Fiddleback Lady Finger, user review...

Thalestin

Thalestin

Joined
Jul 20, 2006
Messages
3,808
Hey guys, I have had my Fiddleback Ladyfinger for quite a while now and she has seen quite a bit of use. I have carved up many sticks and prepped many meals with her. She has also gone on quite a few hikes with me. I haven’t used her camping yet as I tend not to be able to go until summer time. In any case I thought Id do a thorough review of this knife.

The Specs:

Blade Length: Approx 4”
Handle Length: Approx 4.5”
Steel: 01
Blade Thickness: 1/8”
Blade: Semi leaf shape
Grind: Convex with secondary bevel
Handle: Masur Birch over Paduk with a black liner. It has a Stainless corby bolt with Andy’s famous bullseye lanyard hole

A couple comparison pictures:

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So how does the Ladyfinger function? I have used her for a lot of different tasks, and thought Id take her through the paces today through some basic tasks and take a few pics. I am still pretty new to specific bush crafting tasks, but I have used knives for most of my life. In any case, think youll get a good idea of how Andy’s ladyfinger functions.

To me, a knife needs to be ale to complete many different tasks. Of these, I find food prep to be the most important. When I travel, go for a hike or camping, my knife is mainly used for food prep. My belt knife needs to be able to prep a meal with ease for it to stay on my side. So how did the ladyfinger perform? Lets take a look…


I decided to make myself a little lunch to start off this review, and heres what I am having:

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The nefarious toasted bagel with tomato and cheese. A real mans lunch ☺. In any case, the lady finger had no problem splitting the bagel or the tomatoes. I didn’t cut them super thin, as I don’t like my tomatoes thin, but it didn’t have much trouble at all. No squishing or tearing as I would expect. It did have a bit of trouble with the cheese. This tends to be a problem with convex edges and I am not surprised by the result. In any case I was still able to prepare a tasty lunch with no real trouble...

...More to come...
 
Food prep pics...
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So after my lunch, I took the lady outside for a bit of wood work. First off, I battened a 2by4 in half. This was really quite easy for this knife. It has only a 4 inch blade and is limited, but can easily split smaller wood.

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I had a tough time making thin feather sticks and this was for two main reasons. The first reason, I suck at making nice thin ones and still need a lot of practice. Second, I had not sharpened my knife for quite some time. Checking it on my arm, it was not shaving sharp. Some areas of the blade had some flattening. Not the best demonstration of its carving abilities but it did a decent job for being dull. I did some quick notching and some drill holes with the tip. It did well with both of these tasks. The spine of the knife is also quite sharp and is very capable of making nice shavings and also throwing a fin spark with a firesteel (it is still comfortable to rest your thumb if needed):

Sucky featherstick:
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Drilled hole:
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Quick notches:
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Spine Shavings:
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The Lady finger is also comfortable in different hand positions. It is extremely comfortable in a standard hammer grip. It also excels in the chest lever grip and pull cutting and even reverse grip. It is also quite comfortable in a pinch grip position for fine carving work.

...More to come...
 
A quick spear using chest lever cuts:
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A couple in hand shots:
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Since my Lady was dull, I thought I might as well take her inside and sharpen her up. I use a basic sandpaper and strop kit to sharpen all my knives and have been very impressed by this system. It is simple, cheap and works very well once you learn how to do it. Since my knife was dull I hit my knife with about 10 strokes a side on the 600 grit. Then I moved on to 1500 grit for another 10. Finally I hit 2000 grit for probably 20 or so strokes a side. Next I hit my small strop on the black for about 20 strokes. Then moved to green for another 20 and final hit my large green for a final couple strokes. You can see in the pics below that she is very sharp once again. The whole process took me less than 10 minutes.

Andy’s 01 holds an edge very well and is also quite easy to resharpen. I am not a master metallurgist, but from my experience, I find it performs very similar to the A2 Bark river uses. It seems to hold an edge a bit better than the 1095 knives I have and is a bit tougher to sharpen. It forms a nice light patina over time as well. Again, similar to that of A2. Like most carbon steels it tends to roll rather than chip, which is a huge plus to me. I haven’t had any rust problems with this steel, and I haven’t babied it much either. I have thrown a coat of vegetable oil on it once or twice but that is it

My basic setup:
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Back to shaving sharp (and yes my arm hair is quite blonde ☺)
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The Sheath:

I decided to get a custom made sheath by TF on our forums here. I can proudly say this is by far the best sheath I have had for any of my knives yet. It is not only very beautiful but also very functional. I have it ride on my right side in front of my second belt loop. It doesn’t interfere with my RH pocket, which is important since I like to have quick access to my edc folder and whatever else. I have EDCd my ladyfinger each weekend and often forget I am even carrying it. This is something that does not happen often with belt knives (at least for me). The sheath has also held up very well to the abuse of daily life. A few pressure marks and a couple little nicks but is perfect other than that. A+ work. I really cant recommend Tal’s sheaths enough.

Heres a few pics:

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Final thoughts on the next page...
 
Final thoughts:

After using this knife for quite some time, I must admit I am very happy with how it performs. It does everything you want it to do in a comfortable small package. It fits my hand like a glove and has no stress points at all. It sharpens easy, stays sharp and does what I need it to do. The fit and finish are very good, and it is a beautiful piece of work. The only negative I can give is the primary grind and secondary grind are not exactly symmetrical. This, however, does not take away from function and is only noticeable if you’re a fanatically picky knife user like me ☺. So, if you think you want to give a Fiddleback a try, I think the Ladyfinger is a great place to start. I really think you will be happy with one of these beauties ☺

If you have any other questions, please feel free to post and Ill answer them to my best. I hope you enjoyed the review, and have a great day guys.

Heres a couple final beauty shots :D

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Beautiful! Andy does great work...

Cheese is just hard to cut, unless you have a wire cheese cutter. The wider the blade, the harder it is, and the convex can't help matters any. I often cut cheese with a strong thread or piece of fishing line, rather than a knife. Works great!
 
great review man. :thumbup: i love the looks of those ladyfinger's... :) Andy's work is top notch.. i am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a scandi Terrasaur...:D
 
mtnfolk mike said:
great review man. :thumbup: i love the looks of those ladyfinger's... :) Andy's work is top notch.. i am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a scandi Terrasaur...:D
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Awesome, look forward to your pics:)

Thanks for the advice on cheese as well :thumbup:
 
What I love seeing is the knife being used. Also, nice to see someone resharpen a knife and get good results!
 
SWEET PACKAGE!!!! Loving that whole knife in many WAYS :)
 
Really nice review. Now, if you would be so kind, do the review again, in the same way but with a freshly sharpened edge for comparison. :)
 
ChapmanPreferred said:
Really nice review. Now, if you would be so kind, do the review again, in the same way but with a freshly sharpened edge for comparison. :)
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Yeah, ill review it again in the future maybe after taking her on a hiking trip. Not for a while though until I learn a little more about the knife and how it performs
 
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