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Koster VS. Sockeye!

Bruce Culberson

Bruce Culberson

Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
1,298
A few weeks ago I was chatting with a BF member and asked him what the big deal was on Scandi grinds (I just couldn't seem to warm up to the looks of them), and he said I have a Koster nessie with a Scandi grind I'll send to you to try it out.

Seeing as I was going camping and salmon fishing for the weekend I took it along. Now I'm not very good at making fuzz sticks, but I did find it was easier with the Scandi grind than a flat grind. After a bit of practice I could do almost as good with the flat grind.

Koster fuzzy:
kosterfuzzstick.jpg


My little necker (flat grind):
necker.jpg


About a month ago I started wearing a necker (after having sold a few and decided I should try one). At first I didn't like it but now I'm getting hooked. When we stopped at a small gas station in Granisle my girls each bought a Mr Freezie and with out thinking I reached under my shirt and yanked out the necker to cut the tops off right in front of the cashier (a lady in her golden years), but she didn't even bat an eye. Anyway here is a pic of me sporting the necker, holding a salmon, and trying to catch a few rays for my northern pale skin:
fulton09051-1.jpg


The Koster made short work of cleaning salmon, and the hump back on the nessie worked great for cleaning out the blood along the back bone:
koster.jpg


And here are the salmon cut, wrapped, and spiced ready for the freezer. After they are frozen I'll vaccuum seal them - that way the juices don't get suck out into the vaccuum unit (I learned this the hard way). Then I take a package out of the freezer and put it in the fridge for a day - cut it out of the plastic bag and since its already spiced and wrapped in foil straight onto the barbaque!
salmon.jpg
 
mmmmmmmm yummy!

great pics! it took me a while to adjust to the scandi grind too....im down with it now!!
 
i'm likely a minority but i haven't warmed to the scandi either. though to be honest the one i had was too thick IMO 4mm.
Koyote has some work that's been calling me to give them another try!

does this mean you're thinking of having a go at making a scandi or two?
 
Hey Bruce great pics buddy, that Salmon looks mighty tastey !!!

I have a Koster exactly the same as that one and have to agree that they carve through wood real easy! In fact sometimes they can cut through too easy and your make shift boat oar turns into a spoon before ya know it !!!!

I have found Scandi's to be a little delicate though and can get small chips quite easily through hard use. For this reason I now prefer a nice thin convexed edge as they cut virtually as well but are a little more durable.
 
Nice fish - also great tip with the freezing and then vacuum pack.
 
damn nice koster! I need to pull out the salmon thats been lurking in my freezer :)
 
great stuff Bruce...:thumbup: nice looking fish man.. i am also one of those proud few that doesn't care much for the scandi grind...:o
 
Bruce Culberson said:
And here are the salmon cut, wrapped, and spiced ready for the freezer. After they are frozen I'll vaccuum seal them - that way the juices don't get suck out into the vaccuum unit (I learned this the hard way).
Click to expand...

Good idea on freezing first. I have, in the past, just rolled up a paper towel or two and put it above the fish. When the vacuum kicks in, the towel gets saturated, but the juice doesn't get sucked into the machine.

Only Scandi I have is a Koster Bushcrafter. It does a nice job on smaller, detailed tasks in particular.
 
Nice looking salmon. Bet it tastes great!

I think that there is a place for most different bevel designs. I haven't warmed up too much to the Scandi world yet, but I can see that it probably has a great deal of utility.
 
pitdog said:
I have a Koster exactly the same as that one and have to agree that they carve through wood real easy! In fact sometimes they can cut through too easy and your make shift boat oar turns into a spoon before ya know it !!!!
Click to expand...

Pitdog, sounds like a good story....did you have to "spoon" your way back to civilization??

I'll still use a flat grind or flat/convex combination for my general use knives, but the Scandi does seem to work well carving wood. This winter I'll try grinding one or two. That Koster has a really grippy micarta handle even when its wet - I think he bead blasts them??

PayetteRucker, I made the smaller knife - it was the second knife I ever made. I have made nicer ones since but have either sold them or given them to family & friends. I do like that little knife though. I used it last fall to skin, quarter, and cape a whitetail. I'll send you a PM.
 
PayetteRucker said:
who makes that smaller knife? I am seriously interested.
Click to expand...

payetterucker--other than the koster scandi in the pics the others (i believe) are all made by the poster of this thread, bruce culberson.
here are the two of his i use everyday. can't beat'em. got another on the way from him (and more to come even if he doesn't know it yet.)
here are mine. i pm'd you.
015.jpg

EDIT:bruce beat me to it by a few seconds haha...sorry for highjacking
 
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