- Joined
- Aug 8, 2002
- Messages
- 710
I had the good fortune, once again, to visit the Survive! workshop recently. And once again, I was humbled by the graciousness of my hosts. I was lucky enough to have a great conversation, and I finally met the enigmatic Christian. I also met Murphy, (what a cool dog.) We shared a few laughs, I snuck a few peeks at the shop, and Guy was kind enough to show me and my friend the new spec GSO 4.1 (it was a sheath template non-heat-treated knife) but it was true to size. I must say, Im a little mad at myself for not getting in on the pre-order for that! Ellie also showed us the new GSO 2.7 that Guy shared on Instagram. What a cool little knife. I am always amazed at how much is going on there. Im not sure if they actually have lives outside of the shop. They are always so busy, but I think most of you had figured that out.
Nearing the end of our visit, Guy and Ellie surprised us with a Pre-Production sample GSO 4.7 Mystery steel knife. Guy gave us specific instructions to use the Heck out of it, and let him know what we thought of the steel. To say the least I was stunned. Im not a steel junkie. Neither is my friend. How could we possibly give an honest opinion of the steel? Nonetheless, Guy insisted that we give it a good workout and let him know. We said our goodbyes, and Thanks, then we headed back to our side of the Pass.
Not being sure of how to proceed, I looked at any review I could find. Of the reviews I found, none actually showed how this mystery steel performed. Course of action identified! We would compare it to a known quantity. We would sacrifice my GSO 5.1 in CPM20CV.
We decided to do our best to eliminate any variable that was possible. Both knives would perform the same tasks, with approximately the same materials. We would eliminate tasks that favored longer heavier blades, or smaller lighter blades, as that would not give an accurate representation of performance. We did our best to give a No BS true Head to Head comparison. We did NOT do anything that we considered to be unrealistic use in our testing, like dragging them behind a truck at 60 MPH or shooting them out of a cannon or pounding on them with a 16lb sledge hammer. We did however, use them much harder than I would have under any normal circumstances. Here You go:
This test required a trip down to the camp. Unfortunately it had been raining for the last few days and the morning of the test day, so everything was wet. You can see the difference on the ground between that which was covered by the lean-to and that which was not:
The Challengers:
The solution to starting a fire in N. Idaho when everything is wet, is to find some Fatwood or Lighter Knot! We set about Processing it:
For any of you that know, that amber gold will dull the edge of a knife quickly. Fortunately, both the 4.7 mystery steel and 5.1 were up to the task, but both the blades were sticky from all that pitch.
Nearing the end of our visit, Guy and Ellie surprised us with a Pre-Production sample GSO 4.7 Mystery steel knife. Guy gave us specific instructions to use the Heck out of it, and let him know what we thought of the steel. To say the least I was stunned. Im not a steel junkie. Neither is my friend. How could we possibly give an honest opinion of the steel? Nonetheless, Guy insisted that we give it a good workout and let him know. We said our goodbyes, and Thanks, then we headed back to our side of the Pass.
Not being sure of how to proceed, I looked at any review I could find. Of the reviews I found, none actually showed how this mystery steel performed. Course of action identified! We would compare it to a known quantity. We would sacrifice my GSO 5.1 in CPM20CV.
We decided to do our best to eliminate any variable that was possible. Both knives would perform the same tasks, with approximately the same materials. We would eliminate tasks that favored longer heavier blades, or smaller lighter blades, as that would not give an accurate representation of performance. We did our best to give a No BS true Head to Head comparison. We did NOT do anything that we considered to be unrealistic use in our testing, like dragging them behind a truck at 60 MPH or shooting them out of a cannon or pounding on them with a 16lb sledge hammer. We did however, use them much harder than I would have under any normal circumstances. Here You go:
This test required a trip down to the camp. Unfortunately it had been raining for the last few days and the morning of the test day, so everything was wet. You can see the difference on the ground between that which was covered by the lean-to and that which was not:
The Challengers:
The solution to starting a fire in N. Idaho when everything is wet, is to find some Fatwood or Lighter Knot! We set about Processing it:
For any of you that know, that amber gold will dull the edge of a knife quickly. Fortunately, both the 4.7 mystery steel and 5.1 were up to the task, but both the blades were sticky from all that pitch.
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