Hard use stainless steel fixed blades?

I am using a Benchmade 162 for my knife that meets those specs. Not my favorite but, it works very well.
 
Jeez, forgot, you gotta check out Dawson Knives! Love my Dawsons, but they don't get as much carry time as they deserve. My fave is a pure fighter and the next fave is a small cutter, almost a neck knife, and the third fave is a safe queen. Fourth is a dagger, so not much use but fun to throw. Dawsons are beasts! Pretty much sharpened pry bars. Pretty much stainless.

Zieg
 
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Another vote for Dawson! They make excellent knives, and they don't mind doing custom work. If you can swing it, and don't mind the idea of using a custom knife as a beater, a Dawson will do the job you're asking.
 
Hey Christian, do you have an INFI RMD? Or is yours the SR101 model? The INFI version is going to be extremely tough and surprisingly corrosion-resistant.
 
Here's what I use for the purpose you've described: Bark River Bravo 1.25 S35VN matte canvas micarta. It's my dedicated hard use knife and hasn't failed me yet (and I don't see how it ever could - this thing is a tank).

I think all the stainless Bravos would fit your profile, but for me the 1.25 is the sweet spot between reach, balance, and carry-ability.

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ESEE 4 comes in a 440c version.
I love and trust ESEE for hard use knives, although admittedly, the 440c models don't have the same warranty as the 1095 models.
 
Thanks everyone :thumbsup:
Some awesome suggestions here including some steels ive never heard of.
Appreciate everyones input and recommendations.


Hard Knocks said:
Hey Christian, do you have an INFI RMD? Or is yours the SR101 model? The INFI version is going to be extremely tough and surprisingly corrosion-resistant.
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Hey Dave! Mine is the SR101 which i love. It is tough as nails and i have done everything under the sun with it including things you shouldnt do with a knife. That thing wont let me down.

Only complaint would be the edge thickness, its not very slicey, and also gathers rust fairly easily.
Seems like I do need the infi version :D
They seem very popular. Perhaps Jerry will revisit them soon?
 
XtianAus said:
Mine is the SR101 which i love. It is tough as nails and i have done everything under the sun with it including things you shouldnt do with a knife. That thing wont let me down.

Only complaint would be the edge thickness, its not very slicey, and also gathers rust fairly easily.
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Really? From my experience the more I use it the less it rusts...I left my SYKCO 1111 in my pack after a camping trip for a couple days and the edge got a little black - not rust - but never had an issue when actually using the knife. Post pics of the rust mate, i'd be interested to see :thumbsup:
 
XtianAus said:
They seem very popular. Perhaps Jerry will revisit them soon?
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I hope we see another run of them. I know it's not considered a 'true' stainless but it's good. Also, they're a little more slicey than the regular RMDs and I think they're about .020" thinner stock. Just making sure it's on your radar.
 
If you're considering value, the Schrade SCHF51 is outstanding. For those situations when you want to bring a tool with big chopping power, but you don't want people to raise their eyebrows at a Rambo-style blade, I cannot say how much I love this knife. Just under 5", and a 1/4" thick it is an absolute tank. I have used it to chop, slice, whittle, and pry like a cro-bar, it is unbreakable.

Just realized as I was writing this, unlike most schrade knives, the 51 is not stainless, its 1095...so maybe it doesn't qualify for the OP's topic. That being said, at under 40$ its a no-brainer to pick up.
 
ExtraBaconPlease said:
Really? From my experience the more I use it the less it rusts...I left my SYKCO 1111 in my pack after a camping trip for a couple days and the edge got a little black - not rust - but never had an issue when actually using the knife. Post pics of the rust mate, i'd be interested to see :thumbsup:
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Hey man!
Actually most of mine is black. Isn't that considered rust?
I had a little bit of the orange rust stuff but that came off easily with a bit of flint. The black won't come off though. Is the black okay to have on there? As long as it doesn't affect the edge then I am sweet with it there :)

Hard Knocks said:
I hope we see another run of them. I know it's not considered a 'true' stainless but it's good. Also, they're a little more slicey than the regular RMDs and I think they're about .020" thinner stock. Just making sure it's on your radar.
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Ah that sounds awesome! A slicey RMD would be perfect. Although the SR101 version its thick, it is still great in tackling tougher tasks. How do you find it's corrosion resistance compared with D3V? About the same?
 
JohnnyBlades said:
If you're considering value, the Schrade SCHF51 is outstanding. For those situations when you want to bring a tool with big chopping power, but you don't want people to raise their eyebrows at a Rambo-style blade, I cannot say how much I love this knife. Just under 5", and a 1/4" thick it is an absolute tank. I have used it to chop, slice, whittle, and pry like a cro-bar, it is unbreakable.

Just realized as I was writing this, unlike most schrade knives, the 51 is not stainless, its 1095...so maybe it doesn't qualify for the OP's topic. That being said, at under 40$ its a no-brainer to pick up.
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Hey, I am sure it is great, Schrade are tough and friendly budget blades. I have the SCHF 52 and it is a beast of a blade. It sure can take a beating and act as a pry bar if needed. It has its flaws though, the bevel is way uneven and is thick as anything behind the edge. But for its price, schrade are a no brainer I agree. But the thing rusts like crazy. I tried keeping it clean and oiled after use but it gathered heaps of orange rust and after that I just let it be. Now I am not sure if it is even restorable. Rust has formed on the edge which is okay to bring back to life. But now rust has even gathered between the tang and scales even though it is coated. I don't know how that is possible but it is haha.
 
XtianAus said:
Hey man!
Actually most of mine is black. Isn't that considered rust?
I had a little bit of the orange rust stuff but that came off easily with a bit of flint. The black won't come off though. Is the black okay to have on there? As long as it doesn't affect the edge then I am sweet with it there :)


Ah that sounds awesome! A slicey RMD would be perfect. Although the SR101 version its thick, it is still great in tackling tougher tasks. How do you find it's corrosion resistance compared with D3V? About the same?
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D3V is much (and I mean MUCH) better in that department than SR101. The thing about SR101 is that it patinas heavy. If you oil that red surface rust it will turn to that black patina you're seeing. I've got to where I don't worry about any black on 52100, after it gets to that point it seems like it protects itself.
 
XtianAus said:
Hey man!
Actually most of mine is black. Isn't that considered rust?
I had a little bit of the orange rust stuff but that came off easily with a bit of flint. The black won't come off though. Is the black okay to have on there? As long as it doesn't affect the edge then I am sweet with it there :)
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Hey bro :D
Hard to tell without pics but I wouldn't worry about it. Like Dave said above ^^ after it patinas it looks after itself. To be clear though, my edges are shiny silver. They get black if I treat the blade like crap (guilty) and put it away all dirty for a while but after use (chopping and batoning) it comes right off. This has been consistent with many carbon steels I have used and in different sized knives (that obviously see different types of use) ranging from my Mora's to my SYKCO blades.
Hope that helps!
 
Hard Knocks said:
D3V is much (and I mean MUCH) better in that department than SR101. The thing about SR101 is that it patinas heavy. If you oil that red surface rust it will turn to that black patina you're seeing. I've got to where I don't worry about any black on 52100, after it gets to that point it seems like it protects itself.
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Ahhh woops I mean how is D3V vs INFI not SR101.

And sick, thats great to hear. So the orange is all I need to look out for? The black patina just looks so bad, I assumed it wasnt good for the blade. I might force a patina over the unaffected parts.
I cut up a palm branch that had fallen off our tree and it left what I thought was a rainbow patina. Looked so cool. But it rubbed off soon after haha.
 
ExtraBaconPlease said:
Hey bro :D
Hard to tell without pics but I wouldn't worry about it. Like Dave said above ^^ after it patinas it looks after itself. To be clear though, my edges are shiny silver. They get black if I treat the blade like crap (guilty) and put it away all dirty for a while but after use (chopping and batoning) it comes right off. This has been consistent with many carbon steels I have used and in different sized knives (that obviously see different types of use) ranging from my Mora's to my SYKCO blades.
Hope that helps!
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That definitely helps.
Gives me another reason to find more excuses to beat her up :D
Actually I had that experience, after using it some of the black does go away. But there is a section near the tip, almost like a black glare or a greyish area, that wont leave. If its not harmful to the blade and wont affect its performance than I am not fussed. Its just everytime I pay attention to it, I assume the worst haha
 
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