Not sure what Im looking for in a camp knife

Look into some custom makers.
I have a couple models that may fit your needs.
The first picture is the Iridium bushcraft knife. It can be scaled down to a 4 inch blade. As shown its 6.5
View media item 1135That was in Zfinit so it was above your price bracket of 200. I could use CPM 154 or CPM 3V and probably hit the 200$ mark with sheath included.

The next knife is the conquest. The blade is under 4 inches, i have several blanks availible in cru-wear and Zfinit starting at 180 with a sheath.
View media item 1205They can be full flat ground or saber ground to your liking.

Survive knives are also great choices. I havent owned one or seen prices, but have heard good stuff. Fallkniven has some great knives that would fit your needs too.
The bark river bravo series as someone mentioned would make a good choice too. Seeing as you dont chop with the knife you can get away with a thinner grind.
 
Lot of great choices out there. I'm partial to Swamp Rat and Bussekin in general for my fixed blades these days. Sold off my F1 and ESEE-4 even though I liked them both.

JMD, RMD, & SOS:
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After I did some work on the SOS:


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Also have a BK15. Another great blade but I thinned mine out a ton, so it gets used primarily as a food prep blade/slicer.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
...I will tell you to check out the Bradford Guardian 4 ... with the New 3D Micarta Scales ... it surprised me just how much I love the knife ... you can get it in M390 or 3V and in Full Flat Grind or Saber Grind or even a false edge blade.
The Full Flats cut like lasers and so do the Saber grinds with just a bit more behind the blade if you plan on being a bit rougher on the knife. It's great for shaving wood and general chores like food prep.

Fiddleback Forge has several in your price range you might like.
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I'll second both the Guardian 4 and FbF as high value users that aren't high priced. Brad and Andy both have a great sense of what makes a useful outdoors knife. I've used knives from both shops outside and they perform very nicely. A G4 in CPM-3V will handle anything that you throw at it. It's very tough because of the 3V and Brad's blade designs, and it's thin enough, even sabre ground, to be a good slicer when you want it to do that. Andy's Fiddleback Forge knives will likely be either A2 or O-1, but those are good, traditional choices for outdoor knives. They're tough steels that are easy to maintain in the field. FbF knives are known for their comfortable and secure grips. A Hiking Buddy or Handyman on the shorter end of the scale, or a Bushcrafter or Bushfinger for a longer blade and larger handle will serve you well.

Since both you and your wife carry ZT350's that should take care of any recurve blade needs you'll have. Look for a straight edge and a not-too-thick blade. This is for camp & food cutting... not an EOTW event. A sharp, relatively thin, and tough blade will serve you well.
 
I have a RAT 3, I just ordered the extended scales, in the hopes it will feel more comfortable in the hand. Cannot wait to install them and try. The shorter handle of the 3 was also why I got the ESEE 4 thinking it would we be hand filling, a little better but still not my favorite handle. Now I also see that you can get different handle options for it too through TKC, compact for more bulk or extended.

Like the idea of finding and supporting a maker here on the forums if the design meets your needs. I have also wanted to try a Mora for camping since I do not baton, just basic chores, and there is a good variety to choose from, stainless or carbon, and more robust tangs. Lastly, I also saw the BK 10 mentioned, and different scales can be installed. Let us know which way you go.
 
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If going custom with the makers here, allow me to recommend a puukko by Malanika (aka Danijel Haramina). You will fall in love.

Zieg
 
Under $200 camp knife? There are hundreds of options. If it were me, and I was only going to have one knife (or a small number of knives), I would go to LT Wright and Battle Horse Knives and pick one out there. All of the suggestions look good so far, but for camp knives that will be used, I don't see anything better than the two Ohio knife makers I mentioned.

Dozens and dozens of options from those two. Probably my favorite is the lt wright GNS followed by the lt wright Genesis.
 
There is something very special about carrying and using a knife which was custom made to your own specifications. :cool: Try it, you'll like it. :thumbsup: I know you stated that you don't know what you want (thereby making it difficult to convey to a maker), but try sitting down with a pencil (with eraser ;)) and paper and drawing various knives, perhaps with a few internet pics up of ones you like, to see what you come up with. You don't need Rembrandt quality. :)
 
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Awesome. Thanks a lot guys!

I am liking the idea of supporting a maker here as well, and getting a custom knife. I am going to start looking around at more knives that everyone suggested and maybe start drawing something up.

Thanks!
 
Well it seems to me that you've already made up your mind to look at one of the custom makers on BF but I figure it can't hurt to through in my 2 cents. Theres a lot of popular support for the BK knives, and rightly so they're awesome. But I have to say my favorite knife that I have is actually a Morakniv Garberg. The blade is a little shorter than most of the knives mentioned, at just over 4 inches, but its one of my favorite knives to take camping. Costwise it'll run you between $80-90, which some argue is to much for a mora. But its quickly become my favorite.
 
I forgot to speak about the TOPS BOB
Under 200$ it would go for it to replace my Esee4
 
22-rimfire said:
I'd go with a LionSTEEL M5. Good size. Good everything camping knife. Hard to beat the Kabar Becker BK-16. Don't forget to toss in a Mora for odds and ends cooking. There aren't a lot of practical limits to what you bring along. I actually used to bring electric lights with me to hang in one state park that had electricity at each site. :D I got tired of Coleman lanterns (the gasoline type) and they took up too much space with the gear.
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The Lionsteel T5 is a great choice!! A Bradford Guardian 4 in 3V with the Peter's heat treat is another good option.
Gollik knives. that is a custom, so you can get exactly what you want. I just ordered two from him, at great prices!! I got mine in Elamx, but you could go with Sleipner if you want more toughness. Definitely worth a look! He puts knives here on the knife maker for sale are every once in a while.
 
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If you go production, I too would point to the Fallkniven F1. My only concern for you would be the relatively slim handle. But the suggestions to go custom are on point - nothing quite like a custom knife on your belt, and your budget is well into striking distance of some high-quality makers.
 
Ok, got the new TKC extended scales on my Ontario RAT 3, makes it feel like a completely different knife, a full grip and the palm swell makes sure it will not leave your hand.
 
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