Canadian belt knives

Shotgun

Shotgun

Joined
Feb 3, 2006
Messages
8,250
Who has them and what do you think of them? I'm interested in the design and cold steel has one for about 12 bucks so thinking about ordering one. Is the cold steel a piece of crap or will it give me a good feel for the design so as to possibly upgrade later? On the high end, who makes them close to the original design other than Grohmann? Not that Grohmann's bad, just looking for other options/features. Steel, handles, etc. Oh and pics if ya got em!:D
 
Shotgun said:
Who has them and what do you think of them? I'm interested in the design and cold steel has one for about 12 bucks so thinking about ordering one. Is the cold steel a piece of crap or will it give me a good feel for the design so as to possibly upgrade later? On the high end, who makes them close to the original design other than Grohmann? Not that Grohmann's bad, just looking for other options/features. Steel, handles, etc. Oh and pics if ya got em!:D
Click to expand...

My Cold Steel Canadian's spine jimping bit into my thumb. I didn't like it. I would go for the real thing, the Grohmann.
 
I think the Cold Steel example would work well as a trial. Heck, lots of folks seem to like them just fine.

The DH Russell designed, Grohmann made Canadian Belt Knife, is made of Stainless Steel as is the Cold Steel version, but it is about 5 times the price.
 
I have the CS and it does a fine job as a kitchen knife. It holds an edge well and does what I want it to do.

I have noticed a spot or two where the blade has discolored but it is not a problem after all, I run it through the dishwasher.
 
I've got the Cold Steel. For $12, it's a good blade. Takes a great edge, holds it well enough. It cuts pretty well on typical outdoors material.

I think that the blade is a bit soft IMO, the hardness on them is supposed to be around RC56, but it seems less to me.

I find the poly-whatever handle is smooth and slippery. I'm going to texture mine somehow. I always use a lanyard with the knife.

Sheath that comes with it SUCKS. I made a kydex sheath for it.

Yeah, I'm nitpicking about what I'd change, but the facts are that you and I can't make a knife like it for $12, period.

It's worth the $12 investment for you to decide whether or not you want to invest in a more expensive blade of that type. If you hate the design, then you didn't drop $75 on a Grohman or more on a Bark River or some other custom blade. If you like the general design of the knife, then you'll like the better variations even more.
 
This is probably my favourite version of that style, this one is made by Brian Andrews:

img5120xx.jpg

By pitdog2010 at 2010-10-25
 
There's something about the Canadian Belt Knife designs that appeals to me, but the handle seemed way too narrow to be comfortable for long. I had pretty much decided to get a carbon, flat ground Grohmann, but someone here got one and wasn't sure he really liked it.

I decided I still wanted to try this design and saw some decent reviews of that cheap line of injection molded knives from Cold Steel and their decent quality steel, so I picked up a Canadian Belt Knife for $14 at Sportman's Warehouse. Now, I haven't really put it through it's paces and because it's hollow ground I haven't used it for anything tough yet, but I have to say, as much as I don't care for Cold Steel, this little knife impressed me. It's one of the sharpest knives I've ever received, just wiping the hair off my arm. It holds a decent edge and is very easy to sharpen. Even though the handle is thin, it's very smartly designed and comfortable, although I wouldn't want to use it for any length of time (I prefer FAT handles and think that the Spyderco Bushcrafter could be a little thicker, so keep that in mind). I like that it has a lanyard hole. The sheath is really decent for the price, IMHO, and much better than I was expecting (if you can bend plastic then this would be a nice lightweight neck knife for light chores). It drills fine, makes good curls on feather sticks, is lightweight and it's very low maintainence. The jimping is very sharp, but nothing a file can't take care of.

I really favor the design and think it would be excellent for small game and fish and will toss mine into my fishing kit. The eliptical blade shape does really reduce drag and should work great on big game, too. It's great in the kitchen with the finger clearance the handle allows.

The Bark River Canadian Special looks great and I like that it comes in synthetic handles. I haven't seen Brian Andrews version before, but that is a beauty! Now if only I actually had money...
 
Last edited:
I can't help you on the Cold Steel question but I can say that of the knives of that design I've seen, I would buy one of Bryan Breeden's pathfinders. It is perhaps my all time favorite blade design.
 
A quick Google search pulled up a company called Elliptical Knives that has a large variety of this style of knife. Not deal spotting, as I haven't even looked at prices, this is just one source that carries a large variety this style of knife.

http://ellipticalknives.com/products.html
 
I had one of the Grohmann skinners for a while. It was the stainless one and it would take a hell of a good edge. I mean easily hair popping. Ended up trading it for something that wasn't as pretty, so I wouldn't feel guilty about beating it up.

The only thing I don't like about Grohmann is that they don't tell you what kind of steel it is. They just say high carbon, and high carbon stainless.
 
I have the CS version. It is indeed a good little kitchen knife. Also a good one to toss in the tackle box for use as a bait knife.
 
R Murphy Belt Knife-18 bucks, made in the USA of 1095 High Carbon steel with nice distinct grained hardwoods-I've seen rosewood, Ironwood, Zebrawood, and a few others-mine is Zebrawood. Brass pins. Well placed jimping, blade is about .125 inches thick. Very nice even convex grind with a crappy microbevel that I buffed out. With about 5 minutes of work it's probably just as nice as a grohmann. The constant rocker to the blade is a bit different but is stupendous for camp cooking. I brought mine on a 5 day whitewater trip and did all sorts of cooking tasks with it. It does other things well, too... started a few one stick fires, some linework etc.

60118_1381944841106_1606500107_30955448_6374492_n-1.jpg

keep it drenched in oil, or force a patina-it likes to rust.
 
I have both the CS and the R. Murphy knives and they are both very handy. I wouldn't trade them for anything and will replace with like ones when and if they wear out.
 
honestly, I would just go for a grohmann in Carbon, holds an edge well and they have a multi handle materials that will probably tickle your fancy. lol

But I am biased, being Canadian and all. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top