Long story short: For a very long time I used a Buck Strider 889 folder as my field knife of choice. Worked great, big blade handled all cutting chores and even worked as an impromptu scat hole digger. Unfortunately, I lost it in a cave two years ago, but haven't been back out in the field since. Going to have a field season coming up way out off the grid in northwestern Kenya. I need to start squaring my gear away now.
I want suggestions for two knives. One folder one fixed.
Folder:
The Buck-Strider is now long discontinued and with Strider Knives more or less split up and Mick is only occasionally making folders, I'm going to have to opt for something in a different direction. Here are my basic criteria:
Framelock or sturdy ("overbuilt") liner lock.
Blade Steel - whatever as long as I can get it sharp with a diamond stone.
Blade Length - 2.5-4" I can do most of what I need with a shorter blade, but length is nice to have sometimes.
Blade shape - Spear point or drop point is my preference.
NO assisted opener, NO wave (don't want to run afoul of any weird law interpretations overseas). Would def prefer a hole over a stud, so I can make and use an impromptu zip-tie wave, but it is what it is.
Price: Jeez this is the tough one let's say preferably <$200, because I'd prefer to not lose a super expensive blade to customs or in the field some place.
Example of what I am thinking about: ZT 0566 - Has speedsafe assisted, but I know that's fairly easy to remove.
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Fixed:
Let's cut to the chase. This knife needs to be small enough to conceal when I'm traveling to and from the field in various cities and big enough to be useful in an emergency field situation.
Blade Shape: Neutral shapes preferred (spearpoint/drop point again).
Blade length: 2.5-4"
Blade steel and thickness: Thick enough to baton in an emergency, strong enough to withstand batoning, otherwise don't care as long as it can get sharp with a diamond stone.
Sheath: Kydex
Overall size: Would love the blade to be concealable on the belt line in "default" position (i.e., like a clinch pick). That's where the vast majority of my reps have been and I'm very comfortable snagging a blade from here and concealing one here. Problem is the bigger the blade, the harder it is for me to conceal. About 7" OAL is the max I can hide in this area.
Budget: Eh whatever, let's call it <$200 as well.
Example of what I'm thinking about: ESEE Izula - but would prefer more blade length (but not handle length, which makes this a hard thing to find).
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