Your ideal fixed blade knife...?

[chiefhoyt]

I agree, thats what I like about my Kestrel UL. I dont have to carry any extra blades or worry about anything other than forgetting to pack it. I carry a back up knife just in case but havent used it yet.

 

[gil_wy]

I have a Mora Bushcraft Carbon in my kill bag... Light, tough and handy... Batoning with a Havalon isn't an option so I carry this light fixed blade just in case...

Cheap and effective...

 

[LostInSpace278]

People are all over a plastic folding razorblade(Havalon) for $30-$40. I don't think that $90 for a chunk of steel that size is out of line....

I see your point. I bought mine 10 years ago and paid @ $45. When I stop to think about it, almost everything has doubled in price over the last 10 years.

 

[6mm Remington]

Great thread!! I really like my Ruana knife I got several years ago. My son also has the exact same knife. The blade is a bit over 3" I believe. Two are shown next to an Uncle Henry Schrade lock-blade knife. I carry both in my pack when hunting. What's kind of neat is you can find deer and elk sheds and take them out to Ruana in Bonner and trade them in to pay for the knife! Both my son's knife and mine were mostly paid for with shed antlers, and I asked them to use some of our own antlers to put on our knives. They make several models to fit just about any person or use you could think of. There's a book out by Rudy Ruana too that tells the story about how this venture started. It's a pretty neat read. Besides the Ruana my son also carries a Buck 110 Folder in his pack.

 

[6mm Remington]

I'm excited to try this one out. It's an old Herter's knife from about the early 1960's. My buddy found two of these at an estate sale. He picked them up for us and had a guy he knows make sheaths for them. Man he did a great job on these sheaths! Really nice thick leather and he did a lot of work on them with the tooling. I took and sanded off the handle and put about 10 coats of Tru Oil on it. The blade had some grind marks on it and I took and sanded them to try and take some of the grind marks out and then I put a wicked sharp edge on it. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a bear this spring to try it out on!!

 

[ScottP]

I'm excited to try this one out. It's an old Herter's knife from about the early 1960's. My buddy found two of these at an estate sale. He picked them up for us and had a guy he knows make sheaths for them. Man he did a great job on these sheaths! Really nice thick leather and he did a lot of work on them with the tooling. I took and sanded off the handle and put about 10 coats of Tru Oil on it. The blade had some grind marks on it and I took and sanded them to try and take some of the grind marks out and then I put a wicked sharp edge on it. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a bear this spring to try it out on!!

Beautiful ruanas and I love that old skinner! I have a newer one made by Forschner (sp?), similar blade design but with their no-slip plastic handle. Used it a lot when I lived in the midwest and we'd have a half dozen deer hanging in the barn to skin. I need to troll the estate/garage sales more often. I'd love to have an old green river knife.

I have never jumped on the havalon wagon. Sure they are light, but as others mentioned if you are potentially going to rely on your knife in a survival situation... I'll take the 3oz extra weight for a knife that I cannot break. My field sharpening kit weighs about the same as a pack of extra havalon blades.

 

[slick]

What's a Ruana cost? Just curious. I have some sheds id be willing to part with for a knife.

 

[slick]

Looked online. Sorry

 

[Trr15]

Hey Guys - my first post, but I've been creepin' on this forum for a few months. I'm still blown away by the wealth of information available here.

I carried a Helle Orn last season and was very impressed with it. It has an extremely lightweight wooden handle and came with a pretty decent edge from the factory. A little touch up and it was razor sharp and holds an edge really well. Ended up taking my elk apart with it as I left my Havalon in the truck. I like the fact that its light and handles much better than my skeletonized ESEEs.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Hey Guys - my first post, but I've been creepin' on this forum for a few months. I'm still blown away by the wealth of information available here.

I carried a Helle Orn last season and was very impressed with it. It has an extremely lightweight wooden handle and came with a pretty decent edge from the factory. A little touch up and it was razor sharp and holds an edge really well. Ended up taking my elk apart with it as I left my Havalon in the truck. I like the fact that its light and handles much better than my skeletonized ESEEs.

Welcome man! Great info and I'm almost surprised that this many ppl still carry "heavy" knives into the backcountry!

One other thing I want to learn about is how to really put a proper edge on a knife... Some guys are just wicked good at it!

Mike

 

[desertcj]

I'm deffently biased here, fortunate enough to have a grandfather who makes knives. Will always carry a little extra weight is this department for the memory's.

I like the top two! Nice...

 

[6mm Remington]

One other thing I want to learn about is how to really put a proper edge on a knife... Some guys are just wicked good at it!

Mike

Mike I got a Lansky Sharpening kit and after just doing a couple of knives, I can get an edge on like you cannot believe!! Very scary sharp!! It amazed me at how off the factory edge angles in degrees are, in addition to knives that I have had sharpened by a guy who could really put an edge on them. They were sharp but the edges were usually rounded and way off from doing it by hand. It sometimes takes a bit to get an edge right, but once that is done, it is a simple 5 minutes to get them back to razor sharp if they need touched up.

David

http://lansky.com/index.php/products/dlx-5-stone-system/

This looks like a great system also but a bit more costly. Either will last you a long long time. You can replace the stones simply enough if one breaks or you were capable of somehow wearing it out, although that would take an awful long time.

http://www.kmesharp.com/

 

[worx53]

The Lakota Hawk is a great knife with mass to it. It's heavy though but you can't possibly break it. They are pricey now and getting harder to find. The folder version "LiL' Hawk" is the toughest one you'll ever find too.

 

[boom]

this thread is awful!!

i have been googling all your knives.

damn it!

 

[boom]

the worst thing about a MORA is the sheath. i think it is really bad looking. bad as in bad. ahhhggh.

some guy makes cool custom sheaths for Moras..but they cost 4x the $$ of the knife..no thanks.