10-5-2017

Fixed Blade Knives

There is a lot to be said for a good fixed blade knife. They are just less convenient to carry around than a folder.

Condor Hudson Bay

Made from 1075 steel, about $70, 8.5 inch blade, a classic.
Maybe someday.

Bark River Knives - Bravo 1

This is a classic (though I don't own one). They seem to make a bewildering variety of them with different steels and handle materials. I am tempted by one of these with 3V steel. 3V is reported to be a very tough steel, well suited for good sized fixed blades. Blade length is 4.25 inches.

The "usual" version seems to be with A2 steel, but there has also been an S35V version Along with steel choices, there is a Bravo 1.25 and a Bravo 1.5 and .... The 1.5 has a 5.8 inch blade and the 1.25 has a 5.0 inch blade on the same handle.

Bark River is also known as BRKT apparently for reasons that are not at all clear. Another interesting knife is the "essential" with a 2.75 inch blade.

Their knife the Gameskeepr is available with 4V steel. This is a heavy hunting knife with a 4.5 inch blade. It is also available in the more ordinary A2 steel.

Ontario Knives

I own the RD6 Bush. Now discontinued. 1095 steel. 3/16 inch thick blade. Stout and more or less indestructable.

ESEE knives

They make a variety of large knives with 1095 steel. Reminiscent of Ontario Knife. Here is the story:
ESEE is the knife brand owned by Randall’s Adventure and Training (RAT), a survival training school specializing in Latin American jungle environments. Starting in 2002, the RAT knives were produced by Ontario Knife Company, and in fact they still are. After 2007, owners Jeff Randall and Mike Perrin wanted to produce their knives to a higher quality outside of the mass manufacturing capabilities achievable by OKC. Thus ESEE knives was born, with production being handled by Idaho-based Rowen Manufacturing.
A quote from the above.
I have an Izula, 3,4,5,6 and Junglas. They all do different things. The 6 can cover roles of almost all of them but not perform that specific role as good as each individual. It is a jack of all trades, master of none. The 3 is the best slicer and detail wood worker. (thinner steel). The Izula is the best EDC. The 4 is nice if you need a "tactical" knife. The 5 is great if you need to cut open a car door, not good at much else IMO, more of a novelty. The Junglas is one I would never get rid of. It fills its role as a large camp knife perfectly.
The 6 has a 6.5 inch blade, the 4 has a 4.5 inch blade, the 3 has a 3.87 inch blade.

The huge Junglas is hugely popular, which surprises me. It has a 10.3 inch blade and was allegedly made for Colombian special forces. Sort of a machete and combat knife combined. People call it a classic and it is a "knife to get", along with the Izula in some form. They also came out with a Junglas II which is 2 inches shorter. This is about $200 with sheath.

The Izula has a 2.7 inch blade and big hole in the handle, unique. The original Izula is all metal (no handle scales) and the sort of thing some people like for a neck knife. The Izula 2 adds micarta scales and a bit of a larger handle. The blade is powder coated. You can hunt around and find the original Izula with 440C stainless steel. These sell for around $70.

The Candiru has a 2.0 inch blade and looks like a downsized Izula.


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Tom's Knife Info / [email protected]