Reddit reviews Benchmade - Bushcrafter 162 Fixed Outdoor Survival Knife Made in USA, Green and Red with Leather Sheath and D-Ring

That is a very good range, great price point for awesome hunting knives.

Here’s a couple all purpose bushcraft/outdoors knives:

The Benchmade Buschraft: Micarta scales and a very nice leather sheath put it at $200 even. Benchmade is made in the US and is very well known for their high quality and their great warranties. I just bought a Crooked River and am enamored by it.

https://www.amazon.com/Benchmade-162-Bushcrafter-Drop-Point/dp/B00B0E1MB6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549089167&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=benchmade%2Bbushcraft&dpPl=1&dpID=41uGBLFBQNL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

Next up is the Fallkniven F1. It’s got a composite rubber handle but is still full tang. Made out of VG10 which means high rust resistance, great for bloodwork in the cold when you don’t have a lot of time to clean it. This brand is out of Sweden and those dudes know their outdoors gear. I could go on and on about them but there’s not much more needed to be said. At $115 you’re getting an incredible knife for a hell of a price.

https://www.amazon.com/Fallkniven-F1-Thermorun-Handle-Sheath/dp/B001JA9Y66/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549089232&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=fallkniven&dpPl=1&dpID=41BlkNY8VfL&ref=plSrch

Now look at the Esee 6P, this is a good example of everything a knife should be and no more. Its 1095 high carbon steel so the implication would be to keep it cleaned and oiled, but there is a DLC (diamond like carbon coating) so it will keep the rust at bay until it wears off over time. $116 is a modest price, especially for the size of this particular knife.

https://www.amazon.com/ESEE-Desert-Molded-Polymer-Sheath/dp/B0049TYBL2/ref=pd_aw_sim_468_1/147-9912666-5096041?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0049TYBL2&pd_rd_r=35b4fb85-26b5-11e9-a2ee-7323802ef2ad&pd_rd_w=EV1gz&pd_rd_wg=WIYnq&pf_rd_p=469620d9-3e90-496d-9dc8-b19f900ba5fe&pf_rd_r=VEHBMYRN110K86ZGZE9G&psc=1&refRID=VEHBMYRN110K86ZGZE9G

That being said I don’t know a great deal of “brand name” filet knives but what I can assure you of is that there is no more a reliable product than a Morakniv. They literally have a knife for every job, and they’re all incredibly robust and utilitarian. Don’t let the low price point fool you, they are worth much more than the company charges. These are made of 12c27n sandvik steel, again in Sweden. The steel is good stuff, nothing glamorous but still a step above 440c. They have awesome belt clips that are just as simple as can be and I couldn’t personally suggest a whole line of knives other than Morakniv.

https://www.amazon.com/Morakniv-Fishing-Comfort-Stainless-6-1-Inch/dp/B00EAL1HI4/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1549089826&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mora%2Bfillet%2Bknife&dpPl=1&dpID=31IMwXb73cL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1

$150 is plenty of budget for a good knife. This one is just slightly over that budget but will last you the rest of your life. It's kind of my dream survival knife.

The Fallkniven F1 is very popular as well and right in your price range.

Currently I use this knife which is also very good.

If you want to go a little less expensive still, Becker makes some good ones such as the Bk16. I know the Becker doesn't look anything like "hand made", but I have the BK2- I used paint remover to take the black coating off the blade, replaced the plastic handles with micarta and stained it to look more like wood, and built a leather sheath for it. It's a beautiful knife now. Too bad it's so goddamn heavy.

You could also go with something like the Mora bushcraft. I have that one also, very decent knife.

You could even just get a regular Mora or a Condor bushlore which are even more economical options.

It's definitely enough for a nice knife, though you might want to go a bit higher for a great knife. The KaBar BK2 is actually designed with things like batoning (hammering the knife through wood as a kind of faux hatchet using another piece of wood against the blade of the knife as the hammer itself) or chopping. It's a bit over $60, currently available for $69 to be precise, but as long as you don't flat out abuse it (prying heavy things, for example) it'll serve you well and quite possibly for the rest of your natural life.

At a lower price, you can get the Condor Bushlore, which at $35 is a perfectly valid choice that will serve you well indeed.

For an even lower price yet, the Mora Heavy Companion is from one of those few cheaper knife companies that does incredible work. I wouldn't baton with it, honestly, but even if you did it'd probably hold up just fine.

At a more expensive range, the Ontario Rat-5 is an amazing bushcraft knife. The Fallkniven Pilot Survival Knife is also an amazing knife. The Benchmade Bone Collector is spectacular knife made in D2 tool steel, one of the better steels available at that price. Another amazing knife is the Spyderco Bushcraft made in O1 tool steel. Finally, the Benchmade 162 is a pretty amazing knife.

One thing you'll notice about all of these knives with the exception of the Pilot Survival knife and the BM 162 is that they're all carbon steel knives. Carbon steel is a lot tougher than stainless (with a few very, very rare exceptions I'd never trust a long knife to be stainless steel) with the trade off of being a lot more of a hassle to take care of, since it needs to be regularly cleaned and oiled.

If you want a fire starter, carry a magnesium fire starter. With the carbon steel knives, you can probably strike it against the back of the blade to create the sparks you'll want and if not (like with some of the coated ones) you'll be carrying the striker anyway.

For sharpening, you'll want to get a decent sharpening setup and start stropping. A couple of easy sharpening systems would be the superior Spyderco Sharpermaker (usually available on Amazon around the $50 mark) or the Lansky Sharpening system which while cheaper isn't as good. You could take the time to learn how to free hand it, but most casual users don't care that much because it takes a long time to get proficient at freehand sharpening. Stropping is running the blade against something like smooth leather (usually smooth leather, actually) to remove burrs along the blade of a knife made by use and sharpening and the restore a blade to a better edge without removing metal. Stropping allows for a level of sharpness unachievable by sharpening alone and extends a knife's lifetime by allowing sharpness to be achieved for longer without removing metal from the blade. To learn how to strop, watch videos on YouTube or check out guides from the sidebar of /r/knives.

Finally, if you want a whistle, just carry a whistle. If you want a mirror for signaling, carry a small signaling mirror or mirror polish the knife you buy (a process where you sand the blade with increasing grit level sandpaper until it shines like the sun and you can see yourself in the blade).

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

I have the Benchmade Bushcrafter and it is one of my favorite knives for camping. Definitely worth a look. It comes with a leather sheath and a holder for a flint rod.
http://www.amazon.com/Benchmade-162-Bushcrafter-Knife/dp/B00B0E1MB6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412554500&sr=8-1&keywords=benchmade+162+bushcrafter

http://www.benchmade.com/products/162

You gotta be more specific in your original questions buddy.

First of all, there are 2 reasons to remove an animal from a trap. To rescue (and minimize harm to the animal), or to harvest (and minimize damage to the trap). Here in bushcrafter land, I wouldn't usually assume you aren't planning on eating what was caught in the trap.....

It does sound like you are looking for the rescue side of things, and this is for a film, and you are looking for realism..

A swiss army knife or basic folding pocketknife are fairly realistic options for what a typical person might have with them with just a general plan of being 'prepared'. Something like 4-5inch Condor Bushlore is a decent approximation for what a more bushcraft oriented person might have with them in a wilderness setting. Someone who is going out intentionally to rescue animals from traps though, that is an entirely different question! For that you'd want a blunt tip, the type found in rescue knives, and/or EMT scissors.

For realism, most of us here know enough about the various types of knife that we could likely give you good answers - but you really should explain what kind of realism you are actually going for.

Average outdoorsy person with basic 'preparedness' is likely to have something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Swiss-Army-Huntsman-Leather/dp/B000IOI0NC/

Or this:

https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Spine-Fixed-Blade-Camping/dp/B07DDCG3HD

Average Joe who has no idea of what makes a knife good or useful is likely to have something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Tac-Force-Police-Assisted-Tactical-Rescue/dp/B01LZ0T3N9



Average bushcraft subreddit user probably has something similar to:

https://www.amazon.com/Condor-Tool-Knife-Bushlore-Hardwood/dp/B002CC6BPM

but wishes they had:

https://www.amazon.com/Benchmade-162-Bushcrafter-Drop-Point/dp/B00B0E1MB6

Someone going out with them intention of rescuing persons or animals would probably be carrying something like this though:

https://www.amazon.com/Victorinox-Rescue-Tool-Pocket-Fluorescent/dp/B000PX0LKG

https://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Assist-Orange-Handle-Rescue/dp/B0012G6KI2

https://www.amazon.com/LEATHERMAN-832590-Raptor-Shears/dp/B07N6P2RCB

https://www.amazon.com/DGX-Titanium-Coated-Stainless-Shears/dp/B01B2YF0AM

And then finally, I'll say this - pretty much anything sharper than a butter knife can be used to safely rescue an animal from most situations. Hell I could probably do it with a can opener or nail clippers. So just decide what sort of situation you expect your characters to have intentionally been prepared for, and go from there.

https://www.amazon.com/GI-P-38-Can-Opener-5-pack/dp/B005EAIXAU

Benchmade 15016-2 Hidden Canyon Hunter https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00I90HWYU/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_80Ecub1DSZGHW

Benchmade 162 Bushcrafter https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00B0E1MB6/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_-1Ecub0GQPFNK

I was looking at the Saddle Mountain Skinner since it is a bit smaller. The Bushcrafter felt a little awkward in my hand.

Same steel and a little thinner in the handle. I just don't think I like the jimping at the tip of the knife.

Any recommendations?

I have been considering getting one of these and a custom sheath:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B0E1MB6