I purchased a Rite Edge Military Hunter knife for christmas, and I am in the slumps so I couldn't afford a higher quality. I tried my best and decided to stick with this one. I want to know if anyone has one or if they can find or do a review, I dont want to abuse it just to find that it doesnt hold up and I'm out of a knife.
Thanks!

I googled it and im getting alota diff knife hits mind providing a link or picture? Also If that knife doesnt work out for you there is a few great inexpensive 10-15$ knives out there i can recommend.

There is a website, http://www.knifetests.com/, that makes videos of knives being tested beyond normal limits. One of the knives they put through the grinder was a Cheaper Than Dirt, $9.97 Rough Use Knife. The knife held up better than many blades costing 10x as much.

http://www.knifetest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57

I know that this isn't the particular model you own but it is an example where a cheaper blade is a better blade.

If you use your knife as the cutting tool that it is and use pry bars, shovels, hammers, rocks and sticks etc. for prying, pounding and digging it should serve you well. A lot of people get caught up in trying to own the latest, greatest and best and thats ok but if you have something that actually works and you can use it well thats even better. Learn how to keep your blade sharp, handle it safely and use it as a tool for bushcraft and survival and you'll be ahead of most people.

The only valid test in the knifetests.com video is the one peeling an apple . . I've got some good solid knives and would not consider abuse to be a test. A 440 stainless blade passed -- that just shows that a knife with relatively low % carbon content may be tougher than one with more carbon, carbides and a higher Rc for edge retention. I will not be taking my knife purchase advise from the unscientific tests on that site. Just MHO

There are a lot of $10-15 "beater" knives that are perfectly serviceable. Many of these are made in China, usually with steel in the 420-440A range. Quality varies widely, so you have to go on a case by case basis.

Instead of looking for an "abuse" test, focus on the essentials:
- is it comfortable during hard cutting (no blisters)?
- can you put an adequate working edge on it?
- will the sheath hold the knife securely and protect you if you fall?
- will you have it with you when you need it?

The important thing is to get out there and use it. Get to know your knife. Learn how to keep it sharp. If it does the jobs you want done, it's good enough. When you decide to upgrade, you will be able to apply the practical knowledge you have gained.

Agree with that. No need to abuse the knife to determine whether it's good enough. Just do the things you expect a knife to do; if it fails at least it failed when you weren't in a real survival situation. Do not mimic the guys in the knife test videos and chop concrete unless that is a job you expect a knife to perform in the field.

Your knife will probably work just fine for you. If it doesn't, then a Mora Clipper would be a good replacement in that same price range - assuming your knife is a fixed blade. If your knife is a folder, an alternative in that same price range would be a Byrd (Spyderco) Robin or Meadowlark.

But the chances are good that your current knife will be just fine. Use it and don't worry about it.

I do field paleontology on the Channel Islands. A lot of walking is involved, and occasionally we have to basically chop concrete. The tool kit has to be light but right.

I literally pack a sharpened pry bar or two which work very effectively for such tasks, along with a relatively small knife. The combination weighs no more than some of the Godzilla knives often considered necessary for venturing into the great outdoors and is considerably more versatile.

If you use your knife as the cutting tool that it is and use pry bars, axes, shovels, hammers, rocks and sticks etc. for prying, chopping, splitting, pounding and digging it should serve you well.

A lot of people get caught up in trying to own the latest, greatest and best and thats ok but if you have something that actually works and you can use it well, thats even better. Learn how to keep your blade sharp, handle it safely and use it as a tool for bushcraft and survival and you'll be ahead of most people.

Is the knife you purchased the folder or the fixed blade knife?

http://www.selfdefence.com/militarycamofolderandhunterknifeset.html#

If you are after a folding knife then the Colt CT55OPI is excellent value for money at $23.

http://www.southerntackle.com/proddetail.asp?prod=CT55OPI&cat=12

The materials are excellent (German Solingen 440, 6061 Aluminium and Carbon Fibre inlay) and the liner lock is rock solid. It also has the feel and look of a much more expensive knife. Personally I don't like the Laser cuts in the blade (designed to make sharpening easier)

The Rite Edge Military Hunter knife looks like some of the offerings from Dealextreme.

Some of the knifes have some quite good reviews. The materials and build quality will hopefully been somewhat similar.

The Boker Subcom copy from Dealextreme is actually quite good value for money and would be perfectly OK for a cost effective PSK knife which can be forgotten about.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19364

If a fixed blade is required than a Mora 780 carbon Triflex is also excellent value for money and will compete with much more expensive knifes for the egde the blade will take.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/DBA443-1.html

The cheaper than dirt DBA443 certainly seems to have held up really rather well (actually exceptionally well) for a $10 knife. Looks to be an absolute Chinese made bargain.

The knife I use most at home and often throw in my camp kitchen box is a 30-something year old carbon steel Old Hickory.

Worth maybe 50 cents at a garage sale?

I'll never part with it. Sentimental, like a well worn ball glove. Just have to keep it sharp, and dry.

I agree with the posts about testing it by doing the things you know you need it to do 90+% of the time. Cut rope, chop/shape sticks, peel things, gut things, or whatever. Do some controlled reality-based field testing. That will be the only way to find out. It is better to risk catastrophic failure in the backyard and end up buying another unproven knife than suffering the same in the field without the chance to replace it. Realize that risks abound. Just because it made it through your testing does not mean it won't fail in the field doing the exact same thing.

My $.02

A-F-L-M, The fixed blade is the one I have, It has proven to be very vorthy so far.

Has anyone here ever experienced a catastrophic failure with a full-tang fixed blade -- cheap or otherwise? Even the cheap ones don't crumble into dust. How often does more than a tip break off? Anyone ever have a full-tang break in half?

If one is skilled at sharpening a knife (which I am not), can't just about any full-tang fixed blade perform decently in the short term, if it's sharp? Can a $100 or $200 knife make that much difference over, say, a $10 Mora in a survival situation?

Conjecture aside, any factual history on that? Are there any accounts of someone who didn't survive because their knife was dull or broke?

Sure, my Bark River Golok or Bravo-1 could chop a tree branch easier than my Moras (are those partial or full tang?) and be better for batoning, but how well they cut rope, tinder or gut a fish (awkward with the Golok, unless it's a giant tuna) is going to depend on how sharp they are (seems to me, admittedly not the sharpest knife in the drawer on knives, despite my collection).

I've enjoyed collecting knives the last few years but confess I'm persuaded by their looks and feel more than any increased performance based on their blade grind or place on the Rockwell Hardness Scale. Their resistance to corrosion is an issue, especially for those like myself who don't pay enough attention to them (I've never used any of my Bark Rivers -- Doug's knives are my go-tos for outdoors and Mora's are my emergency car stash).

From a survival standpoint and mindful of the "One is none, Two is One - blah, blah" standard, is two cheap knives a better idea than one more expensive knife?

Am just thinking out loud here, thanks for indulging. I need to devote a lot more attention to sharpening my knife sharpening skill. Even Barkies don't stay sharp forever on their own, if you use them much.

I don't carry any kind of knife sharpener in a pack and wonder if I should. And whether that should be stressed when carrying a cheaper knife that may not hold an edge as long as others? Seem to recall there are some pretty compact knife sharpeners around.

No catastrophies to report, but I would observe that plain old carbon steel seemed to work quite well for many years, even centuries. CS just needs sharpening more often.

Knife sharpening is not that hard. The easy way is to buy a Spyderco Sharpmaker (no affiliation, just a satisfied user). It isn't that large, but it is a bit clumsy for backpacking. For the small sharpeners that are good (and there are quite a few that are not) you need to learn how to hand sharpen - a skill that can be acquired in between the commercial breaks of Dancing With the Stars, although I'll bet you are more of a PBS person.....

Ha -- I most assuredly am neither.

Fox and Rush, with some TNT and History.

And a little F/X (Sons of Anarchy -- a shameful pleasure, but I also enjoyed The Sopranos)

I must confess to watching PBS at times . I love Red/Green , English murder mysteries and even an occasional Masterpiece Theater showing .

Pete

Re sharpening:

The biggest barrier IMHO is the belief that sharpening is somehow mystical and that ordinary mortals (you and I) can't do it.

To break that barrier, when I teach someone basic sharpening skills, I'll often start them with a carbon steel Opinel or Old Hickory. These respond very quickly to the learner's efforts, giving rapid feedback and encouragement.

The other place to start them is with kitchen knives. A thin-bladed paring or utility knife is a great thing to learn on (and it's highly practical in the bargain!).

My $0.02

Yup, a butchers knife snapped in half, hammer was unharmed, frozen chicken had some scars , true story

And a value it is at 2 cents!

What sharpeners do you use?

My Old Hickory would be good practice.

Sounds like a You Tubeable moment, if there were video.

The microwave is a wonderful invention. Peacefully defrosted a 6 lb package of hamburger for me this weekend (chili feed).

But if the microwave had broken, there's always the axe collection....

:-)

I've never had catastrophic failures with any kind of knife. I have some knives with large chips, nicks and scar - but an ugly nick does not render a knife completely useless.




All moras (that I know of) are partial tangs. They are often used as prime examples that partial tang knife, while not as strong as full tang, may still be highly functional, strong, durable - and cheap.

But then again, it could be argued that heavy batoning is not something the mora is designed to do. Real hardword is not that common in Scandinavia (except for oak, but there is an abundance of better bushcraft alternatives everywhere in Scandinavia). Different location = different wood = different tools.




Good point. I have a "butterfly" design diamond sharpener that isn't overly heavy, with a medium/fine grit. Just the right size/efficiency compromise for a quick sharpening in the field.

The good thing about bringing a small sharpener in your pack is that you can enjoy a little sharpening quality time when you are exactly where you want to be with your knife: In the woods. Added benefit is that frequent quick sharpening will de-mystify the obtuse sharpening rituals and terminology.

Scandi grinds (which most mora's have) are quite easy to hand sharpend because the large bevel gives a large surface (contact area) between your stone and the bevel.

In the end, sharpening is all (or at least, mostly) about removing metal in the right place.

@Dagny (and anyone else interested):

I came across a series of YouTube tutorials that are a pretty good primer on knife sharpening. I don't agree with every last detail, but they do a decent job explaining the "why" as well as the "how."

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22thomas+stuckey%22+knife+sharpening&aq=f

I confess that I'm lazy about the stropping part. Some of the stuff I cut is quite fibrous, and I prefer a bit of sawtooth on the edge.

I also get newbies to use a 22-1/2 degree angle, because they can consistently find it (start with blade at 90* to the stone, half of that is 45*, half again is 22-1/2*). This doesn't apply to Moras, of course, where it's best to follow the factory bevel.

The sharpener I reach for most often is a medium grit diamond bench stone. Diamond cuts faster than the traditional "carborundum" stones I had used in the past. I have a very nice diamond bench stone from EZ-Lap, several small DMT ones for close-in work and serrations, and a fistful of cheap Chinese ones that are fairly decent considering I got them for $4.88 on sale.

Thank you very much, Doug. That's great information.

Knife sharpening's going to be my new focus. I do have a few sharpeners, just haven't practiced much.

Will start with my Old Hickory and a Mora.