Im reading the new Sportsmans Guide catalog and they have a cool Schrade \u2018survival knife\u2019. I think to myself \u201cHmmm, that\u2019s odd. Schrade went out of business a year ago.\u201d Then I see in the description that the knife is made in China. :::facepalm::: This is the same thing that happened to Grundig. A well respected brand disappears and the name is bought and used on cheap Chinese products. So: if youre buying a Schrade these days, make sure it is not a Chinese version. <\/p>\n
Its sad, but it seems that the really good American knifemakers are falling by the wayside. Increased materials cost, union problems, overseas competition, etc, etc. Its gotta be tough.<\/p>\n
Moving up from Fred Flintstone stone axes, the knife is your most basic tool. I own too many to keep track of and like guns no one tool does it all. Theres an old saying that you can use a big knife to do tasks suited for a little knife but not the other way around. Most of the time this is true but I\u2019ve had occasions where there simply was no substitute for a smaller knife. (Cleaning brook trout, for example) On the other hand, you can almost never get a little knife to do the job of a big knife (splitting deer pelvis, prying things apart, hacking limbs from trees, digging firepits, etc, etc.)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a personal preference thing so Im just gonna tell you what I like and why.<\/p>\n
Multitool \u2013 I like the Leatherman Wave. For me, it fits the overwhelming majority of my needs. It has two blades, one serrated one not, and I use the serrated blade almost exclusively, keeping the regular blade in reserve for when I need a razor sharp edge for some delicate work. <\/p>\n
Pocket folder \u2013 Since I carry the Leatherman I don\u2019t usually carry a pocketknife. When I do, I like the small plastic handled Gerber folders. I find the Gerbers are easier to sharpen although it seems that the Buck holds an edge longer.<\/p>\n
General Utility Sheath Knife \u2013 I like the Glock field knives. They are very inexpensive and very rugged. I find them to be an excellent all-around knife. For a little more money I also like the now-discontinued Becker Knife & Tool sheath knives. Brute ruggedness.<\/p>\n
Others: Whenever possible, I like half-serrated blades. Theyre harder to sharpen but I like that they cut smooth materials better than a non-serrated edge. (Wet nylon rope springs to mind.)<\/p>\n On the \u2018specialty\u2019 side of things, I have a lovely Anza hunting knife that I use for that purpose. For more bizarre adventures I have the BK&T \u2018Tac Tool\u2019.<\/p>\n To me, all gear is expendable. If the situation calls for it I\u2019m willing to abandon, destroy or discard whatever is needed. Examples? Slip and fall during a river crossing and have to drop your pack or gun. That sort of thing. So, ideally, I like my gear to be good but affordable so I can have spares. While SureFire makes some really razoo folding knives I am not paying $350+ for a folding knife. <\/p>\n =-=-=-=<\/p>\n Interesting link of the day<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Im reading the new Sportsmans Guide catalog and they have a cool Schrade \u2018survival knife\u2019. I think to myself \u201cHmmm, that\u2019s odd. Schrade went out of business a year ago.\u201d Then I see in the description that the knife is … Continue reading
\nMost Kershaw knives\u2026they just seem flimsy.
\nCold Steel \u2013 decent product but I don\u2019t care for Made In Japan much more than Made In China. Yeah, they have a great history of making swords, but unless its some wizened old Japanese man folding a bar of steel a thousand times to make my pocketknife rather than an industrial steel press, I\u2019ll avoid them.
\nSpyderco \u2013 I like the knives but I am extremely hard on those belt clips. I do like their defensive knife with the terrifying S-shaped blade<\/a>.
\nKa-Bar \u2013 Seem like fine knives. I realize they went up Iwo Jima but that doesn\u2019t mean better designs haven\u2019t happened since then. Theyre an excellent knife for the money and I certainly wouldn\u2019t turn one down as a gift, although I prefer the newer Kydex sheaths.<\/p>\n
![terrifying S-shaped blade<\/a>.\nKa-Bar \u2013 Seem like fine knives. I realize they went up Iwo Jima but that doesn\u2019t mean better designs haven\u2019t happened since then. Theyre an excellent knife for the money and I certainly wouldn\u2019t turn one down as a gift, although I prefer the newer Kydex sheaths.<\/p>\nWhenever possible, I like half-serrated blades. Theyre harder to sharpen but I like that they cut smooth materials better than a non-serrated edge. (Wet nylon rope springs to mind.)<\/p>\nOn the \u2018specialty\u2019 side of things, I have a lovely Anza hunting knife that I use for that purpose. For more bizarre adventures I have the BK&T \u2018Tac Tool\u2019.<\/p>\nTo me, all gear is expendable. If the situation calls for it I\u2019m willing to abandon, destroy or discard whatever is needed. Examples? Slip and fall during a river crossing and have to drop your pack or gun. That sort of thing. So, ideally, I like my gear to be good but affordable so I can have spares. While SureFire makes some really razoo folding knives I am not paying $350+ for a folding knife. <\/p>\n=-=-=-=<\/p>\nInteresting link of the day<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Im reading the new Sportsmans Guide catalog and they have a cool Schrade \u2018survival knife\u2019. I think to myself \u201cHmmm, that\u2019s odd. Schrade went out of business a year ago.\u201d Then I see in the description that the knife is … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gear-2"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.commanderzero.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"http:\/\/spyderco.com\/pix\/products\/med\/C12G_M.jpg\"){kind=link}