From: wallich@ncd.com (Ken Wallich)
Newsgroups: rec.backcountry
Subject: Re: Knife questions
Keywords: Cold Steel, Puma, Gerber...
Date: 25 Sep 92 17:45:10 GMT
Reply-To: wallich@ncd.com (Ken Wallich)
Distribution: usa

hejl@aslws01.asl.dl.nec.com (Mike Hejl) writes:

>This perhaps doesn't belong in r.b but I don't know where else to post.

>I'd like some recommendations on better quality knives.  In particular,
>I'm looking for a *good* (not custom but better than a typical Buck) fixed
>blade around 6" or more for general use.  By general use, I mean survival,
>rescue, hunting, and it'll last. Price up to $200 but, of course, the cheaper
>the better.

>How do the various brands like Cold Steel, Puma, Greber, SOG, etc compare in
>blade and overall quality?  Is a composite handle more practical than stag or
>wood?  Is a root saw useful?

>Would you opt for stainless or carbon steel (for edge retention) like Cold
>Steel's SRK or Puma's Bowie?  Do Puma's carbon steel knives have enough
>stainless (Ni) not to rust?  (Hint: I can get Gerber and Puma for about 1/2
>list price - are they worth it relative to other brands at about 25% off?)

I have a Cold Steel "Outdoorsman" that, while a good quality, sturdy
knife, is probably my least favorite.  The 'diamond' grip rubs my hand
raw with long hard use, and the angle the blade is ground at is
useless for carving.  It seems designed only for slicing through
things.  Makes a great $200 rope cutter :-).  It works OK at skinning
or cleaning fish (especially with the non-slip handle), but I'd prefer
using something smaller and lighter for those purposes (unless I ended
up skinning something larger than a rabbit).  The blade material is
good quality though, and can easily put up with quite a beating (I
tend to be *real* tough on my general purpose knives.  A buck wouldn't
last me two days of all-purpose work).  I'd imagine they make
something that is more suitable to all-around use than the Outdoorsman
or the silly fighting knives they make.  One flaw is that it really
doesn't hold an edge very well, especially compared to the Gerber I'm
about to talk about.

The only other commercial knife I have real long term experience with
is the Gerber LMF knife my wife uses.  It has a 7" blade with the
dense foam grip and the dulled finish carbon blade (I think it's
carbon).  Anyway, I didn't think much of the knife when she got it,
but it's ended up being my favorite commercial knife.  The blade can
take a great deal of "abuse", and the grip is comfortable and very
durable.  Cool sheath too.  It retailed for around $200, so that
would be quite a deal for you.  You want to do a group buy :-)?

Saws are usefull if you do things that use them, helpfull huh?.  I
have two types of saws on the custom knifes I own.  One carves a 'V',
and one carves a real rectangular notch (really cool saw).  Since I
use the saws for detail work on tools I make with the knives, I like
them.  If you're planning to take down small trees, they probably won't
do what you want :-).

I prefer the carbon steel myself, but I find steel preference to be a
religious issue, and it really does have a lot to do with what you do
with the knife, and how much you like to sharpen/maintain your knives,
and is really a personal decision.

My favorites are my three 'custom' knives, but they cost me $150 and
up, so I won't go into their features here.

To summarize, at 50% off, I'd personally look at the Gerbers.

>Thanks for any insight.  I'm *not* trying to start an "evil assault knife"
>flame war.

Well, I'm opposed to those fully-automatic "uzi" knives so often used
by roaming Panamanian drug gangs, but other than that, I don't have a
problem with them.
--
Ken Wallich
wallich@ncd.com  
ken@wallich.com