Just got my new Mad dog in from Earl and thought I would give some thoughts after a weekend with some cutting. This is my first Dog, an ATAK, and I got it toward the end of last week. Thought it would only be fair to test it against the closest competitor I had, a Cold Steel Bush Ranger.
I have had my CS for maybe a year and a half now, didn't use it very much in that time, really. I have always thought it was a good design and one of the best factory made large fixed blades out there. I am sure you are all familiar with the knife, and most would agree that for around $50-60 it's about the best deal going. Mine is the black coated Carbon V version. Leather sheath on this knife is moderate, at best, so I made a Kydex for it. Kraton hande is fairly comfortable and curvy.
Now for the MD intro. When I pulled it out of the box, I was pretty impressed. Very heavy knife, clearly meant to take a beating. I have been following Kevin's work for some time, but like I said, this was the first time I plopped down the funds to try one out. Due to the excellent opinions of his work on this site, I figured I would not be dissappionted. The handle feels real good in the hand, very solid with no sharp points. The edge got a few of my initial tests before cutting anything. Shaved hair good (did not pop it off, about the same as my CS), drug across my thumbnail without a lot of catching (not as aggressive as my CS sharpened by me with a diamond rod), and had a pretty good ring to it when you flicked a thumb across it, though you could tell by the sound it was a massive blade (trick shown to me by Larry Harley). Sheath is put together well, but too tight IMHO, no leg strap, either. Nice vanilla? smell.
On to the CUTTING:
I took them to the rope and as I expected, the MD did not cut as easily through manilla rope. This is dur to the slightly thicker edge coupled with the sharpening technique. If I put a lot of pressure on it, the MD would power through it, but that was more of a push cut than a slice. As far as edge thickness on the CS, if anything I had made it steeper. At least I added another bevel steeper than the factory one. I also have one place on the edge where it is slightly chipped due to some wire I hit once - The MD may not have chipped here, but that is a veeeery hard edge. Anyway, I did not count this "serration" in my comparos. Worthy of note is that my Black Cloud Sun (my design, I owe you a review on this one) with a 4" blade, did as well as either of the big boys - I'll show you this thing later.
On cardboard, the CS went through strips of it slightly easier, due again to the thinner blade (3/16"). When I chopped down very lightly on the side of a box, however, the MDs weight pushed it through a little better.
Stabbing into some vry thick cardboard I had, they would both sink up to the guard very easily. If I just pushed through, the CSs keen point got it through easier. If I snap cut, the MD buried up better. Again, nothing I did not predict.
Both would slice thick and thin paper in two when dropped from head height.
Taking them outside:
I went out in the woods a bit with both of the knives next. I did get a couple of surprises out here - read on. First thing I did was just chop very hard into an old tree the timber people were kind enough to kill and leave behind. It was some kind of oak (mosly just trunk - though it was still green) about 8" in diameter. Both knives buried up in this pretty good. I started to chop this thing down, but would have been there a bit, I guess. I tried to compare, but could not get accurate measurements. The cuts did look different, though. The MD was a wider opening and the CS was maybe a little deeper. The cuts were made on a slight downward stroke about shoulder height. I then cut a little v-groove fronm that initial chop. I could not really see any difference here. The handles started showing their differences here. I was holding them in a three finger grip pretty much, to get further back on the handle for leverage. The MD was very jarring, sort of like hitting the tree with an aluminum bat. Also on knives I design, I like more meat at the back. The MD is tapered to very thin back there and I felt it might slip away if I used it too long. The CS was softer, but the roughness of the grip tended to bite you hand. Different feels, bruises or blisters, your choice. Oh, and the CS seemed to get wedged more.
Next I did some campfire wood cuttting - no fire, just cutting. This was done on some pines our friends left behind. I lopped off about a 3 ft section of a 2.5-3" pine that was propped up in the Y of another tree with each knife. No real noticable diffs here, just more of the same on the handles. At this point, I took the sections and got down on one knee. Putting one end of the wood on the ground and the other in my left hand, I timed each knife in making two pieces out of one. Both of the knives did this a couple of times at about 15 sec each. The CS could get more chops in due to weight, and this evened them out. I was a little surprised that the MDs weight did not get it through the wood a good bit better. Something about that edge geometry, eh?
Neither of my knives were shaving real well now, but the MD did hold it's edge a little better, I guess.
I also soked the handles with water and soapy water. In both cases, the CS held faster. I think both were better than average, though.
I will continue these tests, and post again.
For now I will say these are different knives. Need to go to hell and back? Pick the MD. Looking for a good cutter and the best deal in a fixed blade? Get the CS. CS has better edge geometry and weight, MD is more solid. Is the MD worth 6X the CS? You would certainly have to consider intangibles like it being hand made, I think. Of course, if your life depended on it.........
That's all for now. I would like to test a Busse Steel Heart II and Mission's new A2 MPK against these! Maybe eventually I willl come across those as well as designing my own - I would go back to Ernest Mayer for that one. Feel free to reply here or email me regarding thid. Thanks.
-Bart Hollingsworth
I have had my CS for maybe a year and a half now, didn't use it very much in that time, really. I have always thought it was a good design and one of the best factory made large fixed blades out there. I am sure you are all familiar with the knife, and most would agree that for around $50-60 it's about the best deal going. Mine is the black coated Carbon V version. Leather sheath on this knife is moderate, at best, so I made a Kydex for it. Kraton hande is fairly comfortable and curvy.
Now for the MD intro. When I pulled it out of the box, I was pretty impressed. Very heavy knife, clearly meant to take a beating. I have been following Kevin's work for some time, but like I said, this was the first time I plopped down the funds to try one out. Due to the excellent opinions of his work on this site, I figured I would not be dissappionted. The handle feels real good in the hand, very solid with no sharp points. The edge got a few of my initial tests before cutting anything. Shaved hair good (did not pop it off, about the same as my CS), drug across my thumbnail without a lot of catching (not as aggressive as my CS sharpened by me with a diamond rod), and had a pretty good ring to it when you flicked a thumb across it, though you could tell by the sound it was a massive blade (trick shown to me by Larry Harley). Sheath is put together well, but too tight IMHO, no leg strap, either. Nice vanilla? smell.
On to the CUTTING:
I took them to the rope and as I expected, the MD did not cut as easily through manilla rope. This is dur to the slightly thicker edge coupled with the sharpening technique. If I put a lot of pressure on it, the MD would power through it, but that was more of a push cut than a slice. As far as edge thickness on the CS, if anything I had made it steeper. At least I added another bevel steeper than the factory one. I also have one place on the edge where it is slightly chipped due to some wire I hit once - The MD may not have chipped here, but that is a veeeery hard edge. Anyway, I did not count this "serration" in my comparos. Worthy of note is that my Black Cloud Sun (my design, I owe you a review on this one) with a 4" blade, did as well as either of the big boys - I'll show you this thing later.
On cardboard, the CS went through strips of it slightly easier, due again to the thinner blade (3/16"). When I chopped down very lightly on the side of a box, however, the MDs weight pushed it through a little better.
Stabbing into some vry thick cardboard I had, they would both sink up to the guard very easily. If I just pushed through, the CSs keen point got it through easier. If I snap cut, the MD buried up better. Again, nothing I did not predict.
Both would slice thick and thin paper in two when dropped from head height.
Taking them outside:
I went out in the woods a bit with both of the knives next. I did get a couple of surprises out here - read on. First thing I did was just chop very hard into an old tree the timber people were kind enough to kill and leave behind. It was some kind of oak (mosly just trunk - though it was still green) about 8" in diameter. Both knives buried up in this pretty good. I started to chop this thing down, but would have been there a bit, I guess. I tried to compare, but could not get accurate measurements. The cuts did look different, though. The MD was a wider opening and the CS was maybe a little deeper. The cuts were made on a slight downward stroke about shoulder height. I then cut a little v-groove fronm that initial chop. I could not really see any difference here. The handles started showing their differences here. I was holding them in a three finger grip pretty much, to get further back on the handle for leverage. The MD was very jarring, sort of like hitting the tree with an aluminum bat. Also on knives I design, I like more meat at the back. The MD is tapered to very thin back there and I felt it might slip away if I used it too long. The CS was softer, but the roughness of the grip tended to bite you hand. Different feels, bruises or blisters, your choice. Oh, and the CS seemed to get wedged more.
Next I did some campfire wood cuttting - no fire, just cutting. This was done on some pines our friends left behind. I lopped off about a 3 ft section of a 2.5-3" pine that was propped up in the Y of another tree with each knife. No real noticable diffs here, just more of the same on the handles. At this point, I took the sections and got down on one knee. Putting one end of the wood on the ground and the other in my left hand, I timed each knife in making two pieces out of one. Both of the knives did this a couple of times at about 15 sec each. The CS could get more chops in due to weight, and this evened them out. I was a little surprised that the MDs weight did not get it through the wood a good bit better. Something about that edge geometry, eh?
Neither of my knives were shaving real well now, but the MD did hold it's edge a little better, I guess.
I also soked the handles with water and soapy water. In both cases, the CS held faster. I think both were better than average, though.
I will continue these tests, and post again.
For now I will say these are different knives. Need to go to hell and back? Pick the MD. Looking for a good cutter and the best deal in a fixed blade? Get the CS. CS has better edge geometry and weight, MD is more solid. Is the MD worth 6X the CS? You would certainly have to consider intangibles like it being hand made, I think. Of course, if your life depended on it.........
That's all for now. I would like to test a Busse Steel Heart II and Mission's new A2 MPK against these! Maybe eventually I willl come across those as well as designing my own - I would go back to Ernest Mayer for that one. Feel free to reply here or email me regarding thid. Thanks.
-Bart Hollingsworth
