Koyote Necker

[Camber]

Hi,

I picked this little guy up from the batch Christof made for the W&SS forum necker challenge. It was one of the ones he chose not to send in the end, but it called to me at first sight and so I emailed him about it...and I'm really glad I did. I love this little guy.

Here's a couple Christof's photos of it seeing as I didn't think to just take any full length shots of it:



It's about 7 inches overall, and honestly, it just feels amazing in the hand. The handle doesn't have any special contours or anything, but it's very thick and well rounded and feels great in absolutely every position. Overall fit and finish is very nice, and the blade came screaming sharp with Christof's standard "scandivex" grind. I can make the smallest of "curlies" with it cutting paper and hair seems to literally jump off my arm when shaving with it

 

[Camber]

So the other day I decided to take it out and mess around with it. Please keep in mind that I am still just learning how to really use a knife, and I have no real skills with it. A lot of the stuff I did here was inspired by a thread I read by mistwalker.

I started off with some batonning. I needed to remove a small tree that annoyed me all summer while mowing. I started by batonning the limbs off, up to about a thumb's thickness.


Next came the actual trunk. Came down easily. The blade bit into the soft, wet wood easily, and I made my way around it, creating some good sized notches with the small blade quickly before just pushing it over. After I got the trunk down, I then batonned it in half. Again, very easy and quick.

 

[Camber]

I then moved onto some harder dried wood I keep around for testing purposes.

I tried some general cutting/carving (I guess that's what I would call it) with it. All of it was very easy and comfortable...lots of comfy handle to hold onto. The blade easily stripped the bark off the log, and then I made some shaving and tried making a fuzz stick, but I still need lots of practice obviously. The important part is that the knife bit in deep and easily.


I then did some more batonning on a dry, hard log I had. The little blade took some serious beating during this and held up just fine. I had to beat either on the very tip or right above the handle because the blade isn't very long, but it went right on through and was no worse for wear.


Finished by trying to dig a small hole with the tip, and while it didn't turn out that well, what I was capable of doing with my skills was easy because of how sharp the blade was.

 

[Camber]

Well, after my testing the blade was just as sharp as when I started:


All in all, I am very happy with the little guy. For being so small, it's plenty tough and strong, and the "scandivex" grind is awesome. It's my first scandi of any kind, and I love how it cuts. I can't wait to do some more work with it and get better with it. And I'm really sold on Chistof's handles. This one just feels so good.

And while I didn't get any pics of it (I'll try to correct that), I have to mention the sheath too made my Sierra girl. It's very, very nice, and of the highest quality. In fact, as soon as I have the money, I'm going to send one of my Siegle's to her for a nice leather sheath.

 

[koyote]

Thanks much! I love finding write ups.

I would argue that the handle as a whole is a special contour- probably why I rarely get my head around doing finger cutouts and such. Now, this is just opinion and the custom world is plenty big enough for a breadth of opinions! but- To paraphrase Grant Cunningham on revolver grips- unless the special contours and finger cutouts match your hande exactly, they are more trouble than benefit.

And Sierra- Koyote Girl- deserves every ounce of her praise. I'm really glad she's full time and doing custom orders, and I hope she tops 400 sheaths next year.

 

[Camber]

Thanks much! I love finding write ups.

I would argue that the handle as a whole is a special contour- probably why I rarely get my head around doing finger cutouts and such. Now, this is just opinion and the custom world is plenty big enough for a breadth of opinions! but- To paraphrase Grant Cunningham on revolver grips- unless the special contours and finger cutouts match your hande exactly, they are more trouble than benefit.

True! I should clarify that the handle isn't just a rectangle or a rectangle with rounded corners...it definitely has some shape and very comfortable contouring, but it just lacks (and thankfully so) all the pointless cutouts, waves humps that make many other knives uncomfortable.

And Sierra- Koyote Girl- deserves every ounce of her praise. I'm really glad she's full time and doing custom orders, and I hope she tops 400 sheaths next year.

I know as soon as I can pull the money together I have two heading her way. The sheath is just beautiful and functional.