small fixed blade knife recommendations

[Joe-jitsu]

Shawn,

Can you elaborate on the cons of the Hidden Key versus the BS? I've been on the wait list for over 10 months for Dan's BS and with such a long wait i was looking at the HK as an additional option. From the specs I see the steel used is about the same. You mentioned the sheath with the HK being awful and I'm curious with only being able to see pictures online as to what specific things I should be looking at with this? Thanks.

Thanks for the comments, gents.

First thing I'd like to say is that I'd expect to hear from someone if their knife has a problem. User feedback is where it's at. I'm not in the habit of disappointing folks. I haven't received an email from the gentleman mentioned, but if/when I do, I'll get him taken care of, just like anyone else.

I'm constantly updating procedure to make each piece better than the last, and I update the pics on the site to reflect those changes. I also will send knives without a sheath at discount, for guys who want their own, have someone else do it, etc. Some guys want bi-directional sheaths, Bladerigs has HK templates and will take care of you. There are several others offering similar sheaths as well. Options are cool.....

The Wilson tactical model 13 is very close to the BS design, so add that to your option list.

The HK is essentially a modified and rebuilt Ontario Ranger neck knife, the dimensions make that obvious. The Ontario was very popular with guys in my unit (heavily modified) but the performance of those were iffy. To be brief: we wanted US materials/production, concealable, slim enough for MOLLE loops, as durable as possible, world class (Paul Bos) heat treat. Heat treat is everything. Lastly, it needed to be affordable for the average working joe.

I'm not into bashing folks, boasting my stuff nor coming off as a salesman- that ain't me. Don't want to pull this thread off track, either.... SO, if any of y'all have questions, comments, concerns- please get at me here via P.M. or my email listed on the site.

V/R

JW

[Mr_White]

http://www.amazon.com/Columbia-River...ords=crkt+spew

That's a very cheap alternative to some of the very pricey blades I've looked at for a small fixed blade. It's not a super high quality blade but it's good enough to try to see if you want to carry a small fixed blade. You need to remove the useless piece of para-cord tied to the end of it and the cord for neck carry. It comes with a useful sheath that can be vertically or horizontally carried. It's not a great sheath but it's serviceable.

It's smaller than it appears.

It's cheap!

Smaller than it appears is right. It is a nice knife for the money, but it has a grip sized for the hands of a five year-old kid.

[Dropkick]

Yeah, I have to say I'm not all that impressed with my CRKT SPEW either. The blade feels fragile and the grip is pretty small.

I prefer my Meyerco Wharning over the SPEW.

[CQC.45]

I really like CRKT knives. I carried their old Crawford folder for like 6 years off and on. Given the price, CRKT makes great gifts or recommendation knives to those who don't want to spend much. Save them from themselves and the S&W blades. :-)

A friend bought me this Cold Steel awhile back (don't know the model). It's not legal to carry here in MI, but I keep it for out of state. It's set up for support side AIWB right now.

Not sure how folks feel about Cold Steel, but its a nice little knife. I like the small handle / large blade design for concealment. Makes it kind of the Glock 19 of fixed blades in a way.

I travel out of state often for work, and despite my feelings for CS, this knife in the exact same sheath shown has worked very well for me. The small curved handle lends itself well to concealment and it can be easily drawn with either the strong or weak hand. The factory sheath it comes with sucks, but fortunately I know someone who is pretty good with kydex .

Having said all of that, graduating from ECQC really opened my eyes as to what a defensive knife should and shouldn't be. I'm convinced a reversed edge is the way to go (e.g. pikal), especially when you are tangled up with someone on the ground. As Steve already pointed out, fixed blades are illegal here in MI, so the Spyderco P'kal is our next best bet. While the wave feature works great, it still wouldn't be as easy to access and deploy as a fixed blade positioned around the 11:00 in a sheath. Luckily, there may be an aftermarket item coming to market in the future which would greatly facilitate P'kal deployment. Looking forward to ringing it out at the Shivworks EWO class in Feb.

I will still be picking up a fixed blade Pikal-style knife for travel outside the state...just deciding which to get. I'm liking the Paul Moore BoB quite a bit...

[Shawn.L]

Shawn,

Can you elaborate on the cons of the Hidden Key versus the BS? I've been on the wait list for over 10 months for Dan's BS and with such a long wait i was looking at the HK as an additional option. From the specs I see the steel used is about the same. You mentioned the sheath with the HK being awful and I'm curious with only being able to see pictures online as to what specific things I should be looking at with this? Thanks.

Besides reading my impressions put bluntly as I did, and nor being a knife expert or steel maker of any sort you will really need to hold them in your hands and youll go "oh..... got ya".

I'll see if I can grab some pics side by side so I can actually articulate the differences better if my buddy still has one.
Honestly, I would expect to see it in a bin at a flea market for $5. Yeah, that sounds mean, and Im not trying to be insulting personally with anyone involved with that blade, but I own or have owned several decent semi-custom carry blades and thats just my opinion, fwiw.

[Steve S.]

Having said all of that, graduating from ECQC really opened my eyes as to what a defensive knife should and shouldn't be. I'm convinced a reversed edge is the way to go (e.g. pikal), especially when you are tangled up with someone on the ground. As Steve already pointed out, fixed blades are illegal here in MI, so the Spyderco P'kal is our next best bet. While the wave feature works great, it still wouldn't be as easy to access and deploy as a fixed blade positioned around the 11:00 in a sheath. Luckily, there may be an aftermarket item coming to market in the future which would greatly facilitate P'kal deployment. Looking forward to ringing it out at the Shivworks EWO class in Feb.

So excited about that project - really YOUR project. It really needs to be wrung out in Edged Weapons Only at the very least before release though.

As I said in another thread here, I just don't think it's worth risking the legal problems of carrying a folding knife in the fixed position. I could see there being issues. Even if it is 100% legal - that doesn't mean your local PD would have that stance upon contact.

The P'Kal is great though. Really bummed i couldn't make ECQC. But very happy CQC45 passed on some things he picked up on blades. Made me re assess my EDC load out.

I'm glad that ShivWorks is coming soon. Got to get my knife fighting game together. I planned on joining The Greasers, but then The Soc's put in a beautiful offer to join their gang.....

[t1tan]

I am not sure. The kydex did not come with the Tek lok. I added that. But the knife is great.

Mine came with an absolutely horrible piece of kydex, basically good for shipping and nothing else.


I ended up making my own.

[VolGrad]

Nice looking sheath.

I know sheaths are like holsters in that everyone's carry style & even overall taste is different but I'm often confounded when looking for aftermarket options.

I have been looking at options for my new ESEE Candiru and while there are several folks making sheaths for this knife most of the sheaths seem to be sort of one-offs. Every one is a little bit different and it's difficult to look at the pics posted online and say I want this kind of sheath, with that type of belt attachment, to be carried this way, etc. Whew!

What I also find bizarre is something like the Izula and Izula II come with a sheath but no belt attachment point at all. I just purchased a TekLok and Molle clips from ESEE today so I could attach my soon to arrive Izula II to anything at all.

[Steve S.]

Nice looking sheath.

I know sheaths are like holsters in that everyone's carry style & even overall taste is different but I'm often confounded when looking for aftermarket options.

I have been looking at options for my new ESEE Candiru and while there are several folks making sheaths for this knife most of the sheaths seem to be sort of one-offs. Every one is a little bit different and it's difficult to look at the pics posted online and say I want this kind of sheath, with that type of belt attachment, to be carried this way, etc. Whew!

What I also find bizarre is something like the Izula and Izula II come with a sheath but no belt attachment point at all. I just purchased a TekLok and Molle clips from ESEE today so I could attach my soon to arrive Izula II to anything at all.

While not ideal, you could probably mock up some makeshift belt loops using paracord. It's really easy to do for IWB.

[orionz06]

Got the ESEE Candiru in on Saturday, definitely a great little utility blade. If it works out anything like my Izula's have I will love it, I just hope I do not lose any trying to get one for here, one for there, one for everywhere.