepted practice I am willing to bet that the manufacture does not recommend it.

I can honestly say that I have never subjected a knife to batoning. Grandpa taught me to always use the right tool for the job.[/QUOTE]

For any other knife company I'd agree with you. But Cold Steel really prides there knives on the toughness and they say you can return a blade no matter what with a recipt of purchase. I mean they released a vidio, Solid Proof of them beating the crap out of there knives, stabbing through car doors, and all there other tests, adn they show that they hold up great to it. So in this paticular case, with a Cold Steel knife, I don't think that they'd really mind. I am suprised that the Recon Tanto Broke like that though. There must have been some factory error, becuase I've heared nothing but good things about this knife until now.

[Ole WV Coot]

I have a bunch, use a few especially a SAK and carry a SOG Flash II for "emergencies" but I started making my own several years ago and actually have made better working knives from old saw blades and not that hard to get what you want. I have found the quality of the old name brands going downhill over the years myself.

[Leighman]

I'm not a CS "hater" and I used to really like their knives back in the day (early 1980's) when they offered all of 5-6 different products. They were definitely of excellent quality then but IMO, more than a little hype these days.

I've seen all their videos and was not really impressed only because ANY decently made fixed blade (of comparable length/thickness, of course) should be able to pass all of these tests.

Fortunately, there are comparable offerings these days that are superior to many CS products and in a similar price range (RAT Cutlery for example).

[Leighman]

[QUOTE=klkak;89013I can honestly say that I have never subjected a knife to batoning. Grandpa taught me to always use the right tool for the job.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, a knife doesn't take the place of an axe/hatchet (and the skill associated with using either).

That said, when I take my 2 children hiking to my favorite "fishing hole" for the day, an axe is not on the list of gear and a small fixed blade is the heaviest item I really want to pack.

To date, a convexed Dumpster Mutt has been worth its weight in gold and is currently my "always" fixed blade outdoor knife.

I have also had VERY good experiences with Ontario's RTAK and RAT Cutlery's RAT-3.