thurin
Wanderer
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2012
- Messages
- 2,918
The Bushfinger is the quintessential bushcrafting blade from Fiddleback Forge. It's often the answer to the "what Fiddleback should I get first" question. As a matter of fact, it was the first Fiddleback I purchased as well.
Towards the end of 2014, Fiddleback Forge announced that they would be coming out with a mid-tech line, with the Bushfinger as the first model. Andy Roy (the knife maker behind Fiddleback Forge) stated that the knife would have the following details:
The mid-tech knives are assembled at Fiddleback Forge by the crew and then Andy cleans up the spines and shapes and finishes the guard area. This means that each one of these knives gets a personal once over for fit and finish that distinguishes it from some other companies production knives. The mid-tech Bushfingers started showing up at dealers in February.
Fiddleback Forge started a pass-around with one of the mid-tech Bushfingers and I'm fortunate enough to be the first recipient of the pass-around. Here is my review after being able to use the knife for the last week.
As you can see above, the packaging of the mid-tech Bushfinger is a little different than what we're used to for the hand made models that arrive in butcher paper and twine wrappings. The Fiddleback Forge crew and their partners have put together a complete package for the mid-tech line that's first rate. The box contains a sticker that's the same as the one on the box, a Certificate of Authenticity card, a Warranty card, Knife, Sheath.
The sheath, made by JRE Industries, fits the knife like a glove and comes with a firesteel loop. It should be very easy to attach a dangler, but all of the D-rings I had were too small to fit the belt loop.
For even more packaging pictures, see my unboxing post at: Production Bushfinger Unboxing (Picture Heavy)
Some specs on the knife itself:
The specs match a typical hand made Bushfinger. Of course the hand made versions will vary from knife to knife, especially in blade thickness and handle thickness. My current Bushfinger is an older one, and has an extremely fat handle and a 3/16" blade so it's hard to do a one to one comparison. Regardless, I think there is value is seeing them side by side on a grid so you can see the similarities. Note that the grind height on the mid-tech almost perfectly matches that on my hand made.
Enough of the formalities, it's time to put the knife to use. Unfortunately, my week of having the knife on the pass around started out with lots of snow and temps in the teens and an abundance of work to be caught up on, so my initial usage of the knife was sitting at the desk. One quick and dirty test I always do is to determine how easy is it to make shavings/feathers. This helps me rate the sharpness of the knife, and gets me used to how the profile of the blade will bite into wood.
This pass-around knife was plenty sharp and made effortless curls.
Next, since I had plenty of time sitting at my desk, I started working on a spoon. This gave me a lot of time holding the knife, using it in different grips, and testing it for hot spots and comfort. There had been questions leading up to the release of the knife around the handle with its CNC finish and if it would be comfortable. Here you can see a closeup and a macro of the finish.
The grooves didn't bother me at all. They seem to add some nice texture and grip. As a matter of fact, after a while I forgot they were even there. I did have some hot spots, mainly in the palm at the base of the thumb, after long usage working on the spoon, but that's more due to the thickness of the handle, or more appropriately attributed to the larger size of my hands, rather than something inherent in the knife itself. Any knife with a handle that is not thick would cause me problems after a while of continuous usage. I feel that the handle shape and thickness on the mid-tech will serve those of average hand size well.
Both the weather and work let up enough over the weekend that I was able to get outside and use the knife. While I was hoping to get away to the mountains, the best I could do was some backyard work. I was trying to come up with an idea for a project, and I remembered that last year I had done a split wood fire with my Fiddleback Forge Camp Nessie. The Camp Nessie is a better knife for me to compare to this mid-tech Bushfinger than my other Bushfinger due to the CN being the same blade width and it doesn't have the monster thick handle. You can find my original review of the Camp Nessie here: Fiddleback Forge Camp Nessie Video Review and the video is here: Camp Nessie Video
Having decided on the project, I now needed to come up with some wood for the test. I had some Aspen come down in the fall that I had sawed up and stored. It was now under a snow drift in a couple feet of snow. What better way to practice a split wood fire than with a real example where I need to get to the dry wood at the center. So I grabbed a chunk of Aspen, the Bushfinger, the Emberlit UL Titanium, my Stanley Adventure Camp Cook set, and some Starbucks Via.
I tried to capture most of the types of work I put the Bushfinger through in the below video. This included batoning down the 3.5" thick Aspen log, cross-batoning the split up pieces so they'd fit in the Emberlit, splitting the thicker pieces into various smaller sizes, and making shavings that could be lit with a stormproof match.
[video=youtube_share;jb6awVSpolc]http://youtu.be/jb6awVSpolc[/video]
The knife held up very well to this usage. I could not see any issues with the edge, even when looking at it through a macro lens. The flats and spine showed some usage marks, but those cleaned up, leaving the knife looking as good as new.
After cleaning up, the only marks remaining that I could see were from my attempts to use the spine as a striker with a ferro rod. The spine on the mid-tech Bushfingers are chamfered, similar to the hand made models, and will not work well with a ferro rod. I was able to get some sparks, but not enough to be useful. I would prefer a squared off spine.
It was still able to slice paper with ease after the spoon work, batoning, splitting and shavings.
Comparing using the mid-tech Bushfinger to the hand made Bushfinger or Camp Nessie shows that Fiddleback has done a great job with this one. The knife performed very well. I would have liked to put the knife through some harder use, but I'll have to leave that to other users in the pass-around.
The fit and finish on the knife, from the chamfered spine, the hand shaped and rounded guard area, to the fit of the scales (which are removable btw - I'd expect to see custom scales in the future) are all that you'd expect from a shop like Fiddleback Forge. The steel held up great and retained its edge in the use that I could put it through, which is also what I'd expect from S35VN. The packaging and marketing of the mid-tech line looks great, even down to details like the spider in the middle of the QR code, the Certificate of Authenticity and Warranty cards. My only nits would be personal preference items like the chamfered spine (which I'm sure most would prefer anyway) and the handle being too thin for my big hands (but again, it's sized for the majority or users, not those of us with bear paws for hands).
I feel the mid-tech line is a great introduction to Fiddleback Forge. Either way you go, with a mid-tech picked up from one of Fiddleback's dealers, or sharking a hand made Bushfinger or other Fiddleback in the Fiddleback Friday sales thread, you're going to have a good bushcrafting blade.
Towards the end of 2014, Fiddleback Forge announced that they would be coming out with a mid-tech line, with the Bushfinger as the first model. Andy Roy (the knife maker behind Fiddleback Forge) stated that the knife would have the following details:
- CPM S35VN with a tumbled finish
- Heat treat would be done by Peters
- CNC'd handle shapes based on a hand made example that Andy carved. CNC machine work would be done by Nathan the Machinist
- Handles would be available in Natural Canvas or Black Canvas
- Sheaths would be made by JRE Industries
The mid-tech knives are assembled at Fiddleback Forge by the crew and then Andy cleans up the spines and shapes and finishes the guard area. This means that each one of these knives gets a personal once over for fit and finish that distinguishes it from some other companies production knives. The mid-tech Bushfingers started showing up at dealers in February.
Fiddleback Forge started a pass-around with one of the mid-tech Bushfingers and I'm fortunate enough to be the first recipient of the pass-around. Here is my review after being able to use the knife for the last week.
As you can see above, the packaging of the mid-tech Bushfinger is a little different than what we're used to for the hand made models that arrive in butcher paper and twine wrappings. The Fiddleback Forge crew and their partners have put together a complete package for the mid-tech line that's first rate. The box contains a sticker that's the same as the one on the box, a Certificate of Authenticity card, a Warranty card, Knife, Sheath.
The sheath, made by JRE Industries, fits the knife like a glove and comes with a firesteel loop. It should be very easy to attach a dangler, but all of the D-rings I had were too small to fit the belt loop.
For even more packaging pictures, see my unboxing post at: Production Bushfinger Unboxing (Picture Heavy)
Some specs on the knife itself:
- Overall Length: 8.75"
- Blade Length (cutting edge): 4"
- Blade Height (at ricasso): 1.35"
- Blade Width: 5/32"
- Handle Length: 4.5"
- Handle Height (tallest point): 1.15"
- Handle Width: (thickest point): .75"
- Weight: 6.3oz
The specs match a typical hand made Bushfinger. Of course the hand made versions will vary from knife to knife, especially in blade thickness and handle thickness. My current Bushfinger is an older one, and has an extremely fat handle and a 3/16" blade so it's hard to do a one to one comparison. Regardless, I think there is value is seeing them side by side on a grid so you can see the similarities. Note that the grind height on the mid-tech almost perfectly matches that on my hand made.
Enough of the formalities, it's time to put the knife to use. Unfortunately, my week of having the knife on the pass around started out with lots of snow and temps in the teens and an abundance of work to be caught up on, so my initial usage of the knife was sitting at the desk. One quick and dirty test I always do is to determine how easy is it to make shavings/feathers. This helps me rate the sharpness of the knife, and gets me used to how the profile of the blade will bite into wood.
This pass-around knife was plenty sharp and made effortless curls.
Next, since I had plenty of time sitting at my desk, I started working on a spoon. This gave me a lot of time holding the knife, using it in different grips, and testing it for hot spots and comfort. There had been questions leading up to the release of the knife around the handle with its CNC finish and if it would be comfortable. Here you can see a closeup and a macro of the finish.
The grooves didn't bother me at all. They seem to add some nice texture and grip. As a matter of fact, after a while I forgot they were even there. I did have some hot spots, mainly in the palm at the base of the thumb, after long usage working on the spoon, but that's more due to the thickness of the handle, or more appropriately attributed to the larger size of my hands, rather than something inherent in the knife itself. Any knife with a handle that is not thick would cause me problems after a while of continuous usage. I feel that the handle shape and thickness on the mid-tech will serve those of average hand size well.
Both the weather and work let up enough over the weekend that I was able to get outside and use the knife. While I was hoping to get away to the mountains, the best I could do was some backyard work. I was trying to come up with an idea for a project, and I remembered that last year I had done a split wood fire with my Fiddleback Forge Camp Nessie. The Camp Nessie is a better knife for me to compare to this mid-tech Bushfinger than my other Bushfinger due to the CN being the same blade width and it doesn't have the monster thick handle. You can find my original review of the Camp Nessie here: Fiddleback Forge Camp Nessie Video Review and the video is here: Camp Nessie Video
Having decided on the project, I now needed to come up with some wood for the test. I had some Aspen come down in the fall that I had sawed up and stored. It was now under a snow drift in a couple feet of snow. What better way to practice a split wood fire than with a real example where I need to get to the dry wood at the center. So I grabbed a chunk of Aspen, the Bushfinger, the Emberlit UL Titanium, my Stanley Adventure Camp Cook set, and some Starbucks Via.
I tried to capture most of the types of work I put the Bushfinger through in the below video. This included batoning down the 3.5" thick Aspen log, cross-batoning the split up pieces so they'd fit in the Emberlit, splitting the thicker pieces into various smaller sizes, and making shavings that could be lit with a stormproof match.
[video=youtube_share;jb6awVSpolc]http://youtu.be/jb6awVSpolc[/video]
The knife held up very well to this usage. I could not see any issues with the edge, even when looking at it through a macro lens. The flats and spine showed some usage marks, but those cleaned up, leaving the knife looking as good as new.
After cleaning up, the only marks remaining that I could see were from my attempts to use the spine as a striker with a ferro rod. The spine on the mid-tech Bushfingers are chamfered, similar to the hand made models, and will not work well with a ferro rod. I was able to get some sparks, but not enough to be useful. I would prefer a squared off spine.
It was still able to slice paper with ease after the spoon work, batoning, splitting and shavings.
Comparing using the mid-tech Bushfinger to the hand made Bushfinger or Camp Nessie shows that Fiddleback has done a great job with this one. The knife performed very well. I would have liked to put the knife through some harder use, but I'll have to leave that to other users in the pass-around.
The fit and finish on the knife, from the chamfered spine, the hand shaped and rounded guard area, to the fit of the scales (which are removable btw - I'd expect to see custom scales in the future) are all that you'd expect from a shop like Fiddleback Forge. The steel held up great and retained its edge in the use that I could put it through, which is also what I'd expect from S35VN. The packaging and marketing of the mid-tech line looks great, even down to details like the spider in the middle of the QR code, the Certificate of Authenticity and Warranty cards. My only nits would be personal preference items like the chamfered spine (which I'm sure most would prefer anyway) and the handle being too thin for my big hands (but again, it's sized for the majority or users, not those of us with bear paws for hands).
I feel the mid-tech line is a great introduction to Fiddleback Forge. Either way you go, with a mid-tech picked up from one of Fiddleback's dealers, or sharking a hand made Bushfinger or other Fiddleback in the Fiddleback Friday sales thread, you're going to have a good bushcrafting blade.