- Joined
- Mar 19, 2014
- Messages
- 631
Good morning/ afternoon Fiddlebacks!
I have mostly been a lurker around here, but I follow this knifemaker's forum very closely and visit every day. I have had the luxury of doing some trades/purchases with a few fine fellows on the flea market, and I stick my head out to try and shark every Friday. I've also had the joy of speaking with both Ken and Andy on a few occasions and love how Andy runs the business. I'm hoping to make a splash and become more active around here. I currently own four fiddlebacks [just sharked two more after this writing]. My first was a bushfinger from earlier this year, followed by a scandi terrasaur, a scandi hiking buddy, and a beautiful 3/32 scandi esquire. My information today will be my thoughts and reactions to usage of my Scandi Hiking Buddy I got from kirkwood a few months ago. So without further adieu, here are some photos of the knife, followed by a little review.
The knife is incredibly beautiful and well crafted. Every contour is smooth. I have gone on several day hikes and two car campouts with the knife, along with using it for some around the house work and light duty gardening. It has become my favorite companion.
Here are the specs of the knife:
Hiking Buddy
Spalted O1
1/8" Blade Stock
Dyed Green Box Elder Burl
Natural pins, liners, lanyard tube.
Scandi Grind. White Stripes.
In the first image, my hiking buddy is wearing a wonderful pouch sheath from Heber (wildmanh) at HJE leather. The sheath is simple, affordable, and strong as all hell. I'd highly recommend his work if you are looking for a great set of pants for your Fiddlebacks.
Overall length: 7 1/4"
Blade length: (cutting edge only, not including the small guard) is right around 3.125"
Handle width at it's widest: a hair under .75"
Blade height from bottom of guard to top of spine: Right around 1"
Unfortunately, I do not have a scale to weigh the knife, but it rides light as a feather for all my outings. It's just big enough I can conquer any task I would normally do.
My hands are on the small side of large ( I wear a L size glove with a tiny bit of room). The knife can comfortably seat four fingers and host many grip positions. I like to be able to get a full grip on a knife I use regularly. In fact, until this knife, I've pretty much exclusively been a 4" fixed blade kind of guy. I'm now seeing the beauty of having a smaller knife on your hip that can do it all without being as big and bothersome.
When I was at camp, I made sure to test this out on some wood right off the bat. The knife feather sticks with ease, one of my favorite pre-fire rituals.
I also got to do lots of food prep. Unfortunately, I didn't get a ton of pictures doing food prep, but I had no problem slicing up some tomatoes from my garden to throw in a nice camping stew:
I also had a really nice, deep red bison sirloin that I sliced into cubes and skewered for fire roasting. I was shocked at how easily my scandi hiking buddy did this. Each slice was clean and precise, and extremely comfortable during extended use. Maybe shocked isn't the right word. Blown away seems to be a better way to describe my reaction. I knew the scandi grind would excel with wood, and it did great on the tomatoes, but to have it just separate that sirloin was somethin' else.
There are several categories I'd evaluate any knife on after extended use.
#1 Steel. The O1 here is a joy to use. I love that it colors and changes, as if it had a soul of it's own. During my usage, I didn't have to sharpen it once, and it's still very sharp. I did encounter one small roll, but that will come out in one session on the stones.
#2 Ergonomics. The knife was always comfortable, no matter how long I used it. The handles are polished and smooth as silk, but still lock into my hand. I have a vast array of grips available at my disposal, with zero complaints.
#3 Materials/ fit and finish. The fit and finish is mind blowing. And I'm a fanatic about fit and finish. It's what projects you onto that next level of quality and craftsmanship. Let's put it this way, I haven't bought any other knives since getting my first fiddleback.
#4 Longevity. I can just tell that this knife and all my other fiddlebacks will last my entire lifetime, even with high levels of usage.
On the whole, I absolutely adore the knife. As my life shifts towards one that focuses on outdoors and happiness, I'm ecstatic to have a Fiddleback at my side at all times. Combining good looks and performance has never been a bad thing, as I'm sure you all know.
I almost forgot to mention where I was for these activities. I currently live in Portland, OR, and my main camp was just southeast of Mount Hood, roughly 2 hours drive. Here is a photo of the mountain from the highway leading to the rugged roads that require 4 x 4 where our camp was:
Thanks again Andy and the rest of the Fiddleback Forge crew. I'm happy to become a part of this great blade forums community and put all of these fine knives to the test. To go out, here are some more photos of this beautiful hiking buddy in it's natural habitat.
I have mostly been a lurker around here, but I follow this knifemaker's forum very closely and visit every day. I have had the luxury of doing some trades/purchases with a few fine fellows on the flea market, and I stick my head out to try and shark every Friday. I've also had the joy of speaking with both Ken and Andy on a few occasions and love how Andy runs the business. I'm hoping to make a splash and become more active around here. I currently own four fiddlebacks [just sharked two more after this writing]. My first was a bushfinger from earlier this year, followed by a scandi terrasaur, a scandi hiking buddy, and a beautiful 3/32 scandi esquire. My information today will be my thoughts and reactions to usage of my Scandi Hiking Buddy I got from kirkwood a few months ago. So without further adieu, here are some photos of the knife, followed by a little review.
The knife is incredibly beautiful and well crafted. Every contour is smooth. I have gone on several day hikes and two car campouts with the knife, along with using it for some around the house work and light duty gardening. It has become my favorite companion.
Here are the specs of the knife:
Hiking Buddy
Spalted O1
1/8" Blade Stock
Dyed Green Box Elder Burl
Natural pins, liners, lanyard tube.
Scandi Grind. White Stripes.
In the first image, my hiking buddy is wearing a wonderful pouch sheath from Heber (wildmanh) at HJE leather. The sheath is simple, affordable, and strong as all hell. I'd highly recommend his work if you are looking for a great set of pants for your Fiddlebacks.
Overall length: 7 1/4"
Blade length: (cutting edge only, not including the small guard) is right around 3.125"
Handle width at it's widest: a hair under .75"
Blade height from bottom of guard to top of spine: Right around 1"
Unfortunately, I do not have a scale to weigh the knife, but it rides light as a feather for all my outings. It's just big enough I can conquer any task I would normally do.
My hands are on the small side of large ( I wear a L size glove with a tiny bit of room). The knife can comfortably seat four fingers and host many grip positions. I like to be able to get a full grip on a knife I use regularly. In fact, until this knife, I've pretty much exclusively been a 4" fixed blade kind of guy. I'm now seeing the beauty of having a smaller knife on your hip that can do it all without being as big and bothersome.
When I was at camp, I made sure to test this out on some wood right off the bat. The knife feather sticks with ease, one of my favorite pre-fire rituals.
I also got to do lots of food prep. Unfortunately, I didn't get a ton of pictures doing food prep, but I had no problem slicing up some tomatoes from my garden to throw in a nice camping stew:
I also had a really nice, deep red bison sirloin that I sliced into cubes and skewered for fire roasting. I was shocked at how easily my scandi hiking buddy did this. Each slice was clean and precise, and extremely comfortable during extended use. Maybe shocked isn't the right word. Blown away seems to be a better way to describe my reaction. I knew the scandi grind would excel with wood, and it did great on the tomatoes, but to have it just separate that sirloin was somethin' else.
There are several categories I'd evaluate any knife on after extended use.
#1 Steel. The O1 here is a joy to use. I love that it colors and changes, as if it had a soul of it's own. During my usage, I didn't have to sharpen it once, and it's still very sharp. I did encounter one small roll, but that will come out in one session on the stones.
#2 Ergonomics. The knife was always comfortable, no matter how long I used it. The handles are polished and smooth as silk, but still lock into my hand. I have a vast array of grips available at my disposal, with zero complaints.
#3 Materials/ fit and finish. The fit and finish is mind blowing. And I'm a fanatic about fit and finish. It's what projects you onto that next level of quality and craftsmanship. Let's put it this way, I haven't bought any other knives since getting my first fiddleback.
#4 Longevity. I can just tell that this knife and all my other fiddlebacks will last my entire lifetime, even with high levels of usage.
On the whole, I absolutely adore the knife. As my life shifts towards one that focuses on outdoors and happiness, I'm ecstatic to have a Fiddleback at my side at all times. Combining good looks and performance has never been a bad thing, as I'm sure you all know.
I almost forgot to mention where I was for these activities. I currently live in Portland, OR, and my main camp was just southeast of Mount Hood, roughly 2 hours drive. Here is a photo of the mountain from the highway leading to the rugged roads that require 4 x 4 where our camp was:
Thanks again Andy and the rest of the Fiddleback Forge crew. I'm happy to become a part of this great blade forums community and put all of these fine knives to the test. To go out, here are some more photos of this beautiful hiking buddy in it's natural habitat.
Btw, If ya ever get tired of that scandi Terrasaur shoot me a PM. :thumbup:
