Its (un)official - the fashion bushy knife for 2008

kgd

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
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A totally tongue in cheek title - sorry. The post is sparked by Rupestris' recent post of his Koster-style nesmuk blade. I've been thinking that the old Nessy has really taken a down turn this year and the Kephart has come up hard and strong of late. Fashion du jour.

Is it just me? The only maker I see any longer pumping out Nesmuks on a regular basic is Dan Koster anymore. Andy has his EDC that is nusmuk(ish) but hasn't been pumping out his real nesmuks in his last set of offerings. I rarely see other makers pumping them out either lately either.

Stomper makes kepharts and kephart-like blades almost exclusively now but he used to be making nessies. Koyote used to be making them, but now has shifted solidly towards spearpoint. BRK&T killed the nessy and pumped up the kephart.

Was 2008 the THE YEAR OF THE KEPHART????


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i have noticed this trend too, it certainly seems as though the keppie took the woods by storm this year.

i wonder what became of all those nessies that everyone has? are they all sitting in drawers waiting to come back into style?
 
It was definitely a Kephart-ish year around here. I blame our local makers.

I caught the Kephart bug as well. Here's a Kephart-inspired piece I put together this year (yes, that's gun blue on the blade).

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Nessies are still great, though!

Anyone care to speculate on the 2009 trend? Neck knives? Will the scandi grind reclaim ground, or will the convex wave continue to grow?

All the best,

- Mike
 
its a tough call as for next year...

i think that we are going to swing back towards the more mid range sized fixed blades (around 7"), but i think that the convex edge is going to keep gaining popularity as it becomes more mainstream.
 
siguy said:
i think that we are going to swing back towards the more mid range sized fixed blades (around 7"), but i think that the convex edge is going to keep gaining popularity as it becomes more mainstream.
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Oh oh - we have a prediction in the ranks :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

Fonly - Siguy is speak'n your language man!
 
Good eye K!

I noticed the same thing as the year went by. Bark Rivers Nesmuk made David E. Petzal's list of the greatest knives in '08. Soon after the BRKT Kephart sales took off. Even spawned a full-tang version.

I've not seen any Muskrat Man Nessies posted in a while.

I'm inclined to agree that 2008 was the "year of the Kephart!" About time too ;).

What will 2009 bring us?
Who will lead the way?

Personally I'd like to see an influx of Patch knives and Capers. Small blades with more of a four-finger grip like the Krein Caper or Blind Horse Patch Knives :p.
 
It's hard to argue with a Kephart style blade. It's really just an obtuse spear point. What could be more fundamental?

I like the look of the Nessmuk knives, but don't really see an advantage to the hump on the back.

It's interesting that in his book Camping & Woodcraft, Kehart advocated for the Marble's Woodcraft with an upswept blade. Why didn't Kephart like a Kephart?

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Rotte said:
It's hard to argue with a Kephart style blade. It's really just an obtuse spear point. What could be more fundamental?
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Functionally they may be an excellent design but aesthetically they are one of the least appealing designs to my eyes. I can only hope that next year's knife looks better. ;)

No offense to anyone that likes Kepharts, they just don't do anything for me.
 
Kepharts really seemed to come out of nowhere to dominate the WSS landscape.

What the hell is a kephart anyway!? Any knife with a spear point and flat grind? Nice looking knives, but I'm sold on Scandi/nordic grinds.

2009 will be the year of the Puukko!
 
Rotte said:
It's interesting that in his book Camping & Woodcraft, Kehart advocated for the Marble's Woodcraft with an upswept blade. Why didn't Kephart like a Kephart?
Click to expand...

I drive a little Saturn 4 cyl. gas miser. It works for me and I love the car. Almost 40MPG, I know what it is capable of and it handles alright. Its ugly, inexpensive and old but as dependable as a hammer.

If I were to write a book on urban commuting, I'd probably recommend something like an Audi A6 or a Subaru Legacy Outback ;).
 
I have difficult batoning well with a Nessmuk. The ones with enough reach usually have a lot more meat on them than needed.

A slim Kephart or Bowie work great and this is a task I do often. My JK Kephart and standard KaBar are my two most used knives.
 
LONG LIVE THE SCANDI GRIND

I hope we see the Pukkko make a come back. I would also like to see some large Bolo/ Parang style working class knives. Like a machete with some belly maybe 3/16"
 
I never liked the looks of a Nessmuk so I don't have one. This year I bought my first Kephart (BRKT full tang) and really liked the feel of it. JK has now made me the perfect Kephart with a long narrow blade. So for me 2008 finished as the year of the Kephart.
 
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