I carry a CRKT M16-10 on a daily basis and have a KA-BAR for my BOB. I am wondering if anyone has better ideas for either. I love the CRKT for its size and everyday capabilities, and the KA-BAR for its ruggedness, but am looking for other products that might be available (better). Thanks.

Are there better? Yes. How much do you want to spend? I won't comment on the CRKT becuase I just like how it feels in my hand, but the Ka-bars I will comment on becuase I grew up on them the same way some people grew on a particular brand of bicycle.

You can find better in it's size class. Lots of custom knife makers do better. But IMHO, it isn't enough better than a $50 Ka-Bar to justify a two, three, more-hundred dollar knife. The only place were you can really find improvement is the tip strength, but if you have a can opener you're fine.

Unless you have to take out an ent who is on sentry duty. In which case, I want a bigger knife. (Actually, in that case I want a chainsaw powered by a sound supressed V-6 engine!) Most people who sneer at Ka-Bars are compairing them to bigger and thicker knives. Yes, things like the big RATs and Beckers and Busses out perform a 7" long, 3/16" blade when used for chopping. That is becuase they are 9-10" long, 1/4" thick blades. That's just simple newtonian physics at play.

Oh, and I should warn you, this is the ultimate can of worms in any forum. Asking men why they pick their knife is like asking why they love their wife and to compare her to their friends' wives. People get very culty about their knives.

You could do better on both. But then we all could on probably half our junk, er valuable survival kit. More importantly, you could do a LOT worse. Of even more importance, have you covered the basics in the other kit needs? If so, then, and only then you should think of some supplemental cutlery. It would help to know your personal scenarios for emergency use too. That said, lets look at your blades. The K Bar is condemned by many as to big for a carry knife, and not big enough for a serious heavy blade @ 7" long.And the pommel is to small for serious hammering, the leather grips not grippy enough, the rattail tang can snap and it has a double guard.Good points: It has a charisma that is a serious ego booster and costs on average $50. It's easy to sharpen and big enough to use as a draw knife for woodcraft. My K- Bar is getting old and beat up like me. The solution is to go a little slower and think. Do I have to wack a billet of wood in half like King Richard and his lousy Anvil? Maybe the more productive method of slicing edge pieces off or just making shims is better. Now your CRKT.It is a hollowground tanto with serrated teeth. Oh the horror! You've broken every rule. But you state " you love it" so it must be doing something right. Again At @ $50 you can do much worse. Additions? You need a knife with a upswept point for making feather sticks for that most critical task of firemaking. Drumroll and rotten tomatos thrown from the forum gallery--- www.ragweedforge.com and invest $10 on a Mora give or take a $1 depending on what tickles your fancy. And now the most critical question, Do you have the tools and knowledge to keep your cutlery sharp and in good order?

I started carrying a Spyderco Delica everyday (but now I may buy the rather expensive Triangle Sharpmaker, but it has a cool DVD in the package...) but this knife is a urban utility knife that will probably never have to shave wood.

As for the BOB knife, the Ka-Bar is basically a fighting knife with guard to stop the other knife in a combat. Do as Chris K. says and get a wide bevel sabre ground 10 bucks Mora knife, wet and dry sandpaper sticked on a board with carpet tape, a spare kitchen ceramic tile for a hone and your leather belt for stropping. And you're done!

Better is a relative term, and as the others have already stated, it is really a question of what you feel your needs are in the way of knife use. I am certain that there are knives out there more suited to specific tasks than what you have, and likewise yours may be ideal for a given situation as well. We are quickly coming to a forum caveat on knives, which I will try to recite here:

The best knife is the one you happen to have on you at the time, whatever that may be.

I guess you could call that a caveat, or maybe an altruism, or who knows what you'd call it. The point is that you are at least carrying a knife on you that you are confident with using, and that is 99% of the objective to be as prepared as humanly possible. Right now I have two knives on me and one in my shoulder bag within arm's reach. I am confident that I can use any of these knives to survive with, the big Swamp Rat knife if I have to bushwhack, make firewood, or lop heads, the KA-BAR Mule if I need a good all around service folder, and the little itty bitty SAK classic if I need to whittle up a firestick or perform field surgery. Each is more suited to a given range of tasks than the others, but I can get by with any one of them in a pinch, as with any other knife I might carry. It may be a stretch to think that I am going to defend myself with that little itty bitty knife, or to pull a sliver outta my finger with that big brute, but that's where innovation and human ingenuity come in. It is of far greater importance to be able to figure out a solution with what is at hand rather than to fantasize about what may be ideal, or at least better than what we have in our hand at the time. One method will serve you well in survival situations, the other will end up as regrets as you go down for the third time.

We've had an abundance of fairly generic interrogatives about "what is better" for any given category of equipment. Looking to upgrade is always going to be a part of preparedness, but it would help if folks would have in mind some particulars about what exactly it is they seek to improve on from what they have; they're likely to get a more meaningful and less argumentative response. In fact, asking such a question anymore seems like a setup, in which you will see such responses as what Chris and Ironraven put up there; good responses both, but very qualified and just a hint of defensive maybe.

CBTENGR, can you elaborate on what it is you are looking to improve upon, or may think could use some improvement from what you have now? That would help quite a bit.

Well said chris, well said. Like I mentioned in my other thread, everyone needs to realize that, yes we could always do better (often at considerable expense); but we are no worse off with whatever (quality) gear we might have.

Unless you're just looking to buy another or more knives, the Kabar is fine. The CRKT, like Chris said (you broke every rule with the tanto tip and serrations!! :D) could be replaced. You wouldn't have to get rid of the CRKT you like so much, just think about a standard drop-point plain-edge maybe...no serrations.

Now, on the other hand, if you're looking to buy another knife............................ hehe that's a whole 'nother thread.

KaBar is a good knife, there are better but as others have said, they cost more. I'm not a fan of CRKT, if you like it that's fine. I prefer Benchmade such as Doug Ritter's RSK Mk1. Since the RSK Mk1 was released, Benchmade upgraded the parent Griptilian's blade steel to 154CM, another good knife. Lots of good Benchmade knives.

Not to hijack the thread, but I am hijacking the thread. Everybody discuss serrations, and nobody gets hurt.

Why are combo blades (half straight, half serrations) so bad? You have a bit of curve on the front for delicate slicing, and you have serrations on the back for tougher jobs on fiberous material? This certainly seems like a compromise, but I would bet that I could cut through a seatbelt (or a tough vine, or leather) much faster with the average combo blade than I could with the average plain blade.

Note that by "average" I mean of average sharpness. Of course, you can make a blade razor-sharp, but how long will it stay that sharp once you start using it?

There are folks who take a few passes on a coarse stone to put fine serrations on a plain edge. My serrated blades (truck console for those very rare but critical situations) are fully serrated, no combo blades.

I've never had a combo blade, so I am not speaking from experience. I normally dislike any "combo." Combo usually equals compromise; you get a couple of things all rolled into one, and neither work as well as you hope. In this case, you get a short (unless you are talking a long blade here) straight blade, whick will not slice as well as a full length straight, and you get a short serrated section, which will not necessarily cut thru something like a seat belt as well as a full length serration. I have cut quite a few seatbelst in my time, with my
Spyderco Rescue (which I lost a couple of weeks ago, sniff sniff), and using that experience, I think that it would not be as easy with a short section of serration...

That's what I did, except first got the Endura, then later the Sharpmaker (from LeBaron, likely same as you). I EDC the Endura (and a Squirt). I have no idea what people here think of it, but it's a good everyday working size for me and I carry it inside the waistband. Fits perfectly for me, I'm not that big, biggest knife I could comfortably and stealthily wear. Seems a reasonably durable blade steel, it's not serrated.

Many people think of it this way: A combo blade is really one tiny plain edge and one tiny serrated edge put together. I own a few combos, so I can testify to this. I don't carry them too often, anymore.

Knife - Total cutting edge - Serrated edge - Plain edge
Native - 2 1/2" - 1 7/8" - 5/8"
Mini Grip 556 - 2 3/4" - 7/8" - 1 7/8"
Griptillian 550 - 3 1/4" - 1 1/4" - 2"

I don't know about you, but I find cutting edges under 1" to be pretty useless. Even as big as the Griptillian is, the two sections are relatively short. If I think I'm going to need a serrated blade, I carry a fully serrated blade. In that case, I usually carry a plain edge, also.

Frankly, I'm not sure why they call the Native a "Combo". For all intents and purpuses it's fully serrated.

Kevin B.

I personally don't like serrations one bit, for one thing a pain too sharpen (that’s why spyderco made there sharpener) nope still a pain. they don't do anything better then a plain blade, well maybe make a more nasty wound in an attacker and cut bread. And whittling is more difficult. As far as cutting thru seatbelts I don’t have a lot of experience with serrations , but haven’t had any problems with a plain blade that was properly sharpened. And a good quality knife sharpened properly will stay shape for quit some time.


Oops ,I think I was ranting. My apologies.

I used to be all about the combo knives - I think I thought they looked "meaner" or "cooler." I have since given away/sold off all my combo knives, save one I use as a beater.

I know that serrations are supposed to cut line better, and this may just be me (however I do cut A LOT of line), but I like my super sharp plain blades better for that task. The serrations seem to bite in and stick. The plain blade just absolutley dominates the line and slices right through it quite smoothly.

Just a thought - plain blades can cut just as good.

Matt

A blade of good steel will hold an edge for quite a while.

Also, it's not that hard to do touch ups daily or after use - what gets hard is having to totally reprofile the blade after a long span of abuse.

A strop handy during whatever cutting task you are currently engaged in should keep the blade up to par for the time being; I use the top of my leather boots.

My older Wave tool had a combo blade, and I liked having the partial serrations because the grooves worked better at times for trimming coax. Unfortunately the edge on the serrations tended to roll a lot more often when cutting stainless braid and even when cutting plated copper braid. I also tended to nick the center conductors a bit more often with the serrations because the leverage effort was too great to use the plain edge to cut through the cable properly. I've since reverted to just a plain edge. In fact, my current Wave tool has both a full plain edge blade and a full serrated blade, so compromise is no longer a factor.

The choice of an EDC knife is really up to the individual. Right now my EDC is Spyderco Endura. Outdoors, either a 5" Frost knife for utility work or a Kabar if I'm setting out for a longer trip. In either case, I always complement a belt knife with my Leatherman Wave. There is also a small SAK in my survival kit.

I EDC my SOG FLASH II. I LOVE the way it fits in my hand and I've TOTALY abused the knife over the years. Scraping steel with it, cutting wire, etc. I've never *gasp* sharpened it and the blade is pretty dinged up, scraped, etc but it keeps on working.

My benchmade (the cabelas) one is another favorite.

-Todd

That's interesting. As someone who owns and uses both, I have to make the observation that a plain edge is better for "bushcraft" but a combo edge is better for a survival situation. I make that distinction because my own personal experience suggests that on a per calorie basis a combo edge seems slightly better for cutting wet wood away from dry core wood or for making feather sticks etc. If however I need finesse, for making a figure four dead fall trap perhaps, then a straight edge is better.


For preference:
Pocket knife combo.
Fixed blade straight edged.


Before anyone bites my head off I am making a distinction here between an ordinary member of the public and highly skilled "bushcrafters" like the more prominent forum members.

I`m about to put a deposit down on A Darrel Ralph Madd Maxx II. Ità a custom, totally handmade made folder and the price is as follows.

If I couldn`t afford that It would probably be something from Strider.

Nothing wrong with a Ritter, though. It looks to be a very solid and well thought out design.

Ok, guess this is a good of place as any for my first post.(Hello everyone). I personally like to carry one of those Razor fold jobbies and the same Time as my Klien electricians knife. Camping,outing or just generally in my truck I have a SOG seal pup. I like it alot. Mainly for the comfortable handle, and sheath. Still Undecided about the combo.

Swede

I edc a combo edge that just happens to also sport a chisel ground tanto blade. Never let me down once. It's always done what i've asked of it. Sure some knife snobs ummm i mean knife purist scoff at my knife. But I don't care, I love my knife. Like its been written here before, knives are very personal things to men. Don't ever disrespects a mans choice in woman or knife.

Do you know of any good folder that has TWO locking blades only, and plain and one serrated. I dont mean any multitool but a plain folder?

This OTF automatic knife made by Microtech has a double-edge, one side is plain & the other is fully serrated. It goes for over $300.


This second knife is From Gerber. It goes for about $26.


This third one is made by Syderco, it's called the micro-dyad. It goes for about $100.