i am borrowing a kershaw outcast from a fellow forum member to test and see what i think.
first impression-the grinds are pretty good, the swedges are pretty uneven. the handle is very comfortable and grippy. the edge is incredibly thick!
i measured roughly 3/32" thick at the bevel, with a roughly 45 degree inclusive bevel. it was pretty sharp, and i understand he has been using it for a while too, so that's pretty good. it chopped okay, but not really that great.
i took it to the belt sander and thinned it a little bit and slightly convexed the bevel. took it out back for some more chopping.
i compared it to a longer, thinner, straight machete with a 12", 1/8" thick blade. i consider a straight edge to be less efficient in chopping than one with a belly, because of the penetration in hard wood.
the outcast averaged between 20-30 strikes to get through a branch that i picked. the machete averaged between 21-25 strikes on the same branch, alternating blades for three cuts each (each cut is all the way through the branch)
so they performed about equally, but the machete was a tad more consistent. possibly due to my being used to the machete more, i don't know.
the edge held up great, only a tiny bit of noticeable dulling. almost none. no chipping or any of the other problems people are always saying about D2...maybe kershaw just does a really great heat treat or maybe D2 is tougher than some people think...i don't know, i just know that this works.
i think i will thin out the edge some more and see how it does. grinding this D2 is hard stuff, especially on a blade this big. its taking me a long time to thin it out...
so at this point my vote is that this blade has a whole lot of potential as alot of chopping power in a compact package, but as it comes from the factory (at least this example) is that it needs some work to really perform at its potential level.
first impression-the grinds are pretty good, the swedges are pretty uneven. the handle is very comfortable and grippy. the edge is incredibly thick!
i measured roughly 3/32" thick at the bevel, with a roughly 45 degree inclusive bevel. it was pretty sharp, and i understand he has been using it for a while too, so that's pretty good. it chopped okay, but not really that great.i took it to the belt sander and thinned it a little bit and slightly convexed the bevel. took it out back for some more chopping.
i compared it to a longer, thinner, straight machete with a 12", 1/8" thick blade. i consider a straight edge to be less efficient in chopping than one with a belly, because of the penetration in hard wood.
the outcast averaged between 20-30 strikes to get through a branch that i picked. the machete averaged between 21-25 strikes on the same branch, alternating blades for three cuts each (each cut is all the way through the branch)
so they performed about equally, but the machete was a tad more consistent. possibly due to my being used to the machete more, i don't know.
the edge held up great, only a tiny bit of noticeable dulling. almost none. no chipping or any of the other problems people are always saying about D2...maybe kershaw just does a really great heat treat or maybe D2 is tougher than some people think...i don't know, i just know that this works.
i think i will thin out the edge some more and see how it does. grinding this D2 is hard stuff, especially on a blade this big. its taking me a long time to thin it out...
so at this point my vote is that this blade has a whole lot of potential as alot of chopping power in a compact package, but as it comes from the factory (at least this example) is that it needs some work to really perform at its potential level.
