I'm not looking for a single DO it all knife, but multiple knives.

What are knife companies, AND knife steels to avoid?

What steel is generally a go to, why are other steels bad. give examples and your experiences with bad knives and steels.

1. What would you use for general purpose and why?
2. What is a good EDC knife.
3. General purpose work, would this mean like a large fixed blade, can also be used for skinning?
4. What knife designs are unanimously gimmicks, like something you'd see in a video game.
5. What is a good fighting knife. a dagger like a Gerber MK2 .CRKT Sangrador?

what are companies and steels to avoid?

I own various CRKT knives, mostly the M16 series, one americanized tanto blade. the rest are normal with serrations.
I prefer the Veff serrations ALOT better than the little tri-tooth ones that are hard to sharpen.

I have a schrade that was given to my by my girlfriend as a gift, its an SCHF14. but the blade had a fracture in a weird way where itteh steel is peelign away from the knife.

1. For general purpose a knife you have is better than a knife in a drawer.  So a light folder is what I carry 99% of the time.  Sebenza, Spyderco, Benchmade, Kershaw...doesn't matter much.

2. Spyderco PM II

3.  Large fixed blades aren't as good for skinning as a 3.5" blade.  You can use a longer blade, but then you don't have the fine control.  Scalpels aren't generally 12" long (and yes I know there are long handled scalpels).

4. Those Wolverine claw knives and Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy fingers seem pretty gimmicky to me.

5. A good fighting knife?  Ka-Bar, Sykes-Fairbain, various bayonets.  Busse Team Gemini cannot be beat for zombies.

As far as steels go, the heat treat is very important.  I sharpen a bunch of kitchen knives for folks from church.  Most of the blades are horribly soft.  They will form a burr after just a couple passes on a 250 grit diamond stone.  This makes them easy to sharpen, but they dull very quickly.  Some Japanese knives (my set of Shuns) are so hard that they chip if you look at them sideways.

For knives that rust, I like 1095, 1084, 52100, 3V, O-1, A-2,  Infi, Hitachi white and blue steel, Sandvik (or whatever is in a Mora), CPM M-4...depending on the heat treat.

For stainless S35VN, 154CM, M390, S90V, Elmax, etc.

Stick with reputable companies or makers with good guarantees, handle the knife before you buy if you can, and then go buy a Murray Carter Neck Knife. Or a Fallkniven F-1.  Or a Mora.  Or a Winkler.  Or a Busse.  Or a Carothers.

My $0.02.  YMMV.  There are lots of strong personal preferences when it comes to knives.

You did a thread on this in GD didn't you?

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Spyderco, Emerson and Benchmade make good EDC folders. An ESEE 3 (or 4) or TOPS BOB will make a good GP knife, gimmick knives are usually made from cheap stainless steel and don't cost much. And as far as a combat knife goes that really depends on what kind of training you've had or plan on getting and more often than not the technique is more important than the tool itself.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile