>>1215710Knife collector here.
I personally don't like cold steel as it's mall ninja tier, however over on the Bladeforums they have a following because they are apparently sturdy as shit. Benchmade is expensive but QC is wonky as fuck.
Spyderco is basically the 'apple' of knife brands. You pay more than you probably should, partly for looks, but in the end you do get a fancy design that 'just works' and is quite ergonomic.
If you're in the U.S. check out Buck Knives. You can't beat their price/quality ratio. (It's more expensive here in Europe). I think Walmart has an exclusive on a model of fixed blade that looks good for /out/ purposes.
When it comes to axes: I don't like Fiskars. Their axeheads are hard to resharpen and you can't actually rehandle them if they do break.
Axes are quite interesting in the sense that many people believe we've actually regressed with our ability to forge them. Some people swear by antiques and say that modern axes simply can't compare. I don't know if that's strictly true, but old axeheads are definitely good too and even if they're a bit rusted you can still fix 'em up and rehandle them if you've got the time and patience. That would be the cheapest option. Otherwise I am quite fond of my Wetterlings hatchet and axe.
