Marbles Fieldcraft Review

[Buzzbait]

I do believe that my first few months of knife collecting were the most painstaking for me. I’d decide what kind of knife I wanted to get, and then do hours and hours of intense research on what knife to actually spend my hard-earned money on. I’d be asking questions here on BladeForums, pouring through manufacturer’s specifications, and reading stories of customer service and long time durability. I did this for every knife I purchased, except one. The one exception was the Marbles Fieldcraft.

A new hunting store had opened up in my area, and I felt obliged to give a little business to this local brick and mortar store. I looked through the relatively small selection, and wasn’t too impressed. There was a whole display of cheap Pakistan knives, as well as some Cold Steel and Marbles. The Cold Steel left me….. well…. cold. I just didn’t like the feel of the rubber handles. And I wasn’t about to buy some Pakistan POS, so I chose the most inexpensive Marbles I could find. I’d never even heard of Marbles before, so I was taking a big leap of faith here. And to spend $70.00 on a complete whim was entirely out of character for me. But I did it anyways, and quickly returned home to research what kind of knife I’d just purchased.

I was somewhat disheartened at first, finding almost no mention of Marbles on BladeForums. This company seemed to be almost completely ignored, which worried me to say the least. But since I didn’t here any bad things, I decided to give the knife a chance, and use it as my primary fixed blade on hiking trips. It’s been over a year now, and I must say that I got VERY lucky. The Marbles Fieldcraft has turned out to be an extraordinary knife. As a matter of fact, The Fieldcraft has played a very large role in shaping my attitudes toward choices in steel and types of grinds.

The Fieldcraft is a relatively small knife, having just a 3 ¾ inch blade. It’s a very traditionally styled knife with a decidedly outdoor blade shape. The tip of the blade is upswept at a tremendous angle, which I assume is for skinning purposes. The Fieldcraft is constructed from a pretty thick chunk of stock, with its widest area measuring somewhere around .217 inches thick. That’s a big chunk of steel for a knife this size. What makes it work well is the combination of 52100 steel and a convex grind.

For those of you who haven’t been exposed to a full convex grind, it is nothing like a common hollow, saber or flat grind. You can see no edge bevel on the knife. The side of the knife is rounded, and seamlessly tapers down to the very edge of the blade. This convex grind seems to impart a wickedly sharp edge, but without a large compromise in strength. There is one catch though. You have to learn how to maintain a convex grind. This requires throwing away your SharpMaker or Lansky system, and getting back to basics. I’ve been using a simple bench stone and leather strop to maintain the edge of my Fieldcraft. I normally just give the knife a few good swipes on the charged strop, running the entire side of the knife along the leather strip. I seldom need to do anything more. Only on two occasions have I had to do actually sharpen the blade. And when I have, I’ve repeated the same procedure, but used a hard Arkansas stone instead of the strop. I ran the entire edge of the blade along the stone, from spine to edge. This may sound hard, but it’s actually brain-dead easy. You do not have to maintain any exact angle when sharpening, but simply follow the curvature of the blade. Knife care doesn’t get much easier than that!!!

As a side note, the convex edge is big plus on camping and hiking trips. If the knife does become dull, it can easily be field sharpened. Many of us are hot stuff in front of a SharpMaker, but are quite weak in our abilities when it comes to sharpening without a manufactured edge guide. Because the full convex grind requires no edge guide, it takes a minimum of precision to restore the knife to sharpness.

Yah, I know. This all sounds too good to be true. There is one pitfall here. The convex grind can look like hell after repeated sharpening. Because you are running the stone along the side of the knife, you are destroying the finish on the blade. You are grinding it off. The key here is not to let the knife get too dull, and not to use too coarse a stone. A 1200 grit Arkansas stone has kept the blade of my Fieldcraft looking pretty good, and the charged strop has removed almost every scratch that the stone has created.

I have been fortunate though, as my Fieldcraft has never incurred any serious edge damage. This isn’t because I’ve babied the knife at all. I’ve actually beaten the snot out of it. I blame my good fortune on Marble’s excellent 52100 carbon steel. This stuff is tough beyond words. I’ve never had a single chip in the blade, and have never had any serious edge rollover. The Fieldcraft actually looks almost as pristine today, as the day I bought it.

The Fieldcraft is at home in the outdoors, which is no surprise after looking at it. This is a turn-of-the-century design, created back when people actually used their knives for more than collecting purposes. I’ve used the Fieldcraft for all manner of outdoor food preparation, including skinning small game and cleaning fish. I’ve also used the knife to cut enough wood to fill an outhouse with the shavings. The Fieldcraft is absolutely amazing for cutting strips of wood from trees, sticks and logs. I’ve even chopped with this knife under drastic circumstances, managing to cut through wood knots without any serious edge damage. This has to be just about the toughest little knife I’ve ever had the pleasure to play with, while also managing to be one of my best cutters.

And the cutting doesn’t end in the woods either. The Fieldcraft has proven to be quite worthy around the house. You’d be hard pressed to find a knife that cuts paper, leather or cardboard better than a Fieldcraft. If you’re doing push cuts, the Fieldcraft could prove invaluable in terms of time and ease of use.

While this knife is made from carbon steel, it seems to be remarkable in terms of stain resistance. I have many knives that are pitted with rust, and more that are covered with patina. My Fieldcraft has managed to come through all of its adventures without a speck of discoloration. Don’t ask me how, but I’m not complaining. This could be due to constant use, the lack of bead blasting on the blade, or good quality heat treatment. I don’t know. I’ve never even bothered to be careful when storing the knife. I just leave it in the leather sheath, which is a “no no” when it comes to carbon steel.

I’m also happy to mention that I actually like the sheath. It isn’t often that I like the sheath supplied with a production knife, but this pouch sheath is well made. It holds the knife securely, and doesn’t ride so high on my belt as to be uncomfortable. It has been carried extensively, and has shown no sign of gross deformation or loss of stitching. The pouch sheath was designed to be as tough as the knife.

All in all, I can’t think of a knife that I’d recommend more highly. The Fieldcraft is an exceptional small fixed blade, perfect for those of us who choose not to hike with the weight of a large chopper. It’s also quite sheeple friendly in appearance, due to its very traditional styling. It could make a great EDC choice for people who can get away with wearing a sheath knife on their belt.

 

[Burke]

Great review Buzz. It's nice to hear from somebody who's used a knife for some time and has some idea of not just how good it looks, but how well it will hold up, how easy it is to sharpen, etc. Thanks.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Excellent review! The Fieldcraft is one of my favorite fixed blades, too. To ensure I don't lose it, I tied a short leather thong to the belt loop, and made a tight loop to slip over the butt so it can't slip out. Simple and effective.

 

[Mongo]

When did you purchase your knife? Was it before Marbles purportedly underwent a change, some say for the worse, within the last 6 months or so? I have seen Marbles in several outdoor type shops and have been tempted, but whenever I asked questions about them the morons that worked there couldn't tell me anything at all about them. I am intrigued about their ease of resharpening, as I am not fond of doing anything that requires alot of effort... sharpening wise that is.
Thanks for the review, Mongo

 

[Buzzbait]

I purchsed mine about a year ago. I know that some models are now being produced with a slighly thinner blade stock, but am not sure if the Fieldcraft is one of them. Because the Fieldcraft is a pretty small knife, I wouldn't be too concerned about it being of thinner stock, if it even is.

Marbles has also undergone a contoversial change in warranty policy. It's not a change for the better, but I'm not convinced yet that it's as big an issue as some are making it out to be.

I recently had an email discussion on purchasing a Marbles knife, and the warranty change. I'll reprint some of the text here, so as not to reinvent the written wheel:

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Okay. Here's the skinny on Marbles knives. Marble Arms has been around for long, long time. They have a history of making sensational knives. Marbles was the standard by which all turn-of-the-century fixed blades were compared to. Marbles fixed blades have always been made of great carbon steel, with a convex grind. Because Marbles knives were so popular, and the fact that carbon steel and convex grinds go to heck when not properly cared for, good specimens of Marbles are extremely collectible.

So you have a knife that is inherently collectible, and a great user. That’s a terrible position for a knife company to be in. Your knives have to be rock solid, or people won’t use them. You also have to have perfect quality control, or the collector’s will stop buying newer models. Basically, if the knife isn’t perfect custom quality, somebody is going to scream bloody murder.

Think of it this way. Camillus is known for making user knives. The fit and finish aren’t always perfect, but the knives are very durable and good cutters. Case knives are meant for collector’s market. They don’t cut that well, but the natural materials are beautiful, and the designs have great aesthetic appeal. Marbles is stuck trying to please both of these audiences, and still keep their knives at an affordable price. Nobody can do that, especially when working with traditional natural handle materials.

Marbles is now attempting to change their image, and trying to make the company survive. They want to make user knives, and ease their way out of the collectible market. They have the functionality, knowledge and materials to make this effort successful.

But here’s the catch. Marbles has always been known for their awesome warranty, where they would recondition your knife free of charge, no matter what the damage was. So collectors were always sending in 50-year-old knives, which were badly damaged. They got the heavily used knife at a garage sale for $10.00, and wanted the knife to look brand new for free. Marbles has taken a beating trying to hold up their warrantee on 100 years worth of knives, which are too indestructible to just die and go away. The collector’s market has been killing them. Marbles has recently been forced to change their warrantee policy to stay alive, and everybody is mad. The collector’s can’t get free reconditioning, and the users have to pay for small fixes over the years. Everybody lost out due to the greed of the collector’s, in my humble opinion.

Marbles makes great user knives, but the QC can be spotty at times; just like Camillus. It’s good to make sure that there are no cracks on the bone handles, and that leather handles are not loose. It’s also good to make sure that the guard is tight. The grind lines are pretty much irrelevant, as convex grinds easily exert more influence than the primary grind at the spine of the blade. And because Marbles knives are often stored in the sheaths at stores, it’s good to do a quick check for rust spots. If your favorite vendor is happy to check these for you, then go for it. If not, then buy from somebody like A.G. Russell. Nothing leaves A.G. Russell without being perfect. A.G. Russell also has special runs of Marbles knives that can be found nowhere else.

As far as blade thickness goes, I tend to like the older thicker ones. The thicker ones still cut well, due to the convex grind, but are thick enough to actual chop and pry with. They are tough!!!! I’d say that the thinner ones are functionally the same as the thicker ones, when it comes to normal cutting, unless you have to pry or chop with the knife for some reason. Remember that the rules change greatly when you move from v-grinds to convex grinds. Convex grinds can have very thick blades without a noticeable decrease in cutting performance. V-grinds go to hell when you thicken the blade stock. Convex grinds are absolutely superior to v-grinds for cutting in general, IMHO.

You can get blade stock thickness information from the Marbles Arms website at www.marblesarms.com, and from an online store at www.marblesknives.com. Oh yah. One other thing. I don’t personally like Marbles pancake sheaths. I always try to find one that comes which the awesome Marbles pouch sheath, or else have a custom sheath made.
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[hd2k_va]

I think the Fieldcraft was replaced with the mini-Woodcraft, stock about 3/16" thick. Still a great knife from what I heard. I think Hoodoo has one.

 

[blademan 13]

Nice review, Buzz (as usual).

Marble's makes some of my favorite blades to date. Anyone looking for a knife that just plain CUTS, need not look any further. They are superb. Ed Fowler had a very favorable review of a 70 yr. old Woodcraft comparing it to the current model. He was mightly impressed with both. He actually stated that the old knife would outperform most current production blades readily. The new one ups the ante some 35%. This coming from a man who has more experience with how 52100 should perform than any man on the face of this earth.

I like them and I use them as the good man Webster Marble's himself intended. Use one to dress and skin a deer and tell me there is anything better for anywhere near the money.

BTW, sharpening can also be easily accomplished using a piece of 400 or 600 grit paper attached to an old mouse pad via spray adhesive. With semi-firm pressure the mouse pad will give enough to contour itself to the blade grind profile. A couple swipes in both directions using a stropping motion brings the edge right back. Just finish up on a loaded leather strop and you are back to a razors edge without messing up the looks of your blade to badly.

 

[Coonskinner]

I couldn't agree with you more, Buzz. My Fieldcraft gets more use than any other fixed blade I own. It has never disappointed me.

The only difference between mine and yours is that I have the one with the Cocobolo Carver handles. They are more comfortable, IMO.

 

[Nathan S]

Good review, Buzz. Now I want a Fieldcraft, too!

 

[Grapevine]

Great review. In the short time that I've been on BF, I've found Buzzbait's posts to be among the best.

On a tangent, I'm surprised to read that Buzz has been collecting knives for so short a time. His knowledge hints at much more experience. It gives me encouragement that I may be that knowledgable within a short time if I applied myself.

On a second tangent, it's also gratifying to me in a twisted way that Buzzbait, despite his enormous writing talents, misspelled a word. Third paragraph:

"But since I didn’t here any bad things..."

Guess you're not perfect Buzz. That means I can catch up one day.

(Don't go and edit that sentence to make me look bad).