SOG Force

03/04/2014 by Miika

-Price Paid: $90.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Been searching for a new survival knife for a while and decided to give Force a try. As Cold Steel Srk my reference knife I compare all survival knives for it.

SOG Force is very much like SRK: Blade length is identical, total length difference is about 1cm but weight wise Force is about 50g heavier making it more efficient when chopping.

Blade is roughly 1mm wider so it should withstand prying better. The shape of the blade looks more sleek even they are almost identical.

But... My problem with the knife is the glass inforced nylon with rather rough surface. With bare hands you just can't work with the knife longer periods without giving your palm a rest. Ergonomically SRK beats Force hands down.

On the plus side Force comes with a nylon sheath with a small pocket you can stash a fire starter / file.

Despite the rough handle I recommend this knife for survival / outdoor use.

Spartan Blades Enyo

03/03/2014 by Miika

-Price Paid: $80.00
-Used for Self Defense
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

I've always admired Spartan Blades but only recently I decided to purchase the Enyo neck knife.
Enyo is one piece of sturdy metal that's forged into a small knife. It comes with a kydex neck seath (ball chain) and a small lanyard.
Knife is surprisingly heavy and thick so it should be able to take some serious abuse. Even it's just one single piece of metal with no handle material it feels quite comfortable to hold even when working on hard wood. Enyo is well balanced so you could use it as a throwing knife (expensive one).
The kydex sheath is very basic and ugly piece of work and you shouldn't try yanking the knife out of it while carrying it around your neck with that ball chain. The chain will snap because the knife is tightly fitted in the sheath. With some modifications to the sheath, this would make an excellent boot knife.

TOPS Knives Cuma Evolution

03/03/2014 by Miika

-Price Paid: $100.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Ever since I saw this knife on a blade magazine I decided to get it. Knife feels good in hand, the roughly sanded micarta handle sits very well in hand; finger grooves, not slippery, not too rough to touch.
Weight of the knife for me is pretty much dead on right. 10.5oz of steel feels solid and well balanced. Blade looks like it's double edged, but the top side of the blade is dull. The top side is still quite thin so you could easily sharpen it or even make serrations (I wouldn't recommend).
This knife is a fighting knife, but it's also pretty good in outdoorsy use. Tho for hacking thicker wood this knife is not very useful because of the shortish blade. But if you don't plan to build a shelter while in the shelter, this knife is very good all-around-knife.
For me a nylon sheath is the only way to go. Cuma comes with MOLLE compatible sheath which has a small pocket for a firestarter/file. I prefer nylon sheaths because they are lighter, easier to customize and usually look better.

Spyderco Delica 4 Emerson Opener Trainer

03/02/2014 by Bob Damon

-Price Paid: $34.00
-Used for Other
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Nice training knife, it simulates the feel and weight if the Delica. Also a safe way to practice using the "wave" feature. A good training blade to train as a generic folder. One caution, while practicing take-away drills you can catch your hand on the wave.

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Benchmade 556 Mini Griptilian

02/26/2014 by Michael Bailey

-Price Paid: $28.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I got mine on sale at a hardware store and it's a pretty good knife. It has a blade, it cuts, I don't know what else you need a knife for. It handles rope, wire, being a screwdriver and I've opened cans with it. I don't like the shape and the knife has a cheap feel to it, but it does the job and that's all you can ask. It's easy to hold when it's raining and I need to cut the reins so a runaway horse could get loose from some bushes and I've used it for a hammer a few times. So far it's lasted about three years, but there are cracks and breaks out of the plastic stuff on the handle from drops. If it had better uality materials on the handle than plastic I would grade the knife a better grade. Overall not too bad of a knife for small stuff.

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KaBar Becker Combat Bowie

02/24/2014 by Aaron

-Price Paid: $75.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

The Ka-bar Becker BK9 is one of the greatest large blades I have ever got my hands on. The knife has amazing ergos for chopping and can process wood like a champion. The price is right at around $80 and the overall design and quality puts it at the head of the pack when we are talking about large blades.

SOG Twitch II

02/24/2014 by Aaron

-Price Paid: $30.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

The SOG Twitch II is a very solid little EDC blade. The blade shape combined with the AUS-8 steel make it ideal for cutting rope, opening packages, and cutting cardboard. The handle fits the hand well and the open assist is a nice added feature. With a good price point of around $30 and several blade design option, the Twitch II is a good choice for a little EDC knife.

Buck Family Traditions Adrenaline

02/21/2014 by Miika

-Price Paid: $50.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

This knife looks a whole lot better in the pictures but when I got a hold of it the experience was a bit of a let down.
I don't like handling a knife that's very light and this one tips the scale to 5.5 oz making it just a tad too light for my taste. Lightness makes a knife feel cheap and flimsy.
Second thing I'm not very excited is the handle. It's a tad soft rubbery -like material with coarse parts but you still can't take a good solid grip on it. Good thing about the handle is that it has additional support when you are holding it in your fist blade down (right handed) making it able to add more penetration power.
The shape of the blade was the main reason I bought this one. That little curve makes it quite effective when whittling. There are some notching on the top of the blade right in front of the handle where you can rest your thumb for more accurate work or using that for notching (used in traps).
If I were a carpenter, this would be my choice of a knife, but I wouldn't rely solely on this when roaming through the woods as it lacks hacking power.

Kershaw Thermite

02/20/2014 by FireMedic

-Price Paid: $35.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I've only had this knife for a couple of weeks, but it has handled every task i have put it up to so far. It holds an edge for a decent amount of time for the quality of the knife. I like the deep carry pocket clip that kershaw used on the thermite very much, and the knife fits well in your hand (I wear a medium glove size). Overall a great tool for the price. I would recommend this knife to anyone interested in a hinderer, but beware, it will have you looking at more expensive hinderer knives!

Leatherman Style PS

02/19/2014 by Miika

-Price Paid: $20.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

I got this just because it looks so cute (and I really like Skeletool/Freestyle looks). The main idea again are the pliers with small (but good) scissors and a file/flat screwdriver.
For me this tool was very good except it was missing a vital tool: the blade. I really wonder why Leatherman decided to opt out an important part of an multitool. For me this had been a deal breaker unless I already had planned ahead and as soon as I got the tool, I used a grinder to sharpen the file part on one side to have some cutting power (mostly cardboard boxes and tapes holding them fast).

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Leatherman Freestyle

02/19/2014 by Miika

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

Freestyle is a bit lighter version than Skeletool and only has two tools, half serrated blade and pliers.
This is a VERY basic tool for ocassional use when you might need either pliers or a knife. Its quite affordable but I'd still recommend Skeletool over this as it has bit driver and a hook you can easily attach it to your belt/bag.
Id say Freestyle is more like a novelty item than a real multitool.

KaBar Becker BK5 Magnum Camp

02/19/2014 by Aaron

-Price Paid: $75.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

If you are looking for a large camp knife that can slice like a samurai sword this is it. The BK5 has great reach and the blade geometry allows it to slice through any type of material you through at it. My only complaint is with the unsharpened swedge on the back of the spine hinders the batoning and knee cut ability. Overall a great camp knife for fire making, game processing, and light chopping.