Andy, I'm trying to lurk on knives, guns, etc., <grin><br><br>We have one Bushman and two mini-Bushman knives. Bagheera has the most experience with these knives on this forum, I think. In any event...<br><br>By all means, look at these. If I was to choose one of these for a utility knife, I favor the mini Bushman. All three of these knives were quite sharp out-of-the-box, which is something I'm starting to expect from Cold Steel knives. I have read that they are not as hard as most "modern" knives, but that is not neccessarily a drawback.<br><br>Blade shape is quite functional. I have mixed feelings about the handles, but they work fine. We prefer the handles wrapped tightly with 550 cord, but it would be simpler to keep the knife clean without it. Long term I have some concerns about the standard sheaths and would consider getting a sheet of Kydex and forming a sheath for the knife (I'm trying to keep cost constraints in mind). The cost of these knives varies greatly with who one purchases them from, so it really pays to shop around. Barry may have some; he has had some other C-S stuff before.<br><br>There is a whole lot of utility in these knives but one must use them for a bit to get past the novelty of the appearance. I feel they are a bit too light for chopping wood, but then, at a certain point a hand axe beats about any normal sized knife. They split wood just fine, but a thicker-spined knife works better. As far as normal slicing tasks go, these are good knives and there is a lot to like about them, especially if you get one at a discounted price. They readily perform other tasks - with care, they make pretty handy expedient drawknives, for example.<br><br>Just to toss out another idea - there are "kitchen knives" out there that can perform a lot more tasks than simply slicing carrots. You'll know which ones when you see them... they lack sheaths, of course, but it's not hard to fashion a sheath.<br><br>I think Chris mentioned the Mora "Survival" knife - haven't seen one, but in the pictures they sure look functional to me. Lots of interesting knives at very reasonable prices at Ragweed Forge.<br><br>There are other knives to look at as well, and Chris gave some great advice IMHO. Hmmm. G_S mentioned the Cold Steel SRK. I have one and really like it - it's about 90% of what I want in a knife like that. I've been eyeing a BK&T knife lately - it costs less than an SRK and has some nifty features. The "Combat-Utility", CMBK7 is about $50 US. The "Campanion", CMBK2 at about $75 is interesting as well.<br><br>Don't know if this helps or not. Give Bagheera a shout and ask him - his scouts use the Bushman all the time, IIRC.<br><br>Regards,<br><br>Tom