-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
It only took 40 years to find MY perfect camp knife - and it's quite unconventional
- Thread starter shane45-1911
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2001
- Messages
- 4,306
No stumps or beer cans readily available, but here is a pic of the knife (second from left) with some others for size comparison:
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2022
- Messages
- 1,378
I immediately thought of how Bronn scout carries his backup blade.
Do you scout carry this blade?
How well done is the sheath?
Do you scout carry this blade?
How well done is the sheath?
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2001
- Messages
- 4,306
I have not scout carried it, although the profile and size would not rule out the possibility.
The sheath is functional if nothing else, but there are no rattles and it holds the knife securely. It was well thought-out however, as you notice the lack of grommets higher up on the spine side. This allows you to pivot the knife out from the side of the sheath, rather than pulling it straight up and out - which would drag the edge on the kydex.
You could easily get something nicer made, but it does the job:
Last edited:
Is that a Lionsteel M7 next to it? How would you say it compares?No stumps or beer cans readily available, but here is a pic of the knife (second from left) with some others for size comparison:
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2001
- Messages
- 4,306
Yes, it is.
There are really not a lot of similarities, when you factor in the completely different ergonomics and blade profiles of the two designs.
The M7 is a comfy knife to use and hold, and the Sleipner steel is nice and performs well. It is a very tough steel, but the tradeoff is that it dulls rather quickly. However, it is very fine grained, and it doesn't take much effort to get it wickedly sharp again.
The Mineral Mountain is equally (if not more) tough, and as I mentioned in my initial post, the edge retention far exceeds anything I have ever used in many other 5160 knives. This thing just cuts and cuts for miles and miles.
Last edited:
Damn, now you got me thinking about this knife
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2001
- Messages
- 4,306
Damn, now you got me thinking about this knife
Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works flies low under the radar, and doesn't get talked about too much. They offer incredible bang for the buck and have several different models available to suit just about anyone's taste and desire.
I don't believe Ted Frizzell is manning the ship anymore (health issues?), but I think his son is.
All their knives are made-to-order, and can be modified somewhat if you have a special request. You are essentially getting a semi-custom for a price that is typically less expensive than most quality mass-produced production knives. It's good stuff.
Last edited:
VorpelSword
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2007
- Messages
- 1,563
I find the overall shape to be eye-pleasing. The handle looks a bit too curved for use, but if you say it works, I am in on it.
Love the blade shape.
Would still look good if it were scaled up some too.
Love the blade shape.
Would still look good if it were scaled up some too.
Bob Denman
That OTHER Guy...
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2021
- Messages
- 9,918
Glad you found your "forever knife"! 
Until another one catches your eye!!
Until another one catches your eye!!
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2019
- Messages
- 654
It actually looks a lot like my Kershaw camp 10, which I believe may also be 5160.
A little bit kukri is a really good thing.
A little bit kukri is a really good thing.
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2022
- Messages
- 1,378
Thank you!I have not scout carried it, although the profile and size would not rule out the possibility.
The sheath is functional if nothing else, but there are no rattles and it holds the knife securely. It was well thought-out however, as you notice the lack of grommets higher up on the spine side. This allows you to pivot the knife out from the side of the sheath, rather than pulling it straight up and out - which would drag the edge on the kydex.
You could easily get something nicer made, but it does the job:
And Damn it!
Another option on my list. My list grows long and my cash flow dwindles.
Haha
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2008
- Messages
- 3,399
well I'm not living in rural Nepal and I'm not fixing the menu they eat there. laughingtalk to the folks using khukuris in the rural home kitchens of Nepal
You'd be surprised how well a weird shaped knife works in the kitchen. Once upon a time, a professional chef here in the US posted a video over on the HI board of him prepping a fish with a khukuri. It was wild.
I really dig the bayonet swedge on that knife. It looks crazy functional.
coolbreezy37
Gold Member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2021
- Messages
- 3,343
I just placed a big order with Ted, having him cook me up a Lamb Splitter, 10” Bullnoser, Starlite Fighter, and a Brush Puppy. Ted’s a good dude and super responsive with the correspondence. He’s super fair and offers good deals. I can highly recommend MMHW with no hesitations.I have all the usual suspects....the Beckers, the ESEEs, the Tops, the Ontarios, the RATs, the Fallknivens...you name it, I probably have (or had) it. And even though I like all of them, none of them were ever exactly perfect for me. Some were very, very close to "perfect" (looking at you BK9), but all of them have a flaw, no matter how small. Hot spots, uncomfortable or poorly fitting handles for my hand size (long fingers and not very wide hands), poor balance, poor ergonomics, etc.
I have always liked Mineral Mountains knives, and over the last couple of years I picked up a few more including their Stickit II. I'm not really sure why I bought it, as first glance would not make you think "survival/camp" knife. As such, this one sat in a drawer for a long time with limited use. Recently, it has been my go-to woods knife, and I am sad I waited so long to put it to use.
It is perfectly balanced, has the most comfortable handle of any knife I own (fits my hand like a glove) and excels in just about anything I threw at it, including chopping, light batoning *gasp*, skinning, even filleting.
It's offset handle angle is almost Khukuri-like, and allows great mechanical advantage when chopping, and makes both push and pull cuts so much easier. Because of the angle, it makes food prep a breeze and there's no way your knuckles are going to drag on the cutting board or log stump as you are slicing and dicing.
The handle ergonomics are completely comfortable in any grip - icepick, reverse icepick, hammer, reverse hammer, etc.
This knife is hollow ground and slices like a much, much thinner knife, even though the 5160 blade stock is 1/4" thick. The massive amount of belly skins game easily.
RC is 58 with great toughness (I've hit several bones as well as knots in wood, some rather hard) and not even a hint of edge rolling. I also would not believe this is 5160 steel based on the incredibly long-lasting edge retention, as well. When this knife finally does get dull, it sharpens easily, quickly and effortlessly.
It has a very sharp 90 degree spine section before the unsharpened swedge, perfect for scraping tinder/bark or striking a ferro rod.
The coating is parkerizing, and doesn't impede fine slicing or create any noticeable additional drag and it's a nice alternative to some of the epoxy "bed liner" coatings that appear far too often on "survival" knives.
It has been rode hard and put away wet more times than I am normally comfortable with a higher carbon blade, but there was no sign of rust after several damp days and minimal wipe-downs.
I have no action shots as much of my recent use was in weather that was not conducive to taking photos , but this thing is truly amazing:
MMHW is off most buyers radar because they're functional... Not Popular, Not Pretty, but for the person that's wants a hard use blade.
I've owned a couple of MMHW'S for 20 years.
I'll put it up against anything made.... anytime.
TED FRIZZELL makes a excellent tool....
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2001
- Messages
- 4,306
Absolutely agree.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2000
- Messages
- 4,798
I'm glad you won't be needing that KaBar D2 Extreme any more. Send it overNo stumps or beer cans readily available, but here is a pic of the knife (second from left) with some others for size comparison:
I thought the same about food prep, that it might be problematic with this piece. I sincerely believe you that it works though, and that is really cool.
I can't say that it's ugly, can't say it's beautiful.... but I'll say that it is surely an interesting looking critter you got there. Congrats!
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2021
- Messages
- 361
I don't know why, for some reason I would have figured your perfect knife to be a Bark River, maybe a crusader handmade by Mike Stewart himself? Oh well, surprises are everywhere I guess.