Recommendation? General purpose fixed blade

Here is one of my woods stomping combo's. The Bark River is the Wilderness Explorer (WE) with a 5.75" blade in Cruwear, and the orange handled one is the White River Backpacker Pro (S35VN). The Backpacker Pro is a small knife but would stand up to significant batoning if needed. I often leave the WE at home as I don't want to carry the larger blade unless I think I need it. The larger blade certainly does provide some versatility.
DSC03616ed.jpg
 
hhmoore said:
For 3V, the answer is Carothers...but, if one was to hit the exchange within budget, one would have to be you right there to grab it before somebody else did.
Bradford does 3V well - I think I read that Nathan shared his heat treat with him; but I've been unable to find that again, so I could be mistaken.
I've got no complaints with my Bark Rivers in 3V; but I'd expect better performance from Carothers and Bradford.
The REK I mentioned in my previous post is Cruwear.

The knives I've mentioned: Esee 6, BRKT Bravo 1.25-LT, Carothers FK2, Bradford Guardian 4, REK Quarantine
View attachment 1460135
Click to expand...
I'd be interested to hear if Nathan Carothers has shared Delta 3v information with Bradford Knives.
 
Honestly

in a world of high end custom and good production knives you can’t go wrong with the DEK1 designed by Lorien Arnold and made by Nathan Carothers

this will be my hunting knife this season and I’ll be doing a full review soon



 
fielder said:
I'd be interested to hear if Nathan Carothers has shared Delta 3v information with Bradford Knives.
Click to expand...
Again, I have not been able to find the piece that I thought said that. It may have been a collaboration in a pre-D3V process...could have been another person entirely. I actually came back to delete that comment, not wanting to spread something I couldn't substantiate - saw it was too late, and tried (again) to find the original piece. I did come across something that looked familiar about heat treating 3V that referenced Carothers and Keffeler...maybe that was the thing I saw; but I have no idea how I would have turned that into working/sharing with Bradford.
Let's pretend I had the sense to NOT include that thought, and stick with Bradford does a good job with 3V, as well.
 
JParanee said:
Honestly

in a world of high end custom and good production knives you can’t go wrong with the DEK1 designed by Lorien Arnold and made by Nathan Carothers

this will be my hunting knife this season and I’ll be doing a full review soon



Click to expand...

Joe, that bow is off the hook! I don't feel envy often, but I'm definitely a little :D at the moment

I hope you have yourself a super productive season and I'm really looking forward to finding out what you think of your new Carothers Performance Knives DEK1. I'm very proud of that knife, and think it will serve you well.
 
jlauffer said:
Could check out the Cold Steel SRK in 3V. Way below budget, but has a Kraton handle and 6" blade. They also have a shorter 5" version (SRK-C), but it is SK-5.
Click to expand...
As long as you have the proper sharpening tools, I don’t feel undergunned (underknifed? Hehe) with SK5. It’s a fairly decent steel for the money.
 
Thank you for your suggestions leaning towards a Bravo 1 LT unless a Carothers FK2 were to suddenly appears within the budget.
 
My vote would be a Swamp Rat Rodent 4 or Rantmamdu. Under budget, and guaranteed forever.
 
J389 said:
Thank you for your suggestions leaning towards a Bravo 1 LT unless a Carothers FK2 were to suddenly appears within the budget.
Click to expand...
I don't want to boohiss your Bark River option.. I read your intended use and I have a regular (~.2" thick) Bravo 1 rampless, I have a few thoughts..
The Bravo 1 grip is very small, and kinda slick. For its price I'm not very impressed with the hand-crafted grind lines (ie mis-matches near the guard, one side is slightly more convex than the other)
I'm also not too sure about Bark River's 3v heat-treat, and/or the effects of continued grinding/finishing after its treated, mine seems to chip a bit more than it should.
I really like the Bravo1, but I consider it a bushcraft, day hike, and car camping knife. I don't think it'd be my "backup", and it'd be a flat no if I had the thinner LT version.

I'm currently eyeballing the Guardian 5.5 in Elmax real hard.. same for the Guardian 6 in 3v. I already have plenty of "normal" knives and the weird 6 is pretty cool.

As others have said.. Esee 5 and 6 will definitely get the job done, same for the Tops BOB and it's also available in 154CM.
Lastly, don't shy away from the SRK in 3V - its light, thick, and the general design and handle have been proven for decades.

Now, if someone would post up a pic of the Guardian 5.5 next to a Guardian 6 my life would get easier. (edit.. nevermind, I bought both)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top