A New Bushcrafter I Couldn't Resist

[Mistwalker]

Well, having lusted over a number of John’s knives over the last year and a half or so, I finally fell in love with one that was available. This is one he put together with Bushcrafting and all around field use in mind.

The specs are.

Over-all length….9 inches
Blade length…….4-¾ inches
Blade width……..1-¼
Steel…………….5/32 S7
Handle material…Black & Blue G10

Maker……………John Hutcheson IV of Sursum Knife Works



I love the nice, simple, and very solid pouch sheath that fits very well.

I also love the balance point, which is dead on the first finger.

John has been making knives for about 30 years, and is an avid hunter and fisherman. His years of experience of using knives in the field in various conditions, and his understanding of the various holds used during processing fish, game, and wood really shines through in his handle ergonomics.

His edges never fail to impress me, whether it be in food prep or seasoned hardwood.

Though this knife, with a blade length of just under 5-inches, was never meant to be a great chopper, but the handle works well in a rearward grip and it handles light chopping pretty darn well.

It doesn’t seem to mind a little beating either

Alayna and I have another outing planned soon, so more pics to come.

.

 

[1066vik]

That's very nice looking.
handle looks incredibly comfortable for being so skinny.

 

[Mistwalker]

That's very nice looking.
handle looks incredibly comfortable for being so skinny.

Thanks, this one caught my eye when he first started on it a while back, the more he worked on it the more I fell in love with it. The size and shape are awesome and I love the black and blue G10

John and I both have somewhat short fingers so anything he makes with himself in mind works well for me. This one fits my hand like a glove, and is extremely comfortable to me.

 

[TheGame]

The handle looks really comfy for the size. Love the color on it as well. :thumbup:

 

[tknife]

I dig that slim and pointy profile and that handle looks great.

 

[sursum knife]

great photos love the way you got the handle texture

 

[BRL]

beautiful tool.

 

[baldtaco-II]

Clean execution, cool. In two minds on this one – there's some stuff about the handle that isn't for me but there are some aspects I really like. Aesthetically, I prefer the look of his tapered tangs but no doubt that would throw the balance of this out, so as it is makes sense. Other attributes of it just finds my preference differing. His sheaths look to have come on a lot too, From an objective view point the thing I like most is the anti-fad smoothing out of the non-cutting parts. A+ on that. One thing I have found very amusing about this Neo-Bushcraft stuff is; that whilst knife users the world over smooth off parts to make a knife easier to work with they often demand that it is as angular and uncomfortable as possible, for the lone reason of scraping down a synthetic rod. It's so strange that one would take a spark rod yet be too bloody minded to take a dedicated striker to rub down it. For that lone transient moment the comfort of the knife is compromised for doing actual knife things. If there ever was a fad amongst the fashion of knife design and use that undoubtedly is one. In the future even more of us look look back at that and laugh. Here's what happened when a guy tried to push a very popular [as in waiting list in years] Neo-Bushcraft knife through some bits of wood. Not great is it. Means you have to [and probably want to too] beat it with a stick or wear gloves. Not great for finesse.

. Yeah, big-up Hutcheson for keeping it real!

 

[Mannlicher]

I am not really familiar with S7 steel, but it appears to be much like A2. I like the bit of belly on the blade, and the grind. Handle looks large enough. I like it.

 

[Pilot1]

That is a beautiful knife, and right in the sweetspot for my favorite size.

 

[fujita yuji]

Wow this is a beautifully designed and well executed knife.
I love the colours, too. And the sheath looks nice not to mention.
Thanks for sharing, mistwalker.

 

[untamed]

Oh god! It must really be the END of the world right now (according to some Christian groups)! Someone actually did it, a design that's been crawling around inside my head for many years; mating a traditional field blade with a "neutral", multi-grip capable bushcrafty handle. I think this is it.

BTW, the first time I opened this thread, I knew it was a Sursum. I have your first review of an earlier Sursum knife subscribed Mist. Once again, another fine review of a fine knife. :thumbup:

 

[The Warrior]

Sweet looking blade. BTW, how thick is it?

 

[DMD08]

How is the steel finished? Bead blasted?

 

[Troy H]

That is a great looking knife!

 

[Don Rearic]

Anytime you say that you can't resist something, I know it's going to be beautiful as well as functional.

 

[me2]

I am not really familiar with S7 steel, but it appears to be much like A2. I like the bit of belly on the blade, and the grind. Handle looks large enough. I like it.

The main similarity of A2 and S7 is the feature of air hardening. A2 will be much more wear resistant and has a much higher attainable hardness. S7 is an air hardening shock steel, well known for toughness, with a maximum hardness below 60 HRc. That said, how is the edge holding on this knife, if you've had it long enough to know?

For those who prefer toughness over edgeholding, S7 seems a good choice, and can still be hardened up to 56-58. I've looked at making some knives from A2, S7, O1, and D2. The A2 knives are profiled, and one is rough ground. For anything other than machetes, I'd like some user feedback on S7 before ordering the steel.

 

[sursum knife]

For those who prefer toughness over edgeholding, S7 seems a good choice, and can still be hardened up to 56-58. I've looked at making some knives from A2, S7, O1, and D2

This is a fairly true Statement but you can get S7 that will harden into the 60-61 HRC as quenched hardness. In my experience as a heat-treated I have seen S7 from different suppliers react differently. Specs show S7 under three inches in Dia. should fully harden in air but have had pieces 1/2 " thick have to be oil quenched to reach fully hardness. but all the steels mentioned will make excellent knives each has its strong points and its weakness in most knives this is not a problem but when things get a little extreme matching the proper material to design becomes much more critical

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

great photos love the way you got the handle texture

Thanks John, and right back at ya. I'm loving the way you got the handle texture as well!!

Clean execution, cool. In two minds on this one – there's some stuff about the handle that isn't for me but there are some aspects I really like. Aesthetically, I prefer the look of his tapered tangs but no doubt that would throw the balance of this out, so as it is makes sense. Other attributes of it just finds my preference differing. His sheaths look to have come on a lot too, From an objective view point the thing I like most is the anti-fad smoothing out of the non-cutting parts. A+ on that....

Not sure on part of this, this one does have a tapered tang as a lot of Johns knives do. The rounded corners not only make the knife more comfortable in various holds the absence of sharp angles also makes the blade stronger. Ferro rods are awesome tools, I always have at least one on me, but the novelty of them wore off years ago and they aren't my primary ignition source for starting fires. If I am down to a knife and a ferro rod, I know how to use one well enough that I don't mind using the edge of my knife if I need to. The one or two scrapings it will take won't do any significant harm to the knife edge.

Wow this is a beautifully designed and well executed knife.
I love the colours, too. And the sheath looks nice not to mention.
Thanks for sharing, mistwalker.

Thanks Fujita, those were my exact thoughts as well.

Oh god! It must really be the END of the world right now (according to some Christian groups)! Someone actually did it, a design that's been crawling around inside my head for many years; mating a traditional field blade with a "neutral", multi-grip capable bushcrafty handle. I think this is it.

BTW, the first time I opened this thread, I knew it was a Sursum. I have your first review of an earlier Sursum knife subscribed Mist. Once again, another fine review of a fine knife. :thumbup:

First off, that's not exactly a fair statement bro, more than one maker here has done something of a similar design...trust me, I've looked at a lot of them, and bought a couple.

That said, John just really nailed it for me on this one...the steel, shape, size, blade geometry, handle ergos and color, and the little details were just more than I could resist.

I know the feeling, I've taken photos of several of John's knives, and I'll still just sit and look through the photos sometimes

Sweet looking blade. BTW, how thick is it?

Thanks, it's 5/32

How is the steel finished? Bead blasted?

Yep, sure is.

Anytime you say that you can't resist something, I know it's going to be beautiful as well as functional.

Thanks Don, at this point there has to be something about it for me to not be able to resist it

The main similarity of A2 and S7 is the feature of air hardening. A2 will be much more wear resistant and has a much higher attainable hardness. S7 is an air hardening shock steel, well known for toughness, with a maximum hardness below 60 HRc. That said, how is the edge holding on this knife, if you've had it long enough to know?

For those who prefer toughness over edgeholding, S7 seems a good choice, and can still be hardened up to 56-58. I've looked at making some knives from A2, S7, O1, and D2. The A2 knives are profiled, and one is rough ground. For anything other than machetes, I'd like some user feedback on S7 before ordering the steel.

Toughness as well as beauty and over-all functionality were what I was seeing in this one.

I have only had it a few days so I'll have to get back with you on the edge retention. I think John maxed this one out and then backed it off to 57-58, which is actually in the perfect range for me personally.

 

[baldtaco-II]

mistwalker, hola

I stand corrected on the taper then, good stuff. Compared to some of his work though it does seem less pronounced in those shots. No biggie either way.

I'm totally on the same page with everything else you said. I have rods for emergency use only. I do find the whole 90 degree spine thing of the Neo-Bushcrafters so bizarrely contrived. The sacrifice might make a certain amount of sense to me if it had a good amount of legitimate field uses on things you find in the field. But when it is principally for use use on something synthetic you also took with you... So strange, it's almost like someone is trying to sell you something – a mechanism that children could be warned about with the gift of parable or something. Confucious says; “Man who takes shoes but not the wit to take laces should stay at home”.

Anyway, that radiused spine and ricasso looks darn peachy to me. Refreshing.