Knife Experts; A ?

Gents,

I am considering purchasing a SOG Seal Pup Elite.
http://sogknives.com/store/E37T.html

This will be for hiking, backpacking, or any other out in the great outdoors. I have some other SOG knives and have been very satisfied. And I like the price range. Any input would be great.

Not a bad knife at all, but for the money I'd go with a Benchmade Nimravus.

It is a beauty. I have a couple of SOG knives myself, but for backpacking, love my k-bar. I found I don't like the molded handles for using the knife as a workhorse tool. This one got me across the lower half of the PCT and around the Tahoe Rim Trail. http://www.rockynational.com/4693_1283_Ka-Bar_D2_Fixed_Blade-_Serrated_w_Leather_Sheath.html

Have you checked out Rat Cutlery or Becker? They both have a pretty loyal following.

I can't say anything to the quality of SOG knives as I've never had experience with one. I can say I would not take that style of knife with me for camping/hiking etc. I would prefer a knife with no serration so it can be sharpened quickly and easily on the fly. I find taking the extra time to sharpen a serrated knife in the bush is something I'm not interested in doing. There are also other factors about that knife that don't appeal to me, the blade length being one, I'd prefer a 6" blade and although I could not find the specs for this knife in the photo it does not look to have a very thick blade, For a camping knife I like 1/4" thickness on the spine of the blade. The reason I like thick blades is that I try to bring as little as possible with me, so I don't bring a hatchet or axe with me. I feel confident in hitting the back of my knife with another log to split wood if I need to.

Thanks for the input guys. I will explore those other options. The knife does come in a non serrated version but I also cannot find the spine thickness.

***Disclaimer*** No claim to expert status

Several things already mentioned, but for camping I would prefer a little more blade and a "better" steel for chopping/batoning chores. Becker/K-Bar/RAT Cultery all have knives that should be capable of handling camp side chores at quite a savings over the SOG.

The SOG Seal Pup Elite is a fine moderately priced knife. It’s light weight which makes it popular for backpacking. As you may know the Randall made knives of Florida are considered the best handmade/mass produced knives in the world but they are costly and a comparable model would be hundreds more. On the other hand, the K-bar sheath knives have many more years of fielding testing than SOG knives and they are more reasonably priced than even the SOG.

Firstly I am more of an enthusiast, certainly not an expert.

For your stated application I would tend more towards a Bushcraft type knife. Most mentioned here have a tactical bent to them. I find that out in the woods, a long knife is more trouble than it is worth. especially if you want it to do kitchen and food prep duties. A four or 5 inch blade is a good size. I tend to prefer a 4 inch blade. Try a search for a bushcraft style knife and you will find many. the Brits are fond of one known as a Woodlore design I believe designed at least in part by Ray Mears.
Bark River makes their version in many iterations and I had Eddie White make one for me. Many swear by the Grohmann Boat knife for camp duty.

MotoMike, that knife in the second photo is a real beauty!

I agree, in the kitchen area of the campsite, weilding a shorter blade is more efficient at times. I don't think the smaller knife blade is the equal of the longer blades when it comes to heavier chopping, and if necessary batoning. If I were to carry just a single blade, I would gravitate toward the larger blade, and accept that I might have to take my time during food prep. I guess I always carried more than one knife; match the tool to the chore. The knives I thought of were not what I would describe as tactical.

Becker Companion (a shorter blade than the others)
Ka-Bar Camp Knife
Ka-Bar Kukri Machete
RAT Cutlery RC-4 - RC-6 series

boboakalfb said:

Have you checked out Rat Cutlery or Becker? They both have a pretty loyal following.

Click to expand...

+1 on these 2, and Becker are made by Kabar now.

For backpacking I prefer carbon steel (since I can't afford INFI).

In the same family, check Ranger knives (now made by Ontario, who used to do Rat knives).

Also, I would not go for a combo edge, get a good fixed blade AND a good SAK (the Trekker is popular). With the Ranger sheath, there's a pocket for a multitool or SAK


EDIT: I just saw someone suggested Bark River knives. Those are great too, more old style but excellent knives. I really want an Aurora, or the shorter Northstar.

I don't consider myself an expert, but in a previous life spent a fair bit of time in the woods.

I think basic is better - I prefer a round or oval handle so that I can change my grip easily and a plain edge for ease of sharpening.

It's hard to suggest a knife without knowing your parameters - I assume you're willing to spend over $100, so there's lots of stuff for you out there. The real issue is what you want to do with it - are you going to do more chopping down trees than food prep or vice versa.

In addition to the other knives folks are recommending, I really suggest you take a look at Scrapyard knives - they're no-frills knives that are made by the same folks who make the Busse knives. Also, Joel, who knows his knives thinks very highly of and I'd certainly consider one of them if I were looking for a good bushcraft knife that wouldn't break the bank.

http://www.scrapyardknives.com/knives.htm

Mr. Clean said:

MotoMike, that knife in the second photo is a real beauty!


Becker Companion (a shorter blade than the others)
Ka-Bar Camp Knife
Ka-Bar Kukri Machete
RAT Cutlery RC-4 - RC-6 series

Click to expand...

Thanks Mr. C

I specified Bushcraft type duty, 5/32 instead of 1/8. I could have gotten by with 1/8 as I don't routinely do battoning. If you look at the countless Buscraft videos you will see plenty of battoning with knives of this size. I know what you mean. I guess I usually have a few knives with me when camping. and I usually have my Wetterlings camp axe and a saw with me to handle the heavier chopping and cutting duties. Bush whacking is where the long knives excell, and I do as little of that as I can.

Suzuki said:

I don't consider myself an expert, but in a previous life spent a fair bit of time in the woods.

I think basic is better - I prefer a round or oval handle so that I can change my grip easily and a plain edge for ease of sharpening.

It's hard to suggest a knife without knowing your parameters - I assume you're willing to spend over $100, so there's lots of stuff for you out there. The real issue is what you want to do with it - are you going to do more chopping down trees than food prep or vice versa.

In addition to the other knives folks are recommending, I really suggest you take a look at Scrapyard knives - they're no-frills knives that are made by the same folks who make the Busse knives. Also, Joel, who knows his knives thinks very highly of and I'd certainly consider one of them if I were looking for a good bushcraft knife that wouldn't break the bank.

http://www.scrapyardknives.com/knives.htm

Click to expand...

On other forums, people often ask if they should get a Scrapyard or a Ranger, answer usually is: If you prefer micarta go for the Ranger, if you prefer respirene-c (more rubber like), go for SY.

MotoMike said:

Thanks Mr. C

I specified Bushcraft type duty, 5/32 instead of 1/8. I could have gotten by with 1/8 as I don't routinely do battoning. If you look at the countless Buscraft videos you will see plenty of battoning with knives of this size. I know what you mean. I guess I usually have a few knives with me when camping. and I usually have my Wetterlings camp axe and a saw with me to handle the heavier chopping and cutting duties. Bush whacking is where the long knives excell, and I do as little of that as I can.

Click to expand...

I agree. In my later years I became more aware of trying the old "small footprint" thing, and the camping sites we chose didn't really need a lot of clearing; at the most cutting down tall grasses (How was that for a sentence? ). My thought is a campfire is the best part of camping, and that generally means there there will be some chopping/splitting to get your fire started. Also as I got older, I got more interested in carrying less rather than more, so hatchets/saws etc. were reserved for those "truck" campouts.

I would agree with those that said the K-bar. The only two knives I've used on hikes, climbs, field operations, and deployments have been a K-bar and a Gerber automatic Drop-point. Neither have let me down, and as you could imagine, I use them for just about everything include outdoorsmen type activites. It also helps that both are easy to carry and keep on you, as opposed to a grass-cutting samurai sword or a large machete, which doesn't keep things as tactical in a grab-n-go scenario. Hope this helps. I do, however, recommend that if you're going with a Ka-bar, get the model with the tactical rubber handle, not the wood.

I hope it's cool to link to other forums

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=619997

Dan's Bushcraft would be great for your needs and is a MUCH better knife at the same price point as the SOG.

Get on the list

You might also want to take a look at his website
http://www.kosterknives.com/home.htm

I am far from an expert, but have been doing research in the area of knives for camping. I was going to recommend you google "bushcraft knife" as well. The mainstay appears to be the Mora knife http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html and they are dirt cheap. My understanding is that many outdoors skill schools provide these knives for their students.

Another knife you see duplicated often onthe high end is called a Nessmuk knife" named after a famous outdoorsman who loved his knife and provided a picture of his kit. I don't think it was ever a mass production design. his was handmade. I think most copies are custom.

Nessmuk knife. http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/racquette/nessmukbydale.html

I have been toying with getting a Mora or Puukku, but I have an old Cattarugus 225Q I would like to fix up a bit as well. This is NOT mine: http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/791496/ I got mine for about $25 in a junk shop. The pomell needs to be tightened and the blade is functional, but not pretty. Unfortunately the original sheath was badly rotten. I'm not a collector though. I thought from what I had read about it and about bushcraft knives, it might make a good one due to the blade thickness.

EDIT: HEY! I just looked at the Scrapyard knife page and the first picture looks like a nice Nessmuk repro! Beauty! Wich I had a spare C note.

What an awesome name for a knife! As a Canadian, I think I should have a seal pup knife. Now if only there was a baseball bat called the 'seal pup'.. One with a nail in it...

Oohhh, you mean THAT kind of SEAL. Now I geddit.

MotoMike, I cannot re-visit this thread w/o scrolling to the picture of your custom. Why not make me just that much more miserable and give some specifics on the knife.

...as well as...

How long have you had it? Is it a user or just eye candy for me?