New to knives

Joined
Jul 13, 2019
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625
Hello all,

I’ve been new to knives for a few months now and looking at getting an Esee 4HM for my hiking knife but looking for a camp knife that can double as a survival knife. Is something like the Benchmade Bushcrafter really that good? I’m not the best at sharpening yet so being able to sent it to them is a plus. I also like the Fallkniven A1, but am worried about sharpening a convex edge.
I had a KaBar BK2 just to feel the handle but it seemed a bit heavy although I think it would have been a great survival knife. Would the KaBar UMSC stand up in a survival situation? Same for a Buck knife like the 119
 
I bought a bunch of these knives for about $3-$5 each awhile back. I may have a hundred left +/-.

Machetes.jpg
 
Well...the list could go on, i m afraid to say.
Because for someone new to knives,
the hunt for THE knife never quite ends ;-)
Which is a good thing if you're into knives.
How tragic it would be to stop buying
after having decided you've had enough...

Just beware that it boils down to your
own preferences in regards to price & design, weight & length, stock thickness,
product quality & material specs.,
handling qualities & ergonomics....
So yeah, good luck in what you're hoping
to search for now; only just know that you
will find suitability of use in many knives
to come :)

ALso, do give these old standards a try...
 
Welcome to the forum firstly ... and if you tell us a bit more along the lines of what type of uses are you wanting the knife for more specifically?

I say that because you can go with something very inexpensive but that will still do most everything you would use a knife for ... unless you're going to pry with it or baton wood ...

a simple Mora cheap and works well ... Becker BK16 still not expensive and a much better all around knife than the BK2 ... easy to sharpen steel ...

The A1 is a solid knife you mentioned ...

I would look at LT Wright knives ... several great options depending on your needs or prefrences ...

But knowing your intended uses better maybe we could reccomend something more specific.
 
Esee. Ontario. Tops. Extrema ratio. White river. Lt wright. Kabar. Dpx. Bark river.
Searching is half the fun. Check out these companies.
 
Hello all,

I’ve been new to knives for a few months now and looking at getting an Esee 4HM for my hiking knife but looking for a camp knife that can double as a survival knife. Is something like the Benchmade Bushcrafter really that good? I’m not the best at sharpening yet so being able to sent it to them is a plus. I also like the Fallkniven A1, but am worried about sharpening a convex edge.
I had a KaBar BK2 just to feel the handle but it seemed a bit heavy although I think it would have been a great survival knife. Would the KaBar UMSC stand up in a survival situation? Same for a Buck knife like the 119
:) Welcome ! I recommend you consider the Cold Steel Master Hunter in 3V type steel . Very good value in an all purpose camp and survival knife . :cool::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 
The kabar USMC is worth considering, as are the Kraton handle models. They are light enough to hike with and would make an ok defensive knife. I wouldn’t consider it a hard use survival knife though.

The BK2 is overly heavy and thick in my opinion. The ESEE 4 isn’t bad, but I sold mine because it was a bit thick behind the edge and I found the large finger choil unnecessary. I also sold my A1, it was very thick behind the edge and wasn’t worth the price to me.

I’ll echo docJD’s recommendation for the cold steel master hunter in cpm3v. Great steel, heat treat, and a nice thin grind that takes advantage of the tough steel. The SRK isn’t too bad, if I were to get one I would buy a hollow ground version.
 
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Kabar Becker BK-16...excellent all around field knife. 1095 carbon steel is easy to sharpen and maintain with stropping. Keep the edge wiped down, though, as it will rust if left wet. Easy enough.

Good luck with your search!
 
RugerNurse, I prefer the Esee 4 to the Esee 4HM. I think the 4 handle has better finger protection from the blade, especially if/when the handle is wet.

I don't think another knife with the same or a couple of inches more blade length is going to be much of an advantage, except for redundancy. For emergency or survival situations, and to carry in the wilderness, where chopping wood may be necessary, I want a big (8.5"-9.5" blade length), full tang, high quality knife, such as the Busse Alpha Regulator 9.5 (great steel!). A big knife may not be able to do smaller, more detailed, chores as well as a small knife, but it can do everything a knife can do, especially with a finger choil.

You never know what the situation will be when things are no longer normal. Of course, the best scenario is to have at least two knives, large and small, but if I only had a big knife I doubt if I'd ever wish I only had a small knife.

I would advise you to learn to freehand sharpen, especially if you are planning for a survival situation.

I sharpen all my knives to a fairly thin V-edge (I don't like thick knife edges). Freehand sharpening will slightly convex the edge, anyway. If I need more edge durability I sharpen the edge or microbevel at a higher angle.

archieblue, unfortunately a lot of factory knives come with rather thick edges, but that's what relief grinding (reprofiling) is for. I wouldn't pass up a knife I want because the edge is too thick when I can thin it out myself.
 
I’ll echo docJD’s recommendation for the cold steel master hunter in cpm3v. Great steel, heat treat, and a nice thin grind that takes advantage of the tough steel. The SRK isn’t too bad, if I were to get one I would buy a hollow ground version.

How hard is this to sharpen? Does stropping do anything? That’s one thing I appreciate about people’s experience with 1095, it’s easy to sharpen.

As far as use I would like a good hiking knife to have that stands up to use without having to be resharpened all the time and a more substantial camp knife that could take a beating if I had to chop some wood.
 
How hard is this to sharpen? Does stropping do anything? That’s one thing I appreciate about people’s experience with 1095, it’s easy to sharpen.

As far as use I would like a good hiking knife to have that stands up to use without having to be resharpened all the time and a more substantial camp knife that could take a beating if I had to chop some wood.
I sharpen mine easily on a regular old Norton India stone. Responds to stropping just fine.
 
Hi RNurse - Welcome to the party.

I might suggest that you check out the fixed blades in the for sale section of BladeForums and I'm sure you will find something that will fit your purposes. You might be able to get a couple of lightly used knives and see which works the best and resell the one that doesn't.

My camp knife is the Spyderco reliable Bill Moran Drop Point, a good balance of weight and size for field dressing game and other tasks in the toolies. For any wood chopping get a decent hatchet or axe, knives really are not made for that.

There are tons of sharpeners available for the knife sharpener. I stick with my old light weight, compact, versatile Triangle Sharp Maker because, well..., it is just so darn easy to sharpen almost anything, getting good consistent edge angles, etc. You might find some SharpMakers in the for sale section of this forum.

I'm am a retired road builder and as you can tell a big Spydie fan because they just make great knife stuff which I have enjoyed using for many years. If Caterpillar made knives I'd buy theirs, but they don't.



 
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