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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2009 10:06:46 GMT
Oi vey, y'all were busy talking last knight.
@ Hotspur, yeah I was kinda splitting hairs with Bowie vs Clip Hunter. To me if it's not wider than 1.5" and doesn't have the Spanish Notch it's not a Bowie. But the term is pretty wide spread to any large sheath knife these days. Frigg, my Swamp Skinner has been called a Bowie on more than one occasion. /index.cgi?board=otherweapons&action=display&thread=11419&page=1#185131
Again, K-bars are good knives for the money, but for the $20-30 range I would just head down to the local gun shop/sporting goods store and see what they had in the case that looks halfway attractive. Personally, I would spend the extra for something with a decent reputation.
I was never a big fan of the machete until I lived in FL for three years, now I won't go anywhere without one. They do need pretty constant resharpening but for under $30 I think a machete of any style is a best bet. I've even had good luck with some $7 Wal=Mart cheapo's and I have successfully done just about every camp chore imaginable with a machete to include using it as a chef knife. They only thing I won't use a machete for is filleting a fish a 4" Rapala fillet blade has always been my favorite for that.
Just never underestimate what can be found at the local sporting goods or hardware store sometimes those cheap Pakistani blades can surprise the heck out of you, but it helps if you know a little something about knives when you go to look at them.
My $0.02
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2009 13:59:00 GMT
I take my Cold Steel Gurka Kukri when I'm in the back country here in Colorado. Works for me.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2009 16:12:08 GMT
Thanks for the help everybody, that's a lot of stuff to consider! I won't find anything before camping this weekend, but I'll order something in afterwards, and maybe invest a bit more than $20-30 in future.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 15:37:11 GMT
So...you're wanting a fixed blade knife. There are loads of options, not all of them good, at that price point but its a good start nonetheless. Let us know what you end up with.
I think your final question was answered previously, regarding good bowies or kukris.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 19:45:16 GMT
Well I agree that a good fixed blade is best for an outdoors knife. Then keep a folder, or even a multitool as a backup. For many years now, I've been carrying a Cold Steel Recon Tanto for my camping knife. It's got about a 6" fixed blade, with for me is just about right. Any longer for me and it would be a little combersome, and you don't want that. It needs to be well balanced and fit for your hands and body, and strength. From what I know of knives, the blade shape for you can be determined on what your usage will be. I know hunting knives are very cursed blades, more for slicing and cutting open a carcuss. Then there are the more straigther knives, but with curved tips. An example of this would be the Cold Steel SRK (Search and Rescue Knife). This is actually what I want to get for my wife as her camping knife. (she keeps taking my folding backup knife) It seems to be a good all round purpose, outdoors knife. Just about the right size and weight for her. In regards to blade type and usage, think of what you might use it for. For example my tanto could be used as a digging tool in a pinch, with it's straight body and tip. A good chopper, not the greatest slicer. But then my camping knife is for just having something on hand to cut rope, widdle some kindling, and cut veggies for dinner. And of course self defence if need be. Consider the sheath too, what it's made out of, how it hangs on your body, belt loops, easily removable etc. I recently made a new rig for my knife. I got some nylon strap and D clips from the camping store. I set it up so it hang low on my hip, so it's about where my hand is hanging naturally. There is a D clip used for the belt loop, and the hip strap, so I can easily take it off with out undoing my belt etc. I also sewed a pocket onto it to hold my firestarter.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 20:39:38 GMT
Truth be told I'm having difficulties getting why people want bowies and modern hunting knives etc. Weapons changed over time because armour and other weapons changed, aye? Guns made plate mail mostly redundant, and plate made the thick blades of the Spatha, Viking sword etc give way for thinner, stabbing swords like rapiers, no? But elks and wild turkeys do not change, and to my understanding, neither does unarmored men or the wilderness in general. I don't really see why a bowie would serve one better in the wilds than a true and tested scramaseax. If only you could get a good seax as cheap as a decent ka-bar...
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 21:20:37 GMT
You probably also want a bow instead of a rifle then? ;D
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 11, 2009 21:29:35 GMT
I think you hit the biggest part of it all, uncreative: Price.
The modern knives are just as good, or better, and cheaper.
Ta da!
Then again, by your philosophy, all we need is nothing. Maybe step up in the evolutionary scale by grabbing a rock.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 22:00:30 GMT
The main point was that a bowie, or any other knife really, isn't a more complicated weapon than a slightly older knife, a tanto, a seax or a dubh. The design of a knife is pretty simple, just a blade of metal and a handle of horn, wood, leather and some more metal etc. Sure a modern knife might have some fancy steel, but you could pimp an older design with newer components. A gun on the other hand is completely different from a bow. And, there are plenty of people who hunt with bows, whether traditional ones or modern designs. Looking at the design, the shape of the blade, why did this American bowie guy suddenly come up with a blade (shape) that is superior to the older designs used for a thousand years? I still don't really see why a kabar bowie should be cheaper than a kabar scramaseax.
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Post by randomnobody on Aug 11, 2009 22:14:49 GMT
Does Kabar make a scramaseax? Modern knives fit modern needs and modern methods better than the old designs. That's all there is to it. I wouldn't take a seax camping. I'd take a kukri, if anything bigger than a regular ol' 4-6" hunter, be it clip or drop point. Depending on the bowie (a fighting knife, mind) maybe it would suit, too. But a seax? Nah, they're not really meant for much but cutting meat, be it live or cooked. They should be left for that. Even if I wanted a small one to skin whatever I hunt, a modern skinner would be better suited to the task. And cheaper. No design has been unchanged for "thousands of years." All things evolve, sometimes old designs regain popularity, sometimes somebody fashions something totally new.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2009 22:35:45 GMT
No kabar doesn't make any seax, but they should.
My point was kind of that the needs haven't changed much. Game is still game and hasn't evolved notably, and I don't see how a bowie blade is easier to manufacture than a possibly simpler seax design, or how the handle is harder to make.
A kukri is a pretty old design from East Asia if I'm not mistaken, an utilitarian knife suitable for everything from digging up roots to slashing throats and a design which has been used for a long time in the jungles.
I also recall reading that the seax was pretty much an everyday knife used from everything from actual combat or wood carving to cutting meat or even as a "kitchen" knife. I suppose langseaxes etc had more specific purposes, but from the impression I've gotten the seax was pretty much an all-purpose, every day knife. In fact, I wonder if a seax design was not virtually universal on every early Germanic knife not copied of other cultures.
I'm not denying that the designs have changed, I'm puzzled as to why they have. As said, weapons have changed over time because needs have changed, but nature around us havn't changed. The trees are the same, wild game hasn't gained armor provoking different weapons etc.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 1:05:54 GMT
I used this model from CRKT for a few years now, the one I have served twice in the sandbox with me. It's since discontinued, but its alot of bang for the buck - traditional tanto design, waxed cotton wrap over authentic black same. I love mine. ;D www.rockyfaceknives.com/productDetails.asp?ProductCode=209#
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Post by genocideseth on Aug 12, 2009 2:45:44 GMT
I used this model from CRKT for a few years now, the one I have served twice in the sandbox with me. It's since discontinued, but its alot of bang for the buck - traditional tanto design, waxed cotton wrap over authentic black same. I love mine. ;D www.rockyfaceknives.com/productDetails.asp?ProductCode=209#Holy crap! That is the exact knife my brother has! Had it for 3 years and abuses the hell out of it. Fantastic knife! I second this.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 3:24:59 GMT
I had that one for a while, but I sold it. It wasn't a bad knife. The sheath was a big plus for me. The grip was pretty good until it started to wear out and the steel was thick enough to lessen the risks related to it being stainless. It didn't hold an edge very well, though. It might have done better with a convex edge. If I still had it I'd just give it to you.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 3:30:12 GMT
I'm not denying that the designs have changed, I'm puzzled as to why they have. Because in many cases newer designs and materials work better. The object of the activity doesn't have to change in order for it to be done better with a different tool.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 7:14:18 GMT
In norse sax meant knife, and could be anything from a 5 cm paring knife to a 60 cm short sword. For utiliarian purposes a small sax and a small axe was carried, much like today. The broken back sax is not norse, so if you want a sax, you can pick up a tollekniv with traditional design for about the price of a KaBar. Personally I carry a Brusletto Falken, A Stromeng 9" sami knife and a Brusletto Viking axe when I'm in the woods. These suits my needs best.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 7:57:25 GMT
I wouldn't take a seax personally, it wouldn't do the heavy work that a machete or a khukuri can. With a machete you can everything from splitting wood to making dinner, I have seen a guy fillet and cut up a fish with a khukuri, if it can do that it can do any task you really need it to.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 9:54:44 GMT
Seems little purpose to continue arguing, but still, I'm not seeing why a 19th century Texas soldier came up with a fabled knife design that you propound to be better for purposes that hasn't really changed than knives that have been used for a longer time than the timespan from now and to since the Americas were even discovered.
Aside from those of you who swear by the kukri or a machete, it seems a bowie or pretty similar hunter design is most popular.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 10:12:11 GMT
Availability, price and function are the key words, Uncreative. Not to mention culture. We still use saxes here in Norway, you know. Here is btw a pic of what is reconned as one of the first bowies. See the similarities to a seax?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2009 10:41:48 GMT
Yeah, I do, but I'm kind of doubting that it's close to the "original" bowie. From what wikipedia entails, descriptions of the first bowie has it to be completely straight. Mind showing me where I can get a traditional tollekniv? Google has failed me.
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