Les Stroud Camillus Knives- ?!

I doubt I will buy any ... but I have to say that I DO LIKE the blade geometry of both the folder and the machete better than the Gerber equivalents.

Give Less a break - He ALREADY made an expensive, low volume, high quality knife for us cutlery nuts. NOW he actually needs to make some money. ;)
 
skwerlkiller said:
So why does nobody mention the USMC Kabar (The non serrated)? I have packed one in the woods for twenty years and nothing else I have ever found comes close to taking the beating. Do I still buy other knives? Heck yeah. Will I buy these from Les? ermmm.... maybe the Helle someday, but not the new line. I did respect the person who mentioned his kids needed woods knives. Nothing wrong on a good middle of the road knife to start a kid out on and/or teach them blade respect. If I were looking for a knife to throw into my wife's car's emergency bag, a kids backpack (go boyscouts) or something like that I would look at the camillus line, but frankly I have that covered too.

Do I believe the line is about making money, sure. Do I believe that's all it's about? No. And let's be perfectly honest only a true knife nut takes a $200+ knife into the woods with them the two or three times a year they go into the woods (Or stay in a state park which is as close as many get and there's nothing wrong with that) Now those of us that are woods, water, AND knife nuts? Yeah I can see packing a $200 knife as my second to my kabar. After all the kabar is a beater for woods chores, the nice knife I can use to skin a squirrel, or fillet a fish. Right now I actually carry a USMC Kabar, and a Old Imperial Schrade sharpfinger that shaves without a problem, and together they get the job done. If it is going to be an extended stay a good axe or machete makes it into the gear pile as well.:thumbup:

Skwerlkiller
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well, you have to read more of co-mod Moose's entries on his KaBar USMC, one of his all time favorite knives ever. still carries it, though he does now also carry a few Beckers and other KaBar models. he's even broken one or two :)

the USMC not my personal favorite knife, but i have a MK-I now, and it has its place in my range back. quite useful. woods knife? i'll take a BK2/10 and definitely a BK3/4 combo :) the BK3 is badass for splitting/batoning, digging holes, and prying, and doing savage duty, and the BK4 is just overall superb.

are those my only choices and things i have with me? hell no :) lots more. many choices...
 
From the Yuotube videos they look like decent basic field knives. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtTWs9BrMIE
There are entry level knives for the everyday person.The real issue is no matter what Les (or Bear for that matter) would have come out with or endorsed many of you would still mock him, unless he came out with a line from CRK which no one but you can afford or justify. Of course he did it to cash in, last I knew he didnt take a vow of poverty when he bacame a survival instrucor and TV personality. If you were a TV personality whose identity was based on your experience and survial skills you'd have to be an idiot to not cash in at some point, marketing to the masses is the way to make that happen.
 
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They look better in the video than in the concept art, but I still don't like the look of the machete. The sheath concept is cool, though I which they had put the quick release snaps on the spine side of the sheath. You'll catch the edge on the underside of the snaps with it on the edge side.
 
the grip is decent but i think it carries like crap seeing theres only one way to carry it with the pocket clip. i also think its too heavy. i think its worth the price point as a beater knife but its kind of a bummer to see his name on this, well at least the folders. and according to les all the yellow and stuff is on there in case you drop it so iits easier to see.
 
i handled them at shot show, esp the big chopper. "interesting".

i think KaBar's zombie line offers equally good choppers on the cheap, as well as Tooj's line of big choppers, or Ethan's Beckers :) if you don't want mystery stainless.
 
There are a few things I think of when I see this series of knives. A) DEAR LORD MY EYES!!! B) Non-stick? That's nice, I'm glad I can scramble eggs on the blade. C) As ugly as these things are, they look rather functional. With the pommel set up the way it is, I wonder how useful it really is. I want to know the stregnth of if with the lanyard whole there.
 
I think that we should avoid the arrogance of claiming to know all. Most all here started with some rubbish knife that was likely seen on TV or some fiction character. Selling these blades are good for all collectors. Many will fail to become knife nuts but his series has stimulated some interest about survival ... some will go out and buy this knife, feel dissapointed once their skills improve and move up ....and soon they will have a whole load of knives.

I started with some crappy made Taiwan hollow handled knife in the early 80's. Took me 30 years to get to where I am understanding the basics of how my knives stack up vs my skill levels...... and I am still learning.

There is no such thing as a bad knife sale. Think of these knives as training knives for potential knife nuts.

I see a lot of discussions on super steels ...... yet when I weight that up againts the skills of the person weilding some super steel, I have to wonder what they were thinking. Most videos posted on knife evaluation is done by some poddgy white overweight white male that has become a knife fundi based on the fact he has a video camera. I do value inputs such as Pitdog, Reuben and Williams ..... rest often triggers my BS alarms.

I have a Randall 18 in 440A and it still does brilliant work when needed after 30 years. Yes, I have Busse, Horton, Mad Dog, Relentless, Martins, Trace Rhinaldi's ..... but in the end, I do not feel lost with my Randall.

I see posts on matchbox holders, cook ware or pack weight that will shave 1/2 oz of your weight carried ... posted by a person that is at least 100lbs overweight. Please, like a bunch of school girls at a party ..... lotsa opinions and little fact! Have to wonder if the average age has yet reached 20 years of age on this group?

All credit to Les ... if he can make money from his passion, best of luck to him. I won't buy the knife but I have no problem with his success. Maybe there is an undertone of jealousy :(
 
Stickinc1 said:
I am a big fan of les stroud. If you whatch survivorman he often uses cheaper canadian tire type knives. so it is possable that he doesn't see whats so wrong with the knives himself
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Les has stated in many interviews that he himself owns a lot of knives. I'm sure he's aware of differences in material and craftsmanship. That being said, if I tried to support this lineup and possibly his choice of going this route:

1) Lower price point products such as these will reach the hands of a wider audience. The common person is not going to pony up for a Busse, CRK, ZT, etc.
2) The colors are real ugly, but alot easier to spot and thus harder to lose.
3) The materials could be better, but that would sharply raise the cost and also reduce the size of target audience. Additionally, "440 stainless" usually means 440a or 440b. This is probably still better than what the indigenous culture uses out there on a daily basis. I don't think the local tribes in these jungles swing INFI, S30V, 3V, etc. They survive just fine.
4) This would probably make him more $$ than targeting a smaller audience like knife enthusiasts.
 
I was just watching the new Survivorman, and let out an audible yell when I saw him using a new Camillus. I hadnt known he partnered with them. I guess it's something that he actually uses his knives...

I preferred when he used regular Bucks or SAKs though.
 
You can see one of his knife on his latest s04 survivor man. He was using the pommel to crack oysters. Like Bear, they put their name because of their fame on massed produced gimmick product.
 
How's it a "Gimmick?" If it works, through his design parameters, then where is the gimmick?

I have one of the fixed blades, and it's performed just fine in the cutting tasks required of it.

A lot of blade-snobbery is permeating BF.com, lately.
 
he was using on on his new series the other night too. hope one dont break and hurt the man !?
 
dano said:
How's it a "Gimmick?" If it works, through his design parameters, then where is the gimmick?

I have one of the fixed blades, and it's performed just fine in the cutting tasks required of it.

A lot of blade-snobbery is permeating BF.com, lately.
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the gerber parang is quite good...

though there is an official recall on it, that i'll have to look into but i doubt i'll take, due to the extensive convexing i've done, and well, that was a fair bit of work i can't easily redo.
 
If it works like it's supposed to then more power to him. These are clearly aimed more at the mass audience (the majority) rather than aficionados like us (the minority) while the Temagami and the Wetterlings axe are geared more towards "us" and less towards "them" so with further reflection I think he's doing a pretty smart thing.
 
If he honestly is standing by his product by using it then I see no problem with him marketing these. From his point of view this is a win win. He designed an affordable knife he trusts and is able to make some money selling it to average folks that are probably perfectly happy with its performance and quality.
 
i watched a couple of youtube reviews on it. some guy said the pommel got a little loose after using it once, and the firestriker section of the knife didn't throw that great of a spark.
i would put it in the same category as the bear grylls knife.
something cheap for the fans, or maybe your kid to play with.
 
I agree a knife is a knife. I have the BG Ultimate and yes I will purchase Strouds Camillus knife. I spend a lot of time in the mountains and enjoy it greatly. I am not a die hard collector nor am I a person who knows every difference between all the metallurgy in knifes. I have a few knives, the Gerber LMF2, Becker bk2, Helle Eggen, and the Fallkniven s1 along with the BG. The BG may be cheap but I have beat the tar out of that knife and it's still in one piece. So I hope the Camillus is as tough. Hopefully with big names like BG and Les more people get into this great hobby of collecting. Plus most people start out small and then really start learning more about knives then working their way up.
 
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