Go to a sporting goods store and handle some to see what fits you. I have many but two of my favorites are a Buck folding hunter and a Buck Personal. They have hard steel and it was tough to get the edge that I want on a knife but once I got the edge it seems to last for several years with only minor touch up and steeling. I don't recommend the carbide stroking type "sharpeners". I was in the meat business for 27 years and this type of edge made by these tools may be fine for slicing paper but paper isn't meat. I want a razor edge that will shave the hair off your arm without pulling and hold the edge for several animals.
I have used Gerber for a number of years due to easy to sharpen, good grip and relatively cheap if lost. That being said I recently got a Buck Alpha Hunter (Black/SS) folding knife to try something different, while a lot heavier in weight than the Gerber this thing is incredible at holding a edge. I have gutted and skinned 3 deer with it and it worked great. I touched it up tonight on my Lansky and it is back to shaving sharp...very impressed to say the least at it's ability to hold an edge.
In short either would be fine but I think for retained sharpness the Buck gets my vote.
I would have to agree with every one on the buck knife. It took some work to get a good edge on my knife with my Lansky but now it"™s excellent for hunting with an edges that lasts.
If you decide on Buck, stay away from the 420hc models. This steel is not as well regarded for edge holding as the ATS34 or S30V bladed models. S30V seems to be the current benchmark for edge holding among knife geeks. This is true for about any knife. You can't go wrong with any blade of these 2 steels.
Can't go wrong with Buck, Gerber, Kershaw. I purchased a knife a couple years ago I really like. It's a Ka-Bar. They make all the knives, or at least the did, for the U.S Marines. Grwt knife. Good fit to my hand, sharpens really nice, and stays sharp.
Buck 110... stays sharp, not too expensive and good sturdy frame. Most of them come with a nice leather holster as well. This is a good big game knife... if you want it for something else, you may want to look at something smaller. Gerber and Kershaw have some "stay sharp" blades as well.
The Kershaw and Cutco knives are very sharp and hold and edge, but they require a professional sharpen when the become dull. The ***anese steel is too hard to sharpen by hand. My neighbor has a $2,000 magnetic sharpener so it does not matter much for me, but if you don't have a pro knife sharpener in your town, it's a pain.
Best knife...
