multi purpose knife wanted!

M

mark23

Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Messages
375
hi, all!

I am looking for a multi purpose knife.

I am quite new to the subject. I do have a leatherman wave but I'd like to have a "real" knife with me on my mountain hikes, backcountry hikes in norway or scotland or on boating trips.

the knife should be able to cut chips out of those handy magnesium fire starters as well as wood chips and strike a flint. of course it should be able to cut rope (serrated blade?), chopping ability is also required in outdoor life. I'd like to gut and cut fish and small animals with the knife. it should be resistant to rust and oxidation in corrosvie environments or should at least have a coating to minimize it.

I am willing to spend up to 300 $/EURO, as an engineer I am fond of material science and know the cost of high quality materials.

there is apparently a "one knife fits all" problem.

thanks for your help!!!

regards

mark

edited for additional info
 
Sounds like you are looking for something pretty heavy duty. Have you thought about an Emerson Commander or a Strider AR?
Good luck,
Matt
 
Welcom , mate. Enjoy your stay.

As to your question. I'm not sure what's available in the
market place in Europe so I'll give you a general answer.

Look for a common type of blade steel that will sharpen
easily on a rock it you have to. That would be the milder
carbon steel (coated) the the lower end stainless. Stay away
from hi tech wonder steels as they are to hard for pratical
field use. Look for a fixed blade in the 5" to 7" range with
a blade thickness of no more that 1/4" at the spine. A bit less
is good. The blade handle should also be of leather or natural
materials for comfort with wet /bloody grip hot or cold. The
sheath should also be of some type of plasitic metal lined ballistic
nylon cloth for wear and ventilation when wet. Waxed leather if
not. These same criteria apply to a larger folder as well with the blade
length limited to 4" to 5" employing a lockback or frame lock construction.

For the fixed blade , as an example, look at the various type of military issue
fixed blades or a Camillus Becker combat utlity , Buck Nighhawk. The military
types are all designed to do jobs you want done with no fuss at a minimum
cost. For the folders your Wave is fine for little stuff and for larger stuff you'll
need to look at those knives with a military bent. Just stay away from hi tech
steel unless you like to swearing trying to sharpen them in the field. The military
issue blades are by far your best bet.

Good lck and good hunting.:D :D
 
I have done some browsing in the meantime ...

@Jazzman/Matt

thanks. i will have a look at both knives you recommended. ...
i have visited both manufacturer's hompages and I think i wnat a fixed blade - but why? ...

@Tightwad

thanks for your advice. however, if I look for "military issue blades" in this forum I find many knives made of high-technology (minimum cost? ;)) materials, even titanium (some kind of alloy, i presume). "titanium" made me curious and as a titanium alloy should not be to hard ... actually I read some of the threads and as an engineer I know titanium is not that hard (so I can put aside the practical issues, right?) ... yet more ductile and what is more, not likely to corrode in saltwater environments ...

do you have experience with titanium as a blade material? or better - and to name the baby - does anyone of you have gained practical experience with the mission mpk ti? unfortunenately I seem to like the shape of the "mission mpk ti" as well. would a knife like that be a bad choice in your opinion and is it worth the buck?

feel free to comment.

thanks again.:)

regards

mark23
 
hey, i would highly recommend a Busse...i just got a Natural Outlaw, and it will do all of the things you asked for and more...you will never have to worry about rusting, chipping the blade, or it not being adiquate for any task you could throw at it...give it a try and you wont be disappointed!
 
Hello Mark, and welcome to the forums!

I was going to recommend a nice 4" folder, or fixed blade. But since you want chopping ability as well, my first instinct was to suggest the Camillus Becker Combat/Utility 7. That should be small enough to do the finer tasks while still having chopping ability.

Sounds liek you like the exotics, though. If you click on the search button and type in MPK, you'll find LOTS of info on the Mission series of knives. From what I hear, if you like titanium, then Mission is THE place to buy from. A while ago Mike Turber et.al. tested a MPK in A2 steel, and they found the handle to be very secure and they liked the blade shape. They siad that their test blade could rattle a bit in the sheath, though.


Good luck finding what you want. For inexpensive, go with the Becker. If you want something "special" for your money, look into titanium or a sweet custom bowie or the like.
 
maybe I am after "exotics" because there is way to much information flooding into my brain ... and there arte less exotics to concentrate on. adding some bits and pieces from my material science lectures and - swosh - I go for titan, e.g.

by the way, what do I have to think of knifemakers' statements of being official issue supplier to what ever institution? is a knife issued to the swedish airforce (fallkniven f1) better than a knife issued to the navy seals mission (mpk-ti)? ...

I do definetly not want to start collecting knives. so one knife must do. and again, maybe this is an other reason why I seem to be after exotics ...

regards

mark23
 
Mark, by military issue I don't mean the hi tech stuff we knife
nuts buy which is primarily what you find here in these forums.

What I mean is the classic "ka-bar" style knife the military issues
as standard equipment. The British and Israilies both offer a darn
good issue knives. That is what I ment. If you are here long enough
you will find that knife nuts tend to forget blades that have long
history of plain of good service doing the worst possible jobs for
men who can't afford to be let down.

For a knife nut the eye candy new tech appeal is everything. I know
I have several myself. But my users are all low tech dependable simple
do it all blades. So what if I break a $50 blade?? Not so with a $100 +
blade. :rolleyes:

So if cost a versitlity are what you really want take some of the advice here
with a grain of salt. At least until you are "learned" enough to sort out what
YOU want;) ;)
 
@Tightwad:

I do not intend to break my knife. I am not going to lose it. I learned that in most cases I'd need a tool to damage the blade.

So why do you "knife nuts" buy these expensive knives? Why do you test them so hard you eventually will break them in the end? We all agree that knives are simply tools. I know from my work that on the long run there is no difference whether you buy a good tool at the beginning and use it for say a period of ten years or buy three to four cheaper, less sophisticated tools instead. I want to buy a good tool at the moment. And if nobody objects I am going for either the mission mpk-ti, mpk-a2, the fallkniven s1 (black with kydex sheath) or ... damn im puzzled again ... having a titanium knife would provide some very interesting campfire talk maybe ... :rolleyes:

I think the religious question about material remains open. Consequently I will have to do some reading and thinking tonight.

However, further commenting on this issue is still appreciated :)

Regards

mark23
 
Hi mark
I own and use a faalkniven A1 and ist is a really good knife.
Strong, sharp, not too heavy, great chopper as well. The steel is VG10 and with a little care withstands rust really well.
My other favorite is the military knife used by the Dutch special Forces. It is made by a small knifeshop in Rotterdam and is called the SOK (Special Operations Knife). It uses ATS 34 steel, with a protective mat titanium coating. It has a lexan handle and multi carry sheath. You can check it out on www.hillknives.com/military knives. The price is a bit more than 300 euro, inclusive diamond sharper, free sharpening once a year and a lifetime warranty. Check the website for the testreport and let me know what you think about it.
 
@456:

Sounds good. Looks like the manufacturer seems to know how to take care of customers ... I will take this knife into consideration ...

Thanks

mark23
 
Originally posted by mark23

the knife should be able to cut chips out of those handy magnesium fire starters as well as wood chips and strike a flint. of course it should be able to cut rope (serrated blade?), chopping ability is also required in outdoor life. I'd like to gut and cut fish and small animals with the knife. it should be resistant to rust and oxidation in corrosvie environments or should at least have a coating to minimize it.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a Becker C/U7 or the C/U9 (9 inch). The price is a steal, it uses carbon steel, with black epoxy coating so that it wouldn't rust that easily. Handle is not bad, but you can find people who make replacement that provides better grip. There are plenty of people who test out the 7 and the 9 in the Camillus Forum that shows it'll cut through rope, chop, cut through beer cans. The only thing is I don't really know how well it'll skin an animal or cut fish because I have yet to get one, but then I doubt that it will have any problems.
I know it's under 100 US (i don't know the exact price) and I'm pretty sure you could get a small folding diamond hone to take care of the sharpening ;)
 
How about a SOG Seal 2000, or its' larger brother, the Tigershark?
 
Mark, mate it sounds like the knife nut bug has bitten you hard!

That's Ok really:D I know when I first started I got really cornfused
by all the talk here. Just take your time and , most important of all,
have fun ;) ;) ;)
 
"Chopping ability" depends on what you want to chop. I haven't done much of this myself, but people here often recommend an axe over a big knife for chopping wood. For cutting brush, they usually recommend a machete like the Becker Patrol Machete.

Because if you are really into materials, and you want to spend $300 total, you could get yourself a Talonite EDC or fixed blade, or a Boye Dendritic Cobalt knife (a similar alloy). You can't chop with those, so with the rest of your money you could get a nice axe or machete. The cobalt alloys will never rust, even in salt water, and are said to hold an edge better than steel (just search on "talonite" and you will find many references).
I had (and stupidly sold) a steel-bladed David Boye folder a couple of years ago. Loved it.
 
I think you need more than a single-blade knife. It sounds like a large lock-blade Swiss Army Knife would be the solution (like the Victorinox Locksmith).
It may not have the "macho Tarzan" appeal of a large fixed-blade but it will out cut any single-blade knife out there (pound for pound).
You could use the metal file/saw on the magnesium bar, and you could use the woodsaw instead of chopping wood. That way you don't dull your main blade and can keep it really sharp for slicing those fish.
Besides, chopping makes too much noise. When I'm in the woods I don't like to scare off the birds and critters by making alot of noise (or bother any others who might be around and attract attention to myself).
And with the SAK, you even get tweezers to remove ticks, thorns, and splinters.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
Mark
I am happy you like the knife I proposed to you.
But, I just visited the website of a knifemaker I really respect, Rob Simonich, (he helped me a lot with my thesis last year).
He doesn't take custom orders any more, but has introduced a semi-tech line of knives. You should check out the Raven Combat, CPM S30V blade steel (the hottest steel at the moment), a 7 inch blade, very nice knife style, a genuine Blackhawk knife sheath and this for (only) 300 USD. (and with the dollar at less than 1 euro it is a great time for European knifebuyers).
It is really high on my wishlist! I will buy it as a present for getting my first real job.
You should check the forums for comments on Simonich, you will find only great info.
With this knife you have your needs covered, but I expect you to become a knife nerd as well!
Take care
dirk
 
You'll want to get Jeff Randall's Laser Strike fixed blade. It offers three means of starting a fire. It has a dimple in the handle for use as a fire bow as one of the means. TOPS produces the knife. Was shown in TK issue of 9/2001.
 
@all:

hey, please, can someone close this thread? I am not willing to start collecting knives. as I said before: one knife has to be enough. I have been reading material science books along with postings in this forum for the last two days. please stop recommending any other new knives to me ... the more I read the longer it will take for me to come to a conclusion ... so please stop or I will take the pictures of all knives and go to a knife maker and discuss this matter with him ... ;) (hu, what a threat ... funny I should say this)

NONETHELESS: thank you to all of you.

regards

mark
 
Originally posted by mark23
@all:

hey, please, can someone close this thread? I am not willing to start collecting knives. as I said before: one knife has to be enough.
Click to expand...

Then again, there's the super knife by ....


:D
 
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