Recluse Pics / Observations Please!

[LightGuy]

I purchased a Recluse from Andy's latest batch, and now the difficult wait has begun. I'd love to see pics from some of you Recluse owners, especially in hand and in use shots. There's a lot out here of the other models but not many of the Recluse. I'd also love to hear your feedback/observations on this model when it comes to bushcrafting uses, which is what I purchased this knife for.

Thanks in advance!

[saucyCT]

Love the Recluse. I must admit to not having used it for bushcraft tasks yet. It has been more of an all purpose knife for me so far with frequent, but light use. I love the size, handle, and profile on it, but think I would still prefer a bushfinger or bushcrafter to take in the woods. It is a great knife and I am sure it would perform excellent in bushcraft use. Congrats! (You really can't go wrong with any Fiddleback!) —CT

[Fiddleback]

My Recluse is out by the woodpile. I use it to cut tender before starting the fireplace up. I also shave off slivers of fatwood with it. Its been in service over two years now for that. It was with me when I harvested that fatwood stump too. It does the trick for Bushcrafting. Just a good all around utility knife.

[Kismet]

Here's a link to a thread on the Recluse. I posted the last two entries, with pictures.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/sh...hlight=Recluse

I love it! It could easily be the "one knife," for any outdoorsman.

If you have specific questions, just ask. I'll do my best to respond to your inquiries.

You are going to LOVE it.

[LightGuy]

Love the Recluse. I must admit to not having used it for bushcraft tasks yet. It has been more of an all purpose knife for me so far with frequent, but light use. I love the size, handle, and profile on it, but think I would still prefer a bushfinger or bushcrafter to take in the woods. It is a great knife and I am sure it would perform excellent in bushcraft use. Congrats! (You really can't go wrong with any Fiddleback!) —CT

Thanks so much for the in-hand pic CT! That is one beautiful knife you have there. I absolutely love the wood handles, they look amazing and I'm sure they are very comfortable. I've always leaned toward the micarta for over all durability, but I'm going to have to try one of Andy's wood handled knives at some point.

I also have one of Andy's Aretes coming, so it will most likely be my go-to bushcraft blade. That being said, I like that this knife will be a good all-around utility knife, with a lot of belly for slicing and a nice straight spine for batonning small kindling, and some other camping/woods chores when needed.

My Recluse is out by the woodpile. I use it to cut tender before starting the fireplace up. I also shave off slivers of fatwood with it. Its been in service over two years now for that. It was with me when I harvested that fatwood stump too. It does the trick for Bushcrafting. Just a good all around utility knife.

Andy - it's great to hear that this has been one of your go-to knives for a while. With the selection of amazing knives you have access to that says a lot! Any knife I have will be a user, so it's good to hear how versatile this blade is!

Here's a link to a thread on the Recluse. I posted the last two entries, with pictures.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/sh...hlight=Recluse

I love it! It could easily be the "one knife," for any outdoorsman.

If you have specific questions, just ask. I'll do my best to respond to your inquiries.

You are going to LOVE it.

Thanks for the info Kismet. Do you still have the production Recluse, or did you ever get a custom from Andy? I've heard some not so great things about the BRKT version, so I never picked one of those up. I know Bark River makes some great knives, I had the Bravo 1 and really liked it.

My take on it is that the production Recluse is essentially a Bark River knife, and the custom Recluse is a Fiddleback. Everything is different on the Bark River version, from the steel, heat treat, handle shape/contour, grind, manufacturing process, etc. Not that Bark Rivers aren't good knives, but a custom blade from Andy Roy's shop is pretty hard to beat.

[okbohn]

The Bark River Recluse took one of Andy's knives (the prototype he sent me) and put it into a CAD program and cut out handles matching it. The steel was A2 (so different and thus, heat treat had to be different as well.)

They were a fun project. I love working with Andy

Derrick

[Kismet]

Thanks for the info Kismet. Do you still have the production Recluse, or did you ever get a custom from Andy? I've heard some not so great things about the BRKT version, so I never picked one of those up. I know Bark River makes some great knives, I had the Bravo 1 and really liked it.

My take on it is that the production Recluse is essentially a Bark River knife, and the custom Recluse is a Fiddleback.

I still have the production Recluse, and in fact, used it today on a bow season buck. As I said, it could easily serve as a "one-knife" for an outdoorsman.

Since you have already made the distinction, I guess these images are just for your viewing pleasure.

Enjoy:









I'll be butchering and freezing the meat this week...with the Recluse.

Helluva knife.

Thank you Andy.

EDIT: Schmittie? Pre-rut, and bow shot, so no surges of testosterone and adrenalin flooding the muscles. As you can see, a fair amount of fat still on him. Big deer by my standards...@ 170lbs. Been great weather for hanging meat...40's in the days and 30's at night. Good luck and be safe.

[schmittie]

What?! Nice job Kismet! Beautiful buck. How's the rut up there? Still in the preseason? I think it's about to bust down here. Hopefully I can hit the stand after work and through the weekend sometime.


....man I gotta get a Recluse!!