It seems like every time I get a knife that I think could be a “one and only” (that is a knife that would be the only blade I would carry for an outing), the first thing I do to test it out is attempt to carve a spoon…really fast. My philosophy is that a quickly carved spoon requires a lot of different sorts of cuts that often involve leaving your comfort zone.
First, I have to find the desired piece of wood,
then I need to clear the twigs away from around it,
then I typically like to chop the branch off (assuming that the knife is suitable for chopping),
perhaps some batoning will be involved with splitting the branch, some drilling for the bowl, then some rough carving involving all sorts of cuts often times necessitating climbing all over the handle as I shape the work.
This exercise seems worthwhile because once I am finished, I will ideally have a lot of shavings that ought to make for a decent tinder bundle. Today was quite wet, and the wood was quite moist, but I did get the bundle to take a few sparks and flare up a few times.
This has little to do with the review other than to show that the spine of the knife is very good for sparking a ferro rod. I would also suggest that the sharp edges of the spine would be good for shredding cedar bark or making wood shavings for tinder, but I did not actually use it for these purposes.
The point here is not to make the prettiest spoon, or to showcase my talents in making a fire with a knife and a ferro rod. The point here is to learn about the knife and how well it performs the tasks…in a hurry. Why a hurry? Because if I ever find myself in a situation where I can only have ONE knife, it is not a comfort cruise and I figure I am going to want to get things done quickly to better my situation. Therefore I see little merit to relaxing and whittling a nice chain, or wood spirit with this knife. Granted, a spoon is not an emergency item, but I think those of us that have carved a few can agree that the exercise shows you a lot about a knife and its ability to carve small tools.
It is not possible for me to give unbiased judgments here. I have been using knives long enough that I have HUGE bias for certain features. We all have preferences and hopefully they stem from experiences. My experiences, anatomy, surroundings (such as the typed of wood I find most frequently), strengths, and weaknesses have lead me to my preferences…and suffice to say my preferences do NOT include a knife this size, a SINGLE knife, G-10 handles, or leather sheaths in the woods. I think I was actually selected to review this knife BECAUSE it is not my typical preference (though I am not certain).
Given that I was apprehensive about a hard and slick G-10 handle, I would have to say that I had little issue with the material as is. Some users will want the fore end of the G-10 rounded off as the edges are a bit sharp and if you are carving like mad to quickly build a tool, you may find these edges troublesome. There really is something to be said for the ergonomics of the handle too. Before I went outside, I handed the knife to my petite wife and then to my 12 year old son. They both have much smaller hands than I do, but both felt that the knife was very comfortable in hand after they got past the size of the blade (I would not recommend this size blade for my wife or son, but the handle fit their hands and mine very well). Perhaps it should be noted that I have fairly large hands.
There is a handy thumb notch that basically went unnoticed during use (for what it is worth, I think it is a good thing when I do not notice things because they just plain work), HOWEVER the edges of the notch are sharp. These sharp edges had me reaching for my gloves as soon as I started carving. Some users will want these edges tamed a bit.
Because I only worked for a short time, fatigue was not a problem. Users that find themselves in a real situation where they need to do a greater duration of work may desire a forward lanyard. My initial inspection of the knife had me writing notes about a forward lanyard…again, this is a preference thing though. It has a standard rear lanyard tube that may possibly serve me as a spindle bearing for making a primitive fire. I do like attempt a bow drill once in a while, but it is rare…and while rare, it is the ONLY use I have for a rear lanyard tube.
The results of this little test reveal only minor edge deterioration, and I was able to make suitable wood shavings after I was done. I am confident that the knife is still sharp enough to accomplish any other reasonable camp activities I might ask of it. The knife is ground full flat and has enough thickness left behind the edge that heavier users should not find fault, but it is thinner than many of the production offerings I have had opportunity to play with (and cutting/slicing performance reflects this). If I were to order this knife, I would request a slightly thinner grind, but I am almost certainly among the minority who enjoys a VERY thin edge on my knives.
I kick myself a bit for not examining the edge as delivered under magnification. After some cutting chores I typically conduct throughout my work day, and this backyard outing, I studied the edge under magnification. The thumb pad test indicated to me that it was still reasonably sharp, the wood shaving test confirmed this, but my nail test (use the tip of the finger nail to stroke the edge) showed me some roughness was present.
I can speculate about the cause of this roughness, but the result is it tends to cut things and leave slightly frayed edges (I am being extremely picky here as evidenced by this photo).
If you study closely you can see some paper fibers clinging to the edge, and some fraying on the cardboard where I cut it. The only reason I mention this pertains to my observation while sharpening this blade.
As I sharpened it, a heavy burr developed quickly. This generally indicates to me that amateur sharpeners will have a relatively easy time sharpening it if they focus on burr development and subsequent removal (easy sharpening is a very good thing these days. I also noted that the bevels polished out very easily. Based on my observations, I felt compelled to polish the edge. The results were a much “stickier” edge that seemed MUCH better (to me) for carving wood or just making wood shavings. I will continue to use this knife for a few more days, but preliminarily I see no reason to avoid a more polished edge on a knife this size in this alloy.
My experience with this and other knives shows advantages for polished edges in push cutting (such as carving, shaving, and chopping), and I primarily use this style of cutting in the woods. Some alloys do not support a polished edge as well as others, but (preliminarily, at least) this one seems to excel with it. Further, given the way this steel behaves on the hones, I would suggest that maintenance in the field should not be an issue provided you have the forethought to bring along a bit of abrasive (my choice would be about 12 inches of nylon webbing (like you might find on a ratchet strap or seat belt) loaded with diamond paste. It rolls up small, is water proof, and used judiciously it will keep this edge sharp enough to pull a Crocodile Dundee if needed.
Suffice to say, I have done considerably more “play” with this knife than I have documented here. A lot of the things I do with these knives probably seem silly to some (and they really are silly) but because I do the same or very similar silliness with all the knives I review, it gives me a reasonable idea of how they compare. This knife offered me a few nice surprises. While I feel it is too small to be considered a chopping knife, it handled the chopping tasks I asked of it better than most knives this size*. In spite of the thickness of the stock used to create this knife, it still went through thick media very well. (* -- The only knives I would say chop better than this knife were custom made for me, and were ground thinner than any sane maker would go for a pass around knife)
If I ignore preferences and review this knife with as little user bias as possible, I would have to give it very high marks for cutting performance and handle ergonomics (omitting the following exceptions). I would bet that I am not alone with my dislike for the sharp edges on the thumb notch and on the front of the handle. Regarding aesthetics, I will say it is a very nice looking knife, but I would also be critical of the maker’s mark (which I feel should be a crisp and proud seal of approval).
I find that this blade (steel/heat treat), exhibits the qualities I really like for an outdoors knife. It retains an edge well enough through what most would call hard (but sensible...sort of) use. After chopping and hacking away at the pile of detritus you see in the photo below (and more), this edge would still shave roughly. After ten laps on a strop (like I mention above) laid across my thigh, it would shave arm hair crisply. I examined the edge pre- and post-stropping and saw no evidence of rolling or chipping. For users that want a knife that stays sharp for months or years with zero maintenance...sorry, I cannot comment. My philosophy tends toward having a VERY sharp edge ALL the time...if you like this philosophy, I think this might be a good combination for you (just carry a travel strop in your kit)
I may post some more updates as I experience them.
