Strange the Cold Steel SRK I have was over $100 when I got it 25 years ago.
Change the Steel change the price..... just went to Cold Steel.com the 3V SRK lists for $259.99. CPM3V steel...... another version SRK SK-5 is $69.99
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Al Mar vs Randall
- Thread starter Timb1
- Start date
Strange the Cold Steel SRK I have was over $100 when I got it 25 years ago.
Change the Steel change the price..... just went to Cold Steel.com the 3V SRK lists for $259.99. CPM3V steel...... another version SRK SK-5 is $69.99
Yes it is.
Just FYI, if you live close enough to Portland to make the drive, Kershaw is having their annual warehouse sale Dec. 6-8. They sell knives that have some kind of cosmetic blem, that doesn't affect the function of the knife. I often can't tell what it is that put the knife in the sale. Also some of their other brands will be there too, including Shun kitchen knives and I believe they usually have some Zero Tolerance knives too.
Kershaw Knives-KAI USA Ltd.
18600 SW Teton Ave , Tualatin, OR, United States, Oregon 97062
Kershaw Knives-KAI USA Ltd.
18600 SW Teton Ave , Tualatin, OR, United States, Oregon 97062
Quite the rabbit hole, this oft asked question.
Suffice to say that we are in a golden age for blade enthusiasts -- many great builders (from production to custom) and a dizzying array of steels to choose from. It is, frankly, sometimes too much.
But I wouldn't limit myself to just two old school names, Randall or Al Mar, unless one or the other truly floats your boat, in which case the answer is "either" and have at it.
Whether or not the greater cost for names, super steels, style or actual improvements is worth it can only be answered by the individual. A quality expensive and a quality economical knife will have more in common than differences, but there are -- generally speaking -- superior elements and refinements in the properly chosen more expensive blade.
Whether that makes a difference in owning and using depends on what you intend to do, how often you intend to do it, and what you're willing to commit to care and maintenance.
As far as a combat knife goes, most guys I know or listen to who have actual combat to think about carry a folder because a knife is way down their list of priorities and they have little interest in added weight or bulk.
So are we talking actual combat? General purpose outdoors utility? What some call bushcraft now? Survival? (Whatever exactly that means.)
If essentially what you're talking about is fixed blade that can fulfill a variety of mostly outdoorsy but maybe fighty tasks -- and represents as you said "best value" -- you don't need to spend $700 or $800.
I think the classic KaBar fighting knife is fine but leaves a lot to be desired ergonomically, at least in my hand. KaBar's a good company with many excellent products and if I was looking their way for you stated purposes I'd go right past the nostalgia pick and instead head to their Becker line and select what seemed most suitable to my purposes.
Otherwise I'd go Esee -- my first choice, really -- in this category, if I was looking for something both well-made and "best value" for what you spend.
Suffice to say that we are in a golden age for blade enthusiasts -- many great builders (from production to custom) and a dizzying array of steels to choose from. It is, frankly, sometimes too much.
But I wouldn't limit myself to just two old school names, Randall or Al Mar, unless one or the other truly floats your boat, in which case the answer is "either" and have at it.
Whether or not the greater cost for names, super steels, style or actual improvements is worth it can only be answered by the individual. A quality expensive and a quality economical knife will have more in common than differences, but there are -- generally speaking -- superior elements and refinements in the properly chosen more expensive blade.
Whether that makes a difference in owning and using depends on what you intend to do, how often you intend to do it, and what you're willing to commit to care and maintenance.
As far as a combat knife goes, most guys I know or listen to who have actual combat to think about carry a folder because a knife is way down their list of priorities and they have little interest in added weight or bulk.
So are we talking actual combat? General purpose outdoors utility? What some call bushcraft now? Survival? (Whatever exactly that means.)
If essentially what you're talking about is fixed blade that can fulfill a variety of mostly outdoorsy but maybe fighty tasks -- and represents as you said "best value" -- you don't need to spend $700 or $800.
I think the classic KaBar fighting knife is fine but leaves a lot to be desired ergonomically, at least in my hand. KaBar's a good company with many excellent products and if I was looking their way for you stated purposes I'd go right past the nostalgia pick and instead head to their Becker line and select what seemed most suitable to my purposes.
Otherwise I'd go Esee -- my first choice, really -- in this category, if I was looking for something both well-made and "best value" for what you spend.
I tend to agree with most posts and replies that ONOMEA posts, however I can't go along with one comment of his on this thread. He showed a beautiful WW 2 Western Shark knife that he owns. He stated it is worn out. OMG that is a fine looking knife that I would be proud to add to my collection. Below is a same model and vintage Western given to me by a WW 2 veteran that was on the battleship Tennessee. Bud had an interesting battle station. He was the man that actually pulled the trigger on all the 16" guns. He was stationed in the bowels of the ship. He would recieve a message via a headset to fire a certain battery and then he would push the appropriate button. Bud was a man's man. He built his own house, built log cabins, ran a successful one man coal mine, mined for gold and delivered mail to remote Colorado town's on foot and snow shoes. He trapped coyotes for the various sheep ranchers in his spare time. Knowing I collected knives he tossed me this from his skinning shed. He thinks he was issued the knife but couldn't remember for sure. But he knows he has been using it since right after the war. Absolutely razor sharp.
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Thanks, 30-30, for the correction! I should have said "well worn," looking at the concave curvature of the cutting edge, and not "worn out."
And while light, it is handy and very sharp.
And while light, it is handy and very sharp.
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According to an 86 year bud of mine who served in a Special Forces base, Phu Tuc Vietnam in the early 1960's, "at one time every Infantry Officer had a Randall".
These are mine, purchased them at Randall in Orlando
Back in the 1960's, we did not have as many choices in heavy duty knives as we do now. Compared with Western, Case, Boker, etc, a Randall was a heavy duty knife. Compared to military knives, a Randall was an advanced design. We also did not have the internet, you received your knife information word of mouth, or through ads in magazines.
this is earlier, but a typical ad. One model is being advertised.
If you wanted to know more, you sent money for a catalog.
Now we have many more, and good choices. At one time these were carried in PX's
These knives are relatively cheap. And they are good designs, and hold up. When you are talking enlisted, they don't make that much, and losing a $500 Randall Model 1, would be a large financial loss. A Afghan war bud of mine was looking for "throw away" knives. When he was blown up, not all his equipment made it back with him to base. He had Aladdin Thermos he missed as he carried it for a number of tours. It was beat to hell, had been run over by a MRAP, and yet held its vacuum. I had a picture of it, and he asked me to send that picture to him, so he could ask his buds in Afghan, if anyone had his thermos.
Bud also mentioned, he did not need super hard steels as he could not sharpen the knife in theater. He had sent one back to the manufacturer to get resharpened. This is what he could get out of supply as a sharpening stone:
Now really, what do you think you are going to do with a "combat knife" in a modern industrial war? You going to jump 3000 feet in the air and stab a drone? (that drone will see you before you see it, and give you a surprise present) Going to sneak up on someone who has night vision, and a fully automatic weapon, and cut their throat? That's movie stuff.
These are mine, purchased them at Randall in Orlando
Back in the 1960's, we did not have as many choices in heavy duty knives as we do now. Compared with Western, Case, Boker, etc, a Randall was a heavy duty knife. Compared to military knives, a Randall was an advanced design. We also did not have the internet, you received your knife information word of mouth, or through ads in magazines.
this is earlier, but a typical ad. One model is being advertised.
If you wanted to know more, you sent money for a catalog.
Now we have many more, and good choices. At one time these were carried in PX's
These knives are relatively cheap. And they are good designs, and hold up. When you are talking enlisted, they don't make that much, and losing a $500 Randall Model 1, would be a large financial loss. A Afghan war bud of mine was looking for "throw away" knives. When he was blown up, not all his equipment made it back with him to base. He had Aladdin Thermos he missed as he carried it for a number of tours. It was beat to hell, had been run over by a MRAP, and yet held its vacuum. I had a picture of it, and he asked me to send that picture to him, so he could ask his buds in Afghan, if anyone had his thermos.
Bud also mentioned, he did not need super hard steels as he could not sharpen the knife in theater. He had sent one back to the manufacturer to get resharpened. This is what he could get out of supply as a sharpening stone:
Now really, what do you think you are going to do with a "combat knife" in a modern industrial war? You going to jump 3000 feet in the air and stab a drone? (that drone will see you before you see it, and give you a surprise present) Going to sneak up on someone who has night vision, and a fully automatic weapon, and cut their throat? That's movie stuff.
I was issued a Kabar knife when I went to Vietnam in 1969. It stayed with me for 13 months. When my tour was finally over I passed that knife on to a newly arrived Marine. I like to think he passed it on to someone else when he left. Most of us considered the Kabar as a "Combat Knife". The Marine Corps called it a "Utility Knife", which it truly was. We used those Kaybars for everything.
When I retired from Law Enforcement, a close friend and former Marine gave me a for REAL Combat knife. I believe these were issued to combat Marines in the early 2000's, and may still be. This is an all business knife. Thicker and longer blade. The top of the blade, for 3" back from the tip is sharpened. The bottom rear of the blade is serrated. It also acts as a bayonet. This is the "Ontario Knife Company USMC Combat Knife / Bayonet" (OKC 3S).
When I retired from Law Enforcement, a close friend and former Marine gave me a for REAL Combat knife. I believe these were issued to combat Marines in the early 2000's, and may still be. This is an all business knife. Thicker and longer blade. The top of the blade, for 3" back from the tip is sharpened. The bottom rear of the blade is serrated. It also acts as a bayonet. This is the "Ontario Knife Company USMC Combat Knife / Bayonet" (OKC 3S).
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I have a Yarborough knife that will stay unused. As a graduate of the SFQC, I was allowed to buy one.
Hmmmm.....what defines a combat knife.....? Is fighting knife a better term?
Takumitak
M8 bayonet
Another Takumitak
Various fixed blades:
Fixed blades Cold Steel Laredo Bowie 2 custom knives 1 Frontier knife refinished - actually, the smaller one could work for fighting but I used one back in the day to field dress deer and the other one I occasionally to steak houses just for grins - the customized knife was lost in my 2018 fire:
CRKT
Boker Automat Kalashnikov
I'm more likely to have this one with me if I have to fight than any of those fabulous big knives:
Let's leave out the concept that I must have run out of ammunition at that point..........
Takumitak
M8 bayonet
Another Takumitak
Various fixed blades:
Fixed blades Cold Steel Laredo Bowie 2 custom knives 1 Frontier knife refinished - actually, the smaller one could work for fighting but I used one back in the day to field dress deer and the other one I occasionally to steak houses just for grins - the customized knife was lost in my 2018 fire:
CRKT
Boker Automat Kalashnikov
I'm more likely to have this one with me if I have to fight than any of those fabulous big knives:
Let's leave out the concept that I must have run out of ammunition at that point..........
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I think a KaBar style knife is the best value "combat knife", dollar for dollar.
Even the under $50 Glock knives are decent.
Personally, while I'm not a knife guy, I do have a modest collection. I don't see the point of having/using a high dollar, collector, BBQ knife, like a Randall, in the field when a cheaper version does the same thing. If the cheaper version get's trashed, or lost, just go buy another.
I've never understood the hype of Randall's.
Even the under $50 Glock knives are decent.
Personally, while I'm not a knife guy, I do have a modest collection. I don't see the point of having/using a high dollar, collector, BBQ knife, like a Randall, in the field when a cheaper version does the same thing. If the cheaper version get's trashed, or lost, just go buy another.
I've never understood the hype of Randall's.
Wow, Rick, that is a lotta Randalls!
I have a Randall that I got from a member here. Too big for anything I would use it for.
Just lays in the safe till the grandson will take care of it.
A knife is a last resort to me. Have several Buck knifes but I prefer my .32 H&R magnum first!
Just lays in the safe till the grandson will take care of it.
A knife is a last resort to me. Have several Buck knifes but I prefer my .32 H&R magnum first!
I have a Yarborough knife that will stay unused. As a graduate of the SFQC, I was allowed to buy one.
I have a Green Beret knife, the commercial version of the Yarborough, which was only given to graduates of SFQC like yours. Congrats to you. Chris and Bill really knew how to make a blade. The brand has changed dramatically due to personal family problems and I cannot vouch for their current products. I also have a Pacific, which won the Best Collaboration Award at The Blade Show the year it came out. I tried to buy the one Chris had at the show but he said it was the prototype and it was not for sale. I ordered two right then, one for me and one for my old friend in Ohio. Per the card that accompanies CR knives they were from the first production group. The Green Beret and Pacific are pictured above.
The reason I posted photos of Bud's old knife (post #45) is to give a perspective on the OP's original question. Which one of these overpriced knives is a tougher combat knife. As stated in original reply, Bud carried this knife all over the mountains of Colorado, skinning over 50 elk, probably in excess of a hundred deer, countless fur bearing animals, and used it for about every other purpose around the homestead from harvesting to construction. It can be seen on the pommel where Bud beat it with a rock or hammer on numerous occasions. If this knife can withstand Bud, then I can't imagine a boutique knife could do any better.
One of the online knife vendors has an excellent deal on the Bark River Bravo Crusader today. A search should find it. It is an excellent knife for heavy work.
I'm bringing a gun to any "knife fight" I'm invited to!!!
