Frosts vs Eriksson

K

kidwholaughs

Joined
Jan 17, 2004
Messages
1,189
Hey guys,

With all the tactical hype theses days, I am going back to the basics. I have been looking at the Mora knife produced in Sweden. Both Frosts and Eriksson produces Mora knives. I really like the #22 by Eriksson and the #137 the Frosts. Here is the link.

http://ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html

Does anyone have both Eriksson and Frosts' mora knives? If so, can you tell me how they compare to each other in cutting ability, edge retention and overall toughness. Please feel a free to note their repective advantages and disadvantages.

Thanks for everything,

Sincerely,
Cayce
 
As the comments indicate, the #22 has a thicker handle and an ever-so-slightly longer blade. If you have a really small hand, the slightly thinner #137 handle might be more comfortable. Besides that, I doubt you could tell the difference in performance. Both are tough, thin, hard blades.
 
If you check out the back issues of Tactical Knives Chuck Karwan (I'm pretty sure?) did an article comparing a representative sample of the Mora knives including the Frosts and several from Eriksson. I believe the only significant difference was the size of the handles w/ the Eriksson handles being the larger of the two. I recently purchased a pair of Frosts; the S-1 and found them to be very handy little knives. Their reputation as slicers and general utility blades is well deserved. The handles are a bit on the small side so the Erikssons might be the way to go, or the frost model w/ a small guard to keep your index finger away from the edge. All in all though for $13 a piece these knives were readily available from Knifecenter (who had them on my doorstep the following day!) and I'll probably buy several more to scatter amongst my kit and pass out to family and friends.
 
I seem to think the forsts tend to have blades that are a touch thinner. I could have got mixed up though. I've only got a mora left as I gave the other one away.
 
All Frosts blades I've had have been thinner than the KJ Eriksson ones. I've never bought the wood handled ones though. I prefer the hard plastic handles, especially the Eriksson ones. They make less slippery and more ergonomic ones IMO. I also prefer their rubber handles to the corresponding Frosts ones.

The steel should have similar performance. At least the stainless should be the same, Slightly different simple carbon steels should not show real difference. I don't remember if both offer laminated and zone treated blades or not, but I haven't used those anyway. The edge geometry is basically the same with both manufacturer, not counting the speciality models.
 
The biggest difference that I have seen is in the sheaths. It can be a big difference in a low end knife. They are often molded plastic and only secure the knife by a sort of mechanical pinching of the guard or handle. You need to look at them in a store and decide which sheaths are secure enough for your purposes. Getting a custom sheath is likely to cost more than the knife.
 
A basic leather sheath would not be hard to make, if you're satisfied with a belt sheath. A fun project and would add nice character to the knife. If you come up with suitable nylon fabric, the same applies.
 
The Eriksson #22 is great. My favourite mora knife and my most useful Scandi knife. If you have largish hands, the handle will work very well for you (and it isn't uncomfortable for smaller hands). I've used that knife for everything, and just got some scratches on the blade.

If you get it from Ragnar, pay the two extra bucks for the hot wax treatment for the sheath, it's a vast improvement and makes the thin leather very strong.

I have a couple of Frosts and the blades are a hair thinner than the Erikssons. A while ago somebody posted X-Rays of plastic handled moras, and Frosts' tangs were quite short on some models, a lot shorter than Eriksson's. That's why I only buy the full tang wooden handled models! Although my SWAK has handled battoning fine, so far, it's the only plastic mora I've tried out.
 
Hey guys,

Wow, these are all wonderful posts. The feeling I get from reading these posts is that Eriksson has a thicker blade and the leather sheath is definitely a winner. Can anyone offer me any advice on which of the knives tends to cut better. Frosts or Eriksson.

Thanks for everything.

Sincerely,
Cayce
 
Franciscomv said:
A while ago somebody posted X-Rays of plastic handled moras, and Frosts' tangs were quite short on some models, a lot shorter than Eriksson's. That's why I only buy the full tang wooden handled models! Although my SWAK has handled battoning fine, so far, it's the only plastic mora I've tried out.
Click to expand...
I have used quite a lot the plastic handled moras. The Frosts basic red handled the most. The tang is not long, but the plastic is very strong and the blade is solidly imbedded. I would not have any worries unless the handle has somehow "gone bad". Here's a picture of a bare Frosts blade I have lying around, waiting to be re-handled. It took me some work to dig it out from the original plastic handle with a hot-knife (of my SuperPro, a great tool :D ).
frosts_mora_bare.jpg


As to which factory's blade would cut better, I'd say there's no real difference. Buy the one you think will fit your hand better or the one you'll get for less money.
 
bought a pair of eriksson #556, great knife for the price if you're looking for a beater. survived 2 months at work before I left.
 
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