battle of the blades

There is a reason you don't see a lot of convex grinds on thin steel. You have to use such light pressure to do my style convex (ie, no belt folding over the spine of the blade.... a professional grind is what I mean) that it is very hard to accomplish.

Just cutting up Jerry. Nothing about Fiddleback forge has been a waste of time or effort. I've made some of my best and longest term friends here. When y'all buy and use my knives, it makes me a very happy man.
 
Fiddleback said:
There is a reason you don't see a lot of convex grinds on thin steel. You have to use such light pressure to do my style convex (ie, no belt folding over the spine of the blade.... a professional grind is what I mean) that it is very hard to accomplish.

Just cutting up Jerry. Nothing about Fiddleback forge has been a waste of time or effort. I've made some of my best and longest term friends here. When y'all buy and use my knives, it makes me a very happy man.
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Andy, it was my pleasure to help you hone your skills :) Thanks for all the awesomeness btw :thumbsup:
 
I appreciate reading a good review and/or comparison thread. It seems these have fallen out of favor in recent years since the popularity of YT videos has taken over.

I have let go of many knives without regret over the years after objective head-to-head comparisons and/or changing priorities in life brought clarity to which knives I reach for time and time again.

Looking back on my Fiddleback experience, I went from starting here in 2013...



Then quickly up to...



Continued up to...






Started back down to...




Reduced again to...



Finally arriving at contentment with...



My wife set the example of contentment by starting and stopping with only one she enjoys immensely. It is interesting to me that we both of us settled on the Bush Hermit as our favorite.



Studying, comparing, and using 125 +/- Fiddlebacks over the last seven years has taught me a lot about knives in general and helped provide a solid foundation for the preferences I developed.

I am not sure what the next move will be in my Fiddleback journey. I can say with certainty that any new knife I buy will have a synthetic & bolstered handle with tapered & Fiddle-textured 3/32” CPM 154 blade if that ever becomes a viable option down the road. I am set until then.

I have enjoyed this thread and all the opinions expressed throughout. I hope the comments keep coming.

Phil
 
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awesome. i love the pics. some great looking knives. question...in your "final" pic, what model is on the right? that looks like one i would like. i still want to get an old school ladyfinger to try. really like the looks of the one you had. thanks for checking in phil. :thumbsup:
 
Comprehensivist said:
I am not sure what the next move will be in my Fiddleback journey. I can say with certainty that any new knife I buy will have a synthetic & bolstered handle with tapered & Fiddle-textured 3/32” CPM 154 blade if that ever becomes a viable option down the road. I am set until then.

Phil
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I have a knife on order from Osprey K/T that checks all of those boxes. His books are still open right now.
 
TPVT said:
awesome. i love the pics. some great looking knives. question...in your "final" pic, what model is on the right? that looks like one i would like. i still want to get an old school ladyfinger to try. really like the looks of the one you had. thanks for checking in phil. :thumbsup:
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The knife you are asking about is my modified Sneaky Pete (or "Sneaky Puukko" as I call it now.) I rounded the pointy corners off the pommel and removed the thumb ramp and the little nubby guard extension from the blade. You can see the way the knife originally looked in photos 2, 3, & 4 of my post.

That Sneaky Pete has taught me much about what I like in handles in particular. The taller oval shape is very comfortable and has a lot of surface area that helps with torque control in difficult cuts.

This knife has given me almost seven years of good service. I feel like it is time for the SP story to come to a close so I can focus on using the Bush Hermit more often during my limited outings these days. As such, I will be retiring the SP or possibly making it available on the flea market soon.

Thanks again for the question and starting this thread. I look forward to reading your updates as details reveal themselves to you.

Phil
 
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Hmmmm. We gotta 3/32 CPM 154 tapered Warthog with nat bolsters and baltic birch.
 
Comprehensivist said:
The knife you are asking about is my modified Sneaky Pete (or "Sneaky Puukko" as I call it now.) I rounded the pointy corners off the pommel and removed the thumb ramp and the little nubby guard extension from the blade. You can see the way the knife originally looked in photos 2, 3, & 4 of my post.

That Sneaky Pete has taught me much about what I like in handles in particular. The taller oval shape is very comfortable and has a lot of surface area that helps with torque control in difficult cuts.

I feel like this knife has taught me all it is going to after almost seven years of good service. I feel like it is time for that story to come to a close for me so I can focus on the Bush Hermit during my limited outings these days. As such, I will be retiring the SP or possibly making it available on the flea market soon.

Thanks again for the question and starting this thread. I look forward to reading your updates as details reveal themselves to you.

Phil
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thanks for the info phil. and nice job on the mod. :thumbsup:
 
Comprehensivist said:
I appreciate reading a good review and/or comparison thread. It seems these have fallen out of favor in recent years since the popularity of YT videos has taken over.

I have let go of many knives without regret over the years after objective head-to-head comparisons and/or changing priorities in life brought clarity to which knives I reach for time and time again.

Looking back on my Fiddleback experience...Phil
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Holy crap! I have literally spent the day going over my fixed blade collection trying to scale things back a bit, and I kept wondering HOW in the hell I'd ever be able to be like Phil and choose just 3.
 
Warrior108 said:
Holy crap! I have literally spent the day going over my fixed blade collection trying to scale things back a bit, and I kept wondering HOW in the hell I'd ever be able to be like Phil and choose just 3.
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Jerry, Jerry, Jerry,

I was just sharing my personal experience about where comparison exercises lead if continued over years time to get close to an ultimate conclusion (for me.) Give me two knives to compare objectively and I can always pick one I prefer. That doesn’t mean my process is right for you or anyone else.

I am in no way suggesting that you or anyone else embark on a journey to stop buying Fiddleback knives and/or shrink your collection. Andy and the crew make great knives and there is no reason to deny yourself from something you feel like buying and enjoy owning.

I’ll say more in the other related thread you started.

Phil
 
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TPVT TPVT

Outstanding thread my friend. a great idea to have a head to head comparison.

It's just great to see Andy's knives in action.

I think who ends up liking what the most is subjective.

Hand size, tasks at hand, varying levels of skill. will all factor in.

You are doing us all a service here working them through some bushie type tasks.

Very Cool,
LV
 
thanks LV. i’ve been slacking a bit.

BUT... let me introduce a new competitor! thanks to prom52 prom52 for reaching out to me about a knife i was looking for.

here is the latest... a guardless ladyfinger. 3/32”. and i’ve always been a fan of the tuxedo config.

appropriate first usage...
DUd6ITy.jpg
 
i had 20 minutes before a conference call. the LF was calling so i took it for a quick spin. liked how it handled. i wish the handle was ever-so-slightly thicker, but that is personal preference. it performed well. almost too well??

guess it's mine now? .... :D

(pay attention. knives are sharp. :rolleyes:)

91ggk0N.jpg
 
TPVT said:
i had 20 minutes before a conference call. the LF was calling so i took it for a quick spin. liked how it handled. i wish the handle was ever-so-slightly thicker, but that is personal preference. it performed well. almost too well??

guess it's mine now? .... :D

(pay attention. knives are sharp. :rolleyes:)

91ggk0N.jpg
Click to expand...
TPVT said:
i had 20 minutes before a conference call. the LF was calling so i took it for a quick spin. liked how it handled. i wish the handle was ever-so-slightly thicker, but that is personal preference. it performed well. almost too well??

guess it's mine now? .... :D

(pay attention. knives are sharp. :rolleyes:)

91ggk0N.jpg
Click to expand...
Oops.. it only takes a second..sorry it happened to you, hopefully cut is superficial and will heal quickly under the bandaid, was it the Puuku or LF ?
 
Ouch! This thread needed a little blood though IMO. Glad to hear it only required a small sacrifice.
 
it's been too long since i updated this thread. but actually, i think i have made a decision. i just received a new ladyfinger from prom52 prom52 . thanks!

here were the final 3 finalists....
XEuHn30.jpg


i really like the new LF. Peter mentioned it had a bit of a thicker handle. he was right. i like it. the blade could take big and little bites....good control.
EqzdJ7g.jpg


since it's been a while since i started the thread, to recap... the purpose of this exercise was to determine which fiddleback knife (4-incher) best met my knife needs. i feel quite fortunate that i was able to experience many of the models. and, i expect any of these knives would have served me well.

with that said, i think this new ladyfinger is my choice. i love the profile of both the blade and the handle. and, there is enough belly that i expect this one will work for some game processing, as well (Lord willing, i'll get a chance to test that theory this fall).

cheers all.
 
Winner, winner chicken dinner !

I had a feeling you would like embracing this lovely lady as she's got a handle on her that won't quit. :p
 
The Ladyfinger is a knife that lots of people approach me to say is their favorite. That wood is curly quartersawn Red Oak. I was approached by a guy that had a bunch of it he wanted help selling to knifemakers. I bought it all to keep it away from other knifemakers. I had it stabilized by the best there is, Nicholas Impregnated Wood. Sadly, we've used up most of it. I may have one or two pieces of it left.
 
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