I’d like to give out some good, American-made knives (hunting/outdoor knives, preferably fixed-blade) as Christmas gifts. They should preferably be under $100, as I will need to buy several of them. I know very little about knives. Does anyone here have some recommendations?
I have carried different Buck sheath knives for years, and love them.
Buck has always served me well. One much like this is what I use for larger game. You can go up or down with other listed models. This Folding Hunter, while not fixed, is an absolute classic.
Benchmade knives are excellent.
Buck just had their 50% off sale, sucks that you missed it. I’d stalk ebay for the next couple of weeks, you might scoop a Buck up cheap. A couple of years ago we hit the 50% off sale and bought a pile of factory seconds for $6 apiece.
AG Russel sells knives from all over but it’s a good place to find cheaper Bob Dozier knives.
Kershaw makes high quality knives. Here are two vendors that sell them at discount:
I had that Folding Hunter and used it for years camping and anything outdoors - it is a great knife. I have no idea what happened to mine; it’s probably lost forever. Now I use this Remington F.A.S.T. fixed blade; when hunting, I wear it with the sheath loop around the left chest strap of my bibs.
Does anyone know about the quality of “Bear and Son” knives? They sell them in the Cabela’s catalog and on online stores; they’re affordable and they have some impressive looking stag handles and damascus blades, but the reviews of them are typically pretty bad. Those reviews, though, always seem to be about their folders. Maybe their fixed blades are better.
Kershaw has an American presence but they are owned by a Japanese multinational, Kai Steel (I think). Not sure how serious you were about American knives. I carried a Kershaw for years and loved it and you can’t go wrong with Ken Onion designs.
Outdoor Edge has made some cheap crap but now that they have a larger presence on the hunting shows the quality of their steel has improved. I would buy these in person so you can verify that the steel looks good and isn’t one of the older, stamped models.
Cabelas often endorses products that end up w/ a Cabelas logo like the Buck Alaskan Guide series and those knives are fine. There’s a series of knives with grey laminated wood handles that only say Cabelas - the saw from that series sucks big time and the sheaths for the entire series feel cheap.
I just thought of Cold Steel Knives, I’m pretty sure they’re American, based out of California. They are famous for producing cheap but quality knives, those guys know where to skimp and still produce a good product. They’ve recently gotten a bit more expensive but I think the prices are still very good.
Edit: Just checked, Cold Steel’s FAQ says they are made in USA, China, Taiwan, and Japan.
I have hundreds of knives, and more than a few fixed-blade hunting/camping examples.
One of my favorites for quality, finish, balance, and blade is a simple Buck Woodsman.
They are made in the USA.
The other classic American fixed-blade is the [Case Leather](Case Knives | Built with integrity for people of integrity. – caseknives.com Hunter’&View=‘1’) in several styles. They are beautiful, high-quality, affordable, and made in the USA as well.
As you can see at the link, Smoky Mountain Knife Works is a brick-and-mortar store with internet sales as well. Since you need several, I’d give them a call and see if they’ll give you even more of a discount. It certainly never hurts to ask; I’ve been to the store and been able to make deals on several things.
Oh, and **I’ve **been good this year… 