Recommendation? Budget fixed blade suggestion for a coworker

Schrade has a variety of medium to large fixed blades to choose from in this price rangeb in 1095 carbon, SCHF37, 36, 28, 52, 45, 52M. Some of them you would still have $20 left over for a folder to go with it.
 
My first thought was the "Ontario Knife co. 499", as already mentioned. Mine has served me well on countless motorcycle camping trips. It batoned wood before I even knew batoning was a thing, and then cut tomatoes without touching the edge to a stone. The only downside is that it is heavy. I hate wearing it on my belt because it pulls my pants down. Since then, I've acquired a Buck Mesa from Wal-Mart. About the same price ($40=/-) More modern looking, easier to tote, not as tough. easier to chip, harder to sharpen. I like the looks of the Cold Steel mentioned above, too.

Be advised that if I am using one fixed knife for "everything" when camping, I still have a folder in my pocket.
 
number9 said:
My first thought was the "Ontario Knife co. 499", as already mentioned. Mine has served me well on countless motorcycle camping trips. It batoned wood before I even knew batoning was a thing, and then cut tomatoes without touching the edge to a stone. The only downside is that it is heavy. I hate wearing it on my belt because it pulls my pants down. Since then, I've acquired a Buck Mesa from Wal-Mart. About the same price ($40=/-) More modern looking, easier to tote, not as tough. easier to chip, harder to sharpen. I like the looks of the Cold Steel mentioned above, too.

Be advised that if I am using one fixed knife for "everything" when camping, I still have a folder in my pocket.
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I think the Buck Mesa is discontinued. No longer available from WM.
 
KooKooforKukripuffs said:
I think the Buck Mesa is discontinued. No longer available from WM.
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I own more Bucks than all brands in my pile combined and I carry a Buck 110 more than any other knife. I have and use and beat the snot out of a Buck Reaper (which is on clearance on the Buck site for under $40) which just so happens to be sitting here next to my keyboard (along with a 120 year old puuko).

Based on my experiences, I can't really recommend any of the Bucks for this thread. They make great hunting knives and great EDC knives but they don't make anything I would pick for splitting down kindling.

If the OPs friend gives up on the need to split wood, I think the Buck Bucklite Max Large fixed blade is a good hunting/general purpose knife for the money, but I think the Mora Companion is a better woods knife by a large margin.
 
Thanks everyone for your help. I am trying to get him to rethink his plans. He says he’ll be bringing one of those folding saw with him as well, but I think he’s watched too many bushcrafting videos and just really wants to pound a knife through some wood.
I am definitely not going to recommend the Dutch bushcrafter videos to him anytime soon :D:D:D
 
Get him a Buck 119.

He WANTS something 5-7 inches (Buck 119 is 6 inches), he doesn't want to carry the right tools for the job (the Buck 119 isn't a hatchet or a froe), he doesn't want to spend a lot of money (the Buck 119 is like $40 bucks at Wal-Mart), he wants a good knife (the Buck 119 is a good knife), that is easy to maintain (the Buck 119's 420HC steel is easy to sharpen, comes sharp, and isn't likely to rust), he's a newer knife user and doesn't necessarily know how to care for his knives OR baton (the Buck 119 is strong, but not indestructible, and won't easily rust), and the Buck 119 is classy looking and doesn't have a blade coating to flake off into his Mountain House freeze dried eggs (that he's eating with the Buck 119 because he's a one tool to rule them all kind of guy and didn't have time to carve a spoon).

The Buck 119. It'll split wood, it'll cut dinner; it's better at the latter which is probably what it will be used more for.
 
NapalmCheese said:
Get him a Buck 119.

He WANTS something 5-7 inches (Buck 119 is 6 inches), he doesn't want to carry the right tools for the job (the Buck 119 isn't a hatchet or a froe), he doesn't want to spend a lot of money (the Buck 119 is like $40 bucks at Wal-Mart), he wants a good knife (the Buck 119 is a good knife), that is easy to maintain (the Buck 119's 420HC steel is easy to sharpen, comes sharp, and isn't likely to rust), he's a newer knife user and doesn't necessarily know how to care for his knives OR baton (the Buck 119 is strong, but not indestructible, and won't easily rust), and the Buck 119 is classy looking and doesn't have a blade coating to flake off into his Mountain House freeze dried eggs (that he's eating with the Buck 119 because he's a one tool to rule them all kind of guy and didn't have time to carve a spoon).

The Buck 119. It'll split wood, it'll cut dinner; it's better at the latter which is probably what it will be used more for.
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If we're talking larger Bucks, I would suggest the Reaper (on clearance) over the 119 for this use. The Thug, which the Reaper was taken from, was definitely designed to be battoned.

But... Another and perhaps more correct answer is to let the guy pick a knife he thinks looks cool. If he's new to knives, that will matter more than performance.
 
Mora 510 or Mistwalker's Schrade SCH series for the win! He should at min pick up a Kabar Dozier lock back or an Victorinox Climber/Farmer/Cadet though...
 
pinnah said:
But... Another and perhaps more correct answer is to let the guy pick a knife he thinks looks cool. If he's new to knives, that will matter more than performance.
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And that's the crux of it IMO. Let the dude pick out knives he thinks are cool and just steer him away from the absolute crap. It doesn't matter if the knife is made for batoning, or if the knife is made for slicing hams, or if the knife is made to be sharpened pry bar. At the end of the day pretty much any quality knife can cut dinner and baton some wood. However, getting a knife he likes will cause him to find reasons to use it which will allow him to learn the compromises being made and better equip him to find new knives later on.

edit to add: Nothing wrong with the reaper if that's what the guy is into. I like the 119, so that's what I suggested.
 
pinnah said:
But... Another and perhaps more correct answer is to let the guy pick a knife he thinks looks cool. If he's new to knives, that will matter more than performance.
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NapalmCheese said:
And that's the crux of it IMO. Let the dude pick out knives he thinks are cool and just steer him away from the absolute crap. It doesn't matter if the knife is made for batoning, or if the knife is made for slicing hams, or if the knife is made to be sharpened pry bar. At the end of the day pretty much any quality knife can cut dinner and baton some wood. However, getting a knife he likes will cause him to find reasons to use it which will allow him to learn the compromises being made and better equip him to find new knives later on.
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He’s looking too. I figured I’d do some looking and research in case he has a hard time. There’s a lot of info for a brand new guy. If I can help, I will
 
I know it's way over what he said his budget is, but the benchmade pukko just strikes me as a crazy good buy. $120 for 3v, leather sheath and nice design just screams smoking deal.
 
He wants a knife that looks cool, you can bank on that. So I'll offer up a couple...

And if he's wanting to carry it as part of a load, I'll try to keep these at a half pound or less.

Cold Steel SRK is a hell of a beater. Probably one of the tougher offerings in the sub $50 club.

Cold Steel's Recon Tanto is just as tough and fun as hell. Way less practical than the SRK, but COOOOOL!

Ontario's Hunt Plus Camp Knife is 6 inches, lightweight, practical, affordable, and made in the USA.

Buck's BuckLite Max Large hunting knife is great. It's only a 4" blade, but weighs only 5 ounces. Made in USA.

Old Hickory Hunting Knife would be my choice! 5.5 inches of Made in the USA 1095 steel with a leather sheath for $20!

One I don't own but might try is Cold Steel's 20PH Outdoorsman Lite Fixed. Cheap enough to try for a weekend.
 
I'd not recommend the Buck 119 (or any of their through tang knives) to some one planning on batonning with them.

They are pretty knives. They come sharp. They are easy to keep sharp. They are pointy and slicey..... but they are susceptible to breaking from batonning or hard chopping.

Over the years, I've seen plenty of pics and reports.

I have a 120 and both of my kids too....but it is not a knife to beat on.

I have plenty of knives designed just for such uses. (Busse, and a few customs and full tang choppers, 5160, cpm3v, differentially heat treated carbon steels, and others)
 
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