Recommendation? Downloadable best bushcrafting pattern?

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wimpyguy

Joined
Nov 30, 2018
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Dear all,


I made my son a knife from a Condor Bushlore blank (spare-part blade). While I like it, I was thinking of making the blade as well. I am going to use a 1095 steel bar as a starting point. So now, since I have complete creative freedom, I started wondering if there are downloadable knife patterns for a bushcrafting knife. Specifically, for nordic forests and occasional but infrequent game processing.

I am very open to your suggestions, and since we are all biased humans, I am very much also open to your personal preferences and reasons for specific features of a bushcrafting knife.

Details I am interested in are the outline of the blade, the outline of the grind, the outline of the scales, the position of the hole for a lanyard loop... and anything else I didn't think of.
 
wimpyguy said:
So now, since I have complete creative freedom, I started wondering if there are downloadable knife patterns for a bushcrafting knife.
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With complete creative freedom you don't even need a downloadable knife pattern, you can come up with your own!

In all seriousness bushcraft knives are dime a dozen right now, look at the ones you like and emulate the things you like about them. If it were me, it would be hard to beat a 4-5 inch Kephart with full flat grind, a bit of a guard carved into the handle, full or stick tang, as an all around woods/hunting/camp knife.
 
wimpyguy said:
So now, since I have complete creative freedom,
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marcinek said:
It seems that the thing that should matter in designing your bushcrafting knife is your preferences.
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My thoughts exactly. Seems at odds to say "I have the freedom to do whatever I want, so I'm going to build what someone else wanted."

You're free! Look around. See what you like and what you don't and make it the way YOU would want. You are spoiled for examples of bushcraft knives.
 
marcinek said:
It seems that the thing that should matter in designing your bushcrafting knife is your preferences.
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The problem is, I don't know what my preferences are - I am a novice and I don't fully understand what goes into a bushcrafting knife, what would be nice to have and what's unnecessary.
 
NapalmCheese said:
In all seriousness bushcraft knives are dime a dozen right now, look at the ones you like and emulate the things you like about them. If it were me, it would be hard to beat a 4-5 inch Kephart with full flat grind, a bit of a guard carved into the handle, full or stick tang, as an all around woods/hunting/camp knife.
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OK, but are there any downloadable 1:1 patterns I could use as a starting point? It seems to me there aren't, but nobody is coming out and candidly tell me so.
 
Yes, there are few downloadable patters, just type in google bushcraft knife patter, or just knife patters free and you will find some. One canadian knife maker has a site and there you can a lot of different knife patters, all free. I think you find that page.

BTW, I would go full mental and made like a good 10 inch chopper!!!! You have a smaller knife, so make one BIG CHOPPA!
 
I think the Bushlore pattern is an excellent starting point and quite functional in the woods. The other might be a Kephart which I believe you can purchase the Condor blank for that. If it is like mine however, I would thin down a good bit. It is just not a good cutter as it comes from Condor. Kabar just came out with the Becker BK-62 Kephart. It's in 1095. I have one and it's excellent. I think it would make a great general purpose woods knife. That is precisely what I am going to use mine for. Some of my more expensive stuff will stay at home (at least for a while).
 
wimpyguy said:
The problem is, I don't know what my preferences are - I am a novice and I don't fully understand what goes into a bushcrafting knife, what would be nice to have and what's unnecessary.
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That's what I figured. Nothing wrong with that!!! Use! Use! Use! Until you figure out what you want a bushcraft knife to do, and what features do it best for you.

I'd get some inexpensive knives (a Mora, some Old Hickorys, some Russell/Green Rivers, etc...) and see what features you like...THEN start building your knife.
 
22-rimfire said:
I think the Bushlore pattern is an excellent starting point and quite functional in the woods. The other might be a Kephart which I believe you can purchase the Condor blank for that. If it is like mine however, I would thin down a good bit. It is just not a good cutter as it comes from Condor. Kabar just came out with the Becker BK-62 Kephart. It's in 1095. I have one and it's excellent. I think it would make a great general purpose woods knife. That is precisely what I am going to use mine for. Some of my more expensive stuff will stay at home (at least for a while).
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So here's the problem, or problems: if I were to follow the advice of the near-consensus in this thread and go for what I (think I) want, I'll probaby end up with another Bushlore, but in 1095. Huh...

Also, the other problem is, (this is, I guess, my novice perspective) to me there don't seem to be any particularly remarkable practical differences between the Bushlore and the Kephart, apart for the handle. What am I missing? This is not a rhetorical question - when I say "what am I missing" this is genuinely intended to gain me some sorely lacking knowledge.
 
wimpyguy said:
The problem is, I don't know what my preferences are - I am a novice and I don't fully understand what goes into a bushcrafting knife, what would be nice to have and what's unnecessary.
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Too many people put too much importance on the word 'bushcraft' when it comes to knives.

It's a general purpose knife for doing stuff in the woods. I'm sure someone will come along and say "you need x feature so you can do very specialized bushcraft thing y (also known as cut a notch in a stick)". 'Bushcraft' isn't about having the exact right tool for the job, it's about learning how to make do. To that end, our ancestors made do with sharp rocks, kitchen knives, and various other imperfect tools to do something they called 'living' in the woods.

My suggestion still stands, build a 4-5 inch Kephart with a (full length) stick or full tang and a full flat grind. Then go play in the woods.

http://www.thetruthaboutknives.com/2017/06/the-original-kephart-knife-examined/ Gives you an idea about how the kephart should look and feel, and you can google around for 'kephart drawings'.
 
I don't think you're missing anything at all. It all boils down to personal preference. Many here recommend Mora knives for woods use. I just don't much care for them even though I know they cut well. The difference between the Kephart and Bushlore is blade geometry. I think the Condor Kephart is too small. When I want small, I now choose the White River Backpacker Pro (3"). Again, it is personal preference. I generally like a sabre shaped woods knife versus the Bushlore shape. I preferred it for hunting chores as well compared to the often suggested drop point design. So, it is all about personal preference. You just need to refine what you might like or do what most of us do.... keep buying knives, using them and deciding preference based on that use experience.

Another well loved knife for woods use is the Kabar Becker BK-16. I prefer the BK-15 to it. It's discontinued.
 
wimpyguy said:
Also, the other problem is, (this is, I guess, my novice perspective) to me there don't seem to be any particularly remarkable practical differences between the Bushlore and the Kephart, apart for the handle. What am I missing? This is not a rhetorical question - when I say "what am I missing" this is genuinely intended to gain me some sorely lacking knowledge.
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You're not missing anything. It's just a knife. There's not a whole lot new in the knife world, probably because we've been forging knives since we learned how to move hot metal and lots of people have already tried lots of things. As I said above, there isn't anything particularly interesting about a 'bushcraft' knife; it's just a general purpose knife. There are probably 4 knives you could grab in your kitchen that would allow you to live and thrive in the woods.

It's sort of like saying "I want to build a skinner knife, but the ideas I keep coming up with look like every other skinning knife already out there, I must be doing something wrong". You're not doing something wrong, it's just that after years of use and many iterations that's just the way a skinning knife should look.

That being said you can taylor other things like the handle material to what you like (I like micarta and wood in general), the sheath (I think a pouch sheath is optimal for this sort of thing, or something like the older Buck pistol sheaths), the blade length (I like a little longer knife), the material thickness (I like thinner knives), sharpening choil or not (not for me), how the handle is attached (no exposed metal and glued/pinned for me, or peened over on the back), 90* spine angle for fire steel striking, how oval do you like the handle (I like them pretty oval), jimping for your thumb or not (either for me), etc.
 
NapalmCheese said:
It's a general purpose knife for doing stuff in the woods. I'm sure someone will come along and say "you need x feature so you can do very specialized bushcraft thing y (also known as cut a notch in a stick)".
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And I would be very appreciative and thankful for any such comments! I think the most important quality for a novice is a good dose of humility, and I got that. I firmly believe I can learn from everyone, here.

NapalmCheese said:
My suggestion still stands, build a 4-5 inch Kephart with a (full length) stick or full tang and a full flat grind. Then go play in the woods.

http://www.thetruthaboutknives.com/2017/06/the-original-kephart-knife-examined/ Gives you an idea about how the kephart should look and feel, and you can google around for 'kephart drawings'.
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OK. I'll try to make a Kephart knife. The handle seems fairly simple to shape, and a full flat grind is not too challenging, either.
 
22-rimfire said:
I think the Condor Kephart is too small. When I want small, I now choose the White River Backpacker Pro (3"). Again, it is personal preference. I generally like a sabre shaped woods knife versus the Bushlore shape.
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What is the difference between a sabre knife and a Bushlore shape (which is, AFAIK, a Scandinavian grind)?

If you find the Kephart too small, what size knife suits you better - I mean, how large do you like the blade to be? Or is it the handle that you find small (and a corollary question: how big are your hands, if the issue is handle size)?
 
For buscrafting, camping, the Condor Kephart will be more than enough to do anything except chop. Light batoning would be fine if you really needed to.
If you plan on actually needing to chop heavier wood, it's a little thin.
3aaB8bE.jpg
 
wimpyguy said:
What is the difference between a sabre knife and a Bushlore shape (which is, AFAIK, a Scandinavian grind)?

If you find the Kephart too small, what size knife suits you better - I mean, how large do you like the blade to be? Or is it the handle that you find small (and a corollary question: how big are your hands, if the issue is handle size)?
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I find the Condor Kephart too small, but not the Becker Kephart which is ~5". Sabre.... think of a calvary sword blade shape.... The Bushlore blade shape is very popular and you will see it on many handmade knives. I have two Condor Bushlores (original and current model). I use the original with its thicker bar steel as a hard use work knife that I cut potentially very abrasive things with it. I also use it for digging weeds in my yard. I generally like a 5-5.5" fixed blade for woods carry or general purpose woods use. That is not a chopping size, but you can baton with it quite effectively if you want to. I prefer something smaller for hunting chores, but I haven't hunted in a couple years.
 
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Mora is a pretty universal pattern along with puukos in general. Most general knife patterns like those will work. My only advice is to keep the handle beefy. A big comfy handle is really nice on a woods knife.
 
22-rimfire said:
I find the Condor Kephart too small, but not the Becker Kephart which is ~5". Sabre.... think of a calvary sword blade shape.... The Bushlore blade shape is very popular and you will see it on many handmade knives. I have two Condor Bushlores (original and current model). I use the original with its thicker bar steel as a hard use work knife that I cut potentially very abrasive things with it. I also use it for digging weeds in my yard. I generally like a 5-5.5" fixed blade for woods carry or general purpose woods use. That is not a chopping size, but you can baton with it quite effectively if you want to. I prefer something smaller for hunting chores, but I haven't hunted in a couple years.
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I understand what you mean. The Condor Kephart isn't a "one knife" or even what I would call a "survival knife".

When I camp for a few days deep in the GA swamp, I usually bring a folding saw, rigger's type hatchet, belt knife, and small folder.
Anything to big for the belt knife, the saw can handle. Easier and safer than chopping.
I use the hatchet for spitting limbs and deadfall, or chipping up some kindling. The hammer pommel comes I'm handy too sometimes.
If I'm not going too deep I'll carry a larger chopper for small limbs instead of the hatchet, but heavy cutting is reserved for the saw. A broken blade from batoning or injury from a glancing blow from chopping isn't fun 6 miles from civilization in a swamp.
 
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