M390 Fixed Blades that are in production?

SOG & Linder made them a few years ago but under the 20cv designation,occasionally you can find one on ebay
 
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Just purchased the following:

Bradford Knives Guardian3 Fixed Blade Knife OD Green (3.5" False Edge Dark SW)

copy and paste it into Google and you will see the photo of it. Looks awesome and its a SMOKIN price for M390! Ive seen his work on the knife makers exchange here, and he makes some really great looking knives!

Cant wait!

Drew
 
A whole bunch of the Bradford Knives Guardian3 Fixed Blade (3.5" blade of M390 61RC 0.15" thick) just showed up on BladeHQ for $159 including leather sheath shipped: http://www.bladehq.com/cat--Bradford--1815

They come in various G-10 colors and the blade is stonewashed with two slightly different grinds.
 
Thanks for the support guys, my apologies for not being more active on BF lately. This new Guardian3 has been moving much faster than I anticipated and has been keeping me super busy. I look forward to hearing your feedback on the knives! I only have 3 darkened stonewash Sabre models left if anyone has their eye on the darkened blade.
 
Just a quick update. I received my Bradford Guardian 3 today. It is s VERY well executed knife. Grinds are super clean and symmetrical. Fit and finish are excellent, scales ate really beautiful and must have taken some time to produce with all that milling. I'm very very pleased with it overall. Once I have had some time to really work with it I plan on doing a review. These are just my initial observations. Well done Brad!

Drew
 
Truth be told, I had forgotten about the Guardian3 until I saw it go up for sale at BladeHQ the other day, and the memory of this thread came rushing back and I ordered one immediately, because, come on, a fixed blade made of M390 at that price? Done. Deal. Anyway, after some frustration with the post office, I got mine in today, and I'm quite happy with it; looks as sharp as it is. Sheath fits well, comfortable in the hand, and fairly light, with just enough heft to let you know it's there, which I like. Hits all the right buttons for an edc for sure.

If I had one critique, it would be where the choil transitions into the back part of the handle. It's awful pointy, which is fine under normal use, but under hard use can poke into your hand a bit. At least for me, but to be fair my hands are on larger side. That, and it's been digging into the sheath while drawing or re-sheathing and has torn up the interior a little bit (it has come out with some small chunks of leather a couple times) but again, I play with my knives quite a bit, so I've probably been drawing it more than most would in a day, lol.

Be that as it may, I'm still totally gonna carry this one every day. It's too awesome to not.
 
Thank you for the very kind feedback and the excellent point about the leather sheath. As you have said, I wanted to keep this the best possible value fixed blade EDC in a great steel. The leather horizontal sheath allows me to pass the considerable savings over the kydex on to you and you ultimately get to experience quality materials in a knife for less money. However, I too enjoy kydex sheaths over leather. I have been working David Brown to produce a kydex sheath and I should receive those soon. As soon as I do, I will make an announcement via our newsletter and you can get a kydex sheath for a sweet introductory price. I intend on continuing to offer a leather sheath with each Guardian3 but make the kydex available as an upgrade or extra.
Really appreciate the comments guys and I thank you for supporting Bradford Knives! My only hope is that you have as much enjoyment using these knives as I did making them :)
 
Work has been busy and I haven't had a chance to post a review of mine yet. I will say that the knife quality is awesome and customer service was above and beyond



Guardian and trainer blade.
 
I have purchased two new folders from Jim Allen of Three Sisters Forge, in Bend, Oregon.
You should be able to find him on Google easily. His TSF Beast is about $300.
Nice fellow; great folder. I even gave one to my grandson.
The Beast is a heavy-duty folder with a 3" blade.
 
I couldn't find a good pic of the Bradford in the hand so I took my own to share. Also a size comparison pic with a zt 0801.



 
These are the steels in the top two categories of Ankerson's list.

Category 1

CPM-S90V (Military and Para 2) (60)
CTS-20CP (Para 2) (60)
M390 (Mule) (60.5)
CTS - 204P (Para 2)

Category 2

M390 (60)
CPM M4 (62.5)
CPM-S90V (59) (Manix 2 with 30 Degree Micro Bevel)
CPM-S60V
VANAX 75 (Kershaw Tilt)

http://surviveknives.com/knives/gso-series/gso-4-1.html

I would suggest the CPM-20CV from SurviveKnives, available in either the GSO 3.5, 4.1 or 5.1 models. This line of fixed blades rides very high IMO. I've owned three, but haven't used any of them hard at all.
 
M390 and CPM-20CV have the same alloy content IIRC. Get the GSO 4.1 in the 20CV and be done with it. It's an outstanding blade made with an outstanding steel.

There is a reason Survive!Knives switched to it from M390.
 
I don't know about 20cv being better. Just another manufacturers version of essentially the same steel. I doubt many would be able to notice the diffreance between 20cv, m390, or cts-204p. More than likely they made the switch due to cost. All 3 are amazing steels.
 
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