The Magician
Illusionist
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2000
- Messages
- 1,580
The title should of read "BK&T Campanion....one great tool Sorry about the poor spelling.
I recently received one of these knives in a trade. When I first saw these knives in pictures I was not impressed. I thought that the handle looked too big and that a 4.5" blade could not chop. Well this trade popped up and I thought that if I didn't like it, I could just trade it away later. Well the campanion arrived and my first impression was that I ws very wrong. The handle fits my small/average size hands well. I am sure it will work for larger hands too.The handle is a smooth thick plastic that is held on by three allen head bolts with hex nuts. This makes the scales easy to remove if you wish. The blade is a drop point style and came very sharp. The steel is black epoxy coated high carbon. Right off you will notice the blade is very thick and has a pleasing weight. It is slightly blade heavy, but not too much. It came in a multi carry kydex sheath that was very well done for a factory sheath. The knife is locked in with a "click!" and there is also a nylon retaining strap. The strap is probably not neccessary, but it is there in case. The sheath has a wide nylon belt loop that will go on most any belt, even the GI pistol belt. There is also many holes and slots around the edges to strap sheath to LBE or pack, etc. I would have no worries carrying this knife inverted, I would however use the reatining strap and not rely on friction alone.
As I stated earlier, I was skeptical of chopping with ~5" blade. I had an old painted 2X4 laying around and decided to give it a few whacks. The knife chopped very well. I was extremely surprised and impressed. The handle was very comfortable. I was able to chop through very quickly with almost no fatigue. For comparison I got out my cold steel shovel. In my experience the campanion out chopped the shovel at least 3to1! The shovel seemed to want to just bounce off and vibrate. (yes, it was sharpened)The hooked design on the end of the handle works great to keep the campanion from flying away during heavy chopping. The shove seemed like it wanted to twist and turn.
The 2X4 that I was chopping had another short peice nailed to it using four large nails. I used the handle of the CS shovel to hammer the campanion between the boards. I then pried and twisted the blade forcing the boards apart. I also used the blade spine as a hammer to further force them apart. The campanion worked great.
I next threw the knife down in my driveway (gravel)several times. I am not sure why, this knife just begs for you to try to hurt it. ( you can't) I moved on to living wood, cherry, and it performed well. Chopped small 1/2" branches like butter. I also threw the knife at the tree a few times.
In the end the knife is still in great shape. The black coating has held up well. It has some scuffs and a little paint rubbed on it. There are smoe scratches on the spine where I hammered with it, but still looks good, just used. The edge still slices paper well. It doesn't shave, but will sort of scrape hair off. There are some small spots where the edge has impacted and rolled, but not too many. I think it will also resharpen easily. Overall I give the BK&T Campanion an 8 on the 1 to 10 scale.
[edited for poor typing and spelling]
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Have you noticed that time flies like the wind, but fruit flies like bananas ?
[This message has been edited by bteel (edited 05-28-2001).]
I recently received one of these knives in a trade. When I first saw these knives in pictures I was not impressed. I thought that the handle looked too big and that a 4.5" blade could not chop. Well this trade popped up and I thought that if I didn't like it, I could just trade it away later. Well the campanion arrived and my first impression was that I ws very wrong. The handle fits my small/average size hands well. I am sure it will work for larger hands too.The handle is a smooth thick plastic that is held on by three allen head bolts with hex nuts. This makes the scales easy to remove if you wish. The blade is a drop point style and came very sharp. The steel is black epoxy coated high carbon. Right off you will notice the blade is very thick and has a pleasing weight. It is slightly blade heavy, but not too much. It came in a multi carry kydex sheath that was very well done for a factory sheath. The knife is locked in with a "click!" and there is also a nylon retaining strap. The strap is probably not neccessary, but it is there in case. The sheath has a wide nylon belt loop that will go on most any belt, even the GI pistol belt. There is also many holes and slots around the edges to strap sheath to LBE or pack, etc. I would have no worries carrying this knife inverted, I would however use the reatining strap and not rely on friction alone.
As I stated earlier, I was skeptical of chopping with ~5" blade. I had an old painted 2X4 laying around and decided to give it a few whacks. The knife chopped very well. I was extremely surprised and impressed. The handle was very comfortable. I was able to chop through very quickly with almost no fatigue. For comparison I got out my cold steel shovel. In my experience the campanion out chopped the shovel at least 3to1! The shovel seemed to want to just bounce off and vibrate. (yes, it was sharpened)The hooked design on the end of the handle works great to keep the campanion from flying away during heavy chopping. The shove seemed like it wanted to twist and turn.
The 2X4 that I was chopping had another short peice nailed to it using four large nails. I used the handle of the CS shovel to hammer the campanion between the boards. I then pried and twisted the blade forcing the boards apart. I also used the blade spine as a hammer to further force them apart. The campanion worked great.
I next threw the knife down in my driveway (gravel)several times. I am not sure why, this knife just begs for you to try to hurt it. ( you can't) I moved on to living wood, cherry, and it performed well. Chopped small 1/2" branches like butter. I also threw the knife at the tree a few times.
In the end the knife is still in great shape. The black coating has held up well. It has some scuffs and a little paint rubbed on it. There are smoe scratches on the spine where I hammered with it, but still looks good, just used. The edge still slices paper well. It doesn't shave, but will sort of scrape hair off. There are some small spots where the edge has impacted and rolled, but not too many. I think it will also resharpen easily. Overall I give the BK&T Campanion an 8 on the 1 to 10 scale.
[edited for poor typing and spelling]
------------------
Have you noticed that time flies like the wind, but fruit flies like bananas ?
[This message has been edited by bteel (edited 05-28-2001).]
