The knives I like.

[The Tourist]

I do like nice folders--really nice folders. However, I must admit I'm not a "tactical' guy. The concept, execution and misinformation about that class of edged tools makes my eyes glaze over. It has become a worthless distinction.

I do like 'hard use' knives. I pick a knife with features that enhance its use when caught in a rainstorm, if used to survive until a search party finds you, or to do unexpected jobs that might destroy lesser knives. Therein is the problem, the name of this forum section.

To me a knife in this defined category (that is worth carrying) is not really a weapon. Those include the DPx folder and fixed blade, Myerchins, the middle sized Striders, the entire Zero Tolerance line and most Graham Brothers Razels. In short, if you're a wilderness camper, a serious boater, an EMT, or deep woods hunter, it's the kind of knife that serves you the best.

Weapon? Yikes. A long stick, a big old fashioned cut glass ashtray, a wet brick or a solid pair of motorcycle boats are just some of the things better than a knife--any knife. I think this topic has been inflated to the point that when a guy waxes nostalgic about "fighting knives" I know he hasn't been in a fight since grade school. Besides, you don't need quality to attack or defend, an Opinel can accomplish that.

Some of the best knives utilizing the best craftsmanship are kitchen knives. The sharpest of the sharp are designed to slice fish. I think we denigrate the idea of cutlery when we reduce the topic to confrontations that are not happening. If there was as much knife fighting really happening as bragged about, there would be more guys dead, scarred, in prison or being sought by law enforcement. In truth the real buyers are haunting knife and gun shows.

[Fansy]

In truth the real buyers are haunting knife and gun shows.

o ive heard bout those:

http://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=7859

imo most likely the work of:

http://www.wowhead.com/item=6641

[zuluninja]

I always carry a folder and most of the time a fixed blade. I am gettin tired of telling people that knives are tools, not weapons. If I needed to defend myself, my Sig .40 should do the job. But, I ALWAYS get the same reaction when I pull out a big knife while doing my job (I cut a lot of stuff as part of my duties).

"Whoa! You could KILL someone with that!!"
Of course, dumbo. Same can be said about the 2' piece of pipe you are carrying...

Last fight I was caught up in, I was heavily outnumbered and got pretty beat up. I had an Ontario Rat 1 in my pocket, and the thought of pulling it out never crossed my mind. Subconsciously, I knew that if I took it out that would have been the end of me. I'd rather have stitches on a lip and a couple bruises than flowers over my grave.

End of rant: Mom's visiting, been here 2 weeks now, and she also views knives as weapons. I have a double rack on the east wall of my room where I hang most of my fixed blades (folders have a drawer). She gave it a thumbs down look when she first saw the knives hanging on the wall. Slowly, I have been showing her how do I use my knives and pointing to her that the only person I've hurt with a knife is myself by being dumb. Last week she decided to hack down some branches in the backyard and complained to me that the big machete she used was blunt and heavy. I told her she could have taken whichever big knife she wanted from the wall if she wanted to have a go at the branches again.

Yesterday, she took me to my word and asked for one. After some thought I handed her a Ka-Bar heavy bowie. Nice sharp flat grind while lightweight for its size, and Kraton is comfier than a 'chete wood handle. On my way to work, I thought that she might like it and that I would need to replace it. Sure enough, when I got home there was a pile of branches outside. I asked her how she liked it, and she LOVED it and asked me if she could take a knife like that on her return flight. I gave it a nice honing, cleaned it and left it on her drawer, now I will have to teach her proper care and sharpening :)

[RYP]

a knife is whatever you want it to be. Lawmakers insist that you will run out and stab someone if buy an automatic opening folder but you can buy an entire ginzu set on TV, chainsaw, axe, machete etc without problems.

[zuluninja]

Maybe this thread got a bit derailed. From the title, I expected some kind of list. Right now, my favorite is an OKC RBS-7 with orange G-10 scales, but just because yesterday I finished my 2nd ever kydex sheath and it looks (and works) pretty good imo. Also today I confirmed it's a pretty decent slicer. 5160 steel full tang with a full flat grind, 3/16" at spine clip point 7 - 1/2" blade, dunno what the coat is on it but it may be stripped in the future. Scales were kinda sharp at the corners so they got sanded, also tried my hand with plastic white liners made from a cheap thin cutting board. Kydex is a 2 piece affair, not folded over, has a 3' length of orange 550 with cord lock and fire hardened tips. Blade also has an orange 550 lanyard with hangman noose. Will post shots when I can.

Right now, I would say my favs are:
- Becker BK-9
- Ontario Spec Plus 2nd Gen Sp52
- ESEE 6
- Izula
- Sog Seal & Seal Pup
- Blackjack Anaconda III
- OKC RBS-7
- Ontario SP19 task force
dunno...I guess I could keep on, and folders is another story. I edc pretty much all of them, form the expensive to the dirt cheap, I would say that best bang for the buck are sanrenmus. Also good bang for the buck is the Boker Magnum highlands ranger that I have strapped to my duty belt, cheap full tang with micarta scales and has proven to be quite solid.

[Woodsman]

My favorite knife is a J.A. Henckel's fine edge pro steak knife.

http://www.target.com/J-Henckels-4-pc-Steak/dp/B00004RFNL

I have 5 of them. They came in a set (of 6) and somehow one got lost. I am probably responsible for that error.

I use these knives more often than any other, because the place I use knives more often than not is in the kitchen.

These are 10 years old and still slice apples, tomatoes, meat and whatever else I cut them with with ease. I have not once yet sharpened these knives and they cut straight and are very usable still. I have not had one break, but then I am not using these as crowbars either.

It may not be glamorous or tactical or whatever, but knives are more often items of utility than weapons.

Unless you are out gutting people all day with your knives (quite unlikely), I would suggest you would agree with this idea.

Another knife I really like is made by RADA here in the U.S. I think this is the one:

http://www.radacutlery.com/Product.asp?SRCH_CATEGORY=Cat09&SRCH_ID=R134

I haven't been using this one for long and I have sharpened it once or twice, but it holds its non-serrated edge pretty well and handles nicely. It is my wife's favorite knife.

As for what I "every day carry", I carry a $35 Gerber self-assisted pocket knife with a blade ~3" long. I bought it at Wally world because I live in the boonies and don't have many options here - I don't like to shop there, but I couldn't find what I wanted elsewhere locally. I chose the knife because the clip is oriented in a more ergonomic position (for my preference) than the majority of the knives I look at. It was razor sharp when new (tested via shaving hairs on hand as I do every new knife). I cut a bottle opener cutout into it by hand with a dremel steel cutting wheel so it can be used in the open or closed position. It works great. Anyone here can guess where I got that idea from. :-) Most of what I use this knife for is cutting cordage or whatever chore the knife can help with. I tie a lanyard into the clip hole and slip knot it to my belt & belt loop when I am planning on being near water. Tying lanyards to tools is pretty much commonplace for me by trade and necessity. The belt clip has worked well. The open assist has worked well. I think I have only had to tighten the screws once on the clip since I have had it since last fall.

I also carry a Leatherman Wave when the conditions call for it. Mostly, this is during fishing when those pesky rock bass engorge themselves on hooks and pliers or the de-hooking slit on the end of the file come in handy for digging into their gullets and removing the hooks. Most times this works well, otherwise I just keep the fish cook and eat, not that I'm against feeding the turtles or eagles, I just think if I take game and can't release it alive, I prefer feeding myself. They are a little softer than bluegill meat for the record. :-)

The Wave is a cool tool. It is a great tool if you might need to do a wide variety of chores and don't want to take a tool case with you. It also has 2 knife blades, so will last 2x as long before one needs to sharpen. This would make a lousy weapon, though it can be positioned to make a double-edged short slasher.

I have fixed a lot of things with various Leatherman tools over the years, including even a large Clark forklift truck. I have also broke original Leatherman tools (2x) and rusted an original Leatherman tool (1x) and sent all 3 back to Leatherman to the point of where they sent me a letter suggesting that this was probably going to be the last time they replaced it, but they did stand by their 20y warranty, so I give them credit even though initial tools weren't all that tough. The Wave is built a lot stronger than the original tools (I still have my original tool, kept in the kitchen of course - I use it mainly for changing a kitchen water filter now). The pocket clips suck horribly. I have broken at least a dozen by nothing more than clipping these to my pocket. I now have a lanyard tied onto my tool permanently and attach this to my belt & beltloop so it does not get lost.

Sheaths for pocket knives are about as worthwhile as tits on a boar.

I have a Gerber multi-tool, a Chinese knock off of a Leatherman, and a SOG tool (that has the weird folding handles) and those tools pretty much are stationary tools.

The best knife of course is one that doesn't fold. Folding knives are convenient, but they are a pain in the ass to clean up when you got blood or grease or dirt or sap or whatever all over them and inside those little nooks and crannies.

that DPX HEST fixed blade would make a great hunting and field knife for most people. I am sure it is well designed and properly made for those purposes.

[Woodsman]

- Sog Seal & Seal Pup

I think the seal pup makes for a good practical field knife. The seal is too big and big knives (except for machetes) suck.

[diamondcutter13]

My favorite/current in-use knives and tools:

DPx HEST fixed - love it, beat it up quite a bit. It has skinned many deer and resides now tied to my chest rig.
DPx HEST/F - my true EDC - I try to take good care of it but do use it often.
Kershaw Ken Onion Blur - a great small spring assisted knife, I am on my second one.
Leatherman skeletool with the little screw bit tool pack in a companion pouch.
An (issue) swiss army knife that resides with my survival kit
A Cold Steel Recon Tanto for ugly work bordering on knife abuse.
A large Cold Steel folding Voyager Tanto - spare folder.
A Fiskars hand axe - the one about a foot long, it lives under the seat in the jeep. Makeshift car-jacking deterrent system.
My Cutco 9" chef knife sees more action than all of them - love it and use it everyday (when I'm home). Tough as nails.
And my all time fav - the 9" long black Damascus steel blade I made myself with a black micarta handle. Need a good sheath made for this one, I don't sew. Suggestions?

[The Tourist]

"Whoa! You could KILL someone with that!!"
Of course, dumbo. Same can be said about the 2' piece of pipe you are carrying.

And that's my point. You could use a door-stop or the heel of a boot. The problem is that numerous times (ad nauseum) I get a client--who has never been in any kind of a fight at all--and he will ask me for the best knife for fighting.

In truth a guy like this is better served by a cell phone, or better yet, cab fare out of the area.

And this is the problem. The "just in case" argument is so prevalent that cutlers make "fighters" to sell because that's what the public wants. So they plunk down 300 bucks for a knife they will never use, where a fifty dollar wharnecliffe will serve them for the rest of their lives.

Oh, and then these same guys complain about draconian knife laws in their municipality. What do you expect a lawmaker to do? After all, it's the knife guys themselves that trumpet all of this "edged combat" crap, never thinking that it effects guys like me who just need a good jackknife.

The most popular knife sold to Vietnam soldiers by actual numbers was the SAK. I also sharpen knives for current era deployed soldiers. Most are simple jackknives.

If I could only have one knife for the rest of my life it would be either a HEST folder or a ZT0350CB. Both are good, practical hard use knives.

[nowonmai]

"Whoa! You could KILL someone with that!!"
Of course, dumbo. Same can be said about the 2' piece of pipe you are carrying.

And that's my point. You could use a door-stop or the heel of a boot. The problem is that numerous times (ad nauseum) I get a client--who has never been in any kind of a fight at all--and he will ask me for the best knife for fighting.
.

What do you sell?

[The Tourist]

What do you sell?

Sincere advice.

There isn't as much knife fighting as the chest-thumpers profess. In fact, the next time you'll see a knife fight it will probably be in a retrospective of "The West Side Story."

The problem is that this stance is bad for business. Selling fighting knives is big business. You can actually take an existing knife out of your product line--spray it black--and sell it as a "tactical." My Blue Ridge Knife catalog is rife with such examples. Some of the same knives get different names just by their color.

It's hype. A well designed knife made from good materials needs no hoopla in Solder of Fiction magazine. It will sell itself.

[zuluninja]

I like big knives, but I do apreciate smaller blades too. Been tinkering with the Izula this whole week. And diamondcutter, how about a kydex sheath? I've done 2 already and am hooked, probably will do 2 more this weekend. I will try to post photos as soon as I get them on photobucket to copy here, it's a quite easy diy hobbie.

And yeah. A knife as a weapon would be absolutely last ditch for me. I'm tired of seeing this $$$$ "fighters" that will be stowed away in a drawer forever by a tactic lol guy with more cash than common sense. SAKS and multitools are definitely essential; I've had a Gerber multi-tool for the last 7 years, lost a rivet at the plier hinge a couple of years ago and is still working good.

What really puzzles (and awes) me is the story of Sgt. Toloza. Dude from El Salvador deployed in iraq, troop got caught up in a firefight and they ran low on ammo. While retreating to a building to hold out till they get pulled out of the shithole, one of his buddies gets shot and was about to get finished by 3 guys. Mr. Toloza ran back to him, whipped out a $1 pocket knife he bought at a base before shipping out and stabbed a couple of them, grabbed his buddy and dragged him to safety to later get rescued...

Now Condor Knives makes a Toloza "fighter". MSRP is around $80.... sheeeeeeesh......

[The Tourist]

Now Condor Knives makes a Toloza "fighter". MSRP is around $80.... sheeeeeeesh......

What do you expect, a knife isn't just a piece of steel with holes drilled in it anymore, it stokes a romantic dream.

I stopped for coffee today at B&N and found the latest issue of TK. My heart sank when I found that one of my favorite knives--the HEST folder--was featured. I cringed imagining the slant that Steven Dick would bring to that knife. Like I said, a good knife needs no hype.

The article was fair and balanced. They showed the HEST folder doing 'real world' chores, no swinging from the rafters nor mowing down scores of terrorists. In fact it's the first decent article I've read in TK, and due to my job I have to read all of the drivel in all of the knife rags.

Oh, I did also mention the ZT0350CB, a great knife that is now being tweaked into the second generation, I cannot wait. I also like the ZT0551, and I have two of the ZT0550s on B/O. If you lay out these three knives you'll see that all of them have the same useful features and they can provide a realistic return on your investment.

They don't make you a 7-foot Navy SEAL or kill zombies, but they slice up food and UPS boxes quite nicely.

[nowonmai]

I do like nice women--really nice women. However, I must admit I'm not a "tactical' guy. The concept, execution and misinformation about that class of broad makes my eyes glaze over. It has become a worthless distinction.

I do like 'hard use' wives. I pick a wife with features that enhance her use when caught in a rainstorm, if used to survive until a search party finds you, or to do unexpected jobs that might destroy lesser wives. Therein is the problem, the name of this forum section.

To me a wife in this defined category (that is worth marrying) is not really a weapon. Those include the thin ones and fat ones, Munchkins, the middle sized Striders, the entire Zero Tolerance line and most Hazels. In short, if you're a wilderness camper, a serious boater, an EMT, or deep woods hunter, it's the kind of wife that serves you the best.

Weapon? Yikes. A long stick, a big old fashioned cut glass ashtray, a wet brick or a solid pair of motorcycle boats are just some of the things better than a wife--any wife. I think this topic has been inflated to the point that when a guy waxes nostalgic about "fighting wives" I know he hasn't been in a fight since grade school. Besides, you don't need quality to attack or defend, a minger can accomplish that.

Some of the best wives utilizing the best craftsmanship are kitchen wives. The sharpest of the sharp are designed to slice fish. I think we denigrate the idea of cutlery when we reduce the topic to confrontations that are not happening. If there was as much wife fighting really happening as bragged about, there would be more guys dead, scarred, in prison or being sought by law enforcement. In truth the real buyers are haunting wife and gun shows.

[The Tourist]

Gee, you know how to cut, paste and edit. Does your mommie know what you do with her computer? I mean, all of the things you do...?