Bill Siegle
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2000
- Messages
- 6,955
Finally managed to get myself and my son out to the woods for an overnighter. Spent the day teaching as much as I could to my 6(Dad I am almost 7!!!!!) year old son. If any of it sticks he'll be better off in the long run 
I grabbed some blades to play with too as I had planned on sticking close to camp for most of the time. Took along a RAT1 folder, Shane Sibert Particle Accelerator, Busse FSH Heavy Heart, Martindale machete, Fiskars axe, and a small utility of my own make. No super suprises to talk about but a lot of firewood got cut and my arm is tired. The Busse came out with a factory edge and rolled a burr over pretty quickly to dull the foward section of the blade. I resharpened/realigned it with a few strokes on my Sharpmaker and I was back in business. After that it held up just as it should. By the way I really liked the Magnum scales on the Busse. They really felt good and keep the grip right where you put it in your hand. The Sibert is made from S30V and hollow ground to a thin but not too thin edge. It held up just fine and would easily fill the "1 knife only" role. The serrations on Shanes blade are not a saw but more for cloth and rope. Very aggressive in nature and they can also be field sharpend if needed. I could easily see this one making the cast of Rambo 4!!!! The Martindale has a squarish plastic scaled handle that was compfy but would move foward if you relaxed the grip too much. I plan on roughing up the scales just a tad with a rasp when I get a chance. Basically this is a military model machete that allowed build costs to determine design. Also the Martindale is fairly thick bladed for a machete. About 3/16 at the handle tapering to about 1/8 near the tip. This proved to work great as the added weight really helped the blade take deep bites(and no binding issues either). I think that as a general use machete it fits the bill. Not perfect for any 1 thing but pretty good at a lot of duties. The Utility and the folder saw some use showing how to make fuzz sticks, cutting cord, and spreading peanut butter for lunch Also made a small wood "knife" with my little utility so my son would have a blade too. Nothing dangerous but it had a grooved handle and a "blade" end. I guess it shouldn't be suprising but the big Fiskars axe was the real chopper amongst them all. Man that thing cut! And with the factory edge/original bevels too!!!! I was really impressed by it. Had it leaning in my room for at least a year now with no use. I don't think it'll miss another camping trip I ever make 
Light enough to handle 1 handed too. Did a little shelter building too. COBRA needed a mountain outpost to spy on GI JOE All in all no real test for any of these blades but a lot of fun at the camp site.
I grabbed some blades to play with too as I had planned on sticking close to camp for most of the time. Took along a RAT1 folder, Shane Sibert Particle Accelerator, Busse FSH Heavy Heart, Martindale machete, Fiskars axe, and a small utility of my own make. No super suprises to talk about but a lot of firewood got cut and my arm is tired. The Busse came out with a factory edge and rolled a burr over pretty quickly to dull the foward section of the blade. I resharpened/realigned it with a few strokes on my Sharpmaker and I was back in business. After that it held up just as it should. By the way I really liked the Magnum scales on the Busse. They really felt good and keep the grip right where you put it in your hand. The Sibert is made from S30V and hollow ground to a thin but not too thin edge. It held up just fine and would easily fill the "1 knife only" role. The serrations on Shanes blade are not a saw but more for cloth and rope. Very aggressive in nature and they can also be field sharpend if needed. I could easily see this one making the cast of Rambo 4!!!! The Martindale has a squarish plastic scaled handle that was compfy but would move foward if you relaxed the grip too much. I plan on roughing up the scales just a tad with a rasp when I get a chance. Basically this is a military model machete that allowed build costs to determine design. Also the Martindale is fairly thick bladed for a machete. About 3/16 at the handle tapering to about 1/8 near the tip. This proved to work great as the added weight really helped the blade take deep bites(and no binding issues either). I think that as a general use machete it fits the bill. Not perfect for any 1 thing but pretty good at a lot of duties. The Utility and the folder saw some use showing how to make fuzz sticks, cutting cord, and spreading peanut butter for lunch Also made a small wood "knife" with my little utility so my son would have a blade too. Nothing dangerous but it had a grooved handle and a "blade" end. I guess it shouldn't be suprising but the big Fiskars axe was the real chopper amongst them all. Man that thing cut! And with the factory edge/original bevels too!!!! I was really impressed by it. Had it leaning in my room for at least a year now with no use. I don't think it'll miss another camping trip I ever make Light enough to handle 1 handed too. Did a little shelter building too. COBRA needed a mountain outpost to spy on GI JOE All in all no real test for any of these blades but a lot of fun at the camp site.
