Another Question

Although I am of course biased, the Rule # Nine is to me the perfect knife. The handle is contoured perfectly to use it all day and never tire. The point is great for piercing or for fine work but it is still strong enough that it won't break when drilling or other bushcraft type uses. It even works great for cleaning and gutting trout.
 
Yeah Mack,I'm really liking the R#9 myself & for the reasons you stated plus the exposed tang.
The way the tang is rounded is surprisingly comfortable enough while pushing on the butt for piercing.

Of course I have the Tool coming next month so we'll see if it knocks the 9 down a notch or not.;)
 
I like the JKTK, no surprise there, of course it will lose out to the bigger knives, for me it's the tasks that require a bigger knife that can be skipped over of bypassed in some other way, I know a lot of folks do to much chopping and such for that to e the case and of course the jk v2.0 is soon to arrive so you never know.

Of the larger sized JKs I've tried I like the Hiker...never tried a #9 I'll point out. :)
 
For my use it would be a tossup between the Michigan Trail and the EDC Kephart.

The EDC Kephart is my most used knife mostly because it is a wicked little slicer (thin) and very comfortable to use. I had John make the handle just a tad larger on mine and it fits my hand really well. This is not the knife I'd choose if batoning wood was in the list of duties (something I almost never do) but I'd see no problem in making this knife a regular on outdoor excursions. It probably isn't the best choice for any single job, but it seems to do everything well and it fits well in my back pocket.

The Michigan Trail is my second most used knife. Handy is the word I think of when it comes to this knife; not too big and not too small. This knife is sturdy enough to baton with, yet it slices quite well and is amazingly comfortable in hand. The blade shape lends itself to a variety of chores, with a tip that works well for drilling and a spine that scrapes with the best of them. There is enough of a drop (of the tip) that I suspect this knife would make an excellent choice for deer hunters. I'd want a thinner blade if cleaning fish were the primary job, but the Michigan Trail could certainly get the job done as is.

In both cases I think these models are terrific all-around choices; not perfectly suited for any one specific job, but highly capable of making any chosen job easier.

I think the Trapline should be considered as well. While I think this model is the perfect choice if carving wood is the primary agenda, it is fully capable of handling other chores and is an absolute joy to use.

In the kitchen (or camp) I'd make my choice the Improved Bowie - it is absolutely the perfect choice for boning out cuts of meat and preparing a meal and it is the choice for filleting fish. Most people would probably find the Improved Bowie to be the one model that fills most of their cutting/slicing jobs.

While the Roach Belly doesn't seem to get a lot of love, it is another excellent choice in the kitchen or camp. It is an excellent slicer and the tall blade substitutes wonderfully as a tool to transfer sliced vegetables from the cutting board to the pan or pot. The curved belly makes slicing vegetable easy - much like a dedicated chef's knife - but the knife retains a great deal of usefulness for other chores as well.

The Potawatomi Necker is another excellent choice; the perfect little slicer in the kitchen, it would be my choice for peeling potatoes or any other job requiring fine control. It also makes for an excellent carving knife (wood) because of the control and leverage. The Riverwoods Companion also fills this role very well (as does the Semi Wharncliff).

For hunting use (think skinning out animals) my choice would be the JKCBK. It was designed for such chores and I suspect there are few other knives that could compete with this model in efficiency when it comes to skinning out a critter. This is my favorite model - I just love the way this knife looks and feels - by far. If I weren't so attached to the knife, it would almost certainly be my most used model - it just does everything very well; from skinning to carving wood, to kitchen duty. But it absolutely excels at skinning chores. The Kentucky Woodsman and the Nessie would be two models that have similar design intentions and usefulness.

Were I to suddenly drop off the grid, move to Alaska and live out my inner wildman, my knife choices would be narrowed down to the Kephart, the Camp & Trail, the Trapline, the Victim, and the JKCBK. The Kephart has a proven ability in this arena and John makes a fantastic version. The Camp & Trail is one of John's unsung masterpieces: a tough no-nonsense knife that will take an absolute beating while getting the job done again and again. As for the Victim... well we all know how tough that knife is.

In truth, every one of John's models is a fantastic knife. Of course I like some models better than others, but for my use - kitchen prep, ordinary cutting tasks, and carving pieces of wood into unrecognizable smaller pieces of wood - I'd be hard pressed to find something that works better than what I have. There is a reason why the EDC Kephart and Michigan Trail knives are chosen so often: they work very well and they're handy for my uses.
 
I use my Rule a lot too. The Phoenix has seen a fair amount of use too, along with the pocket scandi. In my humble opinion, the EWOK was/is/should be John's signature knife. It is the best of the best- size is compact, nimble, handle is full,(especially the one I designed) and toss it into a pocket sheath and you are good to go!
 
I use my Thin Modified Wharncliffe the most.

Although it is thin, it is durable and I think you could baton with it if you really had to, and it can do any camp food chore or making a fuzz stick.
I think the only thing it would not be good at would be chopping.

It is just a great all around design for what I typically do with a knife.

DSC_4115.JPG


best

mqqn
 
Rockywolf said:
I use my Rule a lot too. The Phoenix has seen a fair amount of use too, along with the pocket scandi. In my humble opinion, the EWOK was/is/should be John's signature knife. It is the best of the best- size is compact, nimble, handle is full,(especially the one I designed) and toss it into a pocket sheath and you are good to go!
Click to expand...

I have been thinking of doing a limited run of the E.W.O.K. If there is interest, I might do it.
 
Rockywolf said:
I use my Rule a lot too. The Phoenix has seen a fair amount of use too, along with the pocket scandi. In my humble opinion, the EWOK was/is/should be John's signature knife. It is the best of the best- size is compact, nimble, handle is full,(especially the one I designed) and toss it into a pocket sheath and you are good to go!
Click to expand...

Could I ask what was different about your EWOK? was it the exposed tang version?

mqqn said:
I use my Thin Modified Wharncliffe the most.

Although it is thin, it is durable and I think you could baton with it if you really had to, and it can do any camp food chore or making a fuzz stick.
I think the only thing it would not be good at would be chopping.

It is just a great all around design for what I typically do with a knife.

DSC_4115.JPG


best

mqqn
Click to expand...

I always enjoy your pictures, maple burl looks good on camera :)

JK Knives said:
I have been thinking of doing a limited run of the E.W.O.K. If there is interest, I might do it.
Click to expand...

I'd put my hand up...my wish list is getting long with the locking folder, steak knife and the ewok all coming out at the moment, but I would have to jump on a limited run EWOK.
 
The Compact Combat/ Survival does it for me. Not too small, not too large, extremely sharp convex blade makes skinning easy and the 3/16" thickness allows for heavier work if needed. Glad you came up with this one John.
 
The EWOK is the one fixed blade that I was able to bring with me this trip. Although I miss my other knives, I know it will do anything I need it to do.
 
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