Originally I envisioned this video as a comparison between just the Cold Steel SRK and the Gerber
Strongarm, two knives I’ve been asked to do videos on for years- by maybe 5-6 people lets
not oversell it. But I figured if I added in a few more knives, the word Amazon, arrows in
the thumb, then ranked em- that would make for a better video…. (Laughs) title and thumbnail.
This video’s complete trash. And with any luck it’ll bring in new viewers to my knife cringe,
who say shit like this, maybe this or this.
In today’s posting we’re dealing with 5 wonderful knifes. The Gerber Strong Arm,
Now you as a viewer might say hey you left my favorite knife out,
or you should have picked knives the exact same after tax price, or stuck to made in USA,
only knives with blood groves. That’s fine and your welcome to leave a nasty comment about it,
but let me tell you why I chose these. First they are name brands, all around the same siz-ish,
and you encounter them a lot in stupid internet lists. The Esee Laser strike is a bit of an
oddball, maybe the Esee 4 or 5 would have been the more popular choice… but I had the laser strike
and to be honest all esses are thicc. In addition: 4-6 inch mid sized fixed blades popular as general
utility outdoor knives for your basic internet tabletop survivalists, culture war commandos,
and backyard hairgel bros. And all are easy to obtain on other websites, in case you’d like to
slightly slowdown the pace in which internet Walmart becomes our next form of government.
As we edge ourselves toward the list, lets have a quick primer on my knife preferences.
A daily carry for me is about 2.5 to 3.5 inches.
I prefer the smaller knife when I know people will see me using it- like buttering my toast
in the office. “I’d use the Ti Lite 6 inch for that boy” . But when I’m at home or when
I’m camping I prefer a 3-4 inch folding knife, which is logically a bit wider than an apple.
I am mostly a folding knife bro, and my fixed blades are used for specific things. Like when
I’m camping and I know i’ll be making a fire, and thinking about the social situations I might be
in I prefer a real big fucker for processing my firewood. I want something wider than the wood,
so I have real estate to baton it through on either side of said log. This knife will have
a blade 8-12 inches, and no one at any of the other camp sites will talk to me.
Small fixed blades might be easier to clean and better for prepping food, but I don’t like
batoning much with them. And when you’re talking about a knife that size, I prefer it to be a
folder. A horizontal belt carry small fixed blade, a neck knife, or a pocket carry fixed blade- are
like phones on a belt clip or sox with sandals. So this list is kind of the minimum I’d want if
you want to break down small pieces of wood, or even food prep. It might make a good pack knife.
Although I’ll be quite honest I tend to only use my larger fixed blades for yard work and camping
anymore so these don’t get much use. Everyone uses their knife differently and lives in different
areas, like Southern Missouri. So I will be more, examining how they feel in the hand, price,
weight, sheaths. If you’re paring fine vegetables, or peeling the skin off tomatoes, look elsewhere.
None of them are fine slicers,if they’re sharp they can cut vegetables just fine for camp food.
It also occurs to me there are hunters who watch these videos. And some of these
might be in the range for dressing game. Fixed blades are easier to clean than folders.
One problem I see with these is save for the Esee none allow you to remove the handle scales.
Sure the synthethic handles are in good shape now, but what happens
when the handles start to age and might have gaps between tang and scales.
I like the idea of being able to take the knife apart to give them a thorough cleaning.
I’m going to piss some people off first. Let’s start with the worst.
The one with the tactical ribs and grooves, for your hand’s pleasure. It looks like a
real operator knife, is MADE in the USA, but the handle kills it for me, even though
you look real cool holding it. The Gerber strong arm. The diamond grooves look great
on your pickup bumper, your truck box, the floor of a service elevator, and so they feel
exactly like they look in your hands. Maybe it was designed only for use with gloves, but generally
the busier the handle, the worse it feels in your hand- especially if you’re using it vigorously.
Rubberized by itself would have given a very good amount of friction to stay in your hand.
But what about the glass breaker aren’t those useful? Yes for poking yourself while reaching for
your knife. What about in an emergency situation, like I seen in those classes on Youtube? In an
emergency situation if you could hypothetically reach for your sheathed knife, your car door caved
in as you’re sinking in the cold creek. Sure. But the though enters your head what if I chip
my blade on this $80 made in USA knife. If you’re a person who breaks glass often there are better
more specialized tools than a pointy part on the back of the handle, which if we’re being honest
seems more of a way to injure yourself than save your life. Fortunately they’ll be some opposing
opinions on glass breakers in the comment, which if you read technically counts as doing research
on how awesome and useful glass breakers are. The blade is a stainless coated 420HC or high carbon,
it’s rustable for sure, but it ain’t 1095 which spots when tiniest amount of urine touches it.
A coated blade spine is also not the best for striking a ferro rod.
While they’re no glass breaker, ferro rods are always a last resort for fire starting anyway,
but can still produce a spark in the wet- which if your fuel is wet would also be hard to start.
Once I started a Coleman stove in the rain by a ferro rod because my lighter was wet.
So that counts as a win. Sheath is pretty good though, a lot of mounting options. I
prefer a belt but you can do upside down on your kevlar vest for tactical cosplay.
Now the Buck 119. This knife ain’t bad, for a Buck. Also 420HC, but uncoated. Unlike Gerber
Buck trusts the user with 420HC uncoated, and it was good enough for your grandpa until you
stole it and left it out in the rain. It broke his heart, and he’s dead now. I think you can
get these in different steels higher end steels on their limited editions too, if that’s your thing.
I did a video on this years ago, and for one of my older videos does very well. Buck fans are a very
serious about their brand attachment, and often get upset about video games, millennials, tofu,
and Youtube videos that don’t treat their favorite knife brand with the respect they fucking deserve.
My best comments are on my Buck videos. Those buck nuts just dancing below the video. This knife has
a bulbous synthetic handle called phenolic. This is actually a pretty decent knife, and they’re
about 60 bucks now. Pun intended (old guy voice). If I had to wager about these knives here, this to
me feels like the best slicer of the bunch. I’m sure this is popular with buck hunters… (laughs)
boy we have fun- or doe or doe as long as you have your tag. When I was young I went deer hunting a
bunch, and even processed deer- but was never able to kill the deer I had to skin and cut up. It’s
how life works. You’ll get a few huge fans of this knife telling you under the comments that the
handle is fine and nothing ever gets trapped down there. It’s the best hunting knife they’ve ever
owned that phenolic doesn’t crack or deform as it ages. The handle has several parts, the tang,
the butt cap, and the handle. There’s no way to remove the handle unless you split it. It’s not a
full tang but a good amount of tang, you can find pictures of it online sans handle. The sheaths ok,
not super dangly. Leather with a plastic insert. The things that rank it a bit lower on my list are
Buck fans, the sheath could hang lower, the handle is comfortable but kind of thick, and it
has odd looking proportions. It’s a perfectly fuctional knife though, and some may rank it
top. That’s fine. That would be your list. Look into the 120 for a larger version of this that
will set you back about $110. Check out my full review for details and tofu prep.
Next the Esee laser strike. The Esee warranty is legendary. The will replace the knife if it breaks
for any reason, even the dumb shit. It’s full tang so it’s a tad heavier than the buck, then there’s
carbon steel which is why it’s coated- because it’s not a stainless steel like the Bucks.
Some people say carbon has a flavor when used on food or human flesh, and some people don’t
like coatings on their blade. So that’s a ding for food prep. In all honesty the Buck and this
both have trade offs so if you’re still mad about me ranking the Buck Lower,
you can move it here if you want. This knife has an extremely comfortable handle,
micarta, with a hidden fire striker inside the handle if you get desperate. In all honesty you
should pack a windproof waterproof lighter, before the fixed blade. The Esee ain’t the cheapest here,
which could be a ding against it, about $120- think of it this way you’re paying a bit more for
the warranty. The sheath is great and there are a lot of sheath mount options from esee so you
can mount it like an operator if you choose, dangle it or whatever. Since I’ve had the kids,
I car camp and no longer backpack so I chose the easy in and out of the pocket or belt clip,
which mounts to the kydex. I just can’t waste your time enough by saying enough the handle and even
the choil, which is chamfered and pointer finger sized… all very very comfortable.
Honestly see handles are about my favorite. And there’s a lot of aftermarket options because they
make them easy to swap out. If you ever damaged the handle on any of these other knives here you’d
have to make a new handle for it. I have a full review of this already on Youtube.
Ok the second best here. Or arguably the best if you figure in size or price or the liquor finally
getting to work. The Cold Steel SRK. This version uses an SK-5 steel and costs about 35 dollars.
Not trying to brag but paid about 32 for it a few years ago on amazon. There are versions with more
expensive steels- like the 103 dollar san mai version. The steel here is carbon and coated.
Good tactical sheath, secures the knife well, made out of nylon and a plastic, so it’ll outlast you
in the landfill when your body is dust. Rides a touch higher than I’d like but it’s not too bad.
This has been a Cold Steel staple since it was put out in 1990 or so and very closely resembles the
knife at the top of the list. This is the largest blade of the bunch, more real estate on the spine.
Well balanced a nicer texture in the hands that the strong arm, and very sharp out of the box. And
I get there’s some similar to the Gerber pickup toolbox texture here too, but overall there’s
less needless groves, glass breaker, peaks, and the diamond texture is finer. Ok number one.
It’s hard to say which came first the Cold Steel SRK or this guy. It seems like the Fallkniven
came a few years after. There are smaller Fallknivens and larger ones. Their NL1 bowie
is like $600 bucks and looks amazing. It’s been on my list for a long time, but I have room in my
life for only one $600 fixed blade and thats the Spear XXL. The s1 is pretty nice though, if you
want bigger go to the A1, or smaller go with the F1. Then there’s the pro version with nicer steel
and full tangers. Your budget and drunkeness is the limit. This one has not quite a fun
tang but really close enough. It’s nimble in the hand, maybe a touch thinner of a handle,
and it’s also pretty good looking. Fallknivens are Swedish knives that are as far as I can tell
made in Japan, and are kind of expensive. It is unique in this lineup because of it’s laminated
VG10 steel and it’s full convex grind. While you can sharpen a convex ground knife like a standard
knife and just add the bevel yourself, you’ll need to adjust your sharpening method and possibly
freehand it or use an adapter for your sharpening system to maintain the curve of the convex.
The sheath here is leather, and dangly. Remember folks leather sheaths retain and lock in moisture,
the standard sheath here is a locking zytel thing that’s kind of hideous.
If you use it in the wet, or store it in a damp environment that’s the best sheath for you. The
steel here is stainless, but unless it’s a rust free steel, and none of these here are all steels
depending on their elemental makeup are prone to rust from varying degrees. I prefer leather
sheaths personally and this one is great. One day I’d like to get a bigger fallkniven. But
I probably never will. They’re just expensive, probably a little too expensive,
and the tradeoff is a slightly nicer hand feel and the convex grind.
Just buy the SRK if you want to beat stuff up or the Buck if you want the best food prep and
game knife with the hollow grind and never look back. Ok I can’t stop myself maybe you’re more the
food prep person the Mora Companion would be good at Game dressing, finer slicing and food prep.
$13 bucks it’s light and not full tang, because you don’t need full tang for this stuff. And
the slightly larger Ontario SP1. Made in USA, comfortable handle only $40 full tang a bit
bigger than the largest SP1 and a little heavier too. I need to get around to reviewing this one.
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