- Joined
- May 11, 2024
- Messages
- 11
New guy here, i.e. under this name as I've been a brief member here as well as on USN and Lightfighter in what feels a lifetime ago.
Having bought, carried and used knives for the better part of my life, I thought why not start a thread where I'll share some of my experience.
The aim of this thread is mainly for me to reminisce and share my experiences in the hope they'll be interesting and/or useful to some, that's pretty much it.
In the meantime, thanks for reading me — here goes nothing…
— Intro
Back in the day was 440C.
At the time, that was the steel you wanted your blade in.
Today, it is Magnacut — how far the industry has gotten is just mind boggling.
— Origins & Wild Monkeys
I suspect things started with the hunting knife my father gave me.
Strict conditions applied: I was only allowed to carry it while in the wild.
Unsheathing the knife was only allowed if wild monkeys were sighted by the both of us.
Since this story takes place in Central Europe, encounters were, as you can imagine, rather limited.
Then came a book my father had on all types of knives. My favorite category? Military knives.
Despite being issued a bayonet at a later stage of my life, the knives I ended up using the most were kitchen paring knives.
— Kitchen knives, carry and what holds the universe together
Speaking of kitchen knives, I've been taught that, due to their prevalence in our daily lives, contrary to many other tools which can be turned into a weapon (say a car), a knife usually doesn't require a lot of know-how to be wielded effectively. Law enforcement personnel might have a story or two about this.
Another thing I've been taught is something everyone and their dog already knows here: the best knife is the one you have with you.
What I learned by extension, however, is that a sheath and/or clip will make or break whether you'll carry a given knife.
If you aim to carry your knife, its sheath and/or clip will be as important, if not more so, than other factors.
Now, if push comes to shove, there’s always duct tape and paracord which, as some of you know, are the glue that holds the universe together.
— (Tacti)Cool
More often than not, cool blades are just that: cool, but unlikely to be useful.
While there's nothing wrong with that, don't fool yourself and be aware of your tool's limitations.
Also, the more things it can do, the less it is apt at doing those things. This seems valid for most tools.
— Spec sheet & Best of
Size-wise, specialty knives aside, +/- 8 inches OAL is pretty much the size I go for, both for fixed blades and folding knives.
For reference, I wear gloves in size L and don't have thick hands.
Steel-wise, the first criteria is how easy I can sharpen the knife with a kitchen sharpening rod or portable one.
For folding knives, S35VN, S45VN and Magnacut are the default steels I'm now looking for. However, I'm also interested in 3V and PD#1 for military folders.
For fixed blades, I'm mainly looking at carbon steels such as XC75 or 80CrV2. Similarly, I'm interested in how Magnacut will fare in this category.
In the realm of folding knives, I've owned a few knives from the following brands: Benchmade, Blackhawk, Buck, Chris Reeve, Emerson, Great Eastern Cutlery (Northfield UN-X-LD), Medford, MercWorx, Peña (X Series), Pro-Tech, Spartan Blades, Spyderco, Strider, Swiss Army Knives (Victorinox and Wenger), Terrain 365, Toor, Williams Blade Designs and William Henry.
Best overall folder to date? Chris Reeve Inkosi
Special mention: Medford Slim Midi Marauder
Best EDC: Chris Reeve Inkosi
Best gentleman's folder: William Henry B12
Best tactical folder: Pro-Tech Malibu
Best military folder: Strider SnG
Best speciality folder: Terrain 365 STS-ATB and Williams Blade Design SZF 001
In the realm of fixed blades, things are a tad more conservative with Black Triangle, Busse (which made me join BF back in '08), Fred Perrin, Half Face Blades, Rokka, Toor, Williams Blade Design / Winkler II being the main brands I owned knifes from.
Best overall fixed blade to date? Winkler II Operator
Best small fixed blade: Fred Perrin Neck PPF or Winkler SD2
Best fixed blade for bushcraft: Rokka Korpisoturi
Best tactical fixed blade: Fred Perrin Light PPF of Winkler II Operator
Best military fixed blade: Fred Perrin Baby Army Bowie or Winkler II Belt Knife
Best speciality fixed blade: Black Triangle Serval and Williams Blade Design HZT 004
EDIT Important note on sheaths for tactical/military fixed blades: Winkler II's are good to go out of the box, perhaps the best in the industry — you'll very likely find a way to add the knife to your kit without much of an issue. The same cannot be said for Fred Perrin's knives. As much as I love his knives, discreet carry aside (i.e. neck, IWB, front pocket — look him up online, you'll find different carry techniques of his), his bigger knives will require some creativity in order to be adapted to most kits out there — something worth considering prior a purchase if the aim is to carry them.
— What now?
I've got an M. Strider JVA in Magnacut incoming, thanks to
Nab762
— curious to see how it'll fare as I always found the SnG a tad too big for EDC.
From a fixed blade standpoint, E. Scott McGhee (Guinea Hog Forge) currently has my attention.
— To be continued
…
Having bought, carried and used knives for the better part of my life, I thought why not start a thread where I'll share some of my experience.
The aim of this thread is mainly for me to reminisce and share my experiences in the hope they'll be interesting and/or useful to some, that's pretty much it.
In the meantime, thanks for reading me — here goes nothing…
— Intro
Back in the day was 440C.
At the time, that was the steel you wanted your blade in.
Today, it is Magnacut — how far the industry has gotten is just mind boggling.
— Origins & Wild Monkeys
I suspect things started with the hunting knife my father gave me.
Strict conditions applied: I was only allowed to carry it while in the wild.
Unsheathing the knife was only allowed if wild monkeys were sighted by the both of us.
Since this story takes place in Central Europe, encounters were, as you can imagine, rather limited.
Then came a book my father had on all types of knives. My favorite category? Military knives.
Despite being issued a bayonet at a later stage of my life, the knives I ended up using the most were kitchen paring knives.
— Kitchen knives, carry and what holds the universe together
Speaking of kitchen knives, I've been taught that, due to their prevalence in our daily lives, contrary to many other tools which can be turned into a weapon (say a car), a knife usually doesn't require a lot of know-how to be wielded effectively. Law enforcement personnel might have a story or two about this.
Another thing I've been taught is something everyone and their dog already knows here: the best knife is the one you have with you.
What I learned by extension, however, is that a sheath and/or clip will make or break whether you'll carry a given knife.
If you aim to carry your knife, its sheath and/or clip will be as important, if not more so, than other factors.
Now, if push comes to shove, there’s always duct tape and paracord which, as some of you know, are the glue that holds the universe together.
— (Tacti)Cool
More often than not, cool blades are just that: cool, but unlikely to be useful.
While there's nothing wrong with that, don't fool yourself and be aware of your tool's limitations.
Also, the more things it can do, the less it is apt at doing those things. This seems valid for most tools.
— Spec sheet & Best of
Size-wise, specialty knives aside, +/- 8 inches OAL is pretty much the size I go for, both for fixed blades and folding knives.
For reference, I wear gloves in size L and don't have thick hands.
Steel-wise, the first criteria is how easy I can sharpen the knife with a kitchen sharpening rod or portable one.
For folding knives, S35VN, S45VN and Magnacut are the default steels I'm now looking for. However, I'm also interested in 3V and PD#1 for military folders.
For fixed blades, I'm mainly looking at carbon steels such as XC75 or 80CrV2. Similarly, I'm interested in how Magnacut will fare in this category.
In the realm of folding knives, I've owned a few knives from the following brands: Benchmade, Blackhawk, Buck, Chris Reeve, Emerson, Great Eastern Cutlery (Northfield UN-X-LD), Medford, MercWorx, Peña (X Series), Pro-Tech, Spartan Blades, Spyderco, Strider, Swiss Army Knives (Victorinox and Wenger), Terrain 365, Toor, Williams Blade Designs and William Henry.
Best overall folder to date? Chris Reeve Inkosi
Special mention: Medford Slim Midi Marauder
Best EDC: Chris Reeve Inkosi
Best gentleman's folder: William Henry B12
Best tactical folder: Pro-Tech Malibu
Best military folder: Strider SnG
Best speciality folder: Terrain 365 STS-ATB and Williams Blade Design SZF 001
In the realm of fixed blades, things are a tad more conservative with Black Triangle, Busse (which made me join BF back in '08), Fred Perrin, Half Face Blades, Rokka, Toor, Williams Blade Design / Winkler II being the main brands I owned knifes from.
Best overall fixed blade to date? Winkler II Operator
Best small fixed blade: Fred Perrin Neck PPF or Winkler SD2
Best fixed blade for bushcraft: Rokka Korpisoturi
Best tactical fixed blade: Fred Perrin Light PPF of Winkler II Operator
Best military fixed blade: Fred Perrin Baby Army Bowie or Winkler II Belt Knife
Best speciality fixed blade: Black Triangle Serval and Williams Blade Design HZT 004
EDIT Important note on sheaths for tactical/military fixed blades: Winkler II's are good to go out of the box, perhaps the best in the industry — you'll very likely find a way to add the knife to your kit without much of an issue. The same cannot be said for Fred Perrin's knives. As much as I love his knives, discreet carry aside (i.e. neck, IWB, front pocket — look him up online, you'll find different carry techniques of his), his bigger knives will require some creativity in order to be adapted to most kits out there — something worth considering prior a purchase if the aim is to carry them.
— What now?
I've got an M. Strider JVA in Magnacut incoming, thanks to
Nab762
— curious to see how it'll fare as I always found the SnG a tad too big for EDC.From a fixed blade standpoint, E. Scott McGhee (Guinea Hog Forge) currently has my attention.
— To be continued
…
Last edited:
Thanks!
