Longtime readers know that Uncle Joel is trapped in a lifelong search for the perfect EDC knife. I’ve gone through numerous candidates in the past ten years…
The Camillus AF knife: Good size, good design except for that dumb sawblade, comically bad steel…
The UWK: Good steel, too stupid big
The Gerber Freeman: Size just right, won’t stay sharp
The Schrade LB7: Good steel, good size, but dammit I want a fixed blade.
Look, all I’m asking for is perfection. Is that so hard?
And now it’s happening again. I went to the local (and very sad, alas) gun show this afternoon, and who should I encounter but Darrel the Former Cop* who had a table exhibiting his custom knives.
I’ve seen DtFC’s knives before and left politely unimpressed. But that was three years ago and I have to say, the man’s been practicing. He had some beautiful art knives, but I couldn’t care less about art knives; they could be made from tinfoil for all I know. He also had some very serviceable-looking belt knives, a couple of which made this old hermit’s heart go pitty-pat, and so I asked him: “Look, talk to me frankly. Here’s this knife I have with me right here (presents the Schrade) and I like the steel because it holds an edge very well, but I really like a fixed-blade. Can you make me a knife that will hold an edge like this Schrade? Because I would save my nickels and buy one of those from you.”
And he insisted that he could, and so I may have promised to do something expensively dumb: I told him as soon as I had this eye doctor thing out of the way, I would come see him and we would plan my custom knife. It will be pretty much a stock version of one he can already produce except the tang needs to be a little longer with plainer grip scales. Plus he has to make a sheath, which he admits he hates to do though he does it quite well.
This could turn out ridiculously expensive for a guy who has to schedule 7-gallon propane purchases, and if it doesn’t result in the perfect knife I’m going to feel extremely stupid.
But…if I really, finally, found the perfect knife…
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*Who looks great, by the way. Last I saw him except for fleeting hi/by’s he appeared to be at death’s door, but he has apparently made a full recovery from his heart attack and various debilitating back surgeries.
I gotta admit, this knife (http://www.atlantacutlery.com/p-1011-german-wwii-trench-knife.aspx) appeals to me for some reason. It looks no-nonsense and simple. I have no idea how well it is made or anything like that, but if I could get a custom knife, it would probably be along those lines.
Karl and Ian released a video early this year about WWI trench melee weapons, including some of the more common knives which tended to be long and skinny like that to get through body armor. I don’t have the bandwidth to watch it again at this time but as I recall the Germans pretty much pioneered all sorts of atavistic little horrors including sharpened spades.
Just get a Mora knife and make your own sheath for it. https://www.amazon.com/Morakniv-Companion-Outdoor-Military-4-1-Inch/dp/B004TNWD40
I’ve been feeling the knife bug myself lately. I think it must be contagious, transmitted by blog. Considering the number of knives I own, it’s pretty silly to want another, but I too am feeling the lack of a good fixed-blade knife, though I do already own a few. But none of them quite hit the spot. So I suppose I’m still sort of looking for that Goldilocks fixed-blade as well. In the mean time, such things as the Kershaw Barge and the DPX HEST knives call out to me.
I get the purpose behind that WWII short poignard, but even the Fairbairn-Sykes has never appealed to me. I do have a few examples of the Applegate-Fairbairn, and I wouldn’t mind getting more of those too. Hah. MOAR KNIVES! 🙂
I have a pattern-welded blade I got at a Renaissance Fair years ago. I ought to get busy on putting a handle on it. That’d mean getting low-temp silver solder. Always something.
Joel, I have a suggestion for you how about looking on eBay for a Marble Arms knife. something like the Sport99 I think would be just the thing for you. I have one and it’s a great knife holds an edge and is a carbon steel blade so it’s very easy to sharpen. If you can find one that hasn’t been altered the blade was designed to be sharpend using a strop. I of course changed the angle of my edge because I use mine for breaking down animals and the fine edge wasn’t well suited to that. one thing to make sure of is to get one that was made prior to the Chinese take over of the company a few years ago.
Also as Tweell said there is always a Mora knife, they are good, cheap and reliable though the sheath does suck. You can get them with carbon or stainless steel blades, with or without a fire starter. Prices generally run between $15 and $150 (don’t be afraid of the cheap ones)
Joel I have to say that Eric and Tweel are spot on with his description of the Mora knife. As far as the terrible sheath goes, you have the tools and knowledge all you would need is a little leather and you could make one.
I have to defend the Camillus AF knife a little. The saw teeth are for escaping from a crashed airframe. You know hacking your way out of .020″- .040″ aluminum. The teeth allow you to rip sheet metal after the thick-ass blade punches a starting hole. Not for sawing that wood stuff.
Yeah, I know. It’s probably fine for a use-once emergency knife, which is what it was designed to be. I spent too many years trying to use it as a general utility knife, and when I finally threw it over my bitterness was multiplied. Kind of like a divorce after a bad marriage that went on too long, I guess…
I agree with the suggestion of a Mora. And if you absolutely want to spend a bit more coin and get a knife you’ll want to carry forever I would recommend a Helle.
http://www.dryadbows.com/helleknives/index.htm
I think Benchmade and Zero Tolerance make some great EDC knives, but of course, it all comes down to personal preference and how we plan to use the knife.
Check out the Buck 103 Skinner. Moras are very good for the money and are crazy light to carry.
David I’ve got a Benchmade folder I love immoderately, and it was my EDC for the better part of eight years. I’ve still got it right here in this drawer, and when I get dressed to go to the big town it comes along. But the action doesn’t do well with dirt. I don’t know anything about Benchmade fixed-blades except that they’re probably out of my price range.
And I’m probably being unreasonable but I’m prejudiced against Moras after what amounts to a childhood trauma. One of the first knives I ever bought myself was a mora style, and it turned out to be the single most shoddy knife I’ve ever attempted to use. Literally fell apart in my hand; it had virtually no tang and the grip was made of something like cork. Granted that was a boy’s foolish purchase, but I swear whenever I look at a picture of a traditional Mora on Amazon I can still feel it flexing just before it broke.