Seems like to most of us who enjoy this lifestyle you just can't have too many knives, but some of us could go broke trying to keep up with all the new custom or semi-production blades that are coming out, so I thought I share some of my thoughts on a few inexpensive mass produced knives that I've played with lately that have turned out to be very useful tools, and worth the money.
In no particular order, the Gerber Profile costs about $20.00 at Walmart, the knife is quite comfortable to use, is easy to sharpen and keeps a good edge, it's tough enough to baton through 2" thick fire wood, yet nimble enough
for food prep, cleaning and skinning small game and fish, and good at carving fire sets or tent stakes, the sheath sucks, but it works.
Another Gerber that's gotten a bad rap over the last couple of years is the Bear Gryll's Ultimate Survival Knife, like a few others who have actually put the knife through some tough testing I've found it to be a very good all around entry level plus Survival/bushcraft knife, while I don't care for the serrations on the blade, they don't stop the knife from being functional, the sheath is a good design, I don't care for the belt loop and have modified mine with a leather belt loop that solved the problem, the sheath has good retention, comes with a good field sharpening steel and a built in Ferro-rod for fire making, and a marginal emergency whistle.
The blade seems to be made of the same steel as the Profile model, holds a good edge and is easy to sharpen, it's not too small for wood prep, nor too big for fine carving tasks, and the knifes pommel can be used as a light duty hammer, the handle is comfortable and grippy, for about $45.00 dollars in most stores it's a pretty good deal.
For those who are looking for a smaller and lighter knife, Buck is marketing what they called their Pac-lite knife, it comes in two sizes, they are skeleton styled knives somewhat in the style of the Becker BK-14, I have the bigger of the two (model 314), it has a good sized skinning styled blade for the size of the knife, comes out of the box sharp, holds a good edge and sharpen easily, the handle begs to be wrapped with para-cord, I did mine and it really helps the grip, like most inexpensive knives of that type the sheath in marginal at best, I made a leather sheath for mine, It's a great little knife for a neckker or for a minimalist type bushcrafter.
Last but most used lately is my Becker BK-2, not exactly in the cheap knives list, but a lot of knife for the $55.00 dollars that many places are selling it for, it's about as close as one can get to a one knife option in a small
fairly short package, for it's size it's a real beast and takes a real beating and keeps on giving.
More later.