- Joined
- Aug 1, 2008
- Messages
- 491
I had this clever little design of a knife come in yesterday and this is one of those knives that really caught my eye when I initially saw it in production stage. I don't think it is the BEST looking knife out there as far as all out visual appeal, but when I saw it, the Ptarmigan SCREAMED "use me please" as far as design and function that is built into it combined with all out versatility.
The first thing I noticed when I pulled it from the box was the weight. It is easily HALF the weight of my Woodland, lighter than the Escort and the Mini Northstar and, as far as I can tell without a scale and closing my eyes, about the same weight as my Blackwater Boot Knives...and those are pretty darn small.
Since I got it before I had to go to work, and given that it is a really good EDC size as shown with a couple of popular Bark Rivers...the Woodland, Escort and MNS...I decided that was going to be the blade I wore to work that night to see how well it carried. Some of you may have seen how impressed I am with how the MNS carries. How light it is, how tight to the body it is, etc. The Ptarmigan is no different at all. It is a pleasure to carry this knife on my belt. Did I mention it is light weight? I made sure to share the looks of this knife with several hunters in the shop. Some hunt whitetail, others goose and waterfowl and yet others strictly small game. Not a SINGLE one of them said they wouldn't use that knife on their game of choice for field dressing. The goose hunters said it had just enough blade length for the breast area, the small game boys said it was perfect for fox and rabbit, and the whitetail hunters (myself included) said it would make the perfect blade to dress a deer and skin it. I AGREE! What made all of the comments great, was it was easily predictable. Now, the Ptarmigan is not going to split joints and pelvic bones. This is not its function. Where it will excel is how the blade can be manipulated and controlled. I have 2 grips demonstrated. 1 is a 3 finger grip, the other choking up on the choil in the same manner that Mike has demonstrated. Great design! I played with it a bit at work last night and the tip and edge control in a full 4 finger grip, choking up on the blade is just sweet. :thumbup: It reminded me of an Exacto knife. Matter of fact, due to the upswept tip design and extended belly, you can choke up even further past the choil with ease and still have great tip control...more so than a bushcraft style blade without the belly.
Now, for those interested in a comparison against other upswept designs, IMO, it is apples and oranges. Sure, they follow a similar sweeping radius and movement, both are great at slicing, but the control you have with the Ptarmigan is unmatched. The Ptarmigan will not take abusive use like the Upland Special can however. It is like comparing a Mini Northstar to an Aurora. Similar in design, much different in function. I actually had to grab my micrometer to see that the blade was indeed .110" because it sure didn't feel like it was that thick...not taking anything away from how stout the blade is. I was right, it wasn't .110" as I had thought it was. It mic'd up at .108".
I picked mine up from Derrick at www.knivesshipfree.com and the dealers should now be in full swing with stocking these little wonders. :thumbup::thumbup:
The first thing I noticed when I pulled it from the box was the weight. It is easily HALF the weight of my Woodland, lighter than the Escort and the Mini Northstar and, as far as I can tell without a scale and closing my eyes, about the same weight as my Blackwater Boot Knives...and those are pretty darn small.
Since I got it before I had to go to work, and given that it is a really good EDC size as shown with a couple of popular Bark Rivers...the Woodland, Escort and MNS...I decided that was going to be the blade I wore to work that night to see how well it carried. Some of you may have seen how impressed I am with how the MNS carries. How light it is, how tight to the body it is, etc. The Ptarmigan is no different at all. It is a pleasure to carry this knife on my belt. Did I mention it is light weight? I made sure to share the looks of this knife with several hunters in the shop. Some hunt whitetail, others goose and waterfowl and yet others strictly small game. Not a SINGLE one of them said they wouldn't use that knife on their game of choice for field dressing. The goose hunters said it had just enough blade length for the breast area, the small game boys said it was perfect for fox and rabbit, and the whitetail hunters (myself included) said it would make the perfect blade to dress a deer and skin it. I AGREE! What made all of the comments great, was it was easily predictable. Now, the Ptarmigan is not going to split joints and pelvic bones. This is not its function. Where it will excel is how the blade can be manipulated and controlled. I have 2 grips demonstrated. 1 is a 3 finger grip, the other choking up on the choil in the same manner that Mike has demonstrated. Great design! I played with it a bit at work last night and the tip and edge control in a full 4 finger grip, choking up on the blade is just sweet. :thumbup: It reminded me of an Exacto knife. Matter of fact, due to the upswept tip design and extended belly, you can choke up even further past the choil with ease and still have great tip control...more so than a bushcraft style blade without the belly.
Now, for those interested in a comparison against other upswept designs, IMO, it is apples and oranges. Sure, they follow a similar sweeping radius and movement, both are great at slicing, but the control you have with the Ptarmigan is unmatched. The Ptarmigan will not take abusive use like the Upland Special can however. It is like comparing a Mini Northstar to an Aurora. Similar in design, much different in function. I actually had to grab my micrometer to see that the blade was indeed .110" because it sure didn't feel like it was that thick...not taking anything away from how stout the blade is. I was right, it wasn't .110" as I had thought it was. It mic'd up at .108".
I picked mine up from Derrick at www.knivesshipfree.com and the dealers should now be in full swing with stocking these little wonders. :thumbup::thumbup:
