Fiddleback Bushcrafter:
Disclaimer: I am a nit picker. Any negatives on this blade should be seen as constructive criticism and not as bashing. I was very happy with Andy's work overall.
Steel: O1
Handle Material: Curly Koa, Curly Maple
Lanyard Hole: Green G-10 with Stainless Steel Double Lanyard Tubes.
Overall Length: 8.460 Inches.
Blade Length: 3.972 Inches.
Handle Length: 4.488
Steel Width at Spine: 0.149
Steel Width at Butt Because of Tapered Tang: 0.098
Blade Height at Handle: 1.165
Blade Height at Ricossa: 1.242
Handle Height at Butt: 0.862
Handle Height at Palm Swell: 1.100
Handle Height at Finger Swell: 0.909
Handle Size at Butt: 0.624
Handle Size at Palm Swell: 0.833
Handle Size at Index Finger Swell:0.848
Initial Impressions:
The package came priority and both knives (I had another customers blade that I needed to make pants for) and wrapped in brown paper with jute twine in around the package with a classy business card under the jute. I nice simple presentation.
The knife is very well finished. The hand rubbed blade is well done, the logo is straight, and all of the parts and pieces match very well. The tapered tang is very slight (which I like due to the fact that I will be battoning) and the red liners fit and look great.
Andy seems to have a great eye for aesthetics and I was anxious to see if the knife just looked cool - or it performed well.
Blade: The blade was wider than my Aurora, which I have come to look for in a Knife and the handle allowed me to choke up on the blade nicely. The grind was nice and even - but I worried that it tapered too steeply at the edge. I have found that there is a fine balance between a very sharp edge that cuts paper like a mother - and a very sharp edge that cuts paper and wood like a mother.
So - I tested it on paper. It cut paper - decently - but it wasn't shaving nasty assed sharp on paper. Now then - it is not that Andy can't make that sharp of an edge - the other knife I had from Fiddleback was sharp as all hell.
There seemed to be a difference between these two blades. After much looking and measuring (I was not going to USE the customers blade - and I did not... well only on the paper) I think it is because Andy when he ground the larger blade he got the grind a little more fine at the edge. The Buscrafter seemed a little more steep near the edge and thus caused the very edge to be sharp but wanted to skip out of the cut and not cut as deep.
With this said - this is not to say that the knife was not sharp. It just could be a little sharper and cut easier. I think this was anomalous.
I used a standard convex sharpening method to make the edge as sharp as I could and moved on with my testing.
Handle: The handle is very comfortable in the hand. It allowed for multiple hand holds and allows the user to move from these handholds easily. There is a problem, however, with this comfort. It is comfortable in the hand - but not as comfortable when using. The pinky portion is too thin when in use to allow for a very positive feel. I think it could be a little thicker at this portion (0.900 or there abouts would help a lot) and a wider butt. Tapering off the butt nearly encourages the hand to slip off. It looks great - but does not function as well.
Again, with this said - the handle feels great. The friggin' wood is amazing, and the pinky portion is more of a nit pick or an annoyance rather than a reason to eschew the knife all together.
The outer wood was a little more porus which gave a VERY postive feel. One of the things I don't like about highly polished wood or other synthetics is that it allows for being slippery when wet. This knife was VERY positive when wet and hand not grip problems.
The lanyard hole is signature to Andy's peices... and damned cool. Functional - cool - and well done.
Using the Bushcraft:
I liked this little knife. Again I wanted for a little more in the handle and a little less in the blade in terms of steepness of grind - but I liked the knife overall. I am making a walking stick for my son so I needed to strip the bark. I put it to the test with my Aurora as comparison.
I made piles of shavings with this knife. It is nearly there. The Aurora is simply better at slicing and control due to the grind being a little less steep. It was certainly a capable design.
Where the blade excelled was when you choked up on it. It is wider than the Aurora and the handle allows for you to get further up the blade. I like this about the Bushcraft. Also fine work was very easy with this knife.
It drilled holes fine - not as fine as a true spear point - but just fine for a Bushcraft style knife. Every design has compromises - and I was fine with this one.
Andy did a VERY good job of squaring the back so that it make sparks well with the firesteel. Also a choice of wider steel in the spine made a thumb hold much more comfortable.
The tapered tang allowed the knife to have perfect balance (at the first finger) although skelotonizing the tang might bring the cost down a bit.
This knife WANTED to be battoned. I smashed it through oak that was just damned nasty with knots and it seemed to like it. It was better at battoning than my Aurora. A little more length might make this easier - but right at 4 inches makes it legal. I think the steeper grind helped with battoning.
Again because the grind was a little steep push cutting a notch for a fireboard was not as easy. Again capable but not as easy as other blades I had on hand.
The edge retention was great. All the bashing I gave it and it was not noticable dull or damaged. Proof that Andy is a good craftsman with his steel.
Sheath:
A think a God may have made the sheath.
OKay so I will leave that to others.
Overall Impressions:
The knife is very well done. A few small changes and it becomes PERFECT for what it is. I think it is more in the hiker class as it is. It is trail legal, very capable at many things - and is light to carry (being lighter than my Aurora for instance).
If it is going to be a bushcrafter I would make the following changes:
1) Thinner grind at the edge.
2) Wider Pinky portion on the handle.
3) Wider butt at the end.
4) I would be tempred to add a little length to the blade - but legal is always a consideration.
I liked this blade and look forward to more from Fiddleback Forge.
TF
