Been hearing good things about the CIVIVI’s.
I own several: a Baklash, a Cetos, and a Dogma. One of my sons has an Elementum (don't get that one). All are folders. I loved the Dogma for years and their service was great - I broke the tip of my Dogma and literally told them it was my fault and they still sent me a new blade for free for a few bucks of shipping as a "warranty" item. The Cetos has the nicest handle and I wear it when I need something dressier but still want something useful, not like my Deejo's, which look great but are maybe 3/10 on usefulness. The Baklash is my EDC. It's insanely sharp straight from the factory, has great edge retention, and has ball bearing pivots so it can be flipped open one handed.
I've never tried one of their fixed-blades but their Timberbark is next on my list. It's 14C28N, which is basically a "budget D2" IMO but while I do have a D2 hunting knife, it doesn't have a great sheath. (It was a custom knife and the guy focused more on the knife than the sheath, so to me it's sort of a collector's item that I may just put in a case and admire.) The Timberbark has a nice profile and solid retention in the sheath, so I plan to give that a try this year.
My all-time favorite "hunt" knife wouldn't impress most. It's the Havalon Talon. It's like the Piranta or other replaceable-blade knives BUT its blades are 4x thicker and more sturdy - you absolutely will not break one off dressing out an elk, like you can with scalpel-style options. (And yes, I've done exactly that.) I love that you can get straight+gut-hook, straigth+serrated, fish-fillet, "bushcraft" (you can beat on it) and bone-saw variants for blades, and the whole system is insanely light. I carry/"hunt" with plenty of other knives, but nearly always field-dress with the Talon.
I also will often carry a simple Mora Companion. There's a lot to be said for a knife that arrives razor-sharp but you can beat the snot out of without worry because hey, it was $18 on sale. That's what I cut rope/paracord/etc with. I keep one in my truck, one in my truck TOOLBOX, two in my camper, a few at home, etc. I freaking love these things, and their cheap plastic sheaths are great, too, because they hold the knife solidly, make no noise, stay "off" the blade so you can put a dirty blade in and clean it later, and have a drain hole so the nasties don't build up. You get a lot for $20 with those things.
The one thing you will
never find me carrying is a serrated blade. Man, I'm a huge knife enthusiast - I bet I own 30 of them now. But that is the
least field-service-friendly blade profile ever invented. I know why Cutco does those things for kitchen knives. Even somewhat dull, a serrated blade will still get you through dinner. We all probably grew up with the ads of folks cutting tomatoes with those things after dragging them across a brick. And because of that, maybe most folks who fall in love with them just never realize how dull their knives really are - because maybe it doesn't even matter in most tasks. Those sharp points between the scallops make up for it and get you through a lot of tasks anyway.
So who am I to judge? Maybe you don't even need to field-dress a Cutco because even somewhat dull it still gets the job done, so you just get it professionally done once a year. But make once mistake dragging the blade through a bit too much hide or hair... Scalloped blades are not for me.
morakniv.se
