When I received the Knife from Harbeer, I sharpened it on a 1k King stone with some stroping on a 6k King stone @ ~15dps.
(This is before the video reviews)
It was cutting news print with silky smooth ease.
Very exciting.
I can't elaborate in words how incredibly easy it was to achieve such sharpness.
Time for some Bushcraft testing
The bite in a piece of soft pine with a chest lever cut.
Great penetration.
Carvered very thin almost transparent feathers for tinder.
Time for some rough use cutting.
Using full strength chest lever cuts to clean up this piece of wood.
Here what I'm working with.
The Utility Hunter smoothed it out great and cut well.
Lots of various cutting. Feathersticks, notcthing, carving.
While the knife was still very sharp.
Some micro damage to the edge was observed.
15dps was too acute for this type cutting
There were some small deformations in the edge
The knife was still carving great though.
I stroped the edge with Flitz metal polish on leather.
Yet the damage was still there. This is not uncommon most knives need a hard stone to burnish the edge back in alignment.
I was able to remove the damage with my trusty ol' DC3-
-Using some stroping strokes with Both the worn diamond side and the brown ceramic.
It was time to find a better edge geometry for carving.
I reprofiled the edge to ~20dps using the king stones again.
Then it was back to testing.
I spent hours carving wood and looking for damage and testing on news article paper.
There was no damage to the edge.
And the knife stroped back to razor sharpness.
There was definitely a performance decrease with the steeper geometry but it's always a trade off.
The geometry is very thin. It's designed for hunting with some utility function as well.
In the hands of a capable hunter I can only imagine the performance since the edge geometry can be very acute.
Structure meets function.
Sharpness and durability are inverse relationships
You can't have both, You have to find the right balance for what the intended use is.
With a thin blade and a high grind
This knife pushes the redline for hunting performance.
While still capable of some Bushcrafting it doesn't have the geometry for wood carving Compared to more task specific designs. Yet thicker geometrys suffer when cutting soft materials
It's all a trade off
For carving wood, thickness is required behind the edge to help split the wood for the primary edge to continue cutting.
Here is quick comparison to a Bark River Gunny Elmax
Doing a spiral cut
This gives an example of the wedging and cutting effect we call "bite" in the wood.
The HSC utility hunter doent have as much bite and gets stuck due to the thinner geometry behind the edge.
While a very capable field knife it won't carve and blast through wood as efficiently as some thicker knives
Yet given a slicing task and this blade while outcut the thicker blades.
It's just simple geometry.
Dont get me wrong the HSC hunter is a very high performance and capable cutting machine.
It wont have any issues getting a fire going on a elk hunting trip.
And may be a better option for game processing then thicker wood carving knives.
The most memorable aspect about Harbeer's work is how amazing this white steel takes an edge.
It's definitely on of my favorites as seen on my laminated white steel Gyuto and Yanagiba.
There is nothing like it.
So sharp!
Great work Harbeer.
The Handle.
Throughout my testing with this blade I've grown very fond of the handle ergonomics.
It was very comfortable despite my large/xtra large hands.
There where no hotspot or tactical traction anywhere on the handles that would rip the skin off the hands from long periods of hard use.
The swell is very subtle but extremely comfortable with nicely contoured scales.
The guard was very well finished and was extremely comfortable even in different positions with hard use.
I'm also a sucker for aethitics. I love the red liners and the black Micarta.
Very stylish and we'll fit. Makes me drool hahaha
The guard is soldered with a low temperature solder. This takes alot of time and skill but is outstandingly durable and gives the knife a clean look.
The brass guard really "pops" with a nice polish.
The sheath will be a kydex pancake sheath. I wasn't provided with the actual sheath this model comes with since I wanted to get this knife in my hands as soon as possible.
Harbeer is still working on the sheath design.
In conclusion, for $375 one gets a handforged high performance knife that is also very pleasing to the eyes and hands.
Whether an avid hunter, Outdoorsman or collector.
This should be an exciting knife in anyone's personal line up.
You won't find a better sharpening knife with the same level of wear resistance.
I look forward to seeing more of Harbeer's work.
At $375 it's also a steal. The prices will only go up.
About Harbeer.
A custom knife is nothing without knowing the hands behind its construction.
HSC /// stands for his full name "Harbeer Singh Chahal" with triple knife slash at the end.
Harbeer is a family man and a Professional by nature
Being a newer maker doesn't circumvent his life experiences as an engineer.
He is very mature and exudes professionalism during interactions
He first got into knives from collecting high end folders.
Terzola,rockstead.etc.
He started exploring knife making back in 2014.
But really started getting into it when he bought his first proper knife grinder in January 2015
In which he has greatly expanded his capabilities.
He's has received exposure from several makers to which he is very grateful to (David sharp, Ian Hall, Eric Kramer)
and guidance from Murray Carter and Mike Vagnino
He listed his first knives for sale this February 2016
He is always improving.
With a focus on laminated white steel for now. Harbeer hopes to settle on his own style and build relationships with his customers.
His most rewarding experience? Satisfied customers. 😁
Knowing that his knives bring joy from high performance and beauty.
