CKE2 Bushcraft Blade

kgd

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
9,786
I made a trade with CKE2 on one of his bushcraft blades. CKE2 is a Canadian knifemaker out of Thunder Bay, Ontario. He posted the same blade in W&SS back in December:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=607033

Specs are: Blade length 3", 1/8" thick O1, full convex grind. Blade width is just a touch under 1". Handle 3.25" green mircata with white liners. Slabs are about 0.25" thick. It also came with 2 kydex sheaths, one for neck carry and another for belt carry.

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First impressions today. Fit and finish on the knife is very good. Slabs are perfectly lined up with the tang, corners of the handles are all nicely rounded. The grind is full convex. There is only a bare hint of a grind line at the top of the plunge line. The finish on the blade is a satin finish without any scratches. This was traded as a used blade, but it was in superb shape. The point is a spear point and from the top of the spine the blade contours evenly on both sides of the knife to nicely centered point. CKE2 asked me to be honest in my review. So I looked at the knife doubly hard to try and spot a little flaw. I really couldn't find one!

Many of you are probably thinking - 3.25" handle is not a lot of room to purchase. I thought that this would be more of a 3 finger grip, but if I allow my index to crowd ever so slightly on the edge of the mircata (not on the small choil), I can get a full grip on the knife. This coupled with the full thickness of the blade gives plenty of purchase. The knife is about 0.3" longer than my JK kit knife which is definitely a 3 finger hold. Part of the difference has to do with the JK slabs being thin, whereas the full thickness grips of the bushcrafter add to the grip. As somebody on the edge of medium to large hand, this handle fits me quite well. I wouldn't want it any shorter. A touch longer would make the knife work for other people, but really wouldn't increase comfort or power for me that much.

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The knife came quite sharp. However, I'm just a bit of a fanatic and I ended up stropping it a little just to get it at its all. After stropping, it push cut paper and shaved hair readily.

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Here is the CKE2 Bushcrafter next to a bunch of similar classed knives. From the top: RC-3, Breeden Modifified kat (3.75" blade, 3/32 " thick O1), review knife, Jimi Wade neck knife (2.5", 1/8" thick 1080), Stomper kit knife (2.5", 3/32" O1).

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I cut a sapling who unwisely decided to grow too close to the house and tried the new knife for notching. In a small blade like this, where you are going to use your thumb to aid in the cut, I like 1/8" thickness. It seems thin enough to cut well, but still wide enough to be comfortable on the thumbs when pushing against the spine.

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Fuzzed up the other side of the sapling. Of course, being a sapling it was pretty soft.

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I then went and grabbed a seasoned piece of wood. Very dry and hard. The little bushcrafter did well at fuzzing these too. Its not like a scandi mind you, and admittedly I'm still better at fuzzies with a V-grind than an convex, but it did fine.

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Back to the sapling. My Breeden kat knife made thinner curls. Maybe this has to do with the thinner blade 3/32". Possibly has to do with my slightly better proficiency at fuzzies with V-grinds. I'm still a little new to the convex edge, and I find all convex edges tend to want to shallow out on the cut while V-grinds tend to want to dig in deeper.

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A few more comparison shots.

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So far I'm really happy with this knife. It is another really strong and versatile pocket knife. It can be used as a neck knife or carried as a belt knife. Its not the preferred size to baton thick pieces of wood. However, it is a great sized little blade that acts as a perfect companion to a larger knife like the RC-6 or SOD for camping. As an EDC blade, I really couldn't ask anything more of it. Great work Craig!
 
Looks like a very handy, well-made knife that should perform a good many tasks with great efficiency.

I have been using (and making) the full-height convex grinds, partial convex grinds, and convex edges (on flat-grinds) for more years than I care to remember (early Marble's, forged & filed, several of my own manufacture). In my experience, I find carving fuzzies or prayer sticks much easier with the thinner convex profiled blades than I do with the thicker convexed blades. With the thicker blades (not width), you have to rotate the edge at more of an acute angle just to contact the cutting surface, thus making deeper, less fine and shallow curls. The thicker blades will work ok (some guys don't seem to mind), if sharp, but I like curls I can almost see through to get things going fast and easy.

Good job on the photos and review. :thumbup:
 
Great review and nice pics, thanks! This looks like quite the compact, functional user.

All the best,

- Mike
 
wow.. great review KGD..:thumbup: awesome pics too..:eek: that is a cool looking blade... i really like Craig's work.... it always look very clean and functional..
 
Jeez Ken, when you said lil review I did not expect that. I am glad you are happy with it.

Thank you for the great review:thumbup: I agree with the handle length, for me it works, but for the majority I think the extra 1/2 inch, maybe even only a 1/4 inch would make it that much better for that many more people.

Thanks again for all the kind words guys, I appreciate them.

Craig
 
Whisker2...I sent you an email. Thanks for the interest:thumbup:

Craig
 
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