British MOD

M

MichLee

Joined
Dec 6, 1999
Messages
266
A while back I remember someone asking aobut the British MOD. While goign thru my knives duffel I found the British MOD Survival blade I bought about 10 years ago. I never liked this blade and only used it a couple of times. It was too thick, too heavy, too stubby, and had too thick grips which gave me blisters. So on the spur of the moment, like i dont have enough projects running at the same time, I decided to try and see what I could do with it in a short time with tools anyone had around.

First thing to go was the top tine of the guard, I filed it off and rounded it. Then I started filing the blade with is over 1/4 thick, and was only ground aobut 1/2 of the almost 2 inch tick blade. I filed it down to a flat bevel from spine to edge. Then I took 120 and 220 DA papers and sanded it smooth to a nice satin finish. Then I filed the overlap of the handle slabs and thinned them down and took off the sharp corners. I finished the handle with a couple of coats of tung oil then sharpened the blade.

Yesterday I took it out and gave it a preliminary tryout. Much improved. The handling, chopping and utility was much improved and the handle felt good in the hand. While it wont replace my favorites it is now usuable and I think I will throw it behind the seat of my truck for when I need a damn near indestructible blade.

Time spent was approx. 10 hours of work in th eevenign while my wife watched tv.
 
Mich, how hard was it to file? I would guess that the blade is 1095, or similar, without too high a temper. Did you put the blade in a vise for the filing? I've seen these in catalogs, and thought they were a little expensive for what you were getting, but thought they would be pretty heavy-duty. Sounds like the finished project is pretty close to a 7 inch Campanion, which would be decent knife to knock around the woods with.
 
The blade was very easy to file, with a good file. It would be easy to even sharpen with a file as a last resort. It is still thick and when I got it 10 years ago it was fairly cheap, so is the sheath which is another thing I never cared for, am definitly moving the strap over to make it a better fit so the blade does not slide all over.
The Companion would be a far better buy for the money, however if you find one used and take soem time, this blade can be made servicable. In my opinion it was not before at least.

No, I did not use a vise, yes it would have been better to do so , but I wanted to see what someone with hardly any tools or means could do with it. Instead, for safety sake I filed down the edge that existed, and put rubber cemented a piece of car door edge molding along the edge.

And I used my wifes new Dirt Devil vacuum with attached tools to suck up the filings, which almost cost me dearly .

 
Thanks, Lee. I don't know how I got your name wrong in the previous post. Brain-fart, I guess.

I've got the Campanion, and it is a great knife, and about the same cost as the Brit knife is going for nowadays, with a lot better sheath. I was just thinking that, given the blade shape, and the grind you described, it sounded a lot like the Campanion, only bigger. I have an SOG bowie that I took the top qullion off of, like you did here. Makes it a lot easier to use the knife for chores like skinning and whittling, as you can choke up and palm the blade without that top qullion getting in the way. Of course, I had to really ponder taking a hacksaw to a $200.00 knife. :~}
 
I can well understand your hesitation to customize an expensive knife, and if it was a collectors item, like a genuine Vietnam SOG bowie, I would send the head shrinkers your way, lol. But on a using blade a bit of careful thought, cause there is no going back, can make a good knife, great. Unless it is a totally custom piece to begin with any blade is a compromise for hand size and features that they hope willl fit the majority of its users. So like you, I say if it does not have something I want, try to make it
smile.gif
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This was always one of my pet hate knives. You are not the only one who has done a remodeling job. At least you have something that you can use.

I still don't like them.
 
Back in the 80's Bill Bagwell wrote a column about these in Soldier of Fortune magazine. He expressed all the same concerns you guys have, mostly about geometry/cutting/handle comfort. He did say it was rock-solid and made of quality steel, which of course is a great place to start. It's sure alot easier to make a too-thick-blade cut better, and a too-thick handle fit you better, than it is to make a weak knife stronger.

I haven't handled one but I think they're a good basic design, although I wish the blade was either longer or shorter. In any case, I think MichLee has the absolute right idea to make it perform its best. I'm a big fan of burning some elbow grease, saving some money, and ending up with a "customized" reliable knife.

Lee, have you read Bagwell's article about modifying an inexpensive Western bowie? Very similar to what you've done with your MOD. I followed his plan with a United Cutlery bowie of similar design and ended up with a surprisingly tough, sharp and comfortable-to-use heavy-duty knife. An evening's worth of work made it actually useful.
 
the deep sabre grind made these knives heavy and poor cutting geometry. What you did turns it into a great knife. I am surprised it only took you 10 hours. Hell, it's taken me that long to put a satin finish on a knife. The Becker Campanion comparison is a good one, it is my favorite Becker.

The orignal Ranger RD series of knives were all sabre ground and were to thick near the edge to be effective cutters. The new ones being flat ground are way better. A high sabre grind or total flat grind is usually best for cutting anyway. But the low sabre grind makes an excellent prybar which is what that MOD was meant to be.
 
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