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Post by trinity on Sept 24, 2021 7:52:16 GMT -8
I have a knife fetish myself, so I have a few Have you been to the State Surplus Store? I haven't been there, but I know a couple of knife enthusiasts in Austin who go there pretty regularly to buy heavily discounted knives that have been confiscated at airport security. Sounds like as far as brands go, Opinel, Gerber, and Spiderco are fairly reliable for larger knives. I would add Benchmade to that list.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Sept 24, 2021 7:52:34 GMT -8
I use the tweezers to clean out as much as possible, and sometimes rinse with water or alcohol. Real cleaning usually doesn't happen until a town day.
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Post by dayhiker on Sept 24, 2021 8:12:28 GMT -8
My Opinel carbon steel blade (I think it's an 8) is not only the only knife I need but it is a conmfort item for me. I had a bigger version when I was a kid and that is the one we took to the mountain with us. Easy to keep sharp. (it's the 7, 8 cm blade, the smallest with a lock) Did not know they made a non stainless steel pocket knife, will have to check it out. I have my mom's old kitchen knife it never gets dull, partly because it is so thin, but carbon steel holds up allot better, just need to dry off it it gets wet, or use a scrubbing pad on it to get the rust off.
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Post by dayhiker on Sept 24, 2021 8:27:47 GMT -8
That looks allot like my knife (too lazy to do a picture) by Buck 425, except the handle has some holes in it. I did weigh them the Victorinox is just under an 1oz, the buck too but a bit more, and the scissors just over 1 oz. I need to clean then knifes cheese on the Buck, rust on the V, but that must be dirt, hinges are ok. You can buy it used(picture): www.allaboutpocketknives.com/catalog/44196-buck-425New ones on Ebay (about 8 left)
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Sept 24, 2021 9:41:29 GMT -8
No, I am totally unaware of it. I'm not really impulsive enough to go to a specialized dealer or show. (I guess. Maybe.) I guess I should lay out all my knives (they're in a storage bin in the back room, except for the ones I currently use) and take a photo. But my collection of knives wouldn't be all that impressive, I think. Like my tents and other gear, they're getting old and tattered. I probably have more LED flashlights (though mostly junk now) than knives. I even have an original CMG LED (I think - acquired by Gerber and screwed up thereafter - I know because I have several. I also have about a half dozen Gerber Sonics still in the plastic retail cases - once upon a time, they were my favorite 8 lumen trail light) whose LED was so weak you had to lean over to see the ground with it. If you check the AAA battery in the case, some are corroded already. The one I picked out of the "flashlight box" had a date on it of Mar. 2012. Mine are all red-colored and were purchased from STP (Sierra Trading Post) for about $5 apiece. Some people have enough extra time in retirement to create "museums" for things like flashlights & stoves, and they're sometimes quite humorous. When you first get a CMG Sonic, the first thing that you notice is the size. It is really small, even smaller than the Infinity light you may already have. And the red one kind of looks like a dog pee-pee, but you certainly can't confuse the two when you turn the Sonic on!!! www.ledmuseum.net/sonic.htm Illustrative of my gears' age: It's been so pleasant here lately (got down to 58° last night, at least for a short time) that I slept in the back yard in my SD Zolo, which is my "at home" tent. How old are my tents getting? When I took out the Zolo fly last night, the little poly window in the front fell out. Apparently, the glue finally dried out. I never liked the window thing: to me, it just seems silly. There's also a window in my Big Sky Revolution (one of Ray Estrella's old test tents, but the review, and the tent, are so old that the review is no longer on backpackgeartest.org). So, I guess I'll silicone seal a piece of pink silnyl over the hole and add an appropriate name, like "Pinktoe" or something. So it goes. This sort of thing - history of commercial gear and whatnot - is something that someone will have to reconstruct hundreds of years from now when they finally dig down under all the piles of rubble from the cheap condos that will have been built in layers 300 stories high in suburban Austin by 2275. It won't be easy, because you can't even find documentation for the stuff we bought back in the 90s anymore. I shudder to think about construction standards in housing-deprived Austin right now: the standards from the 60s and on weren't all that great to begin with.
OTOH, no one, except for the really old, dull dudes like myself, wants to read about stuff you can't even buy anymore. The retailers don't care about something that isn't pulling in cash and, in many cases, would prefer that you didn't know that Gerber bought CMG back in the early 2000s in order to break into the miniature LED flashlight market. If you can't buy it, or you can't sell it, who cares? :^) But, back to the topic at hand: I should admit that, despite all the purchases of knives I've made (2 complete sets of Snowpeak field kitchen knives bought on clearance a decade ago; a Cold Steel SRK; multiple diving knives - I don't dive, just FYI; and at least a half dozen Kershaws, including a "boot knife", a lovely little Kershaw Chive and a Kershaw Leek in black that I just had to have when I espied it in a gunshop in a remote Texas town where I'd been looking at a titanium six-shooter during a particularly low period of fear; 2 or 3 custom cottage knives handmade from titanium with carbon steel-coated blades to maintain the edge) what I really & truly prefer for camping/bping, since I don't seem to have a need to kill buffalo or anything like that, is a little chopper anyone can find in an Asian grocery for less than $5. They most times come with a sheath to protect the blade, which is good for a stupid putz like myself. I probably have 3 or 4 of the Tomodachi paring knives. Cheap, and good enough to slice whatever you need to cut on the trail. Light too. The one on the right (Haidong Dragon, bought at the old Chinese grocery on 183) folds, but doesn't lock back. It's probably the one I prefer for convenience but, yes, you have to take care using it. And you won't be skinning many buffalo with it.
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Post by bradmacmt on Sept 24, 2021 9:49:46 GMT -8
Did not know they made a non stainless steel pocket knife, will have to check it out. From the 1800's until recently Carbon steel was the only blade material Opinel used. But of course, not all carbon or stainless is created equally. The carbon and stainless Opinel uses is pretty cheap stuff. I prefer high quality Japanese carbon for my kitchen, but for a pack knife I prefer stainless.
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Post by Lamebeaver on Sept 24, 2021 10:12:51 GMT -8
One of the things I've noticed about survivalists (not saying you're one Elli) is that they all seem to have this obsession about big honking knives. It's like they think they actually need one big enough to build a log cabin with one. For building a fire, most of us use wood that can be broken by propping up one and and stepping on it, or by whacking it against a large rock. We strive to AVOID putting ourselves in a survival situation. If I WERE in a survival situation, I would value a small axe and a bow saw over a large knife. A knife might come in handy for dressing game, but even that doesn't need to be overly large. I've dressed elk with a 5" folder and a very small bone saw like this. Oh, and get one with an orange handle. Mine is black and I've almost lost it a couple times.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Sept 24, 2021 10:18:45 GMT -8
I prefer high quality Japanese carbon for my kitchen Interesting sidenote based on your ref to "Japanese" (knives): Most of the knives we use were descended from German manufacturing style, which uses softer steel and is sharpened by creating a bevel on both sides of the blade, while classical Japanese knives use harder steel and are only beveled on one side, meaning that Japanese knives are "handed" - righthand and lefthand versions of the same knife blade style. For instance, the Snowpeak field kitchen knives I bought are "righthanded", meaning they are only beveled on the right. syosaku-japan.com/blogs/default-blog/profile-of-the-japanese-kitchen-knife-blades
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Post by dayhiker on Sept 24, 2021 10:53:47 GMT -8
Did not know they made a non stainless steel pocket knife, will have to check it out. From the 1800's until recently Carbon steel was the only blade material Opinel used. But of course, not all carbon or stainless is created equally. The carbon and stainless Opinel uses is pretty cheap stuff. I prefer high quality Japanese carbon for my kitchen, but for a pack knife I prefer stainless. ontarioknife.com/collections/old-hickory®-1These are the knives I was talking about allot cheaper than Japanese knives, I bought a few new ones, but not as sharp as the one my mom had. I think it is because it isn't as thin. I think Japanese knives are thinner than most. Anyway my mom's never needs sharpening, I did have the new ones sharpened but that only helped a little bit. Maybe I will stick with my stainless knifes for camping.
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franco
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Post by franco on Sept 24, 2021 14:10:32 GMT -8
My Opinel carbon steel blade (I think it's an 8) is not only the only knife I need but it is a conmfort item for me. I had a bigger version when I was a kid and that is the one we took to the mountain with us. Easy to keep sharp. (it's the 7, 8 cm blade, the smallest with a lock) The no.6 is the smallest with a lock. yes, you are correct. I remembered that I bought the smallest with a lock and the 8cm blade sounded right but it is in fact a 6 with a 7cm blade.
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Post by bradmacmt on Sept 24, 2021 14:20:35 GMT -8
Interesting sidenote based on your ref to "Japanese" (knives): Most of the knives we use were descended from German manufacturing style, which uses softer steel and is sharpened by creating a bevel on both sides of the blade, while classical Japanese knives use harder steel and are only beveled on one side, meaning that Japanese knives are "handed" - righthand and lefthand versions of the same knife blade style. For instance, the Snowpeak field kitchen knives I bought are "righthanded", meaning they are only beveled on the right. syosaku-japan.com/blogs/default-blog/profile-of-the-japanese-kitchen-knife-bladesWell, yes and no Gabby. In the last 50+ years most Japanese makers have offered a "50/50" grind (double bevel) like their European counterparts, rather than the traditional single bevel blades. As a non meat eater, and given the way I prep, I prefer traditional Japanese shapes. Most European styled knives are designed for "rocker" cutting with a small flat spot at the heel and a lot of "belly." I prefer Japanese shapes with a large flat spot at the rear of the blade, designed for chopping and push cutting. I also prefer fairly tall knives. All mine are handmade with "San Mai" construction. The inner carbon core steels are either Hitachi Blue no.2 or Aogami Super and are clad in soft stainless or carbon. These are mine: My wife has no patience for taking care of carbon blades, so hers are VG10 stainless (a high qulaity Japanese stainless that is harder and holds an edge longer than most of the softer European stainless steels). She also does a lot of rocker cutting, so while hers are also Japanese made (Shun), they are made with a lot of belly like most German blades. And again, 50/50 bevels, not single bevel:
Kitchen Kit - 15 knives, shears, and a steel:
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Sept 25, 2021 10:54:07 GMT -8
You have a lot more knives than me, and they are seemingly much higher quality. I tend to buy junk, and my "box of knives" shows it. I found a gigantic "Crocodile Dundee-style" Bowie knife in there last night I'd completely forgotten about. Most of that box is cheap Japanese paring knives or stuff I got because I thought it would be good enough, and light enough, to use. I like shapes that give me room under the handle for my fingers, but I'm not paying $280 for a paring knife. I'm not that much of a "collector" or "connoisseur". I also like neck knives, and I have a number of those too. TBH, that's all I'd ever need to slice cheese or jerky. :^)
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Sept 25, 2021 11:00:16 GMT -8
One of my favorites at home is a cheap sheath knife my grandfather had. It has a carbon steel blade and rough horn scales. He died in 1979 and probably hadn't used it 10 years by then, but he was the last one to sharpen it. I only use it for special things. He was a wood patternmaker, so like all of his tools, it was sharp enough to shave with.
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Post by bradmacmt on Sept 26, 2021 15:03:27 GMT -8
You have a lot more knives than me, and they are seemingly much higher quality. People "collect" all sorts of things they never use. I have friends that have all sorts of custom-made hunting knives that get used, maybe, once a year. My kitchen knives get used 360 days a year and give me real pleasure. Life's too short to own "junk"... there's nothing like a tool that's hand made and does its job to perfection. I could easily reduce all my knives down to one or two. I'd rather have one great tool than twelve mediocre ones.
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Post by bradmacmt on Sept 26, 2021 15:05:30 GMT -8
One of my favorites at home is a cheap sheath knife my grandfather had. It has a carbon steel blade and rough horn scales. He died in 1979 and probably hadn't used it 10 years by then, but he was the last one to sharpen it. I only use it for special things. He was a wood patternmaker, so like all of his tools, it was sharp enough to shave with. Nice. I get that. Here's my 92 year old fathers Marbles "Woodcraft" sheath knife w/ carbon blade, circa 1944... he gave it to me a couple years ago, and I treasure it:
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