Bushcraft with Izula or Swampwarden? Maybe Bravo Necker

BBQ BOY

BBQ BOY

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Feb 24, 2009
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Hey ya'll I already have an Izula and love it even though I rarely get to use it. Anyway I was thinking of having a sheath made for my Busse Skinny Ash and want a smaller knife piggy backed onto the larger sheath. The purpose of the knife would be for some bushcrafting, skinning and cleaning fish if needed. Originally I was going to go with a smaller Busse for this purpose such as the BAD but the knife maker(Martin Swinkles) recommended the Izula or Swampwarden instead for the set up we have chosen. My question is how will the Izula or Swampwarden fair in these task?
Before I spend a lot of money on the sheath and set up I would appreciate a non bias answer on how this knife will perform as a bushcrafter.
I'm brand loyal to a certain extent and sometimes will push my brand but like I said I respect yalls opinion and a unbiased one too.
 
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IMO the swamp warden has a larger and more comfortable handle and I would be more prone to want to use it simply for that.
 
Marcelo Cantu said:
IMO the swamp warden has a larger and more comfortable handle and I would be more prone to want to use it simply for that.
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Yes. Slightly longer blade, more handle area and the curvature really helps your grip

I only bothered to comment because the Izula fanboys haven't gotten to this thread yet. I didn't say I don't have an Izula though ;)

Take the plunge. Swamp Rat has a handful of Swamp Wardens available and for only a couple bucks more than the Izula. 52100 is superior and tougher as well.
 
how about the Bravo necker or Bravo Necker 2? What I do like about the necker is that almost all of the blade is satin.
 
Which ever you like more. I don't think you need the Swamp rat but it's a good one. The only reason I don't own one is the choil. I have yet to understand why choils are put on small knives they just snag on everything. The one on the Izula is small enough to not make much of a difference which is why I edc it.
 
I'd want something uncoated, finer edged and fatter handled than an Izula or a Swamp warden for bushcraft. Both would work for cleaning and skinning though and general camp chores.
 
I'm very happy with my izula. It works way bigger than it should and I love the add on scales. It's very comfortable to use for extended time and is plenty tough. They are going to come out with one with a longer handle soon too...
 
Shotgun said:
Which ever you like more. I don't think you need the Swamp rat but it's a good one. The only reason I don't own one is the choil. I have yet to understand why choils are put on small knives they just snag on everything. The one on the Izula is small enough to not make much of a difference which is why I edc it.
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It's not a choil. It's too small to place any finger in. The Izula is merely a hair shorter.

The Swamp Rat is of way better value at $59 to Izula's $45


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xtestifyx said:
It's not a choil. It's too small to place any finger in. The Izula is merely a hair shorter.

The Swamp Rat is of way better value at $59 to Izula's $45


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Choil, sharpening notch...whatever you want to call it it sucks.

I agree here that the swamp rat is a better value excluding my comments of the "choil." Now if he said he wanted this by itself the ESEE would be a greater value because it comes with a sheath. Not an issure here though because he's getting it for a custom sheath.
 
I wish both companies offered the blades sterile.

I only have the Swamp Warden but I've had a lot of trouble with the logo on it getting rusted due to sweating or putting the blade back in the kydex with a little moisture on it.

Also wish they offered them in stainless because of the edge rusting.
 
Martin makes pretty slick modern sheathing and his recommendation on the izula and warden makes sense in the aesthetic point of view! I'd know because I bought my izula because of how slick he can piggy it onto a ESEE-6 sheath he'd made.

I've noticed you have also ask in the BRKT forums and if you've noticed in the past, martin & reid of sharpshooter sheaths have some very different opinions on sheath design and functionality. (Don't get me wrong, both are great)

Now I also happen to have the Bravo Necker 1 & 2, and I ALSO happen to have a few piggy set up :jerkit: and I must say, between the izula and bravo, you can't go wrong with either as users.. I won't go into which knife is better so I'll offer my opinion from a functional sheathing & aesthetic POV. A few points you might want to consider,

The izula is a great blade to use in medium size hands, and IMHO, works really well as a piggy setup with any larger knives. Even with the scales on, it sit's really low profile on Martin's design.. I've tried the bravo neckers (in the izula sheath cos I was thinking of sending it out to martin to have it made) but somehow the aesthetics just doesn't work..
the neckers just doesn't fit as compact as an izula would. I would assume the warden would since it's almost similar in footprint.

The bravo neckers on the other hand, has a sweet polished convex edge. They are a tad expensive when you factor in the scales and I personally cannot use it without getting some blisters if I didnt had the scales on. Piggy-ing it onto a bravo 1 in their factory kydex looks great (and what I got it for, yes, :jerkit: again) but I just find the kydex design a little less friendly to use. An izula pair wouldn't work here either (again in terms of looks) but I seem to use these knives more because of the polish convex and even more so after dressing it up in matching piggy leather sheaths.

I still regularly use my esee knives but they are more hard use items while the bark river are for finer camp task..
 
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