Fixed blade advice needed...

edcgear · **on:** March 27, 2012, 08:23:37 PM

I was never into fixed blades. But recently I was thinking about getting me one fixed blade for some tasks, and then I can easy carry my slipjoint knives....

I'm not much into outdoors, and don't have some serious hardcore tasks... More or less nothing that strong folder couldn't do... But on the other hand, I'd like to have some serious strong and capable fixed blade in my backpack/car... Just in case...

It will work arround yard, maybe some battoning, some outdoor times like BBQ and stuff like that...

I was looking at ESEE knives, but would like to see more options!!

Thanks

dks · **Reply #1 on:** March 27, 2012, 08:29:20 PM

Let me be the 1st to suggest a mora + axe so you do not need to do any battoning.

I have a Mora 511 in every car!

Syph007 · **Reply #2 on:** March 27, 2012, 08:29:32 PM

If you want a beat on and take it all you can give it kind of knife for a good price I think the Ka-Bar Becker BK2 Campanion is good. Its a big slab of metal you can beat on.

Lots of higher end stuff, but if you arent sure you want to get into the fancy ones its a good start point IMO.

ESEE's are also good, but if you start going higher end than I prefer Fallkniven over ESEE, but ESEE are still damn fine blades. The only fixed blade I own still is a Fallkniven A1. I dont prefer the ESEE coated blades, too grippy for my tastes when cutting and they rust. Fallkniven is VG10 not coated and amazing...

edcgear · **Reply #3 on:** March 27, 2012, 08:42:22 PM

I looked @ ESEE just for the skeletonized looks on Izula... I think that's a nice way to pack it in small pouch or something and forget about it untill you need it...

Mora's are great tools, and on my list. But not as Mora then as Bahco... Bahco 2444 that is... That one is exactly Mora, and sandvik steel (for what I know Mora produce them for Bahco)...

Well I presume there will not be much of battoning, if any at all... I presume I'll only try do that, just for fun of it and nothing else...

dks · **Reply #4 on:** March 27, 2012, 08:51:47 PM

This Bahco is a rebranded Mora clipper.

Sold here for 6 to 8 Euro.
SS

edcgear · **Reply #5 on:** March 27, 2012, 09:06:50 PM

If I remember corectly price here is 650,00 din so it's tad less then 6eur...

IMHO great knife for that money!!!

dks · **Reply #6 on:** March 27, 2012, 09:16:00 PM

All the nice things are cheaper in there.. Alcohol, cigarettes and now Knives too!!

enki_ck · **Reply #7 on:** March 27, 2012, 09:30:56 PM

Quote from: dks on March 27, 2012, 09:16:00 PM

All the nice things are cheaper in there.. Alcohol, cigarettes and now Knives too!!

Yea, but our wages are a lot lower to.

I'd advise the Mora combo too, but a Mora + folding saw combo. Great and light setup for the woods. I did play with the Bahco at a local hardware store, The blades are great, but I prefer the handles of a Mora Clipper. But still great knife for the money.

Sparky415 · **Reply #8 on:** March 27, 2012, 10:00:55 PM

EDCgear,
I would go for the Moras great value knives

For some reason I have the idea that you have big hands $:-\$

If so you should try them out before buying and then have a look at the Hultafors that Zed has been using

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #9 on:** March 27, 2012, 10:06:37 PM

I'm going to buck the trend here ...

Moras are great woodcraft/camping/outdoors knives, but if you're just looking for a fixed blade work knife, I'm not sure I would always go for a puukko style (even though that's what I have at the boat as an all purpose knife).

My options include Moras (plural), Cold Steel's Canadian Belt Knife, Bushman and Finn Bear for the cheapo options. A couple of slightly nicer puukkos by Iissaki Jaavenpaa and Brusletto, and a Muella stag handled Bowie and a Sheffield made MOD Survival Knife take up the middle ground, then a small 4"(ish) blade I made on a knife making course, a Raker skinning knife, and on order that's ready and waiting collection from a local maker make up the "upper" end of my options. There's a few smaller options too such as a Buck Hartsook and CRKT Folts minimalist for use as neck knives.

I'd trust any of those knives in use, but not necessarily all for the same tasks. The cheap Cold Steel knives (even the puukko clones) tend to be slightly hollow ground with a secondary bevel, which I think is preferable over a puukko style scandi grind for general heavy work rather than woodcraft. Plus they're cheap so it doesn't matter if I over do it and cause them damage. The hollow grind does make it a little easier to resharpen, but doesn't give it the strongest edge though

What do you expect having to use the knife for?

edcgear · **Reply #10 on:** March 27, 2012, 10:18:50 PM

LOL good Q 50ft....

Nothing much TBH... More or less backup!

I think on EDCing slipjoint knives, they are just right for most daily jobs I use knife for... So I sale/traded all OHO/blade locking/tactical/heavy duty folders...

Fixed blade should be there for ocasional cutting tasks, as a "car" knife... Maybe right word would be BOB knife, but it's not that I'm building BOB... Occasional trip to the nature, BBQ, garden and backyard tasks...

That's why I mentioned ESEE Izula, they are slim and skeletonized, so you can put it in... Maxpedition Jumbo rear pocket and... Leave it there!!

Also I stumbled upon Becker BK 14 EsKaBar - looks nice, and tad cheaper than ESEE...

At the end I'll maybe ask my friend knife maker to make me one skeletonized knife....

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #11 on:** March 27, 2012, 10:48:20 PM

Whilst they look nice a skeletonised knife wouldn't be my choice for a back up knife for the car.

They are that way to save weight, but comfort (and maybe even strength) can be compromised. Personally I'd look for a full tang knife with wooden handles and a secondary bevel ... but I'm a sucker for the traditional

I wouldn't spend a lot of money for a knife in that role either ... I'd rather save it for something I'm going to have more fun with

Here are the kind of things I'd be looking at ... depending on the potential tasks, and conditions. Be prepared to have to refine the handles a little to suit your own grip on some of them. You might find these aren't what you have in mind, they're just examples of what I might rummage through for that role

edcgear · **Reply #12 on:** March 27, 2012, 10:56:01 PM

Nice....

Out of all I like John Nowill most!!

Sparky415 · **Reply #13 on:** March 27, 2012, 11:06:22 PM

Nice collection there Al
I also like the John Nowill

I've been thinking about this a bit more, I would go for something like a Stainless Mora,
As its not going to see much use there's no point in tying up a lot of money is something you are only going to play with now an then
There's going to be a lot of condensation in the car depending on the season so I would want stainless

So I would probably end up with a machete

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #14 on:** March 27, 2012, 11:07:59 PM

Quote from: edcgear on March 27, 2012, 10:56:01 PM

Nice....

Out of all I like John Nowill most!!

You'll definitely need to refine the handles a little then

(they sell them "unfinished" so you can sand them to suit you - common practice with many fixed blades round this neck of the woods)

Quote from: sparky415 on March 27, 2012, 11:06:22 PM

Nice collection there Al
I also like the John Nowill

I've been thinking about this a bit more, I would go for something like a Stainless Mora,
As its not going to see much use there's no point in tying up a lot of money is something you are only going to play with now an then
There's going to be a lot of condensation in the car depending on the season so I would want stainless

So I would probably end up with a machete

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #15 on:** March 27, 2012, 11:09:29 PM

Quote from: sparky415 on March 27, 2012, 11:06:22 PM

Nice collection there Al
I also like the John Nowill

I'll bring my MOD knife to the meet Tony so you can have a play

Sparky415 · **Reply #16 on:** March 27, 2012, 11:13:07 PM

Quote from: 50ft-trad on March 27, 2012, 11:09:29 PM

Quote from: sparky415 on March 27, 2012, 11:06:22 PM
Nice collection there Al
I also like the John Nowill

I'll bring my MOD knife to the meet Tony so you can have a play

Thanks

I will bring some sandpaper

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #17 on:** March 27, 2012, 11:19:28 PM

I did try using Farmman's belt sander briefly, but it kind of got a bit of a stammer

so it does need tidying up

I've just not got round to sorting it

Sparky415 · **Reply #18 on:** March 27, 2012, 11:27:57 PM

Quote from: 50ft-trad on March 27, 2012, 11:19:28 PM

I did try using Farmman's belt sander briefly, but it kind of got a bit of a stammer so it does need tidying up I've just not got round to sorting it

I'm hoping to have enough room in my car to bring my little linisher to the meet if you can wait until then Al

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #19 on:** March 27, 2012, 11:29:48 PM

I can wait

Main thing I'm waiting for is to collect my "other" order

Ashley · **Reply #20 on:** March 28, 2012, 12:15:58 AM

Esee or Mora 223

Sent from Ash forum mobile

Nikos · **Reply #21 on:** March 28, 2012, 01:39:33 PM

Quote from: 50ft-trad on March 27, 2012, 10:48:20 PM

http://www.heinnie.com/Cold-Steel-Knives/Fixed-Blade-Knives/Cold-Steel-Kukri-Machete/p-127-973-4024/

Heh, funny how the item that most guys bought after this:

was this:

Santos · **Reply #22 on:** March 28, 2012, 02:59:21 PM

I'm VERY happy with my Kabar Becker Necker Bk11. For most task its big enough. Its also cheaper than a lot of others so you dont need to baby it.

For something larger i could see the bK2 working for the same reason.

I'm going to break trend here and actually suggest a Gerber Prodigy (bottom). Its the smaller more usable cousin of the Gerber ASEK LMFII knife.(top)

It is a combo edge but the straight edge is large and usable. It will cop more abuse than you should ever intend to give it. There used to be a website which tested these knives till they broke. The LmF II was used to cut through aircraft metal panels, baton and chop through wood, concrete etc and finally hit repeatively sideways with a sledgehammer whilst held in a vice.

I have both the LMFII and Prodigy, both made in US of A. i Believe the bear grylls knife is basically the same as the prodigy but made in the PR of C.

As for machete's i've never used a kukri. I recently googled for a comparison of styles. I laughed so hard when reading "Pro's" of kukris was they had a point and where suited for stabbing... the author assuring me this is what i wanted for home defense. Latin style machetes on the othe hand didn't have this benefit. That was enough to tell me they don't use machetes, just dream about how much they rock them.

Pity i cant find the info since as it showed a fair few styles. (Bolo, Parang, golok, barong etc)

It may be cultural conditioning but i have never felt the need to leave the 'Latin' machete for another style. In Brazil we call the 'Facao' which litterarly translates to 'big knife'. I mention this as its shape is easy to use as 'a knife' for daily chores as opposed to decapitate the zombie infested horror with one hollywood fueled swing .

With practice you can clear vegetation with very little effort, you just need to understand you work the tool, the tool doesn't work you. It will also stab if you a sharpen it right and need to fend off that rare theoretical wild animal. I haven't used my 12" Ontario CT1 yet but having owned a few 18" models i know the quality and its much more practical for the important things like slicing the picanha

In many ways some of the other machetes shapes are really just fancy variations and do the task equally well. I think the thing with Kukris is they do have that emotional element to them that screams 'AWESOME' I have no doubt that once you learn its unique nature they can be used in any manner of ways.
The test is though can you really hand one to the average person and say ' can you quickly cut these meat/vegetables for me please?' and not have them awkwardly struggle with the simple task?

S.Gossman · **Reply #23 on:** March 28, 2012, 09:05:06 PM

Becker & Esee are well made.
Scott

Nikos · **Reply #24 on:** March 28, 2012, 09:18:25 PM

Well, the child inside me is strangely attracted to this funny contraption: clicky... They say that children always tell the truth... $:-\$

AimlessWanderer · **Reply #25 on:** March 28, 2012, 09:44:39 PM

It's ... different

Definitely one for the zombie slayers Nikos, as I can't see this being strong as a work knife, or woods knife

Sparky415 · **Reply #26 on:** March 28, 2012, 10:19:02 PM

Ooh I want one of those

shame about the three serrations

Santos · **Reply #27 on:** March 29, 2012, 04:36:06 AM

Quote from: 50ft-trad on March 28, 2012, 09:44:39 PM

It's ... different

Definitely one for the zombie slayers Nikos, as I can't see this being strong as a work knife, or woods knife

but but but its TATICOOL.. that means it does things better... and some guy with over 25 years martial arts instructing experience designed it... cause we all know you dont need to actually have ever drawn blood in a mortal sense.. just spent lots of time in cushioned enviroments showing people how ninja you are with those rubber knives against people who conditioned themselves not to hurt you...

edcgear · **Reply #28 on:** March 31, 2012, 04:29:22 PM

Call me late, but I've just saw Fallkniven F1, and... Love on first sight!!!

Exactly what I need and like in fixed blade!!!!! Exept the price

So maybe I get some of my knifemaking friends make me... Well more or less something like that!

Also RAT 3 looks nice....

That Gerber looks fine but I like FFG...

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Fixed blade advice needed...

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