- Joined
- Mar 15, 2002
- Messages
- 5,368
Let me start this out by saying that I don't know a thing about edge geometry or angles of cutting, or anything like that. I just buy knives and use them.
This past weekend, I decided to go on a little canoe/camping trip. That meant, I needed a new knife.
(you guys know what I'm talking about.)
Frank, from Extrema Ratio USA has his shop here in Springfield. I figured I'd go down and pick up one of his new knives. Not much has been written about these knives and their mysterious steels, and I was curious as to their abilities.
I ended up taking home the Harpoon with miles coating as seen here:
The blade is 1/4 inches thick and 8 1/4 inches long. It had a good balance, and was scary sharp out of the box. The handle is a strange "gummy" hard rubber/plastic that's cushy, but hard at the same time. (kinda hard to explain). The handles also have velcro-like inserts that aid in their cushioness, and they also serve to hold the knife in place in its sheath.
The sheath is equally unique. It's called a "ballistic gum," and it's hard to explain. It's smooth, but seems to have a neopreme-like spacer in it. It comes with a fully-adjustable leg-strap with elastic strap-keepers, and a removeable/adjustable low-carry rig. The blade is secured with the a snap, or the piece of velcro that hooks to the handle insert (pretty smooth eh?)
Here's a picture of the handle, and the sheath without the "dressings." (paracord was added by me.)
Here's a picture of the handle:
My camping trip consisted of "site camping" and more than a few beers. The first real use of the knife started when we set up our canopy. We wanted it over the picnic table so I had to do a little "modifying" of the table for the pole to go down the center of it. It had a knot in one, so started stabbing, prying (I know it's not a pry-bar, but I didn't care at the time -- plus it's my knife
) After extensive side-to-side wiggling, stabbing and prying I popped the know out. There wasn't any damage at all to the blade. It was still razor sharp and not the slightest bit of finish or tip damage.
The second test came with the firewood. We forgot to pack firewood, so we had to buy some from the campsite (at a chunky price). It turned out to be green, hard oak. This stuff was tough. Everything was wet, so I had to start chopping and shearing off pieces of the oak to make kindling for the fire. The wood was nasty -- it would not shear off like splitting dried wood. I really think they just cut it down the day before.
I did this for about 45 minutes and I was amazed to find that it was still shaving sharp. I had no blisters and now hand soreness (medium-to-small hands) Now, it was popping the hair off like before, but it was still taking plenty of hair off. After that, I put the knife up because the beer was starting to kick in.
when I got home I took this picture (actually all the pictures on this page, except the top one) of my brand new nasty knife. You may not be able to see it in the picture, but the blade is sapped, and just plain nasty:
I took a allen wrench and took the bolt off that holds the handes in and took some dish soap and a sponge to it when I got home. It cleaned up great, and it took me about 5-minutes to get it razor sharp again.
Sorry for the long post -- thanks for reading.
This past weekend, I decided to go on a little canoe/camping trip. That meant, I needed a new knife.
(you guys know what I'm talking about.)Frank, from Extrema Ratio USA has his shop here in Springfield. I figured I'd go down and pick up one of his new knives. Not much has been written about these knives and their mysterious steels, and I was curious as to their abilities.
I ended up taking home the Harpoon with miles coating as seen here:
The blade is 1/4 inches thick and 8 1/4 inches long. It had a good balance, and was scary sharp out of the box. The handle is a strange "gummy" hard rubber/plastic that's cushy, but hard at the same time. (kinda hard to explain). The handles also have velcro-like inserts that aid in their cushioness, and they also serve to hold the knife in place in its sheath.
The sheath is equally unique. It's called a "ballistic gum," and it's hard to explain. It's smooth, but seems to have a neopreme-like spacer in it. It comes with a fully-adjustable leg-strap with elastic strap-keepers, and a removeable/adjustable low-carry rig. The blade is secured with the a snap, or the piece of velcro that hooks to the handle insert (pretty smooth eh?)
Here's a picture of the handle, and the sheath without the "dressings." (paracord was added by me.)
Here's a picture of the handle:
My camping trip consisted of "site camping" and more than a few beers. The first real use of the knife started when we set up our canopy. We wanted it over the picnic table so I had to do a little "modifying" of the table for the pole to go down the center of it. It had a knot in one, so started stabbing, prying (I know it's not a pry-bar, but I didn't care at the time -- plus it's my knife
) After extensive side-to-side wiggling, stabbing and prying I popped the know out. There wasn't any damage at all to the blade. It was still razor sharp and not the slightest bit of finish or tip damage.The second test came with the firewood. We forgot to pack firewood, so we had to buy some from the campsite (at a chunky price). It turned out to be green, hard oak. This stuff was tough. Everything was wet, so I had to start chopping and shearing off pieces of the oak to make kindling for the fire. The wood was nasty -- it would not shear off like splitting dried wood. I really think they just cut it down the day before.
I did this for about 45 minutes and I was amazed to find that it was still shaving sharp. I had no blisters and now hand soreness (medium-to-small hands) Now, it was popping the hair off like before, but it was still taking plenty of hair off. After that, I put the knife up because the beer was starting to kick in. when I got home I took this picture (actually all the pictures on this page, except the top one) of my brand new nasty knife. You may not be able to see it in the picture, but the blade is sapped, and just plain nasty:
I took a allen wrench and took the bolt off that holds the handes in and took some dish soap and a sponge to it when I got home. It cleaned up great, and it took me about 5-minutes to get it razor sharp again.
Sorry for the long post -- thanks for reading.
