Just purchased a few knives a while back - took them out today and worked them pretty good. Swamp Rat Chopweiler, Fallkniven A1, Mora Bushcraft Triflex and a Silky folding saw. Heres a few photos, I'll try to put my thoughts along with the pics. Keep in mind I'm no expert, just my thoughts. I'll skip all the stats as they're easily found on the net.
All the knives and the saw
The Swamp Rat was a good chopper. The handle is designed for that and moves well in the hand when you chop. The micarta is a good handle for me - comfortable. I like the fact I can have some made for my hand if I want. I pounded the crap out of the handle batoning with no ill effect. All the chopping and cutting was done w/oak - some hard and heavy stuff. I found the thick spine made cutting more difficult - compared to the others. Chopped, cut and even threw the knife - very tough. The coating is coming off some, but who cares. Good all around camp/survival type knife.
Heres some cutting (oak) with the A1 and Mora. Most of this was with the A1. The jury is still out on the handle of the A1 for me - feels very small and somewhat rough for my hands. With gloves on it was fine. The blade of the A1 was extremely sharp factory. After a day of batoning and cutting oak it lost the hair shavingness it had. Edge is still clean though. I like the plastic sheath - simple and functional. It batoned very well, but was a bit small for the big chunk of oak I was working with. It cut well too, but I preferred the Mora for pure cutting. Didnt chop too well, but the oak was hard. Mora's handle is fantastic, took a great edge and cut very well. Imo, pretty limited for an all around knife in my opinion. But crap, its very, very light and cheap - throw it in the pack anyway.
A1 slicing fruit - worked fine, but the Mora worked better as its thinner. Peeling w/the A1 was fine, but the thickness of the blade makes the knife split stuff as the blade goes in.
Fire steel from firesteels.com - misch metal w/a great handle - $10 - get one, they work fantastic. Amazingly, the the spine of my stainless Fallkniven A1 sparked this thing as good or better than the striker it came with.
The Silky saw is just a great product (I bought a second, larger one after using the first one). A very light and very efficient cutting saw. Its a pull cut saw w/the entire blade of the teeth sharpened vs. just the tips so it cuts fast. It went through the the big chunks of oak I used here in just a few mins - without using a bunch of energy. Good product - highly recommended. Spendy though - $50 ranged shipped.
Thats it for now, I'll add more as I gain more experience w/the knives.
All the knives and the saw
The Swamp Rat was a good chopper. The handle is designed for that and moves well in the hand when you chop. The micarta is a good handle for me - comfortable. I like the fact I can have some made for my hand if I want. I pounded the crap out of the handle batoning with no ill effect. All the chopping and cutting was done w/oak - some hard and heavy stuff. I found the thick spine made cutting more difficult - compared to the others. Chopped, cut and even threw the knife - very tough. The coating is coming off some, but who cares. Good all around camp/survival type knife.
Heres some cutting (oak) with the A1 and Mora. Most of this was with the A1. The jury is still out on the handle of the A1 for me - feels very small and somewhat rough for my hands. With gloves on it was fine. The blade of the A1 was extremely sharp factory. After a day of batoning and cutting oak it lost the hair shavingness it had. Edge is still clean though. I like the plastic sheath - simple and functional. It batoned very well, but was a bit small for the big chunk of oak I was working with. It cut well too, but I preferred the Mora for pure cutting. Didnt chop too well, but the oak was hard. Mora's handle is fantastic, took a great edge and cut very well. Imo, pretty limited for an all around knife in my opinion. But crap, its very, very light and cheap - throw it in the pack anyway.
A1 slicing fruit - worked fine, but the Mora worked better as its thinner. Peeling w/the A1 was fine, but the thickness of the blade makes the knife split stuff as the blade goes in.
Fire steel from firesteels.com - misch metal w/a great handle - $10 - get one, they work fantastic. Amazingly, the the spine of my stainless Fallkniven A1 sparked this thing as good or better than the striker it came with.
The Silky saw is just a great product (I bought a second, larger one after using the first one). A very light and very efficient cutting saw. Its a pull cut saw w/the entire blade of the teeth sharpened vs. just the tips so it cuts fast. It went through the the big chunks of oak I used here in just a few mins - without using a bunch of energy. Good product - highly recommended. Spendy though - $50 ranged shipped.
Thats it for now, I'll add more as I gain more experience w/the knives.