First Impressions: Sak, Opinel and Mora

[Vivi]

I received my first Mora and Opinel today in a trade, as well as a new SAK. Here are my initial impressions.

(Image taken from Ragweed's site)

This is the 760mg Mora from Frosts. It has a stainless steel blade roughly 4 inches long, slightly clipped. Green plastic handle with finger guard and matching plastic sheath. One of my first observations is the grind lacks the additional bevel you'd find on say a Spyderco. It seems ground in line with the large bevel near the edge. It glides through wood by pressing this part on the wood and pushing forward. The handle feels a little cheap, but it's extremely comfortable and I'm a fan of guards done in this style, leaving the top guard free. The edge is shaving sharp. The sheath is light and functional, but isn't the greatest. I'm excited to take this out for more use.

Victorinox Red Nylon scaled Solo. Single-bladed slipjoint. My initial thoughts were "Wow, that's BIG." The main blade is almost an inch longer than standard sized SAKs. The handles are thick for a single layer and about 4.5 inches long. The blade has a thicker stock than my alox SAKs, which themselves have thicker stocks than a standard SAK. The nylon handles are a lot grippier than normal cellidor. The handle fills the hand much better than other SAKs. Otherwise it's the same as the rest, strong and snapp backspring action, full flatground stainless blade in droppoint style with the usual tang markings. I think I'm going to make this one of my dedicated outdoors SAKs because the handle would work better with heavy woodworking due to enhanced ergos and grip. I plan on batoning with this too so I can see how well it holds up to such work. Very pleased and again surprised at how big it is.

Opinel #8 (Some kind of variant). This is my first Opinel. The action seems kind of stiff both with opening and rotating the ring. Lots of blade considering the handle size. The blade is similar to a SAK blade. I like the overall feel and design, but I think a larger handled model would fit my hand better. The blade seems like it would excel in food chores I normally use knives for such as splitting apples open and de-coring the slices. I hope the action smooths out over time. I really enjoy the looks and style of the knife overall.

I'm going to go use these for a few days and report back. I'll have some original pictures as well.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

[mora]

I'm excited to take this out for more use.

The initial bevels are often hollow, if this is the case you need to resharpen them before the performance stabilizes.

[opinel]

I hope the action smooths out over time.

They are generally much stiffer than modern clipits, the handle also tends to absorb water and thus the action gets really stiff in high humidity.

-Cliff

 

[Vivi]

The Mora came with a flat saber grind, so to sharpen it I could just drag it across the bevel, correct?

The opinels action isn't so much rough as it is sticky. If I just open it with one strong motion it works a lot better that way.

I batoned the mora some and did a lot of heavy stabbing. Seemds to be durable enough. Edge pops hairs off my arm, glides through paper and makes wood shavings so thin you can sort of see through them. Might have to order me some more of these.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

The Mora came with a flat saber grind, so to sharpen it I could just drag it across the bevel, correct?

Yes, on the hollow ones you note it readily as it only hits the top and bottom of the grind. On some of them it is really deep which leaves the edge really weak, not a significant problem, but something to keep in mind if the initial performance is a bit low.

I batoned the mora some and did a lot of heavy stabbing. Seemds to be durable enough. Edge pops hairs off my arm, glides through paper and makes wood shavings so thin you can sort of see through them. Might have to order me some more of these.

Generally not a bid idea. I like the Mora 2000, but even the $5 ones work really well.

-Cliff

 

[dante]

OK, the legions of happy people with MORA knives have convinced me! Looks like this is one of those "perfect designs" for the purpose intended.

What is the top of the line MORA to have? I need to have one of these now. Where can I purchase one?

 

[Vivi]

try www.ragweedforge.com

Click on scandinavian knives I think. Opinels are under misc or something.

Just the basic 10$ mora's should be fine, but there are some classier wooden ones for around 30, and the Mora 2000 for roughly the same price.

 

[dante]

What about steel choice, carbon or Sandvik Stainless? (I would preffer the best example in stainless because I live in an island and saltwater air is almost everywhere)
I know they are famous for being a cheap and very good knives, but are the ragweedforge the best examples? I ask because the prices are ridiculously low compared to what is out there (or what I'm used to paying).

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

 

[sodak]

You can also try Kellam knives. I have bought from both, they are both very good. Ragweed's prices are sooooo low, you think that the knives can't possibly be that good, but they are. He is also a real pleasure to deal with, and very fast.

I know, it just seems wrong when you pay more for shipping than the knife! Go for it, you won't regret it. I like the Eriksson and Frost line. The Sandvik stainless has done very well for many people in edge holding.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

What about steel choice, carbon or Sandvik Stainless?

I prefer the stainless to the carbon ones, they really underharden the carbon steels and their choice of stainless steel is very well suited to that type of knife, especially for those that want a tougher blade for batoning/prying.

I ask because the prices are ridiculously low compared to what is out there (or what I'm used to paying).

You can send him more money if you want. You can also pay a lot more to get a knife with more aesthetic appeal. The limit of the performance is in the $5 ones however.

-Cliff

 

[dante]

The stainless choice is good news!

What scared me was the price compared to the super knives of these days. There seems to be a disturbing trend of values priced knives performing equal or sometimes better than the very expensive names.

I'll give the MORA a try and post updates. In this price range I can get a few variations of length.

 

[Andy_CN]

What scared me was the price compared to the super knives of these days.

To be honest, I was also hesitating about the quality of these knives,
considering the low prices and cheap looking plastic handles of most
Mora knives.

But recently I had a look at the Mora 2000 in a local shop, and really
liked it as soon as I had it in my hands. For only 14 EUR (18 USD) each
I couldn't resist to buy the remaining two Mora 2000 knives the shop
had on stock.

I don't think you will be disappointed with your Mora knives. It's nice
there are still some basic quality knives available at very good prices.

 

[Golbat]

The Moras and Frosts are great knives - after I used them for a while (Mora2000, Frost Clipper - Sandvik blades), I felt I must have some EKAs too.
Now I have two of them (H8 and W11), and I'm totally satisfied.
They're all fine swedish knifeproducts!

 

[Gryffin]

This is the 760mg Mora from Frosts. It has a stainless steel blade roughly 4 inches long, slightly clipped. Green plastic handle with finger guard and matching plastic sheath.

I've got one of those, too.

After hearing all the gushing praise all these years, I finally broke down and ordered a few from Ragnar: a #760mg like yours, a plain-jane Frosts #2, and a screamin'-orange #860-F. So far, I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed!!

My favorite by far is the 860-F. The handle shape is even better than the 760, and with textured rubber, more secure. It has an unusual arch to it that reminds me of the Foster Fears Survival Knife I reviewed a while back, and that's a good thing: it fits the hand well, and gets my knuckles up outta the way when working close to edge-level. Like you, I also like a lower guard, but the one on the 860 doesn't get in the way as much as the 760.

Yeah, the sheath is orange, too. Very, very, very orange. So orange that it hurts the eyes, in fact. But there's no way in Hell I'll ever lose it!! The other 860 models come with black sheaths, but the bright-colored pommel is still visible. The 860 sheath is very sturdy, and has a well-designed J-clip on it. It's the best sheath of the three by a country mile. :thumbup:

My least favorite is the simple #2, mostly because of the lack of guard. My hands aren't big, but I find my index finger sits waaaaay too close to the edge when I grip it naturally, and that bothers me. A lot. Otherwise, the blade performs just as well as the other two, which is to say, splendidly. Heck, I'm beginning to wonder why I spent $70 on a BRK&T Fox River!

 

[slickpete]

I have been using moras fore twenty years or so and when hiking or hunting i always bring a mora. They are however boring witch i think is their major drawback. Also the plastic handles can become fragile during extreme cold. I have never seen a resharpen mora here in sweden, its only about 2 dollars sso when its dull peapole just throw it away and pick up a fresh one.

 

[pogo]

All three of those knives are good! The Spearpoint Opinel is a little hard to get in the USA but, I heard SMKW carries em. I know a lot of mail order places like to jack prices up as to what the traffic will stand. Ragnar has reasonable prices & those Mora's cut better than my Customs! The Clipper has a decent snap onto your belt sheath & cuts like Hell on Fire! If you intend to baton it... better get something else. I have a light hatchet that works just fine at splitting wood.

 

[Vivi]

All three of these knives were incredible deals. I traded a Kershaw Chive for them, and while the $$ value was even, I really felt like the other person was getting ripped off.

The Solo is a very beefy slipjoint. I batonned with it for a while to see how much it could take, and goign through any wood thin enough for the blade to accomodate proved no problem. The thin blade didnt split it very much so I had to go through the wood quit a bit, but it worked fine in the end. Like all SAKs, it seems impervious to acidic foods and moisture, gets hair shaving sharp with the quickest of strops and never seems to dull on me with how efficient the edge geometry is.

The Mora generally gets taken only when I go camping our for an extended day hike. I really enjoy using it, but walking around with a knife on my belt here would get the cops called on me instantly, even though it's perfectly legal. Whenever I take it with me for walks I conceal it in a pocket, then strap it on when I get to the woods I'm headed to. I really like the grind on it, how the edge simply goes with the main bevel and theres no secondary bevel. It's very fluid feeling when working on wood, which is where it sees most of its use. It's fun chopping up thicker vegetation with it too, making a slice and seeing the cut portion hang there for a split second, then fall. Like the old ninja movies, hahah.

I acquired an Opinel No8 (Normal version) in a trade and ended up sanding the handle down to match this spearpoint opinel somewhat. It's more comfortable without the handle poking up at the end. I've heard people try to steer me away from the stainless Opinels but this seems to hold up fine as far as the edge goes. It takes a little more effort to get the right edge on it though. Opinels have become some of my favorite knives out there.