Clarification of why everyone loves the Mora

Noshtero

Noshtero

Joined
Oct 10, 2002
Messages
1,551
Here's my question. If you haven't been able to figure out by now, I'm all about removing circumstancial references in people's opinions. Whenever I hear someone praise the Mora they always say "For $15, you can't beat these knives". Lots of people on this forum even say it'd be their choice if they could only take one knife into the bush

My question is, price aside, what do you think of them? Pretend the Frost Clipper was an $80 knife. Would you still pick it over an F1? Are their qualities to it that make it better BECAUSE it's cheaper? Like... perhaps the cheaper steel is way easier to sharpen in the field. Or...the cheaper handle material makes it way lighter weight.

Thanks
 
Would I pick a Mora over the Fällkniven F1 if Moras were $ 80? Well, let me think...

Hell no, not even if all the gods came down from the heavens and told me to do so. Never. Not ever. No way.

Moras are anything between 2 to 10 euro here in Finland. I wouldn't pay much more for them. They are excellent value for the price, but they're cheapo knives even so. That's not to say those cheapo knives aren't better cutting tools and woodworking tools than many if not most way more expensive tactical knives.

Moras are liked for three things here in Scandinavia: 1) They're cheap, so you can discard them whenever you want. 2) They're no-nonsense knives that work. 3) They're light in weight.

If you're willing to pay more than 10 euros or bucks, there are loads of knives far, far superior on the market.
 
For general bushcraft what is better than a mora and why, I think that is a better question. There are knives that are better for specific uses, filet knives, choppers and so on but for a general purpose utility knife what beats it?
 
I think the Mora 2K is a fine knife, and the clippers are great cutting tools, I have 2...that being said..No, I wouldn't spend much more for them, not when I can find a Ka-Bar for $40, or a Airforce Survival knife for $35. I bought my Trekker SAK, for about $28 at Smokymountain in TN, and I thought THAT was a great buy, and I would take this with me before a clipper. So, they are what they are...great cheap knives.
 
I really like mora's,but I would never pay big money for one.

I wouldn't choose to carry only a mora in the woods,but If I had the other bases coverd I probobly would (and often do) carry one for a carver-slicer.Because thats where they often surpase knives costing more.
Nice scandi grind,,take wonderful edges,choice of carbon,triflex,laminated or stainless steel,all of which are very usable,hold a decent edge and are easy to sharpen.

I like cooler looking knives that you can show off as well,but sometimes all you need is a tool,something you don't have to worrie about,and when you can get that tool for next to nothing and it still perform well it's prety impressive.:thumbup:
 
No, they are cheap and disposable as mentioned in the previous posts. I have 2 moras, one I keep as a loaner knife and the other sits in my truck as a just incase knife and the only reason it is there is because I wanted one stainless steel blade in my truck.
Sure moras are simple in design and they are cheap, so far that is the only advantage to other knives. I only find that they are good around the camp kitchen because they are easy to clean and the plastic handles do not absorb bacteria. If you eliminate the price factor then you might as well get yourself a good quality knife with a good steel and well fitting grip. The only time I would buy another mora would be to give to a child who is still learning how to handle a knife in a responsable manner since it is cheap in price and if it gets broken or lost then its no big deal to me.
 
For what the Mora knife is, be it with a wood or plastic handle, it is an excellent value. The steel is quality, and the construction is solid. At the price point, I can keep several around, and not worry if one gets damaged or lost. I see the Mora knife as affordable, as opposed to 'cheap.' Frosts of Sweden, affordable. Frost Cutlery, cheap.

If the Clipper was $80, would I chose it over the $80 F1? No. At $80, a Mora knife, to me, wouldn't present as a good value. At that price point, the F1 would clearly be a better value with it's higher-quality steel, construction technique, and sheath.

I like using Mora knives, and find they can handle most anything a similarly sized more expensive fixed blade can handle. I like both the carbon and stainless steel knives. I find the scandi grind easy to work with in the field, too. I just lay the bevel on the stone and go.

I like the affordable Mora knife concept. The idea that for a very reasonable price, to get a decent cutting tool and a sheath. Function seems to proceed form just a little bit. Good steel, a general yet comfortable handle, and a very basic but effective sheath.

I mean no offense to you Noshtero, but it cracks me up when people seem to over-analyze the inexpensive Mora. The knives typically run $8 to $14. They aren't anything fancy, nor are they super-do-everything tools. They are simple, basic, effective cutting tools. If one is skeptical, I suggest investing a few dollars and trying it out.
 
Thats an intrsting Q.. Would you buy a Honda if it were priced same as a Farrari??? Heck no i wouldnt buy the Honda. On the other side its not priced the same and a Honda is a great buy. Same with a Mora if you make it expansive enough it wont sale. BUT it would do 90% of what a Knife that cost 20 times would do. Price IS part of the knife you buy. If all knifes were priced same you would only see busse and custom on everyone belts. I just see no way to compare them. I dont think one person on here would say that a Mora is better then a busse. But even a busse owner would have a Mora. My knife to carry with me on hikes and even packpacking is always a Mora. Why cause it works and its cheap in case i lose it. For a back up i got another Mora.

Sasha
 
sasha said:
Thats an intrsting Q.. Would you buy a Honda if it were priced same as a Farrari??? Heck no i wouldnt buy the Honda. On the other side its not priced the same and a Honda is a great buy. Same with a Mora if you make it expansive enough it wont sale. BUT it would do 90% of what a Knife that cost 20 times would do. Price IS part of the knife you buy. If all knifes were priced same you would only see busse and custom on everyone belts. I just see no way to compare them. I dont think one person on here would say that a Mora is better then a busse. But even a busse owner would have a Mora. My knife to carry with me on hikes and even packpacking is always a Mora. Why cause it works and its cheap in case i lose it. For a back up i got another Mora.

Sasha
Click to expand...

I see where you're going with this, but my question is more like Would you buy a ford mustang if it were priced the same as a chevy corvette? The corvette is generally the more expensive car, but I bet a lot of people would take their mustang over a vette regardless of price. So sure you wouldn't pay Ferarri price for a Honda, that'd be like paying Busse price for a mora. But you might pay Corvette price for a Mustang, that's more like F1 price for a Mora.

Heh... WAAYY to much thought into this. People have already said what I figured. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't some mystical property to the Moras that made them the best knife regardless of price. I was mainly thrown off by the "you can only take one" thread where lots of people said if they could only have 1 knife in the bush, it'd be the Mora. I would expect people to say that if they truly had to choose one knife, they would choose the best quality knife regardless of price. I guess some people didn't it read the hypothetical aspect that I read, and instead read it as "of the knives currently sitting on your shelf, which would you pick?" To that question, I could see some people picking the Mora.

Thanks all :)
 
If sex cost you $100,000 would you have sex? The fact that something that good is free is very, very cool IMO.

I think price is a factor here as you are getting a very good knife for about $10 when you buy a Mora. Are there better knives out there that cost more and do the same job better. Yes. If you are looking for a knife that is very well designed to make things out of natural materials, clean game, do kitchen tasks, cut rope etc, a small, fixed, scandi grind knife is a very practical choice.

The various "bushcraft" type knives fit this bill very well and you can pay anywhere from reasonable to "work of art" prices for a knife that will do essentially what that mora does. I'm not knocking those knives in any way. I was just given a Skookum Bush Tool as a gift and I love this knife. In fact I was bound and determined to save up for one so it was a very timely gift, but I wasn't going to stay out of the bush because my other bushcraft knife was a Triflex Craftsman.

I am a big fan of the Moras's and I will admit that price was a factor. I run a course down here several times a year and I had to foot the bill for the gear. The Mora's were a natural choice when you have to hand out 4 - 6 of them. Now if they were crappy knives that didn't do the job I wouldn't have even considered them. I had already passed up many locally made crappy knives that were 3-4x the price of the Mora's. A crappy knife is a crappy knife and I don't care how much it cost. On the other hand the Mora's are decent knives for the bush and they are in a price range I can buy multiples of and not worry about them.

I'd love to have an F1. In fact I'd love to have 6 of them and pass them out like party favors when I take groups out into the bush. Maybe someday, but that will have to be after I make it big drinking elephant dung water. Until then the SWAK's will have to do and if one gets buggered up I'll replace it. Actually I won't replace it by buying another one, I'll just reach into my black nylon Sack'o Mora's, grab something equally as good head out to the bush.

The Mora's are a great place to start for someone getting into wilderness activity. They are also a great back-up or kit knife. Mac
 
What would be an upgrade to the Mora 2000 based on price/quality? I know any other high quality knife would be an upgrade but based on price/quality, what would be the one right above that for "advance wilderness activities"?
 
I have owned one mora knife and well IMO it is what it is a cheap & light knife, I gave it away to a friend so he could have a bait knife, I have never missed it or desire to buy another and to me they are kinda dull looking but to each his own!
 
Price aside? No way. Even with the cheap price, I have many knives that outperform my Moras.

Some people love them, for the life of me, I can't imagine why. For a cheap knife, yes, they perform well, and I like them for gardening. But for camping, hiking, etc., I have many other knives that outperform them by a large margin. And yes, they do cost more, but you asked us to put the price aside..... :D
 
If I was going into the bush with only one knife, it would almost certainly not be a Mora. However I have no problem taking one along if it is accompanied by a saw, large blade, or axe. Moras are excellent in this role because they are great for woodworking, a breeze to sharpen, and are light and unobtrusive. Also if you lose one, it isn't the end of the world.
 
I love the mora grind, but I would rather use my Skoohoom Bush Tool, or my Steve Cox Woodlore clone, they have same style blades but are more heavy duty.
 
OK then Mora or say a $20 Buck, CRKT, Coldsteel etc ?.......Gerber...Cough !!!!!
 
Here's my line of reasoning as you may already know: is the $80 knife eight times sharper, eight times more efficient, eight times less likely to be lost or stolen than a $10 Mora? Nooooo.

If I wanted a knife that had to dig holes, and chop, and lever open treasure chests etc, then obviously I'd choose a bigger sturdier one. But if I could be prepared for these tasks I'd probably have a shovel, an axe and a crowbar.

But because I simply hunt, trap, fish, cook, whittle, cut a bit of rope, and dig out the occasional splinter I like a knife like a Mora. The blade is about the right size and the overall design really can't be improved on much. The factory sheaths could be a bit more secure I suppose, but at least they are a good design for keeping clean and hygienic. Why buy more than you need? And if you lose or break it, there isn't much of a problem. Dang, you could even make somebody's day and give your knife away occasionally.

I love knives, but really I think I love doing things you need knives for more than the knife itself. When I'm not actually doing these things, then I'm more inclined to think about knives, look at pictures of them, maybe design one that I want to make one day, and talk about them on Bladeforums. (It is raining as I type this...I'd rather be setting traps).

It is fortunate for all the blademakers in the world that there are a variety of knife fanciers on the planet. Otherwise everybody would probably stick with inexpensive stuff like the trusty Mora.

Pict.... lots of people pay $100,000 or more for sex. You get married and the cash drain starts. Paying the occasional $100 for a commercial bonk is cheaper than handing over your whole pay check every week.
 
Mora knives more than hold their own in the woods, but so does a SAK. The Mora is a very functional knife for the little bit of money spent on them. Are they more functional than an F1? They are different knives. Each having good and bad points about them. Would I choose the Mora 2000 over an F1? Probably not, because I really want an F1 and I already have an M2K. :D
 
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