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- Jul 2, 2009
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Recently I was lucky enough to acquire a 2nd hand Crawford Cutlery 5" Woodlore Woods Knife in Nitro-V from the BF classifieds form. The knife immediately caught my eye with the bright orange liners and the all-purpose blade shape. I’m always a sucker for black micarta with contrasting liners.
Once it made it to my house from the trade I couldn’t wait to get it out and start using the knife. Upon opening the box, the knife was just as cool in person. Fantastic blade shape with a great 1/8” Nitro-V blade. It was razor sharp with a great scandi grind and blade profile. This scandi with the 1/8” thick blade makes this blade so much more useful in a number of other category’s outside of the traditional bushcraft roles (more on this later). The handle was very comfortable with a great shape that allows for a lot of dexterity and easy movement. At first the handle felt a little short for my large size hands, but the thickness and the contour of the handle give a confident grip without loosing any of the above-mentioned dexterity and east of movement. As I began using the knife any concerns regarding the handle size quickly faded away.
Before I go any further the specs from Crawford are below:
Steel: Nitro-V | HRc: 60-61 | Blade length: 5”
OAL: 9 1/2” | Blade Width: 1 1/4” | Thickness: 1/8”
Handle: Various scales
Sheath: Kydex | Grind: Scandi
Weight: 6 oz
http://crawfordcutlery.com/
First things first – breakfast. Now normally scandi grinds and bushcraft style knives literally fall flat on there face when it comes to basic kitchen tasks. Not with this blade. Because of the slightly thinner blade stock and scandi grind Crawford uses with this knife, it’s just as at home in the kitchen as it is in the woods. (I have started calling this scandi a “utility scandi” because as you will see in the rest of the review, I didn’t experience any of the normal scandi shortcomings). Cutting strawberry’s, apples, bananas and anything else was a breeze. Never have I had a scandi that was so practical and useful.
Next off to the woods to check trail cams and scout future deer blind/stand locations. I couldn’t help but notice how great the knife looked in the dangler sheath. There is a certain type of pride you feel when you are wearing a custom blade - be it from a master smith or a rookie the feeling is still the same. Nothing against the major manufactures, but I never get that same feeling when I have a blade that I know anyone could go to cabelas and buy. Not quite sure how to best describe it – but many will know exactly what I am talking about.
Both the kydex and leather sheath I received in the trade are awesome. The knife rode comfortable and really was easy to forget it was on my hip given the light weight and great sheath design.
Once in the woods there were about 6 small trees I decided to clear for a future deer blind location. Batoning through the small green trees was no problem. The knife cut through the wood like it was butter. I took a 5’ chunk of one of the trees with me for future carving. Next, I gathered up a handful of acorns to put in view of the trail cam (my daughter loves to watch the squirrels – I would much rather see deer. lol).
Back to the shop and out of the rain to carve on that 5’ chunk of wood I mentioned before. Removing bark and small limbs/nubs and giving it a basic shape was no problem. I carved on this wood for a bit to get a feel for the handle and to see if I got any hot spots. No issues – very comfortable.
Next is the part of the review that I’m not huge on, but I know is a critical aspect for many buyers. Batoning through dry hardwood. I almost never do this – but for the sake of the review I did. I snagged a few chunks of dry hard red oak and started making smaller pieces. This wood was very hard, and although I didn’t split my whole woodshed, I could see that this knife had no issues with this task. No chips, dings or deformities of any kind. Also, in the bushcraft category the blade had no issues throwing a good spark off a rod. After all this the blade could easily slice paper just like when I first received it.
Overall this blade, although it packs a 5” blade is much more useable and less cumbersome than other blades of similar size. I can see this knife filling several roles from hunting, hiking, general utility and bushcraft. Heck it’s a capable kitchen knife too! I would recommend this knife to anyone looking for a knife that can do it all and packs a punch for its size. This knife will undoubtedly be on my hip this hunting season and I’m sure will be used more than many others because of its practical size and blade shape. Would recommend to anyone!
Once it made it to my house from the trade I couldn’t wait to get it out and start using the knife. Upon opening the box, the knife was just as cool in person. Fantastic blade shape with a great 1/8” Nitro-V blade. It was razor sharp with a great scandi grind and blade profile. This scandi with the 1/8” thick blade makes this blade so much more useful in a number of other category’s outside of the traditional bushcraft roles (more on this later). The handle was very comfortable with a great shape that allows for a lot of dexterity and easy movement. At first the handle felt a little short for my large size hands, but the thickness and the contour of the handle give a confident grip without loosing any of the above-mentioned dexterity and east of movement. As I began using the knife any concerns regarding the handle size quickly faded away.
Before I go any further the specs from Crawford are below:
Steel: Nitro-V | HRc: 60-61 | Blade length: 5”
OAL: 9 1/2” | Blade Width: 1 1/4” | Thickness: 1/8”
Handle: Various scales
Sheath: Kydex | Grind: Scandi
Weight: 6 oz
http://crawfordcutlery.com/
First things first – breakfast. Now normally scandi grinds and bushcraft style knives literally fall flat on there face when it comes to basic kitchen tasks. Not with this blade. Because of the slightly thinner blade stock and scandi grind Crawford uses with this knife, it’s just as at home in the kitchen as it is in the woods. (I have started calling this scandi a “utility scandi” because as you will see in the rest of the review, I didn’t experience any of the normal scandi shortcomings). Cutting strawberry’s, apples, bananas and anything else was a breeze. Never have I had a scandi that was so practical and useful.
Next off to the woods to check trail cams and scout future deer blind/stand locations. I couldn’t help but notice how great the knife looked in the dangler sheath. There is a certain type of pride you feel when you are wearing a custom blade - be it from a master smith or a rookie the feeling is still the same. Nothing against the major manufactures, but I never get that same feeling when I have a blade that I know anyone could go to cabelas and buy. Not quite sure how to best describe it – but many will know exactly what I am talking about.
Both the kydex and leather sheath I received in the trade are awesome. The knife rode comfortable and really was easy to forget it was on my hip given the light weight and great sheath design.
Once in the woods there were about 6 small trees I decided to clear for a future deer blind location. Batoning through the small green trees was no problem. The knife cut through the wood like it was butter. I took a 5’ chunk of one of the trees with me for future carving. Next, I gathered up a handful of acorns to put in view of the trail cam (my daughter loves to watch the squirrels – I would much rather see deer. lol).
Back to the shop and out of the rain to carve on that 5’ chunk of wood I mentioned before. Removing bark and small limbs/nubs and giving it a basic shape was no problem. I carved on this wood for a bit to get a feel for the handle and to see if I got any hot spots. No issues – very comfortable.
Next is the part of the review that I’m not huge on, but I know is a critical aspect for many buyers. Batoning through dry hardwood. I almost never do this – but for the sake of the review I did. I snagged a few chunks of dry hard red oak and started making smaller pieces. This wood was very hard, and although I didn’t split my whole woodshed, I could see that this knife had no issues with this task. No chips, dings or deformities of any kind. Also, in the bushcraft category the blade had no issues throwing a good spark off a rod. After all this the blade could easily slice paper just like when I first received it.
Overall this blade, although it packs a 5” blade is much more useable and less cumbersome than other blades of similar size. I can see this knife filling several roles from hunting, hiking, general utility and bushcraft. Heck it’s a capable kitchen knife too! I would recommend this knife to anyone looking for a knife that can do it all and packs a punch for its size. This knife will undoubtedly be on my hip this hunting season and I’m sure will be used more than many others because of its practical size and blade shape. Would recommend to anyone!
