Sam Wilson
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2012
- Messages
- 3,090
For the few that read anything that I post here and watch any of my videos, you can tell that I am a big fan of MLL Knives. When I first ordered from Mario last year, he was very easy to work with and the knife arrived very quickly, despite him being in Portugal. And the knife was exactly what I ordered. If youre familiar with me or my videos at all, you also know that I live in a very wet environment in the PNW, and I love quality stainless. So when Mario started making a model in SS, I was very interested.
Enter the Amazon Hunter.
Mario didnt use just any stainless, he used Bohler N690 SS. This was my first experience with this steel, and I must say I am thoroughly impressed with it. And I mean thoroughly. But, more on that later. For outdoors tasks, I generally prefer a fixed blade, even though I almost always have a folder on me. With a 4 ½ blade, the Amazon is a great size that can be used for batonning (if youre so inclined), to pretty much any kind of cutting or carving task, from feather sticks to opening food packaging at mealtime. You can even do VERY fine work (VERY fine for me, anyway) with it. Scandi grind ain't the only game in town!
The handle is G10, and the contour is very comfortable. After a couple days use, I had no hot spots, and the knife didnt slide around in my hand at all. Its easy to see why G10 is such a favorite. Even being smooth in texture, when it got wet from rain or sweat, it didnt get slippery. And, obviously, its very tough.
As far as the sheath goes, I really like to carry knives scout style in the woods. I dont always carry them this way, as it just doesnt work for some knives, especially really large ones. I know its not for everyone, but for me, I find it very comfortable, easy to deploy even when Im sitting on the ground, and very fast to access. As an added benefit, whenever I pass people on the trail, with the knife in the small of my back its discreetly out of sight. I dont really care what people say or think, but I do get tired of trying to think of something nice to say when the 16th yuppy of the day decides to be funny for his wife, and loudly says, WHOA, hey, where you going there, Rambo? Dont kill me with that knife! Ha ha ha aha. Did you hear that, honey? Ha hah ha! IGNORE. The sheath is very high quality, of what I would say is 9-10 oz. leather, with firm snaps, and the retention strap acts like a thumbbreak when you decide to deploy the knife. For those that dont prefer scout style, the sheath also comes with a drop leg-type attachment (of which I dont have a picture handy), or Mario also offers a simple pouch style sheath. I know he also offers Kydex, so that would be an option as well.
So, finally, on to the blade. The Amazon grabbed my eye because whenever I saw it, I thought, that looks similar to an Al Mar Sere 2000 (one of my favorite all-time folders and frequent companions in the woods), only on steroids! And it is. I love the false edge on top, as it allows the tip to taper down to a finer point, which if you choose to watch the video, is at no loss for strength. Its flat ground, which is my favorite grind for outdoors blades, as I believe it gives just about the best combination of strength and slicing ability in a knife. The blade is just under 1 ½ wide, which gives the flat grind plenty of room to taper down to a very fine edge, which is what I like. I use my knives primarily for cutting, usually wood and similar materials, not batonning cinder blocks. So, I like a keen edge.
I want to just report the facts somewhat objectively for this review, but Ive got to say, I was in love with this knife from the moment I picked it up. The appreciation only grew when I started to use it. This is my first experience with the Bohler N690, but it is very tough. It passed the tip strength test with flying colors. Looking back, I believe I could have manhandled it even more aggressively with absolutely no problems. After batonning, and throwing it (yes, I know that is abuse and do not recommend it) extensively, the edge did not chip or roll at all. It was still shaving sharp at the end of the video, and in fact, for quite a bit more use, afterwards. I asked Mario, and he said it gets cryoed at the heat treaters. Between the steel, Marios grinding work, and the heat treat, it definitely exceeded my expectations, and impressed me very much. Oh, yeah, and its stainless, so no rust. I will definitely put N690 on my list of steels to look for in future knives. I will shut up now, and let you look at some glory shots of the knife, and if youre so inclined, to watch the video. Sorry to be long-winded, but I wanted to be thorough. And if anybody is on the fence about this steel, whether from Mario or any other maker, so far I cant recommend it highly enough. Thanks for reading. :thumbup:
And the video:
[video=youtube_share;Yw6JvidVN5M]http://youtu.be/Yw6JvidVN5M[/video]
Enter the Amazon Hunter.
Mario didnt use just any stainless, he used Bohler N690 SS. This was my first experience with this steel, and I must say I am thoroughly impressed with it. And I mean thoroughly. But, more on that later. For outdoors tasks, I generally prefer a fixed blade, even though I almost always have a folder on me. With a 4 ½ blade, the Amazon is a great size that can be used for batonning (if youre so inclined), to pretty much any kind of cutting or carving task, from feather sticks to opening food packaging at mealtime. You can even do VERY fine work (VERY fine for me, anyway) with it. Scandi grind ain't the only game in town!
The handle is G10, and the contour is very comfortable. After a couple days use, I had no hot spots, and the knife didnt slide around in my hand at all. Its easy to see why G10 is such a favorite. Even being smooth in texture, when it got wet from rain or sweat, it didnt get slippery. And, obviously, its very tough.
As far as the sheath goes, I really like to carry knives scout style in the woods. I dont always carry them this way, as it just doesnt work for some knives, especially really large ones. I know its not for everyone, but for me, I find it very comfortable, easy to deploy even when Im sitting on the ground, and very fast to access. As an added benefit, whenever I pass people on the trail, with the knife in the small of my back its discreetly out of sight. I dont really care what people say or think, but I do get tired of trying to think of something nice to say when the 16th yuppy of the day decides to be funny for his wife, and loudly says, WHOA, hey, where you going there, Rambo? Dont kill me with that knife! Ha ha ha aha. Did you hear that, honey? Ha hah ha! IGNORE. The sheath is very high quality, of what I would say is 9-10 oz. leather, with firm snaps, and the retention strap acts like a thumbbreak when you decide to deploy the knife. For those that dont prefer scout style, the sheath also comes with a drop leg-type attachment (of which I dont have a picture handy), or Mario also offers a simple pouch style sheath. I know he also offers Kydex, so that would be an option as well.
So, finally, on to the blade. The Amazon grabbed my eye because whenever I saw it, I thought, that looks similar to an Al Mar Sere 2000 (one of my favorite all-time folders and frequent companions in the woods), only on steroids! And it is. I love the false edge on top, as it allows the tip to taper down to a finer point, which if you choose to watch the video, is at no loss for strength. Its flat ground, which is my favorite grind for outdoors blades, as I believe it gives just about the best combination of strength and slicing ability in a knife. The blade is just under 1 ½ wide, which gives the flat grind plenty of room to taper down to a very fine edge, which is what I like. I use my knives primarily for cutting, usually wood and similar materials, not batonning cinder blocks. So, I like a keen edge.
I want to just report the facts somewhat objectively for this review, but Ive got to say, I was in love with this knife from the moment I picked it up. The appreciation only grew when I started to use it. This is my first experience with the Bohler N690, but it is very tough. It passed the tip strength test with flying colors. Looking back, I believe I could have manhandled it even more aggressively with absolutely no problems. After batonning, and throwing it (yes, I know that is abuse and do not recommend it) extensively, the edge did not chip or roll at all. It was still shaving sharp at the end of the video, and in fact, for quite a bit more use, afterwards. I asked Mario, and he said it gets cryoed at the heat treaters. Between the steel, Marios grinding work, and the heat treat, it definitely exceeded my expectations, and impressed me very much. Oh, yeah, and its stainless, so no rust. I will definitely put N690 on my list of steels to look for in future knives. I will shut up now, and let you look at some glory shots of the knife, and if youre so inclined, to watch the video. Sorry to be long-winded, but I wanted to be thorough. And if anybody is on the fence about this steel, whether from Mario or any other maker, so far I cant recommend it highly enough. Thanks for reading. :thumbup:
And the video:
[video=youtube_share;Yw6JvidVN5M]http://youtu.be/Yw6JvidVN5M[/video]
