Which knife?

[Draven]

Howdy folks

I've been lookin' around a lot, (here and on other sites) and a lot of people seem to favour different kind of knives...

Personally, I can't decide between my first ever fixed-blade sheath knife or a new one I just bought...

The first one is 10 1/2 inches overall, 6 inch blade, hollow ground, has serrated back, rubber handle with brass lanyard tube at the butt... can't remember the brand but the sheath has a stag's head printed on it.. the grip is not particularly comfortable and it has a metal crossguard which digs in when I'm trying to carve things. Hard to sharpen because of a bit of an inward curve... blade is an eighth of an inch. Quite a heavy knife.

The second is 12 inches long with a 7 inch blade, has hardwood scales and a full tang... has some holes cut out of the blade, probably for aesthetics more than anything. Has no crossguard, so it's much more comfortable, and the shape of the handle is better too. Has a lanyard hole at the top of the handle. Square-tooth sawblade on back, though I might grind them down to ordinary saw teeth, looks like it'd be hell to cut anything. Or I might just buy a folding saw. The blade's hollow ground and relatively straight for the most part, so it's easy to sharpen and keeps the edge well. Blade's just under an eighth of an inch. VERY light knife, I've been walking around the house with it on my belt all day just to test it out on everyday tasks and I barely noticed it.

What do y'all think?
I'm leaning towards the second option, but I have to admit, it's an eBay MEGAcheapie... so there's no telling what'll happen to it! Handle's a bit thin, so I'm probably going to carve a new one, so that won't be a problem for long...

I'll post pics if anyone wants to see the knives

 

[EdS]

forget both and get a clipper.

 

[leon-b]

yer get a clipper mate
leon

 

[Draven]

lol

I might do... I'll be going on a camping trip on Skye within a couple weeks while I'm visiting my sister, so I'll test them out then and see how they do. If they're insufficient, I'll shop around... been thinking of buying a blade blank and finishing it myself

 

[Grimnir]

Frost Mora at outdoorcode for just over £7. You could buy one new each trip and still be quids in on some of the fancy knives!

 

[RovingArcher]

I go along with the others. For an outdoors knife, the two you are thinking about just won't do. An uncomfortable handle while just holding the knife, means a sore hand and extremely uncomfortable grip while using it. The other is simply too large for a bushcrafters blade and more often than not, those ultra cool factor fantasy knives rarely have good steel and are little more than belt decoration.

Get yourself a Frost Mora Clipper, or similar knife and enjoy a blade that you can easily handle and learn to use. That way, instead of playing with it, you become an expert with it.

 

[Draven]

lol well I haven't got ANY fantasy knives, I wouldn't waste the money on them

When I'm on Skye I'll take a look at the tackle/camping shop in Dunvegan, they're likely to have the Clipper or a similar knife. I need to go get a firestick anyway.

Would y'all recommend a hollow ground blade? Personally I'm sick of them, I always have to widen the cutting edge by a few mm to get a good edge...

 

[British Red]

Draven,

Opion on grinds is divided - but the one thing that seems clear is very few like the hollow grind - its often seen as too fragile for wood working and difficult to sharpen properly etc. The majority view on this forum seems to be scandi, followed by convex (like the F1 and many BRKT knives) followed by full flat grind (I did a poll on it a while back)

Refards - Red

 

[Dougster]

Frosts are surprisingly hard to find in shops. I hardly ever see them. I'd get one before you go. I have several blades - most I've put handles on myself. They are comfy but for carving and other bits and bobs I keep coming back to the clipper. I had some hot spots recently after carving for three hours after a break of a couple of months. Other than that this is ones of the few exceptions to the rule 'you get what you pay for'. You get far far more.

 

[Draven]

I probably would get one before I leave, but I'm leaving very early on tuesday, so it wouldn't get here in time... I'm sure that I'll be able to find something similar even if not the exact knife, they've got a good selection

Are there any distinct disadvantages to the 'full flat grind'? It's what I'm leaning towards, but my dad had a knife with that grind back in 'Nam and he said that it lost its edge pretty quickly... though it was probably just bad steel. But wouldn't it be relatively easy to sharpen, even if it lost the edge? Although keeping the edge might make difficulty in sharpening worth it... I'm so conflicted

 

[Andy]

any of these would be a good option

though some of them aint cheap

 

[Draven]

lol probably more than I can afford

I've just gotten out of school and am about to go into college, so I'm skint at the moment

 

[Andy]

the bottom one in the pic is the mora which costs about £8
The top one is the falllkniven F1
The others are customs, a scandi knife made by dan co and a Guycep creation

 

[sxmolloy]

Howdy folks

I've been lookin' around a lot, (here and on other sites) and a lot of people seem to favour different kind of knives...

Personally, I can't decide between my first ever fixed-blade sheath knife or a new one I just bought...

The first one is 10 1/2 inches overall, 6 inch blade, hollow ground, has serrated back, rubber handle with brass lanyard tube at the butt... can't remember the brand but the sheath has a stag's head printed on it.. the grip is not particularly comfortable and it has a metal crossguard which digs in when I'm trying to carve things. Hard to sharpen because of a bit of an inward curve... blade is an eighth of an inch. Quite a heavy knife.

The second is 12 inches long with a 7 inch blade, has hardwood scales and a full tang... has some holes cut out of the blade, probably for aesthetics more than anything. Has no crossguard, so it's much more comfortable, and the shape of the handle is better too. Has a lanyard hole at the top of the handle. Square-tooth sawblade on back, though I might grind them down to ordinary saw teeth, looks like it'd be hell to cut anything. Or I might just buy a folding saw. The blade's hollow ground and relatively straight for the most part, so it's easy to sharpen and keeps the edge well. Blade's just under an eighth of an inch. VERY light knife, I've been walking around the house with it on my belt all day just to test it out on everyday tasks and I barely noticed it.

What do y'all think?
I'm leaning towards the second option, but I have to admit, it's an eBay MEGAcheapie... so there's no telling what'll happen to it! Handle's a bit thin, so I'm probably going to carve a new one, so that won't be a problem for long...

I'll post pics if anyone wants to see the knives

Draven... the first knife you describe sounds like a MUELA. I had one that sounds very like the one you describe but I couldn't use it well for bushcraft. the blade had a slight curve on the cutting edge and was a real pain to sharpen, the metal guard got in the way and the serrated edge on the spine meant I couldnt use it for battoning.

I sold it along with a few other "useless for bushcraft knives" and made a small investment and bought a frosts clipper (with high carbon blade). I'm glad I did, it's still going strong and is a pleasure to use althought its now my back up blade and second only to my F1.

Regards ... Stu

 

[Draven]

From left to right... my old sheath knife, my ebay megacheapie, the knife my dad bought back in 'Nam. Dunno why I included dad's knife, just thought it was nice

Lotsa scratches on the blades as you can see after I've been sharpening knives for a while, my hands get all cramped, and... well, you can see from the pics... lol

I've sharpened both of my knives and they're doing well... the black handled one was hell to sharpen, though.

The cheapie was with me when I made some beef jerky yesterday, did that OK, and did a bit of rough woodcarving later on, and still kept its edge, which surprised me a bit...

I think I am going to either buy the Clipper or a similar knife though, it sounds like an all-round better solution. Thanks for the help folks

 

[Draven]

Howdy folks!

First of all, I thank y'all for directing me towards the Clipper! Just bought one! Probably won't arrive before I leave for Skye, but my dad will be following me a few days later so I should have it in time for Camping

And about deciding to buy one now rather than wait til I get to the shop on Skye? I'm strange & unpredictable like that

Cheers!

 

[Doc]

The ex-Vietnam knife looks like the US aircrew survival knife, or a copy thereof. While not a first choice for bushcraft it is far from useless.

Looking at the other two....well, I think you'll like the clipper .