Fiddleback Forge Mid-Tech Duke

[Mistwalker]

The newest model in the Fiddleback mid-tech line came out a couple of months back. I had been looking forward to seeing it because it is a bit bigger than the Bushfinger, but still the same steel thickness, so not as big nor as heavy as the Camp Knife. I like knives in the 5 inch blade range for field knives and all around woods use. They are big enough to do a lot of things with, without being too big to do a lot of other things with I have had this one out on several trips the last month and I am really liking it.


The Duke

Specs:

Overall Length.................. 10-1/4 inches / 26 cm
Blade Length..................... 5-1/4 inches / 13 cm
Blade Steel........................CPM S35VN
Blade Thickness..................5/32 inches / 4 mm
Handle Material..................Crenelated natural canvas micarta
Weight..............................8-1/2 ounces / 240 grams
Sheath..............................Leather pouch sheath with ferro rod loop.



It comes with a good quality leather bushcraft style pouch sheath, with ferro rod loop, from JRE.

The Duke has a hidden lanyard hole which I like. I prefer to be able to use lanyards on larger knives.

It's some what like a big brother to the Bushfinger in profile, with a handle that is a bit bigger in all three dimensions.

The handle is hand tuned for a great fit and finish, crenelated for enhanced grip, and three-dimension-ally contoured for excellent ergonomics.

This knife has excellent balance and handles very well.

Using the lanyard and a rearward grip with snap cuts makes quick work of heavy briers in my way, will let me take down green saplings in a couple of cuts, and makes chopping in harder more seasoned wood much easier with a knife with a 5 inch blade.

…

 

[Mistwalker]

Having a perfect neutral balance the knife handles extremely well, and the crenelated handle with an oval cross section offers great control of the blade.

The knife is plenty big enough and tough enough to handle splitting the kindling for a fire.

The Duke made very quick work of turning a section of smoked pork belly into bacon. I could slice it as thin as I liked. Though honestly I prefer my bacon on the thicker side anyway, it's the whole point of driving two hours to get un-sliced bacon

The CPM S35VN blade steel is a great steel in the high humidity environment where I live, and it makes clean up after food prep and food consumption easier with less fuss. Just clean it and wipe it dry, no oiling necessary.

I like the absence of a choil. It makes cutting rope, cord, and fishing liner quicker, and definitely makes it easier to do at night.

I've done a fair bit of very inefficient chopping in some very hard seasoned dogwood, not for the purpose of cutting it, but just for the repeated impact of the edge into the hard wood, for the sole purpose of edge degradation. Then checking edge retention by whittling curls with the section of the edge that was doing the impacting. So far as I have seen, the S35VN is heat treated very well and has very nice edge retention.

.

 

[Dano_25]

Very nice review. Thank you for posting.

 

[Fiddleback]

Man, that was a great review Brian. Thanks for taking the time.

 

[grunde01]

Very nice review! Guess I have to get one

 

[Brummie]

I'm also a big fan of 5" blades for general field use, especially when they are properly balanced. My favorite Fiddleback is the Big Sneaky

 

[Fiddleback]

That Big Sneaky has a lot more, bad reputation, kinda look. I love that model too though.

 

[Mistwalker]

Very nice review! Guess I have to get one

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it!

I'm also a big fan of 5" blades for general field use, especially when they are properly balanced. My favorite Fiddleback is the Big Sneaky

I really want a Big Sneaky. I have used a regular SP for a while, but I have handled a few tapered and swedged Big Sneakys and love the balance on them.

That Big Sneaky has a lot more, bad reputation, kinda look. I love that model too though.

The timelessness of the darker intent is part of the appeal for me.

 

[Rockywolf]

I likey. On my to buy list. Thanks for the review.

 

[MTURBO]

Fantastic review and pics. Thanks for taking the time to post this! :thumbup:

 

[Mistwalker]

I likey. On my to buy list. Thanks for the review.

Glad you enjoyed the review Rocky.

Fantastic review and pics. Thanks for taking the time to post this! :thumbup:

Thank you very much man, glad you enjoyed the post!

 

[Fiddleback]

Your review is very typical of how I envisioned the knife being used. I designed it to take the place of my boyhood woods bumming knife. That was a Ka-bar USMC knife. We lived right on the edge of a huge patch of woods and fields. I carried that knife with me every day. Chopping sticks, building walking sticks and bows. Digging and prying and abusing every day. Me and my pellet gun and my USMC knife and my dog. Gone early, home late and dirty. Thats what I was thinking when I drew it up.

 

[whitty]

Great review Brian. I have beaten the snot out of my Duke and have been very impressed with the edge retention. Glad to see others testing theirs out hard as well!

 

[Gusbuster]

:thumbup: Thanks for the review Brian! Looks like it would be a good knife to have in Florida.

 

[Mistwalker]

Your review is very typical of how I envisioned the knife being used. I designed it to take the place of my boyhood woods bumming knife. That was a Ka-bar USMC knife. We lived right on the edge of a huge patch of woods and fields. I carried that knife with me every day. Chopping sticks, building walking sticks and bows. Digging and prying and abusing every day. Me and my pellet gun and my USMC knife and my dog. Gone early, home late and dirty. Thats what I was thinking when I drew it up.

A few parallels in our youths, when I was roaming the woods in the suburbs of Dallas and making bows in the late 70s I carried a knife a little shorter than the Ka-Bar but made very similar. I would have liked to have the Duke back then myself.

Great review Brian. I have beaten the snot out of my Duke and have been very impressed with the edge retention. Glad to see others testing theirs out hard as well!

Thanks Scott. I think the edge retention really is impressive.

:thumbup: Thanks for the review Brian! Looks like it would be a good knife to have in Florida.

I would definitely liked having this knife when was exploring the glades and camping on the west cape

 

[Fiddleback]

I wish I still had mine, but my mom sold my whole knife collection when I went off to college. I would love to see the battle scars the knife had. It looked much like yours though. Is that a Cataraggus? (sp)

 

[Cobra5]

I gots to get me one of these!

 

[Mistwalker]

I wish I still had mine, but my mom sold my whole knife collection when I went off to college. I would love to see the battle scars the knife had. It looked much like yours though. Is that a Cataraggus? (sp)

This is not my original one, that one was lost long ago, and I picked this one up a while back because it looks just like mine did back then. Lol, because of how things went I have somewhat of a traumatic bond with this particular model, so even though I have a lot of other nicer knives, I still have sort of a collection of older pilots knives, some going back to the 50s. This one is not a Catteraugus, it is an old Camillus from 1969

I was in my 20s before I would discover the Catteraugus 225Q when an old friend who was a WW-II vet gave me one. This one now resides in the safe of a close friend because he asked me very nicely to sell it to him before I messed it up using it, and then offered me more than I could turn down at the time. I think the Catteraugus was a better, sturdier, design than the Ka-Bar, but it really wasn't pointy enough to suit me...

.

I gots to get me one of these!

Give it a shot man, I think it's a great field knife.

 

[Fiddleback]

I gots to get me one of these!

Awesome! Thank you. Post pics of what you do with it! I love those.

 

[VANCE]

great post Mistwalker. The Duke is my favorite Production model to come out yet.