I’m looking to you guys for help again. Normally when I look into getting a knife I tend to do a lot of research on which one that I want. Well this time I think I made the wrong choice getting an ESEE 5. Long story short, I need a knife with a stainless steel blade. The only experience that I have with knife steel is s30v and 154cm. Never really sharpened the 154cm because it took a long time on a stone free-hand. The s30v has been good for me so far although it did tend to chip on the edge. Maybe that was my paramilitary 2’s heat treat that makes it chip on the edge? It was from a bit of light prying on plastic where this happened, I wasn’t banging it against the concrete or anything. I know I sort of asked this in another thread I made, but that post is on another subject. This time I want to get a knife that will be well suited for my tasks and hopefully I can make a better informed decision this time around.
Here’s a list of things that are done everyday with my spyderco: cutting cardboard, thin sheet plastic, plastic cable ties, string, paracord, packing tape.
Some basic requirements : I’m looking for a fixed blade because when I have blood on my hands I cant reach for my pocket knife because I’ll get blood and gunk all over my pants pocket (same place where keys and other things go) I want the sheath to be made of a material that wont get gunked up with blood and fat or mildew after a while or being rinsed off. I’m assuming then that this leaves kydex and molded plastic? I’d prefer a stainless steel that won’t rust after wiping it dry with a towel and sticking it into my sheath. My spyderco does all these same tasks and I’ve had it for a year now and there’s absolutely no sign of rust on it whatsoever. I like the texture of g-10 for a handle, but any other suggestion as far as a handle that has good grip when wet I will consider. Ease of sharpening is not an issue. Carrying? – belt is fine. Just needs to be in an easy place where I can quickly draw it and sheath it again (faster than a folder clipped to my pocket)
I’ve been hunting on bladehq for about a month now looking for something that will fit my criteria. Having little experience with the variety of blade steels that are out there hinders the decision making process. There’s a few out there that I like though :
Bradford knives – There’s a few choices here. Colors can be picked after I pick the right blade chape and steel.
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Bradford-Knives-Guardian4-Knife–25914
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Bradford-Knives-Guardian5-Knife–29804
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Bradford-Knives-Guardian3-Knife–29542
benchmade – the ONLY reason I dont carry my benchmade anymore is because with its tip up carry, it tended to open up in my pocket. Otherwise I’d go with benchmade
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Benchmade-140BK-Nimravus–1490
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Benchmade-Steep-Country-Orange–24206
Microtech – a knife with similar dimensions to the ESEE 5, but Elmax for blade steel. I’ve heard nothing but good things about elmax so that peaked my interest.
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Microtech-Currahee-Drop-Point-Knife–16235
Spartan blades – I like the design on this, it looks like it would put less stress on my wrist when cutting down onto things
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Spartan-Blades-Ares-Knife-Fixed–9984
Other noteable choices I’ve made –
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Knife-Research-Enki-Fixed-Blade–21895
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Emerson-Police-Utility-BT-Fixed–22977
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Zero-Tolerance-0180-Hinderer-Field–21523
http://www.bladehq.com/item–TOPS-Knives-Tom-Brown-Tracker-3–19073
http://www.bladehq.com/item–HTM-Randall-King-Desert-Enforcer–8835
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Protech-Brend-Combat–7477
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Brous-Blades-Threat-Fixed-Blade–17520
http://www.bladehq.com/item–Meyerco-DDR-18-XRay-Drop-Point–9214
Some of these have nylon sheaths, but most of them either have kydex sheaths available. Worst case I can have a kydex sheath custom made if it’s the better choice
I’m sorry it’s not a “is A or B better” decision, but I enjoy knife shopping 😀
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