Kodiak PA
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 1998
- Messages
- 2,447
Recently I had the opportunity to take along a custom knife to test on an Alaskan bush camping trip made by Blade Forums.Coms own Corduroy. I bought the knife from him about two months ago and I promised him that I would give the knife a hard work out as soon as I could. I figured this trip could be an excellent testing opportunity. Corduroy being who he is, asked me to pull no punches. He asked me to test the knife hard and to report to the forum the results. This camping trip is one that I have been planning a long time and it took a lot of preparation. Our location was the top of Summit Mountain off of Kalsin Bay in Kodiak Alaska. My sons and I took a bush-plane out to Summit Lake last week. Summit Lake is locate approximately 20 air miles south of the town and the lake has some special significance for me since an elderly friend of mine lived out in the bush there for almost 35 years before he moved back to town and I have heard lots of stories about this 1.5 mile long lake. I have been wanting to go out there for quite a while and this lake would give me an excellent opportunity to test Corduroys knife. The lake was completely abandon and we had the area all to ourselves!
I took Corduroys 4 drop point hunter, a custom sheath made for this knife by BFC own Gary Graley ( Garys Web Site). To back the knife up I took my Spyderco Moran with its Edgeworks custom kydex sheath, a CRK&T M16 and my Spyderco hat
.
Cords knife is a fixed blade; 4 drop point hunter in a mirror finish. The blades steel is ATS34, there is beautiful file work on the blades spine and the handle is made of solid burgundy micarta handle.
See the Knife and Sheath here
I wanted to work this knife hard and I immediately put it to use as soon as we landed. I used it to help clear brush around the camp where I would lay the tent. I used it to sickle tall weeds where I wanted to place my field kitchen and I cut and chopped kindling for the campfire. My first concern was for the edge. I hear all these stories of ATS34 chipping on production folders and fix blades. Well, I am pleased to report that the knife withstood a lot of light chopping duties with absolutely no damage to the edge. This was very important to me since I have some long-term plans on using this knife. What helped was Corduroys encouragement and guaranteeing that if the knife chipped or otherwise didnt perform to m y expectations he would make it right or return my money.
Other duties for the knife included cutting fishing line, fashioning marshmallow sticks for the boys (very important), cooking duties to include cutting steaks, fish fillets and just some plain old whittling for fun. Any opportunity to cut something, I did. I even practiced stabbing the point into a large log to see if I could damage the point. I could not. The knife held its edge wonderfully on day one. One of the other uses that I had from this knife was using it as a mirror to help me remove my contact lenses. I get a chuckle when I think of that. I thought I brought everything I needednow that is utilizing a knife!
The edge holding abilities compared well with the VG-10 Spydie Moran I brought and in fairness to Cords knife, I used the ATS34 knife a heck of a lot more than the Moran. The mirror finish held up very well with no appreciable scratches. The file work is not only eye catching but the work can be used as a serration to prevent slipping when working the blade. I treated the knife with Tuf-Cloth before I left and there was no rust on the blade by the time I got home. Any excuse I had to cut something, I did. I wanted to see how long it took to dull this knife.
Working the knife
Day two brought much of the same chores. I continually cut much of the hard wood around the shoreline. The knife lost some of its razor sharpness by day two but I still had no problem safely utilizing the blade. It continued to cut and cut well. I continue the small chopping chores and was very impressed that the knife was holding up so well. At this point I had full confidence in the knife and packed the Moran away and just carried the drop point and the CRK&T M16 for back up.
Some other thoughts. Corduroy did an exceptional job with this knife. It is attractive, very utilitarian with some added artwork (file work) to make this a keeper. There is some mild pitting at the blade insertion along the tang but it is very minor. The micarta handle is very solid .so much in fact that I would venture to call this handle steel micarta and my hands were pretty sore after the three days at the lake. I would like to point out that I have never own micarta handle that inspired so much confidence and compared to my Cold Steel R1s micarta handle the CS feels like plastic compared to this knife.
I know a lot of folks have seen this version of Corduroys knife. I know for a fact that some established custom makers have examined his knives and have been impressed (I wont name drop here to save Cord some embarrassment
). His knives have been appraised by some knowledgeable cutlery folks for around $250 so I feel I got a bargain picking it up for the $100 I got it for.
By day three the knife was still cutting well. I was getting a little frustrated trying to dull it so while we were waiting for the bush plane I found an old, hard cedar log and commenced turning it into a small block. The cedar smelled great after turning it into a bunch of shavings after 45 minutes. Even so the edge was still sharp enough to easily cut. After returning home I had no problem getting it hair shaving sharp after just 10 minutes on the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker.
Over all it was a great experience testing this knife and it was one of those rare times that you know you got yourself a real winner. Good job Cord! Why dont you tell us when youre gonna get back into the shop and make some more (sorry to put you on the spot) customs? I would also like to point out that Garys sheath held up very well, too. After being exposed to rain and the elements, the sheath is as new looking as the day I got it. If youre in the market for a custom sheath, give G2 a holler and see what he says.
Thanks for letting me share my experience testing this knife in the great Alaskan outdoors for 3 wonderful days in some of the prettiest country you could ever imagine.
Final Knife Pix
Regards,
------------------
~Greg~
[This message has been edited by Kodiak PA (edited 07 July 1999).]
I took Corduroys 4 drop point hunter, a custom sheath made for this knife by BFC own Gary Graley ( Garys Web Site). To back the knife up I took my Spyderco Moran with its Edgeworks custom kydex sheath, a CRK&T M16 and my Spyderco hat
Cords knife is a fixed blade; 4 drop point hunter in a mirror finish. The blades steel is ATS34, there is beautiful file work on the blades spine and the handle is made of solid burgundy micarta handle.
See the Knife and Sheath here
I wanted to work this knife hard and I immediately put it to use as soon as we landed. I used it to help clear brush around the camp where I would lay the tent. I used it to sickle tall weeds where I wanted to place my field kitchen and I cut and chopped kindling for the campfire. My first concern was for the edge. I hear all these stories of ATS34 chipping on production folders and fix blades. Well, I am pleased to report that the knife withstood a lot of light chopping duties with absolutely no damage to the edge. This was very important to me since I have some long-term plans on using this knife. What helped was Corduroys encouragement and guaranteeing that if the knife chipped or otherwise didnt perform to m y expectations he would make it right or return my money.
Other duties for the knife included cutting fishing line, fashioning marshmallow sticks for the boys (very important), cooking duties to include cutting steaks, fish fillets and just some plain old whittling for fun. Any opportunity to cut something, I did. I even practiced stabbing the point into a large log to see if I could damage the point. I could not. The knife held its edge wonderfully on day one. One of the other uses that I had from this knife was using it as a mirror to help me remove my contact lenses. I get a chuckle when I think of that. I thought I brought everything I needednow that is utilizing a knife!
The edge holding abilities compared well with the VG-10 Spydie Moran I brought and in fairness to Cords knife, I used the ATS34 knife a heck of a lot more than the Moran. The mirror finish held up very well with no appreciable scratches. The file work is not only eye catching but the work can be used as a serration to prevent slipping when working the blade. I treated the knife with Tuf-Cloth before I left and there was no rust on the blade by the time I got home. Any excuse I had to cut something, I did. I wanted to see how long it took to dull this knife.
Working the knife
Day two brought much of the same chores. I continually cut much of the hard wood around the shoreline. The knife lost some of its razor sharpness by day two but I still had no problem safely utilizing the blade. It continued to cut and cut well. I continue the small chopping chores and was very impressed that the knife was holding up so well. At this point I had full confidence in the knife and packed the Moran away and just carried the drop point and the CRK&T M16 for back up.
Some other thoughts. Corduroy did an exceptional job with this knife. It is attractive, very utilitarian with some added artwork (file work) to make this a keeper. There is some mild pitting at the blade insertion along the tang but it is very minor. The micarta handle is very solid .so much in fact that I would venture to call this handle steel micarta and my hands were pretty sore after the three days at the lake. I would like to point out that I have never own micarta handle that inspired so much confidence and compared to my Cold Steel R1s micarta handle the CS feels like plastic compared to this knife.
I know a lot of folks have seen this version of Corduroys knife. I know for a fact that some established custom makers have examined his knives and have been impressed (I wont name drop here to save Cord some embarrassment
By day three the knife was still cutting well. I was getting a little frustrated trying to dull it so while we were waiting for the bush plane I found an old, hard cedar log and commenced turning it into a small block. The cedar smelled great after turning it into a bunch of shavings after 45 minutes. Even so the edge was still sharp enough to easily cut. After returning home I had no problem getting it hair shaving sharp after just 10 minutes on the Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker.
Over all it was a great experience testing this knife and it was one of those rare times that you know you got yourself a real winner. Good job Cord! Why dont you tell us when youre gonna get back into the shop and make some more (sorry to put you on the spot) customs? I would also like to point out that Garys sheath held up very well, too. After being exposed to rain and the elements, the sheath is as new looking as the day I got it. If youre in the market for a custom sheath, give G2 a holler and see what he says.
Thanks for letting me share my experience testing this knife in the great Alaskan outdoors for 3 wonderful days in some of the prettiest country you could ever imagine.
Final Knife Pix
Regards,
------------------
~Greg~
[This message has been edited by Kodiak PA (edited 07 July 1999).]
