Camping knife advice sought

I would appreciate any recommendations for a small general purpose camp knife.Nothing over 5" to be used for whittling and general use. It could be fixed or folding blade but should have a comfortable handle.budget $60 max but prefer less.
Thanks in advance Ian

The most comfortable handle I've felt was on a Gerber Gator Drop Point (don't care for the clip point). It has a (full) flat ground 154CM (used to be ATS-34) blade, and the handle is very ergonomic and it's a pretty fair price. They're at Knifecenter for $43.95 but you may be able to find them cheaper elsewhere. I think this is probably one of the most useful blade shapes/styles.

the gator grip is very non slip. anything from the knife case in walmart, oshmans, academy or the like should do.

There are about 3 million and 3 knives that fit that description

For years, the "standard" would have been the Buck 110 "folding Hunter" ($40.99) for a folder, or the buck 102 ($39.99) - Both are VERY nice knifes that few mention any more.

There are a stack of knives made by CRKT that would fit the bill, either fixed or folders - heck, at the price of the CRKT stuff, you could get a nice folder, AND a small fixed blade, and still be in your budget!

Heck, for that matter, one of the BEST camp knives out there is still the classic "Boy Scout" pattern

Don't take me wrong - I LIKE a lot of the modern designs, and carry one every day, but the classics are classic because they work

Your request is in a sweet spot RE knives - I think everyone makes a sub 5" folder or straight blade. Beyond that it's your choice of budget and style. I probably have 15 or 20 knives that fit your price description point sitting around the house, and have 1 4.5" straight blade that would cost well over $600 to replace ($150 for the knife, $450+, with a multi year wait for the engraving)

For a general camp knife I think the best production knife for a general purpose use is the Spyderco Fred Perrin fixed blade. It is a full flat ground blade of VG10 steel and a injection molded handle with kraton rubber inserts and a pronounced choil, that is excellent for food prep and survival and also defense, a very good balance. It was devised by a former French Commando and survival expert who developed an extremely controversial self-defense program for the French military that was eventually discontinued because the liberal top brass thought it was "too effective". The man himself is a very balanced character who loves his cats and his knives and continues to train military and police and also make and review knives.

I my book a fixed blade knife is always preferable to a folder for food prep and general campcraft for three reasons. A) exceptional strength B)better useable length and belly to the blade. C)ease of cleaning (try to clean a folder after cleaning a fish and you'll see what I mean). I would carry a folder or multitool anyhow (probably my Victorinox German Army folder or another SAK or my Kershaw multitool) but the fixed blade is indespensible. The Perrin fixed is almost like a chef's knife on steroids with the addition of a swedge on the spine and a larger blade thickness for strength and utility and a defensive cross-role.

Perrin fixed blade

Specs on Perrin

Fred's home site and reviews

Enjoy!

Later,
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For a cheap knife the Frosts of Sweden Mora pattern plastic handled knife (model 760) can't be beat (do not confuse with the junk "Frost Cutlery" knives from the US). It's about 15 bucks, your choice of stainless or carbon steel, uses a Scandinavian edge grind that's extremely easy to freehand sharpen, and the stainless version is an extremely corrosion resistant steel that the Swedes like to use for ice fishing.

Here's someone selling it for $10.95:

http://www.swedishknives.com/760craft.htm

I don't know what happened to mine but it was a good utility knife til I lost it.

Nicer but more expensive is the A. G. Russell Deer Hunter:

http://www.agrussell.com/agrussell/agdh-8a.html

I'll probably get one of those sometime. Nice thin blade excellent for slicing, not intended for prying your engine block apart. You weren't going to do that while camping anyway.

[ QUOTE ]
KC2IXE said:
For years, the "standard" would have been the Buck 110 "folding Hunter" ($40.99) for a folder, or the buck 102 ($39.99) - Both are VERY nice knifes that few mention any more.


[/ QUOTE ]

I have the Buck 110, my first "Real" knife. Of the several knives I have, it seems Buck delivers the sharpest factory edge [Buck factory edge is noticeably sharper than much more expensive Benchmade and Chris Reeve Sebenza]. If you want a relatively inexpensive folder, it is a great knife. It is a bit large for EDC.

Thanks everybody for responding. I'm a bit clueless about knives and knew I would get some good feedback here. I wil check out all the knives mentioned. I think stainless would probably be a goood choice as here in the UK camp sites are usually damp or worse. As I will be visiting the US later this year (can't wait) I may buy a knife then and post it home. Any good site reccomendations where I can learn about the different steels etc.
Thanks Ian

I would highly recommend heading over to BladeForums or KnifeForums to find out more about knife steels. There is a wealth of information there on both sites.

Very interesting string. There's a theme here: thinner, high-performance cutters, rather than huge thick-edge military-style knives. I agree strongly that this is what you should be looking at. Here's my fave: http://www.agrussell.com/agrussell/agdh-8a.html

AG Russell Deerhunter. It's available in 8A, where it's inexpensive and sharpens up easily. Also available in VG-10 and D-2, both more expensive but higher performance.

The blade is whisper-thin, for super high performance cutting. Comfortable handle, great all-around blade shape, swinger sheath makes it easy to clip to your belt loop or your pack or whatever. Works fantastic for food prep, and let's face it, food prep will constitute most of your knife use, most likely. Great for whittling, etc.

Joe

Don't forget the SAK (Swiss Army Knife) -
this model may have the functions to suit camping - and still fits in the pocket:

Victorinox camper (#53301) (low priced at about $18)
size:91 mm | 3 1/2 inch
Large blade
Small blade
Can opener with small screwdriver
Bottle opener with large screwdriver & wire stripper
Wood saw
Reamer with sewing eye
Corkscrew
Toothpick
Tweezers
Key ring

Or this very popular model:
Victorinox huntsman (# 53201) (low priced at about $24)

adds scissors to above

If these are too small then there are the larger SAKs with locking main blade -
Victorinox Rucksack (low priced at about $21)


and even a one handed version -
Victorinox One Handed Trailmaster (low priced at under $30):

woodytom I would be very wary of carrying any knife with a fixed or locking blade in the UK. If Mr Plod finds you with either outside of your own property you could have trouble. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif A non locking Swiss Army Knife is your best bet. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

Gotta second the vote on having a Swiss Army Knife (SAK). It delivers quality and great utility for a great value. If I could only pick one knife for camping an woods activity it would be a SAK. You can select the model that best suits your needs.

I find normal SAK's are just too small for camping. Try making a sandwich with one, you have to attack the bread from all 4 sides. The 4" lockblade SAK sounds about right. You can get an Opinel about the same size and nobody will confuse it with a weapon, but they tend to get hard to operate after a while (the wood handle swells up).

The UK situation sounds ridiculous. What happens if you take an ordinary kitchen paring knife with a cardboard protector sleeve on the blade? And if you buy a kitchen knife at the store, how are you supposed to get it home?

BTW, you can think of the AGDH as a nice 4" paring knife with a cleverly designed very safe sheath, if that helps.

The UK knife situation is pretty weired. After some nasty knife attacks they tightened the laws on carrying knives. I believe that if you can justify a good reason for having the knife you are ok. If you are a diver and have a large knife strapped to your leg fine but dont carry it into a bar in the evening.Samll folders are generally ok and in my oppinion a small fixed blade while camping can be justified.
At the same time it is quite legal to sell a knife designed only to cause maximum damage to a person but you can't carry it.

I got one of the Frost knives paulr mentions from SMKW for $8-9 while ordering some other stuff. Just wondered what you could get for less than $10. (most of mine are $50+) I was amazed what a great knife it is. Takes & holds an edge very well. It is probably my 2nd most used kitchen knife. And it even came with a good holder.

I doubt you could get in much trouble for transporting a fixed blade knife inside a closed ruck to a campsite though.

Later,
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