Knife Recommendations

I live in the Pacific Northwest and do plenty of shoulder season camping. So there's lots of wood and lots of moisture everywhere I hike in the spring and fall. In these circumstances, carrying a knife capable of batoning wood is key to my enjoyment of my nights on these trips.

The Ka-Bar BK14 "eskabar" knife is perfect for these purposes. It's a collaboration between ESEE and Ka-Bar to produce a knife with a handle like the Izula but the blade of the BK11 "becker necker". With a sheath, the thing weighs 4oz but it's a tank of a knife. I use it for food prep, gutting fish, and batoning.

Mike if you don't have any luck finding the appropriate compounds (there are a *ton* of options, some simpler than others), shoot me a message and I'll send you some.

I only use green chrome buffing compound personally for stropping, but I've got huge blocks on hand. It has a very light cut and high polish, I use it charged in my cork belts on my grinder for final edge work on knives I make.

You can probably find suitable stuff from a jeweler, but you need something with a little "cut" to it. Red rouge isn't really effective, but a lot of platinum compounds will work great.

Personally though, I find the field solution of a strip of 2×8 blue foam and 3 pieces of high grit paper to be the lightest best option. I don't bother with a strop in that case, a strip of wet/dry automotive paper or equivalent, in 1200 grit, 1500 grit, and 2000 grit will serve you well, and may honestly be overkill. You can probably do just fine with 1 or 2, you've just got to figure out at what point you need to touch it up with the paper for it to be optimal.

You can even glue one grit to each side, maybe like 550grit and 1200grit would keep your knife working hard but be capable of taking out some big nicks if needed.

One thing though, I recommend buying high quality paper, otherwise it'll stop cutting after a few swipes and be useless. I like Rhynowet sheets, but 3M or something like that you can buy retail and is reasonably good. AO paper breaks down real fast when used with metal in fine grits though, so SiC is recommendable in higher grits from my experience.

Thanks Mike and Stephen I'm going to have to give this a try.

I've been carrying a Cold Steel Roach Belly ($16.00 new) as a fixed blade and a Buck Summit ($10 off of eBay as TSA confiscated knife) as a folder. I carry both and usually at least one more.
If you end up in a survival situation, a knife (any knife) is going to be the most helpful thing you have along.

OP, what is it that you need the knife for?

There is no definite right or wrong, rather just an issue of preference. Those who carry knives as a hobby usually own a lot of them due to trial and error of figuring out what they really like.

Fixed blades are nice but it really depends on what you need it for. For everyday carry (EDC), I'd think a folding knife is easier to deal with since it's more portable, it's not necessarily weaker than a fixed blade if made well, just have to be careful of the line lock which keeps it secured when in use. If you intend on using it a lot, you don't have to spend big bucks on one, just look for something that's easy to maintain and something you won't freak out on if you accidentally damage it. Sheath is not an issue since the handle is the sheath unless you want to keep in a case on your belt.

Fixed blades IMO are better for specific use like trail hiking, camping but if you EDC, you need to think about the sheath. It's better for heavier duty work I think but depending on your location, it may not be feasible to carry a fixed blade around in public.

I'm not a fan of serrations but if you simply want a knife to show off to friends, they do make the blade look less boring but in practical use, I don't care for them.

Personally folding knives and many mini fixed blades are really cool but I find that for general use, something like a multi-tool works better for EDC like a Leatherman with the tools you intend on using. I carry a Leatherman Charge Ti multi-tool and it's built like a tank.

Hope you find what you're looking for. Just don't think too much about spending too much on your first pocket/portable knife.

Thanks for the kind offer, Javan, but i should be ok. I've been looking at UK knife forums, and have found a few compounds that folk use over here.

Some good info there James, and I'd like to comment on a couple of things.

1) Another (and I think the major) detractor for serrations is also the inability of most home sharpening setups to maintain them. You need special sharpening rods to sharpen those serrations, and they don't really serve much significant function, unless you often let your knife get dull and have to resort to sawing at a rope instead of cutting it.

2) One thing to consider regarding the EDC ability of a knife are your local laws about concealed carry of a knife. For instance, North Carolina where I now reside, allows no fixed blade concealed carry, and only very limited *legal* carry of a small folder. Open carry is completely legal, and I've strolled around town with some of my prized Khukri collection pieces on my hip a number of times here. Even with a concealed weapon's permit in my state, you can't carry a concealed knife. Thus, I no longer carry my necker around my neck, which is probably good because I think it was giving me back pains.

So, as James mentioned, it's really important to decide what you need the knife to do, what situations you'll be using it in, and what other variables like legalities might factor in.

Also, some people just love folders, and some people don't. I'm in the don't camp. Once I have the knife in my hand, I want it ready to go to task. That's just my preference, but I like simplicity.