Most/all of the sheath rattle can be stopped by cutting a foam earplug in half and pushing it to the bottom of the sheath. The tip of the blade is held with no damage.
Gerber Prodigy is a really good one. Have had one for about 8 yrs and I love it. $42.00 when I bought mine. $50.00 today is a steal. Get one you'll love it to.
I have 4of the 5 knives you reviewed. And I enjoyed the video. I would rate the Buck 119 first but only because I’ve owned it and used it for 30years. I too swear by it. Thanks for the reviews!
That Gerber with the olive handle. I have a S&W .357 Magnum revolver with the same material and color in the handle. It looks so similar you would think it's a boxed set. I had to aquire it.
Buck 110 folding hunter to always be on your belt for the more delicate stuff. Best knife design ever,....changed the knife world. Thee most copied knife in history. Been carrying one since 1971, on #2 actually, wore the blade down on the first one to about half, but it's still sharp. Life time warranty, just haven't sent it back yet, it has so much sentimental value. It was the first year they came out & I've carried one on my belt ever since. I even dropped the first one in a roaring bon fire & it just put a little brown mark on the handle, more character to the knife keeping my memories alive with it. I'm old now, backpacking days behind me, but the Buck is still on my belt.
I have the same Camillus, plus a earlier model that is all black. They both are the best $10 knifes I have had. The earlier version was bought for farm work. It has cut its fair share of net wrap and bailing twine. Not to mention all the kitchen work it put in. Their customer service is top notch also.
I own the Gerber and I can without a doubt one of the best knifes I had for bushcraft and I bought it at Walmart just before the start of 2023 surprise it apparently shouldn't be on the shelves
@@jaredappleseed7037 - From my short time in Mexico it seemed that Leather goods are culturally significant and a source of great pride. They use quality leather and show a level of care and craftsmanship. I guess if we're comparing to Michigan, leather is like Mexico's Faygo lol.
On the Gerber sheath that tang is for getting the knife out and in safely and QUIETLY push with your thumb for very controlled withdrawal and hook it with your thumb to replace the knife.I had mine a long time before I discovered what it was for and it makes it an entirely different tool and yes it is everything that you say it is .
Own every knife on the list except for the wannabe reaper . I’d swap one and two only because Buck heat treats their 420hc better than Gerber . That Camillus is the best ten dollar knife in existence. I put mine through a torture test the day I got it . I expected it to fail fairly quickly but it didn’t and I’m still abusing it 6 months later .
The one thing that I'm limited by is the stock in my local stores. Since I'm trying to make the channel about items you can walk in and get off the shelves, my selections are limited. I also love that Camillus knife.
By the way we could all hear the rattle while you were shaking the Gerber just because it wasn't quite as loud as the rest of them doesn't mean there was no rattle.
I got my older Prodigy (made in Portland) at a pawnshop... $10. Came with original sheath. I still use it. Way worth it! Also found at another pawn shop a Cold Steel SRK!! True it cost me $40, tax inc., but it to is a very good field/survival knife.
I got a Gerber Freeman Guide dropped point plain edge with nylon sheath. It runs $32 and was bought from Walmart 2 years ago. I have not used it on a feral rod. But with a full tang making a great baton knife, I really like it.
Thanks for the video. Nothing wrong with that $3 knife as a backup tossed in a glove compartment or pack (how do you make a knife for $3 let alone sell it for that?) & the $9 Camillus (same question again) looks like a lot of knife for $9. The last two while still budget knives are decent, solid & mostly overlooked & under rated. Didn't care for the first one at any price but I would happily purchase the last four (I do already have the last two) especially at those prices. It's an eternal frustration for me that knives in Canada cost at least twice as much as in the USA.
Credit to Esee knives for making a lot of left hand leather sheaths available. Great if you have a similarly sized knife that needs a good quality sheath at a decent price.
Great job on describing these knives. I was thinking about doing the same thing because I grew up with my grand parents owning a knife and gun store and an Army Navy store so I know a lot about weapons. More than your average bear. Thank you for explaining. You taught me some new stuff.
Keep putting stuff out. I like the concept of looking into Big Box offerings to the self reliance community. Everyone has something to contribute and points of view we can all gain knowledge from. Thank you.
I have several camillus knives I use for hunting. My kids got me a field dressing kit with a gut hook,a skinner and a bone saw + a sharper and a carry case
I have a similar knife/sheath combo by Gerber and on mine, those two straps near the tip on the sheath, come apart to allow it to swivel down and it reveals a little diamond sharpener---very clever--maybe this one will do the same thing ---rots of ruck
Gerbers 420HC is very soft on nearly all their knifes... They HRC at around 54-56HRC that's way to soft. 420HC is a great budget steel if it's at 59-61HRC... If you notice when you sharpen it and draw a burr the burr will just flop back and forth on the stones and will get finer as you progress to finer grits but you will have a VERY hard time deburring stroping won't pull the burr odd and you will have a mushy edge almost as soon as you cut with it... They heat treat it way to soft, they do it for ease of grinding (less time and less use of abrasives equal more profit for them).. The profile of the knife is excellent and likely would make a fantastic 50 dollar knife if the HT was 60ish HRC. If you have properly HT'ed 420 or 440 bringing it in around 59-61HRC its honestly a very good steel (it will preform with AUS10, VG10, AR-RPM9 and only slightly under preform S30V if the HRC of the 440 is close to the S30V.. 420 will preform very close to the 440) it will vastly out preform in edge retention and on the stones and strops Aus8, 8cr, 9CR/any of the alphabet China steels.. I have a custom folder that I had made a long time ago when 440HC was considered a high end steel and that knife had a proper heat treat on it and tested 61.2HRC, it takes a mighty fine edge, deburr like any modern premium steel that has a good heat treat and holds a edge very well (edge retention is about like 14c28n that has a good HT) when it starts to loose its bite a 10 passes per side on a 8 micron diamond spray loaded strop and then 10 passes on a 3 micron diamond spray loaded strop and it's hair popping, if you don't get any edge damage but rather just the edge loosing it's bite the knife only needs to be stropped... It's amazing what a proper heat treatment does to a steel. At 50 bucks you can buy a Mora Garberg or similar and have near world class levels of performance with a fantastic steel that has a excellent heat treatment and will VASTLY out preform that knife.
There is a limit one can push(HT) a specific steel to a desired HRC...420 is normally HT to about 56-58 for optimum performance. Any higher, the blade will become brittle and will chip easily.
This is the video I've been waiting for! I'm not made outta money & have looked @ the knives Walmart has & have tried to look up reviews,it's exhausting to say the least. Thank you & you just got a new subscriber!
Thank you. I agree on those prices of the other knives. There is just no way I could afford those. I would love to have a bark river knife but just can't afford it.
The Berber prodigy is the one I like, I like it so much I got a second one for my other bug out bag The only other knife you listed I would have in my bags is Camillus
Walmart fixed blades are made to survive the unboxing of Walmart delivery packages and tuff enough to handle the bushcraft duties of cutting open amazon delivered boxes too. It will require sharpening after 25 box openings. The steel for the tang and blade are 100% Campbells soup can tin.
For like 30 bucks on eBay, you can get one of those nice Schrade survival knives. I ordered a Cudeman survival knife for like 80 bucks but I'm still thinking about getting that Schrade SCHF36 or SCHF30. I think either knife will last and I'm 100% sure I can survive in the wilderness with either one. And I'm not a knife snob. I'm more of a firearm snob.
I have owned a SCHF9 for about 10 years now. It’s a workhorse! I use it for the rougher jobs like chopping and battoning. Work I don’t want use my 119 for. All the Sharades in that line that I have seen look to be of the same quality. The 1095 steel holds a good edge,&is easily sharpened.
I have found that the Ozark Trail 7-inch fixed blade knife, is pretty good with a little bit of sanding and edge polishing. It has a nice, if a little thin, rubberized handle, and fair sheath. The only thing I dislike is the stonewashed blade, which is where the sanding come into play. I will sand at 220 until I have the black coating off then 400 to polish the grind, then end with a1000 grit to polish to a shine. Plus it is only $4.95 so no big loss if I do loose it.
There are many knives of varying degrees of quality that could supercede your choices.. but the choices you present here are certainly well placed. Thanks! That number one you have here looks like an excellent blade.
I'm not sure theres a knife out there that I could ever say is truly better than the Buck 119 special, except for maybe the 119 specials in 5160 spring steel that have been released occasionally. What it can do for what it costs and how long it will last combined with the warranty you get just cannot be beat.
@My Dixie Wrecked It doesn't cut even close to as well as the Buck 119 and the Gerber doesn't even come close to the Paul boss heat treat with their 420hc, but yes the Gerber prodigy is a good worthwhile knife. That sharp tang protrusion is worthless and kept poking me so I ground it off, but beyond that i do like the knife and it lives strapped to my minibike for general utility when out trail hopping. Not that I don't always have a knife or two on me at all times, but the prodigy I don't have to worry about keeping nice.
@My Dixie Wrecked Yes. It's relatively brittle for it's hardness though. If you get a crack in it the stuff is pretty easy to remove if you wanna rehandle it. Just put it in a bench vise and squeeze, it'll bust right off. Holds up extremely well under normal use, but easy to bust off if you wanna rehandle it in say stacked leather like I recently did a vintage 102 woodsman.
@My Dixie Wrecked It's a great material. I was just pointing out that I appreciated it being easy to remove when I needed to. I did a 212 fixed ranger, and I did a 102 woodsman. The 102 woodsman is like the smaller version of 119 btw, the 120 general is the bigger brother. Theres also the 117 small special now that looks exlike a smaller 119 ( a little bigger than the 102 )
Shame the plain edge gerber prodigy seems to have been a wal mart USA exclusive. I would have bought afair few of the plain edge but all i can find is the semi serrated version which i hate because it has useless serrations. Gerber strongarm is a good alrounder and is still for sale.
Well I have one complaint……… Call gerber and tell them to restock all Walmart’s with that knife, really it’s discontinued that’s to bad, then Buck will make the sale then. Good job and thank you.!!!!
Well in my opinion I've been to several Walmart in my area different 6 days besides the one on your video such as the Gerber Freeman Ozark Trail fixed blade it's a smaller version than the one you had showed on your video and also have seen the Gerber Strongarm at my local Walmart
With one MACHETE , you can DO , everything , it's the BEST TOOL for SURVIVAL and it's also a WEAPONS and they're CHEAP, because it's a WORKING AGRICOLTURA TOOL .....
I actually own several of the Gerber Prodigy. When I bought them they were supposedly out of production for one year but the next year I was still able to find some and as a matter of fact one Walmart a little further from my house had several of them in a glass case. What I was told at my local Super Walmart is that they trickle in but they only receive one or two at a time. I believe that Walmart bought so many of them that there's a warehouse full of them and they're just selling off the stock that they have. The Prodigy is a much better deal than buying the Gerber Strongarm which instead of selling for $50 as the company claimed it was supposed to it is selling for $69 and $79 and it's no better than the Prodigy.
Nice video, Ive had my Buck knife for over 45 years bought it from Kmart when i was a kid from money I got from Mowing Lawns. still sharp as hell... think i paid $12 or so...they still make good knives...
I just purchased a vintage "new in box" made in Japan 90's Cold Steel XL folding tanto (5.125" blade) for $110. on eBay. $299.-$399. is the going price. In the 90's they were $89.-$95. so after adjusting for inflation I got it cheaper than new.
I have that knife also. I love it too. It just doesn't fit for what I'm trying to do with the channel. I know that not everyone can go out and buy that knife. That's why I'm trying to focus on more of the big box stuff.
@@bigboxsurvival6411- I get what you're doing and I think it's great. If you get a chance Lowes and Home Depot have some pretty neat options. Crescent(the tool brand) released a couple nice options. D2 steel and ball bearing pivots for $15-$25. Plenty of user knives from various other tool brands as well.
I bought a knife at Walmart and it appeared to be a fixed blade but when I took the handle apart it was a little piece of iron Rod screwed to the but of the handle... 7 out of 10 times you get what you pay for
I have two of your number five knife. I think that's how buck should have done the ripper. I have three of your number one pick. It's not great but it can do a little of everything and keep going. Good picks from your local Wally world.
The Buck blade is very similar in appearance with the latest blade from Harbor Freight selling around $ 25- without a beautiful leather sheath like the Buck.
@@lorddiablo8575 it's not junk. It has a higher carbon percent than the buck knife. 7cr steel (.65% - .7% carbon) vs bucks 420 hc (.45% - .6% carbon). 420hc is NOT good steel. It's budget steel which buck is able to work miracles with with their proprietary heat treatment and normalization. 7cr is the Chinese equivalent of 440a which I personally consider the bare minimum for a knife you plan to use outdoors. But, with that being said, if you gave buck that same 7cr steel to maker their 119, they would make a better knife than the harbor freight.
Had one that i loaned to a friend and never got back. That knife has saved my life many times when i was homeless living in the wood. Since it walked away i have replaced it with a few damascus knives at are amazing and a crkt minimalist bowie. I also recently picked up a small 3 inch ozark trail fixed blade that is my edc belt knife. And i carry the crkt on my keys. So i always have a knife on me.
My dad always used the 110 while hunting. Gave me a couple which I’ve since lost. These had the leather sheaths. I have one now with leather sheath but the sheaths made in Mexico. I own several 110’s and plan in getting a more in the future.
Great concept, but do more videos my friend. Many of us tiday heve spent thousands to obtain passports and citizenship from numerous other countries for the eventual fall of America, during our lifetime, joined the US military and attended various survival courses inordoer to learn to pottentatially survive any thing that might potentially occur during our lifetime, yet only make $60k to $70k per year, yet can start a fire 5 different ways wifh the things in our pockets and trap game indeffrinatly, evade government officials, live in the most austere of conditions and still thrive with the most basic tools if necessary. I LOVE the concept of your channel, pushing the attributes of budget gear that will help future generations succede. Please do more videos, if you can. This sort of info may become critical to the survival of humsns in general in the comming years and possibly months in America.
Nice presentation man. I've got that Buck 119 and a similar Gerber called the Strongarm - didn't get 'em from walmart though. I'm not crazy about the Buck sheath though. It's good leather and craftsmanship, but I don't like the large snap wrap or the reverse button - very difficult to operate when on the belt.
@BawStop Dat I got a nice Kryptek camo black/grey kydex sheath for my buck 120. Then I put a tek-lok on it and some hockey tape. Absolutely love it now and It's in my edc rotation.
...wonder why Walmart quit carrying #1. "Man, I am sooo tired of selling a good knife, let's dump this" #s 2, 3. I'd switch around. I like #3 enough , it might even take #1. Buck 119 built up a following with almost a totally different knife. 440 stainless, couple differences in handle, and blade length . The original, which I really liked, would be number one. They are tough to even challenge for their use of 420 stainless. But, to me, they could have stepped forward, and brought D2, or something even better, but they stepped back. Maybe at Walmart this new one is top five , but not in overall scope. To me, it's a four cylinder, four door Chevy Camaro, nobody asked for. Hate #5 btw. Handle: ridiculous. Quality: garbage.
Idk why,but the 1st item ("18$ one")making me think that it is Not hardened properly.Again,no idea why.. this might just be a stupid thought.. but for some reason I have this feeling about this one.