Knives, Swords, and Sharpened Steel

Here are a few historical bayonets.  I'll share a little about each of them.

Pete,
Very nice collection. And background as well on everything. Thanks.

Phil

I really fell in love with the burl walnut handle and the full tang. It's a nice, heavy blade and took a wicked edge once I got all the factory grind marks out of it.

Chris,
This is a great topic and thread. That Shrade is flat out beautiful.


I picked this up on Saturday. Cheap Chinese survival knife. Handle is aluminum. Unscrew the butt and there is a compass. Inside the handle is a container of survival gear. Matches, fishing line and hooks, one bandaid, a scapel blade, a needle and suture thread.
I will keep it in my car for these New England winters. That's the rational for purchasing it. Really the boy in me thought it was cool. My daughter was with me and she just groaned.

My cheap Chinese survival knife doesn;t even have a handle that opens to reveal a "kit".

It does have a WICKED saw-back, and a great little window-breaker pommel, though, so I won;t complain...

Here are my every day carries. A Benchmade Mini-Griptilian and my Grandfather's old Leatherman. The knife on it has seen better days and it's not very comfortable to use, but I love it because it's like carrying a part of him with me every day. He engraved his name on it with a Dremel.



Here's a closer shot of the Benchmade. It's my favorite pocket knife I've ever had.

It's really tough to beat a Benchmade. They are fantastic. I don't have any, but I would really like to get my hands on one...or two...

That's neat that you have that connection with your Grandfather. I've never enjoyed that kind of connection with my heritage. Thanks for sharing, wyze0ne!

Took delivery of my first gyuto today. This thing looks great and feels great in the hands, light and thin. It's a blue super carbon core with stainless cladding.


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I decided to lay out all my fixed blades and get a shot today:


L to R:
Cheap Chinese "survival" knife; Frost Cutlery tanto; Ka-Bar Warthog; Buck Pathfinder; Schrade Old Timer; Buck Paklite Skinner; CRKT Drumfire

The cheap Chinese blade and the Frost tanto both serve duty in the house. I don't really trust either of them to be out in the field, but they are both capable of taking a nice edge that will serve a purpose in an emergency.

The Old Timer is my EDC of choice. I love the look of the burl wood handle and it feels very solid in my hand. This thing takes a wicked edge.

The Ka-Bar is a beast. Weighs just over a pound, all in the belly of the blade. It is extremely solid in hand. THIS is the first blade I strap on when I'm going out for a hike through the desert.

The Paklite is my favorite field backup. I wrapped the handle in a nice length of 550 paracord, and it fits really nice in the small of my back when the Warthog is strapped on my side. If I could only have 2 knives in my life, it would be these 2.

The CRKT has a nice molded sheath and neck lanyard. This is a nice little neck knife. Makes a nice backup to a folding knife.

I was gifted a yanagiba and debo japanese knife with waterstone when my nieghbor retired back to Japan. Sadly, she knew nothing of knifecare and I've been two months bringing them back. I used to have a modest knife collection but am down to one daily carry. It is a British Admiralty rigging knife; sheepsfoot blade, marlinespike, massive can and bottle opener and small screwdriver for shackles. I paid all of $2 for it stationed on the Oregon coast with the USCG. It was in a junk store . They were to cheap to even issue us anything and we were 'ordered' to acquire a knife for duty. I produced it to the laughter of shipmates brandishing all manner of testosterone driven KBAR type swords that proved useless in
tight confines. I honed it razor sharp and cleared many a net fouled screw or cut a line in emergency with it. I could probably be better served with a multitool, SAK or one handed spyderco. but it's an old friend and we know each other's quirks.

I was the longtime forum administrator for a survival website. People buying 'survival knives' need to figure out what it is you are going to survive, and avoiding behaviours that get you into a fix thinking to exchange them for the level heading thinking, alfa leader to get out of it. Most of us spend a lot of time in a vehicle. If you don't have a knife with a windshield punch and safety blade for cutting restraining belts get one. My #1 survival item? A quality sleeping bag that will keep you alive long enough to do all those TEEVEE
tricks later. toss in some water and food, some manner of stove and a first aid kit a few steps above the joke in the company front office but not beyond your skill. You can toss
a kit together on the cheap too. An Old Hickory kitchen knife isn't much different from what Daniel Boone carried, 100' of grandmother's clothes dryer ( cheap rope, if you plan on using a parachute buy paracord) cheap tarp, a mess of $1 lighters from the liquor store, some GI wool gloves, watch caps and a decent flashlight and you're a survival Tyranosaurus Rex compared to 99 percent of people.

I was the longtime forum administrator for a survival website. People buying 'survival knives' need to figure out what it is you are going to survive, and  avoiding behaviours that get you into a fix thinking to exchange them for the level heading thinking, alfa leader to get out of it. Most of us spend a lot of time in a vehicle. If you don't have a knife with a windshield punch and safety blade for cutting restraining belts get one. My #1 survival item? A quality sleeping bag that will keep you alive long enough to do all those TEEVEE
tricks later. toss in some water and food, some manner of stove and a first aid kit a few steps above the joke in the company front office but not beyond your skill. You can toss
a kit together on the cheap too. An Old Hickory kitchen knife isn't much different from what Daniel Boone carried, 100' of grandmother's clothes dryer ( cheap rope, if you plan on using a parachute buy paracord) cheap tarp, a mess of $1 lighters from the liquor store, some GI wool gloves, watch caps and a decent flashlight and you're a survival Tyranosaurus Rex compared to 99 percent of people.

Nicely thought out with some excellent advice, Kav. I really need to get one of those windshield punch/safety blade knives for the car. While I actually drive very little, it only takes once.