JK Bushcrafter Passaround :) Pic Heavy

[C Bryant]

OK, well this is my review of John’s Bushcrafter. I am familiar with this model from babysitting bearthedog’s Buschcrafter while he was out of the country, so I knew what to expect as far as fit, finish, and how it felt in the hand. Let me just say that all of those qualities are perfect in this knife. I personally find the handle shape and contour to be one of the most comfortable handles I have ever used on a knife. The handle is thick, but not too thick, just enough to get a really strong grip on it without being uncomfortable. Holding it in different positions was not a problem either as the contouring made choking up on the blade nice and comfortable too. The tulip wood scales not only look great but seemed to hold up pretty well to the few times they hit or got a little too close to the wood while I was battoning, they really showed no signs of wear. I was very anxious to play with this knife, as I did babysit one, I did not really use it.

It came to be pretty dang sharp (thanks udtjim) and was shaving hair without even trying. I was quite happy about that as I am not that great at sharpening convexed edges yet, and it was a great starting point for some rough use. I started right off with battoning through a small piece of wood (old branches from the firewood pile). A few whacks and it was right through it no problem at all. So I went right for a much larger piece of wood, one that was almost as big around as the blade is long. I beat the hell out of the knife trying to get it through. The combination of only having about ¾” of the blade sticking out and me not want to get a bigger blister on my hand convinced me to give up on that and try cross battoning through the middle. I pretty much treated it as an axe cut and pounded the blade in at an angle to get nice big chunk out, which worked fantastic! The edge on this blade just bit right into the wood and very cleanly chopped out large chunks each time I pounded it in. I tuned the wood around so I was working the wood all the way around and not long after I started, crack…. Cut right through the center of that piece of wood. I tested the blade on my arm, and sure enough still shaving sharp! Shaving was not as effortless as it was out of the box, but it still shaved with little problem at all.

Next I tried battoning through another rather large piece, this one was definitely too large for easily batton through, even less of the blade sticking out the other side, but I want to try it anyway. I pounded and pounded and pounded and could not get that blade much deeper than that edge of the wood. I really beat the hell out of the knife at this point. I missed a few time and smacked the handle too. Neither the spine of the blade or the handle showed any signs of my aggression, I was very pleased with that. Not being able to batton any further I pulled the knife out and carved down a piece of the smaller wood I had split into a kind of wedge. I stuck the wedge in the small section I did batton through and then pouned the wedge right through. Can’t use the knife directly to solve the problem…use it indirectly to make a tool! Now I see why I was having such a rough time, a wicked knotty section in the wood.

more.....

 

[C Bryant]

After that fiasco I tried the knife’s edge again by making son fuzz sticks. It shaved the curls with no problems, I was very surprised to see how sharp the knife was after all of that pounding into a knot in the wood. I wanted to test out the tip a bit so I stuck in in one of the halves of the split knotty wood and just started boring a hole. I twisted the knife back and forth trying to break and scrape the wood out rather than carve it. The tip held up, no flexing or bending in the least. It was time to gather up the carnage and start a fire…..what else would you do with all of this perfect kindling around? I gathered up the bits for testing the tip, added some fatwood shavings, and used the blade of the knife on my firesteel to get it going. The spine on John’s knives are perfect for striking firesteels and the Bushcrafter is no exception, but this being a test I used the blade for the extra bit of added abuse. Needless to say it lit right up and I had a nice little fire going.

While the fire was burning I got one of the remaining pieces of firewood and split it down the middle….then just kept splitting. Plenty of firewood for a small fire.

Sat down to a nice steak after all the fun and ended my time with the passaround knife the best way possible.

After all of the battoning and hard use the blade was still quite sharp at the end. It cut the steak with ease. It was not quite shaving sharp at this point, but not far at all from it. I know John’s blades were great at keeping their edge, but after really trying to beat up one of his knives (can’t say I have worked any of my personal JK’s quite this hard) I have to say the edge retention of his blades is FANTASTIC!! And the heat treat is perfect. Aside from some use marks, there was no damage, no chipping, no knicks in the blade. I am very pleased with this knife and would recommend it hands down to anyone who may be looking for the perfect all around woods knife. The overall size of the knife is idea, the blade thickness and length are perfect for just about any job, and as I said you will be hard pressed to dull or damage it.
Now I hate writing a review that has no constructive criticism or disliking about the knife, but honestly I could not find anything I did not like about it. I did think the edge bevel might be a touch thick, but after shaving hair, making excellent curls, and cross grain battoning some pretty damn hard wood, that the edge bevel was just fine for such a knife. Thank you John for the opportunity to play with the knife. As always it was a pleasure. Your work is top notch in my book :thumbup: Feel free to ask any questions about it.

 

[Rockywolf]

Great review CB. I had this knife before Jim and I own one now. One of the best things about this knife is the comfort of it in hand. I used the heck out of it on a landscaping job and it was begging for more. And the sheath is one of my favs!

 

[C Bryant]

Yeah, it is definitely on my list!

 

[coaldigger]

Nice job on the review 'Ol Bud...looks like a sweet knife & a real user:thumbup: Now I got to put another blade on my list