All About Pocket Knives

Everyone helped me with my B&T hunt and I have that pretty well wrapped up so here I am again looking for guidance.

I did an inventory of my current knives and found that I am heavy in the 3.5”-4.5” range but jump to a BK9 after that (ignoring the BK2 pig).

What I am looking for is a recommendation for something in the +/- 6” range for a general use outdoors knife to fill that gap. I’m thinking a single carry knife versus a BK9 and Izula pair.

Some that I have considered:

ESEE-6: seems to be a standard at this size. 1095 steel, probably on the cheaper side of the size

Guardian 6- The Bradford knives all seem to get great reviews

Spyderco Province: I have a soft spot for Spyderco and the 4V Province seems to get rave reviews in the few I have found

These are just the options I am most familiar with I am open to about anything.

Budget is pretty open up to that $250-300 range but lower would let me purchase sooner and roll the savings into something else

Find a USN MK1 knife. PAL is the most common one. Made during WW2 and issued for decades after they can still be found easily.

KA-BAR makes a reproduction that is also a nice knife.

Or anything from the Buck 100 series fixed blades The 119 & 105 are iconic knives that fit your parameters. They are available with a lot of different handle options so shop around. The black handles are phenolic and are tough as nails. You cannot go wrong with a Buck knife. My opinion everyone should own a complete set of Buck 100 series knives. (Then with at least 1 big Becker) You’ll always have the right tool for the job The classic Buck add that shows the measurements. When I was a kid I outgrew the Sears Christmas “wish list” book, and moved onto this advertisement for a “wish list” 2 NOS USN MK1 PAL knives. The clip point Buck 100’s 120,119,117, & 102 3 KA-BARS. Current reproduction USN, post war civilian variant, and a WW2 production.

Nice bunch of knives Ed. Your last photo with the MK1s though, the center knife is not a civilian version of a MK1, it is merely a civilian model 598 and has a different blade than any KA-BAR MK1. The KA-BAR MK1 came like the one on the right and a fullered blade version while the 598 hunting knife was made prior to, during, and after the war. The 98 series hunting knives have different blade profiles than the MK1 and all 98 series handles are longer than MK1 handles and although I see them advertised as MK1s sometimes this is incorrect.

Buck 119...
John

Thanks for clarifying. I knew it wasn’t a mk1. But I did not know it’s model number. Ironically with its pommel it is closer to the military spec than the actual KA-BAR MK1 is. The 598 is a knife KA-BAR should bring back.

I’m surprised the OP is lacking this size knife. It’s my favorite size for a fixed blade. But he has lots of good options to choose from.

Searching for more info on the 598 I found other threads on another site were you went into more in depth info with pictures. Rather than resurrect those threads, I’ll thank you here for those too.

jmh58 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:51 pm Buck 119...
John

Ditto.

He could get the 119, 118, 103, & 105 and still be under his budget. Bucks are an amazing value and rock solid users.

eveled wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 3:02 pm He could get the 119, 118, 103, & 105 and still be under his budget. Bucks are an amazing value and rock solid users.

John