Well, my kiddo was sick so my time outside was relatively short and when I actually did get a chance to get outside I found out that my wife had the camera so no action shots unfortunately.:grumpy:
Anyway, I did get a bit of time to get to know this knife and do some work. A bit of chopping, whittling, a touch of batoning and general messing about was done and I came away with some solid impressions.
For a knife made from thinner steel than that of most knives on this forum, it is a brute. I've never used this kind of steel before (heck, I've never even heard of it before!) but it seems to be one that'll take whatever you dish out. I worked some softwood as well as some silver maple in the backyard. It bit down with authority and was easy to control. The blade is long enough to be batoned through any piece of wood that you would realistically have to use in constructing shelter and the convex edge seemed to part the pieces nicely as I whacked away on the spine. Chopping wasn't its strong suit but it's a lighter-weight knife. Carry a hatchet, small axe or a saw with it and you'll be unstoppable. All in all a really nice design. The belly should also lend itself to some skinning chores. You could choke up on the blade easily as well because it's so wide.
Let me tell you that handle is comfortable. Full, smooth, protects from the blade well, comfy, comfy, comfy. I like that it didn't dictate what grips I wanted to use. All were comfortable. I thought that the sloping section toward the back might pose a problem but I really didn't notice its absence, especially when I put my index finger on the spine or blade for more detailed work as shown in these pics:
Also, that spinework is a nice combination of grippy and comfortable. Not sharp so as to hurt your thumb, but the different directions seem to hold a finger in place nicely.
I could tell that this knife had been used hard and it had a bit of trouble shaving hair or slicing paper cleanly. It worked on wood well though, just not to a super-anal-rententive sharpener's standards (of which I'm not). Since I did use it and contributed somewhat to it's lack of razor keenness, I felt the need to touch it up a bit. I used the tool I had at hand since I haven't seen a mousepad in my home or office in years (I'm a dedicated laptop man). A picture is worth a thousand words:
I think it was a 50 or maybe a 36 grit belt, worn in a bit from previous work, but a few minutes of letting the sparks fly and that knife could make some beautiful shavings. Again, another pic to show you what I mean:
(In reality I did give it a good stropping with some green compound, but the next guy might want to sharpen it up with their sandpaper to get it reeeeealy sharp. No belt sander was used in the testing of this knife. Oh, and those walnut shavings were from a Jack plane with a Hock replacement blade. I did get some decent fuzz sticks made though. Nothing like some of the more skilled whittlers here, but it would've worked well in real life.)
Overall, I really like this knife. It's a manageable size, works like a knife bigger than it is and will take a lifetime of sharpenings until you wear it out. Thanks for the opportunity to give it a try. Also, that sheath is really nice! It holds onto the knife with authority and worked well on my belt. The way it was set up put it at a really nice height on my hip. Looks great too. I'll get both of them in the mail pronto!
Anyway, I did get a bit of time to get to know this knife and do some work. A bit of chopping, whittling, a touch of batoning and general messing about was done and I came away with some solid impressions.
For a knife made from thinner steel than that of most knives on this forum, it is a brute. I've never used this kind of steel before (heck, I've never even heard of it before!) but it seems to be one that'll take whatever you dish out. I worked some softwood as well as some silver maple in the backyard. It bit down with authority and was easy to control. The blade is long enough to be batoned through any piece of wood that you would realistically have to use in constructing shelter and the convex edge seemed to part the pieces nicely as I whacked away on the spine. Chopping wasn't its strong suit but it's a lighter-weight knife. Carry a hatchet, small axe or a saw with it and you'll be unstoppable. All in all a really nice design. The belly should also lend itself to some skinning chores. You could choke up on the blade easily as well because it's so wide.
Let me tell you that handle is comfortable. Full, smooth, protects from the blade well, comfy, comfy, comfy. I like that it didn't dictate what grips I wanted to use. All were comfortable. I thought that the sloping section toward the back might pose a problem but I really didn't notice its absence, especially when I put my index finger on the spine or blade for more detailed work as shown in these pics:
Also, that spinework is a nice combination of grippy and comfortable. Not sharp so as to hurt your thumb, but the different directions seem to hold a finger in place nicely.
I could tell that this knife had been used hard and it had a bit of trouble shaving hair or slicing paper cleanly. It worked on wood well though, just not to a super-anal-rententive sharpener's standards (of which I'm not). Since I did use it and contributed somewhat to it's lack of razor keenness, I felt the need to touch it up a bit. I used the tool I had at hand since I haven't seen a mousepad in my home or office in years (I'm a dedicated laptop man). A picture is worth a thousand words:
I think it was a 50 or maybe a 36 grit belt, worn in a bit from previous work, but a few minutes of letting the sparks fly and that knife could make some beautiful shavings. Again, another pic to show you what I mean:
(In reality I did give it a good stropping with some green compound, but the next guy might want to sharpen it up with their sandpaper to get it reeeeealy sharp. No belt sander was used in the testing of this knife. Oh, and those walnut shavings were from a Jack plane with a Hock replacement blade. I did get some decent fuzz sticks made though. Nothing like some of the more skilled whittlers here, but it would've worked well in real life.)
Overall, I really like this knife. It's a manageable size, works like a knife bigger than it is and will take a lifetime of sharpenings until you wear it out. Thanks for the opportunity to give it a try. Also, that sheath is really nice! It holds onto the knife with authority and worked well on my belt. The way it was set up put it at a really nice height on my hip. Looks great too. I'll get both of them in the mail pronto!
