# A new knife



## Fear-No-Evil (Jul 21, 2012)

I am planing on geting a new survival
Knife for my bug out bag. Does any one 
have a suggestion?


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## jadedsoul (Feb 15, 2012)

I recently bought a Ka-bar usmc fighting knife, so far I love it. Tried a few before including several survival knives.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

K-bar or Buck hunter,used both over the years,think the K bar holds a slightly better edge,but the Buck won't rust.the USAF pilot survival knife would be my third choice.


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## brownb (Jun 10, 2012)

I have went through about every style of fixed blade knife for my bag a well and settled on the benchmade Nimravus with the ballistic nylon sheath. The knife steel is D2 and holds and edge like you can't believe. Also the sheath attaches to anything and as always make sure to tape some sort of fire starting device to the sheath. Have knife. Have fire.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

And old USN MK 2 -- The original K-Bar, can't get much better than that...


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## brownb (Jun 10, 2012)

To all that bet your life on a k bar consider one thing, they have a severe weakness. The tang necks down considerably at the handle and creates a point at which they will bend rather easily. I carried one as a scout sniper until I pulled it out one day and had a boomerang from just going down hard on my leg against a rock. I would carry one in my truck but don't put your life in the hands of a knife that doesn't have a tang as wide as the blade. And thicker steel makes for a heavy, dull knife that is a pain to keep sharp. Find the balance even I it costs more


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## Fear-No-Evil (Jul 21, 2012)

Thanks....I'm going out to buy a ka-bar.


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## cajunmeadows (Oct 21, 2011)

The best knife for your bag is the one you like. Find one of good quality and one that will work for your intended purpose that is the one to choose. I have several. A multi functional tool is nice to add also.


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## Fn/Form (Nov 6, 2008)

Gerber LMF ASEK II. Has crude sharpener built in. Glass breaker pommel, hammer flat on top of pommel. Holes to improvise spear or other attachment. One tough knife... check out reviews. Legal length for carry in many states... whereas the full-size KA-BAR is not.

I have an LMF, but I plan to carry a quality tomahawk and small fixed blade (Mora) instead.


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## ldmaster (Oct 10, 2008)

I've a knifeaholic, not the collectible kind, but the useful kind. I am always cruising Big Five Sporting Goods. Recently ran across a brand labeled "US Army" I did my research, found who actually made it, etc.. And learned it was made of 1070 steel, which is a relatively high-carbon steel - meaning it will hold an edge VERY well. Most stainless steels are too soft to hold an edge under hard use. Some of the better stainless steels have a different, and much more expensive, alloy mixture, think spyderco, etc... High carbon tool steel is perfect for a utility knife, the only drawback is that you have to keep a closer eye on the exposed steel in case of rust. yeah, I know, you do with stainelss too - not trying to nitpick here, just trying to explain basics without putting someone to sleep.

anways. This knive cost 29 bucks, it was 1/4 inch and had a full tang with a rubbery handle that looked strong enough, but could use a new fastening system. 

I beat the heck out of it. It took it, I batoned with it, sliced dinner with it, etc... It's strong and cheap. MOST knives, like the ka-bar typical knife is made from much thinner steel and isn't well suited to things like prying. THIS knife has the build for rough use. And frankly, I want to be able to use my knife without worrying about snapped it's 200 dollar tang. 

Oh, a little known secret of Big Five - if you ASK for the "last sale price" they'll give it to you. And often it's quite lower than the listed on. On this knife they have it listed at 69 - last sale price was 26.99 (plus tax). 

Get it, comes with a nice enough cordura sheath.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

I totally agree on the big 5 knife section. I really like the smith n wesson border guard series clip folders. They are really tough and hold a great edge and have a glass/headache point on the end. Awesome folder. As for a straight blade I like just about any good steel with a full tang. I have broken too many knives with no tang and won't buy them again.


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## cajunmeadows (Oct 21, 2011)

ldmaster said:


> I've a knifeaholic, not the collectible kind, but the useful kind. I am always cruising Big Five Sporting Goods. Recently ran across a brand labeled "US Army" I did my research, found who actually made it, etc.. And learned it was made of 1070 steel, which is a relatively high-carbon steel - meaning it will hold an edge VERY well. Most stainless steels are too soft to hold an edge under hard use. Some of the better stainless steels have a different, and much more expensive, alloy mixture, think spyderco, etc... High carbon tool steel is perfect for a utility knife, the only drawback is that you have to keep a closer eye on the exposed steel in case of rust. yeah, I know, you do with stainelss too - not trying to nitpick here, just trying to explain basics without putting someone to sleep.
> 
> anways. This knive cost 29 bucks, it was 1/4 inch and had a full tang with a rubbery handle that looked strong enough, but could use a new fastening system.
> 
> ...


This is usefull info, Thanks


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## ckpettit (Jul 5, 2012)

Check this place out they have great knives
http://www.eseeknives.com/index2.htm


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## tac803 (Nov 21, 2010)

I have been collecting knives for longer than I'd care to remember. Nothing fancy, just working knives, some older than I am. One of the best knives I have found is the Cattaraugus 225Q made around WWII. It's a carbon steel, full tang workhorse that holds an edge. It's well balanced, and built like a tank. They can be found on the net for not too much money, and if I could own only one knife, that would be the one.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

I would ask the OP, what do you foresee using the knife for? But, he posted again that he was running out and buying a Ka-bar!

I think most people go out and buy too much knife.


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## PopPop (Sep 14, 2010)

Jezcruzen said:


> I would ask the OP, what do you foresee using the knife for? But, he posted again that he was running out and buying a Ka-bar!
> 
> I think most people go out and buy too much knife.


You are correct. Many of us see the latest TV show or action movie and the knives used in a dramatic fashion. Real life is something different and reality is even more dramatic. I have a modest collection of survival/fighting knives and have tested them in real world applications short of a knife fight or for defensive use and they are all problematic. In a survival situation a knife will be most used in food prep or shelter building. The knives marketed as survival knives fail in these situations. Before you settle on a survival knife, use it. Try to slice a tomato, fillet a fish or field dress a rabit or a deer. Chop some wood, fell a tree. For me a good pocket knife, a camp axe and a food prep knife makes more sense. For everyday carry I like a Kershaw Leek, or Spyderco Endura, I keep an Estwing Camp axe in the truck and a Rada 8 in paring knife for food prep. As a hunter, fisherman and a farmer these work well for me.
The bugout bag includes a BKT-9 a Kbar 3" skinner a Camillus US army pen knife and a magnesium fire starter in one belt sheath. These are good and useable but far from Ideal and constitute a minimum in edged preparedness.


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## lefty (Sep 29, 2011)

I carry a swiss army and for everyday stuff it gets the job done. Now I also have a Gerber MKII and my grandfather Ka-Bar..

But it really does depend on what you are going to need it for. pick the tool for the job.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

You know from my other post I'm a K-bar fan, BUT I'm starting to respect this BUD-K timber rattler, and I hate stainless steel as a work knife, but not a bad 20$ spent.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

I have lots of knives several cost as much as eight times as much as my BK2, and they are every bit as good as my BK2 but none are better. Compared feature for feature there is no better survival knife. There are more than a few that are as good for a bit more money.

From Tomars KaBars


> KA-BAR / Becker "Campanion" Fixed Blade Camp / Hunting Knife.
> 
> The "Campanion" is a full tang heavy duty field knife suited for a number of camping or hunting chores. The straight edge blade is constructed of 1095 Carbon steel which is flat ground providing a super sharp edge and easy to sharpen.
> 
> ...


Grivory is used to make ambulance bumpers. The hollow Grivory handles hold basic survival gear. 1095 high Carbon is the preferred survival knife steel has it takes and holds a razor edge and can be sharpened with anything from a flat rock to your EdgePro. While new super steels take a razor edge and have superior edge retention they also have less tensile strength tend to be brittle and require a ceramic or diamond hone to sharpen


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

That BK2 truly is a nice looking, functional looking knife. I think Becker has come a long way.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

Jezcruzen said:


> I think Becker has come a long way.


Interesting comment. Want to follow up on that a bit?
Ethan Becker world renowned mountain climber, spelunker, bush craft expert camp cook current author of The Joy Of Cooking. His designs are in current use worldwide ranging from the Becker Tactical and Survival Knives, Eagle Industries' Becker Patrol Pack, the CMI figure 8 descender and other mountain climbing gear. BK2 is the descendant of the knife Ethan Becker designed back in the 60's for his buddies doing long range search and destroy missions in Nam. The story goes he designed and made a knife based upon their specs. Sent it to them and they would evaluate it destroy it, than send it back with some suggestions. That process went on until they were satisfied they had an indestructible knife capable of doing everything you needed to survive in the bush. Its been in production for over forty years. Becker knives have always been highly sought after and prized bush craft blades. The BK2 is the standard by which all other bushcraft knives are measured. Most every high end, custom and semi custom survival knife makers like ESSE, SwampRat, Busse and others will tell you that the BK2 is the inspiration for their knives. Just as Ethan will tell you he is a fan of their knives.
So curious, be interested in hearing how the BK2 aka "The Becker Train Wrecker" a knife that has been in production for over forty years has come a long ways. Be cool to learn something new about one of my favorite knife makers.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

LongRider said:


> Interesting comment. Want to follow up on that a bit?
> Ethan Becker world renowned mountain climber, spelunker, bush craft expert camp cook current author of The Joy Of Cooking. His designs are in current use worldwide ranging from the Becker Tactical and Survival Knives, Eagle Industries' Becker Patrol Pack, the CMI figure 8 descender and other mountain climbing gear. BK2 is the descendant of the knife Ethan Becker designed back in the 60's for his buddies doing long range search and destroy missions in Nam. The story goes he designed and made a knife based upon their specs. Sent it to them and they would evaluate it destroy it, than send it back with some suggestions. That process went on until they were satisfied they had an indestructible knife capable of doing everything you needed to survive in the bush. Its been in production for over forty years. Becker knives have always been highly sought after and prized bush craft blades. The BK2 is the standard by which all other bushcraft knives are measured. Most every high end, custom and semi custom survival knife makers like ESSE, SwampRat, Busse and others will tell you that the BK2 is the inspiration for their knives. Just as Ethan will tell you he is a fan of their knives.
> So curious, be interested in hearing how the BK2 aka "The Becker Train Wrecker" a knife that has been in production for over forty years has come a long ways. Be cool to learn something new about one of my favorite knife makers.


Wouldn't you admit by the post you just made that Becker has, indeed, come a long way? Becker has a great history. What would YOU call it?


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## ranran4 (Aug 9, 2012)

army surplus M-9. 

Best knife Ive ever owned out of @ 40


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

Jezcruzen said:


> Wouldn't you admit by the post you just made that Becker has, indeed, come a long way? Becker has a great history. What would YOU call it?


Looks like a matter of semantics or my misinterpretation of what you meant. You may not be old enough to remember but there used to be a woman's cigarette commercial that associated itself with the woman liberation movement. It showed a disparaging view of a traditional stay at home mom, barefoot, illiterate surrounded by kids fast forward to the so called modern liberated woman doing it all holding down a career, raising the kids, taking care of the home and looking like a runway model while she was at it. Their slogan was "You've Come a Long Way Baby" and that is how I interpreted your post or it seems misinterpreted your post. As if Becker were once cheap chinamart and progressed to become the standard by which other bush craft knives are measured.

Which in all honestly took me aback a bit as I know from experience that Ethan Becker takes a great deal of personal pride in providing a quality product, at an affordable price. I know of one instance where he went into his personal collection and looked for a replacement for a 20 year old out of production Becker Brute that the owner had admittedly abused and another where he personally took a BK9 to the KaBar factory because the scales did not match up properly. He not only wanted that knife taken care of but wanted to make sure that quality control was up to par. So that is why I was curious about what you meant.

Added to answer your question. What would I call it. I think Becker's slogan covers it. *Knives That Work For A Living* He started out making working knives for the working man and has upheld that tradition. When Camillus (the company that was licensed to make Becker Knives before Ka Bar) closed its doors and it was thought that the BK2 would no longer be made the prices went through the roof. People were paying $300. and more for one. Not by collectors because as a production knife a BK2 will never have a great deal of collector value but by people who wanted a top quality bush craft / survival knife for hard use.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

After posting the above I came across this on another forum that happened just yesterday. NYOutdoors had run into some issues with his BK2 that may be heat treat related maybe as a result of how he had removed the finish on the blade to mod it. Or it could be a factory issue. Either way below is Ethan Becker response. I am sure Ka Bar has plenty of staff to deal with customer service issues. Instead of just ignoring it or letting Ka Bar deal with it the blade designer calls the guy at home apparently has a lengthy conversation with him and offers to replace the knife. To me that is pretty impressive, far above above and beyond, well past unheard of customer service. Almost makes me wish something was wrong with one of my Beckers, so I could have a world renowned blade designer call me at home and talk knives with me.



Ethan Becker said:


> Hey NYOutdoors......
> 
> Please email me a phone [email protected] would like to talk.....Thanks......
> 
> ...


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## Hubie1110 (Mar 18, 2012)

As previously stated, choose the right tool for the job. It really all depends on your needs of what you are doing with it and your budget (kind of). You can get a good knife for no more than $50, but it depends on what you need it to do. Mora makes some cheaper (usually under $20) that are great bushcraft knives. Same with Cold Steel, they have the roach belly, hunter lite, etc. Make sure that you are comfortable with the knife though, otherwise it's kind of a waste. There are many really high end knives that are great (the Buck Hoodlum being one of them) but they are normally $100+ dollars. Just depends on what you are looking for.


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## thepoleys (Apr 23, 2012)

http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?products_id=155

Kind of expensive but does quite a few jobs/replaces a couple of tools, very good quality, have had mine for several years now couldn't be happier.


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## boothfamily (Jul 3, 2012)

I carry a SOG jungle primitive everywhere I go. I carry a "bug-out" bag everywhere I go. It has general things that can come in handy such as my jungle primitive , my tactical tomahawk , a compass , toiletries , a CO2 BB pistol , a fire starter and a survival kit . You just never know these days.


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## Hubie1110 (Mar 18, 2012)

thepoleys said:


> http://www.topsknives.com/product_info.php?products_id=155
> 
> Kind of expensive but does quite a few jobs/replaces a couple of tools, very good quality, have had mine for several years now couldn't be happier.


I've heard nothing but good remarks on account of these.


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## ldmaster (Oct 10, 2008)

LOVE Tops knives, unpretentious, good finish and good designs. Like Becker, they don't seem interested in convincing someone that a computer cut blank that's been ground, finished and then clad in a computer cut handle are worth 300 bucks. 

I can see paying 300 for a hand-crafted knife, but some of the big names out there are all computer manufactured and ground by chinese slaves before being imported back here.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

LongRider said:


> Looks like a matter of semantics or my misinterpretation of what you meant. You may not be old enough to remember but there used to be a woman's cigarette commercial that associated itself with the woman liberation movement. It showed a disparaging view of a traditional stay at home mom, barefoot, illiterate surrounded by kids fast forward to the so called modern liberated woman doing it all holding down a career, raising the kids, taking care of the home and looking like a runway model while she was at it. Their slogan was "You've Come a Long Way Baby" and that is how I interpreted your post or it seems misinterpreted your post. As if Becker were once cheap chinamart and progressed to become the standard by which other bush craft knives are measured.
> 
> Which in all honestly took me aback a bit as I know from experience that Ethan Becker takes a great deal of personal pride in providing a quality product, at an affordable price. I know of one instance where he went into his personal collection and looked for a replacement for a 20 year old out of production Becker Brute that the owner had admittedly abused and another where he personally took a BK9 to the KaBar factory because the scales did not match up properly. He not only wanted that knife taken care of but wanted to make sure that quality control was up to par. So that is why I was curious about what you meant.
> 
> Added to answer your question. What would I call it. I think Becker's slogan covers it. *Knives That Work For A Living* He started out making working knives for the working man and has upheld that tradition. When Camillus (the company that was licensed to make Becker Knives before Ka Bar) closed its doors and it was thought that the BK2 would no longer be made the prices went through the roof. People were paying $300. and more for one. Not by collectors because as a production knife a BK2 will never have a great deal of collector value but by people who wanted a top quality bush craft / survival knife for hard use.


I wish that I wasn't old enough to remember that commercial, but, unfortunately, I do!

Yes, Beckers are a great knife, and you don't have to float a loan to buy one! Can't say that I would ever pay the amount some of these super-stupendous semi-custom makers ask for a limited piece of sharpened steel when there are a number of high quality blades available that a real working man can afford and that will last a lifetime.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

Not normally a fan of this kind of knife testing as it is unlikely that we will need to baton through a concrete wall or hack a lawn mower or refrigerator to pieces. 
I'd much rather see a fire pit, water or root being dug up, a shelter and some traps made. The knife sharpened with a flat rock and used to clean, skin and break down whatever game or fish are trapped hunted or caught.
That said these pic heavy threads show why the BK2 is nicknamed the Becker Train Wrecker and how indestructible it is even with extreme abuse
Putting the BK2 to the test, so you don't have to...
BK2 test, the final part (LOTS of pictures)


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## PopPop (Sep 14, 2010)

LongRider said:


> Not normally a fan of this kind of knife testing as it is unlikely that we will need to baton through a concrete wall or hack a lawn mower or refrigerator to pieces.
> I'd much rather see a fire pit, water or root being dug up, a shelter and some traps made. The knife sharpened with a flat rock and used to clean, skin and break down whatever game or fish are trapped hunted or caught.
> That said these pic heavy threads show why the BK2 is nicknamed the Becker Train Wrecker and how indestructible it is even with extreme abuse
> Putting the BK2 to the test, so you don't have to...
> BK2 test, the final part (LOTS of pictures)


Yes, I am not a fan of this kind of demo either, they always leave me wondering why anyone would abuse a critical tool in this way. Yes I know it was to demonstrate the durability of the product. The impression I get is that they destroyed the product without ever showing a practical use for the product. Now some neophyte will think his knife should be used for demolition. The knives are awesome, get one and you will not be disapointed, unless you use it for a demolition tool.


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## LongRider (May 8, 2012)

PopPop said:


> Yes, I am not a fan of this kind of demo either, they always leave me wondering why anyone would abuse a critical tool in this way. Yes I know it was to demonstrate the durability of the product. The impression I get is that they destroyed the product without ever showing a practical use for the product. Now some neophyte will think his knife should be used for demolition. The knives are awesome, get one and you will not be disapointed, unless you use it for a demolition tool.


Agreed.
In this case the knife was not destroyed. It has been refinished and in use as it was intended to be. At the end of the thread he showed it cleaned up after he had hacked through the concrete, lawn mower, refrigerator, satellite dish and the rest















This test did establish that a BK2 is indestructible and lives up to its Becker Train Wrecker nickname and that you will not be disappointed even if you DO use it as a demolition tool. Suppose it proves if the garage caved in on you while you were still in the car that you could cut your way out of the car and through the building with a BK2. What I would have liked to see is the blade sharpened on the concrete it hacked through and some flat stones than used for some more typical survival tasks.

While I do not go to this extreme I am an advocate of thoroughly testing your gear before you bet your life on it.


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