Martin Knives' Caiman: Smaller Hollow-Handled Survival Beast (Photo Hvy)

[Mistwalker]

A couple of months ago I got the chance to check out the Boker Apparo, the production version of a hollow-handled survival knife that was designed and first made by Texas knife maker Newton Martin of Martin Knives. I had first met Newt about four years prior at the International Blade Show in Atlanta Georgia. I was intrigued by his work and was keeping a close eye on it as I have always had a fondness for hollow-handled knives and really liked his designs, but I have had some bad experiences with durability issues with some hollow handled knives in the past. After getting to test the production version of one of his designs, and being very happy with the results, I spoke with Mr. Martin about the possibility of a smaller design that would be more practical for me and my work. I found out he was working on a new design, and was fortunate enough to get in on testing it in the field.


This is the new design, it's called the Caiman.

The specs are:

Overall Length.............................10.75-in / 27.3cm
Blade Length...............................6-in / 15cm
Blade Thickness...........................1/4-in / 6mm
Blade Steel.................................CPM S35VN
Guard Steel.................................416 stainless
Handle material............................300 Series Stainless Steel
Cap Material...............................Aluminum
Weight......................................15.5oz / 440grms

Even with the t fits in a Spec-Ops Combat Master Short perfectly. It was tight at first, but it has loosened up a good bit over time,

The water resistance of the handle, and ability to resist sudden drastic changes in temperature has been tested several times buy going from a warm environment to a very cold wet environment ,and there have been no leakage issues at all.

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End part 1 of 5

 

[Mistwalker]

The most recent time, I put just some NATO life boat matches and a red phosphorous strip in the handle, took the knife directly from the warm environment of the truck and placed it in very cold running water, and left it there for thirty minutes. As the knife lay submerged, I gathered the tinder materials and fuel for a fire. After thirty minutes in the cold water I opened the handle, pulled out the dry contents, and with one strike of one match I had fire.

The is a compass in the aluminum cap that works well for orientation in close areas or as a backup when a more accurate compass isn't available. For a bit of a navigation tip here, the old adage that a lot of people say about moss only growing on the north side of trees is erroneous information. Moss growth is however still one of the elements of using the environment to determine direction. It grows on all sides of rocks and trees, regardless of direction, however it does like shade and grows thicker on the north sides of trees as a whole. You just have to look at a broad section, or sections, of the environment in order to get a feel for direction.

If you take a good look around in an area where moss is common you will start to notice patterns in the growth of the moss.

Looking North

Looking South

Looking East

Looking West

The knife arrived with a great edge, and that edge along with the re-curved blade profile, made whittling fine curls in some hard seasoned maple a breeze.

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End part 2 of 5

 

[Mistwalker]

One of the first chopping test was to attack some of the large vines in the area. There are a lot of them, and many provide no food or water and only kill trees over time. The Caiman handled even vines up to one inch in diameter with one clean cut.

There are a lot of heavy vicious brier vines in this area that I have to cut my way through sometimes to get to wild plants I want to harvest, or shots I want to take. I don't like carrying a machete most of the time as it just gets in my way and slows me down. Snap cuts made quick work of clearing the path.

Quick snap cuts also made short work of small saplings in the way.

Having spent a lot of time in areas where bamboo is widely available, it has become one of my favorite natural resources. The mass of the 6 inch blade easily made clean diagonal cuts through one inch bamboo.

The new saw design, with three rows of teeth, is really efficient even with such a short length of saw. It makes quick work of making notches in seasoned wood, and the two inch section of saw easily handled cleanly cutting through two inch diameter bamboo.

A little digging around for tinder materials to do a little lateral testing.

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End part 3 of 5

 

[Mistwalker]

Ok, so the lighter testing done, time to move on to some rougher uses. Part of the job of a survival knife is to facilitate shelter construction, and because of this it needs to be able to handle some chopping. So with this in mind I chopped down a few saplings of 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter, and then chopped them into smaller sections for more testing of chopping capability. As a general rule round hand;es are not the easiest to control when chopping with a lot of force. In this case the way the handle is wrapped there is a swell on the palm side which helps to prevent the handle from turning in the hand. This swell also makes the handle easy to index in the dark. The sharp edge and the swell in the forward end of the thick re-curved blade bites deep when using a rearward grip.

And the edge of the swell will still easily handle making tight curls.

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End part 4 of 5

 

[Mistwalker]

Fire is another aspect of survival, which sometimes meaning splitting into wood for drier fuel. Durability of the knife is another factor in survival. The largest of the saplings I cut was a sweet gum tree. Sweet gum grows in a spiral which makes splitting it pretty difficult with any knife or tool. I thought that should be a good test of durability of a hollow-handled survival knife. You can see the sections sides of the pieces I split twisting during the splitting. You can also see by the damage done by the sharpened clip point to the first baton I used, that I wasn't exactly babying the knife at this point.

The Caiman has shown itself to be quite a capable survival knife, and quite durable period, much less for hollow-handled knife. Even after all of the chopping cutting and splitting the trick isn't cutting tight curls, it's keeping them on the stick. The edge is still doing very well.

.

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[Dan57]

Great review! Hollow handles usually aren't my thing, but I really like the Caiman, it seems to be the perfect size. I handled a friend's Martin once; amazing feel. It's awesome that you got the opportunity to test one. Do you get to keep it?

 

[Mistwalker]

Great review! Hollow handles usually aren't my thing, but I really like the Caiman, it seems to be the perfect size. I handled a friend's Martin once; amazing feel. It's awesome that you got the opportunity to test one. Do you get to keep it?

Thanks. I got to handle a few of them at Blade and fell in love with them. Tried my damndest to come up with a way to justify the MECII but I just wouldn't carry one that big very often anymore...no matter how much I love the design, and yes I do love the design. This one is the perfect size, and I'm really glad I asked him what was available with a 6 inch blade. Well...I'm reeeeeeally not wanting to let go of it, so we are working that out...since it's a used knife now , I'm hoping for a discount. . I'm wanting to take it on my next photo trip to the coastal plains as my primary knife and for some salt water environment tests.

 

[JD Mandrell]

Amazing review, that is one heck of a knife!

Great pic's man, if a picture is worth a thousand worlds, you just wrote "Atlas Shrugged" and 3 sequels!

 

[tknife]

Man that thing is slick! Excellent pics and write up Mist. I really like the look of the Martins, it looks like it was made by a company that makes tanks!

 

[Mistwalker]

Amazing review, that is one heck of a knife!

Great pic's man, if a picture is worth a thousand worlds, you just wrote "Atlas Shrugged" and 3 sequels!

Thanks man, for a knife with a joined handle I think it's pretty darned impressive.

Well. you know...a complex design calls for a complex review And that's not even all of the photos I kept, much less took

Man that thing is slick! Excellent pics and write up Mist. I really like the look of the Martins, it looks like it was made by a company that makes tanks!

I really like the design myself! Thanks man, glad you liked it, It's definitely built tough.

 

[untamed]

Mist, another fine review and thanks again for taking the time + effort (Yeah right! Testing well-built knives from talented custom makers while traipsing about in nature's glory can be a real drag! ).

I also am not into that kind of knife design, but dang, she sure looks bad**s pretty!

 

[Mistwalker]

Mist, another fine review and thanks again for taking the time + effort (Yeah right! Testing well-built knives from talented custom makers while traipsing about in nature's glory can be a real drag! ).

I also am not into that kind of knife design, but dang, she sure looks bad**s pretty!

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it. Lol, no the testing is the fun part! I even dig going through and cropping the photos and recording the data... It's the sitting at a computer uploading, and then all of the copy/pasting codes that gets to be the drag, but I do so enjoy the discussion afterwards

Yeah man, I hear ya. Hollow handles and survival knives in general aren't for everyone I know. But for my purposes, when I am working in a really wet environment I am comfortable with and want to travel relatively light without a pack (so I don't sink any deeper into the mud when I'm already knee deep in a swamp), but still have along some contingency items just in case. it's right up my alley.

 

[caine]

DAMN awesome review

 

[Mistwalker]

DAMN awesome review

Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully I have answered G.Moll's question.

 

[bowie69]

Your photo-reviews are excellent! Thanks for all the time and effort you put into them.

I would love to see you do a series of reviews on some of the other quality hollow handle knives that have been made. Now, if we can only find people to donate a Lile, Randall 18, Robert Parrish, and Buck 184 to you for testing.....

 

[KiljoyKutlery]

Mist,
I love you man.
Great write up, GREAT KNIFE, and wow...just wow. Martin is a favorite of mine, and has been for a long time.
I first ran into a Martin knife at a gun show in Austin TX somewhere around 2004 or so. I saw the knife sitting on a table, and like a moth to the flame, I had to hold it. it was a small thick EDC multi use knife. Sand blasted. I wish I had a picture of it.
I didn't have the cash that day, but jump forward several years...and Martin announced that they were going to release another style of "survival" knife...the WSK or TRACKER. Love them or hate them, I personally love the WSK, and can do a lot of hard work in the woods with one. I placed my order right away.
I don't know if I was the first order they had for one, but I know I was in the front of the line. My first Martin showed up a month later, and I still love it to this day.
It spends most days in the china cabinet, but don't think it doesn't see hard work. Whenever I go forth into the wilderness, its on my side (except for a short stay with another forum member) along with a couple others, its always going out with me...
Anyways, Mist,
Thanks for a fantastic knife review.
Here's my two Martins.
My Bushcraft Tactical and my Martin knives WSK
Great knives made in TEXAS, USA...man, that's great.

 

[Tenbeers]

Great review!

I see you opted for the upgraded butt-cap for the Apparo.
Are those caps aluminum or stainless?

 

[LG&M]

Great review, thanks. With a steel like CPM S35VN do you think keeping it sharp on a extended outing will be a problem?
Edit, what I mean is it should stay sharp a long time but if it needs to be touched up.

 

[Mistwalker]

Your photo-reviews are excellent! Thanks for all the time and effort you put into them.

I would love to see you do a series of reviews on some of the other quality hollow handle knives that have been made. Now, if we can only find people to donate a Lile, Randall 18, Robert Parrish, and Buck 184 to you for testing.....

Thanks man, glad you enjoy them! They're not always this complex because the knives aren't always so complex. Besides I've been wanting to test out one of these knives for years, and then the question was asked why the Martin hollow handle design deserved to be on the cover of a certain magazine. So one thing led to another...

I may have a line on another Buck 184, I had been thinking pretty hard about it for a while in moments of nostalgia...but I'm really not crazy about the tang design of the M-9 bayonet, and I know it was spawned from the knife that became the Buck 184. I almost got one of them back in the mid 80s but, after having some bad experiences with other hollow handles, I opted instead to go with a BMF instead. I do have a friend who has some nice Parish hollow handled knives, but I'm not sure he'd be willing to let me beat the crap out of one of them. I do hope to some day get another opportunity at Randall 18 I can afford. Had I grasped what I was holding at the time, I would have spent nearly my whole week's pay on the one I had a chance at back in the early 80s. However, as much as I like the design of the Lile, I'm not spending that kind of money on one, and just going by the $3,500.00 price tag I saw on them last, it would take an insane person to even loan me one – or perhaps someone with a last name like Trump, Rockefeller, or Gates – much less donate one to me.

Mist,
I love you man.
Great write up, GREAT KNIFE, and wow...just wow. Martin is a favorite of mine, and has been for a long time.
I first ran into a Martin knife at a gun show in Austin TX somewhere around 2004 or so. I saw the knife sitting on a table, and like a moth to the flame, I had to hold it. it was a small thick EDC multi use knife. Sand blasted. I wish I had a picture of it.
I didn't have the cash that day, but jump forward several years...and Martin announced that they were going to release another style of "survival" knife...the WSK or TRACKER. Love them or hate them, I personally love the WSK, and can do a lot of hard work in the woods with one. I placed my order right away.
I don't know if I was the first order they had for one, but I know I was in the front of the line. My first Martin showed up a month later, and I still love it to this day.
It spends most days in the china cabinet, but don't think it doesn't see hard work. Whenever I go forth into the wilderness, its on my side (except for a short stay with another forum member) along with a couple others, its always going out with me...
Anyways, Mist,
Thanks for a fantastic knife review.
Here's my two Martins.
My Bushcraft Tactical and my Martin knives WSK
Great knives made in TEXAS, USA...man, that's great.

Gee, thanks man, it's good to be loved . I'm really glad you enjoyed it and yeah, I think it's a great knife. I didn't get to meet Hank and Newt Martin till about four years ago at the Blade show. I had seen their Bushcraft Tactical and liked the design, but never saw their WSK until yours. I fell in lust with the knife Stalone carried in First Blood the first time I saw the movie and even through bad experiences with hollow handled knives never really fell out of lust with the design. The MECII-7 really had my attention, I just needed something to rebuild my faith in the concept after having easily snapped blades off of ones I'd paid $150.00 for thirty years ago. The production version of the Apparo gave me a chance to test the design concept at a more affordable price, and after that it was on and I wanted a 6 inch version.

I really like their version f the WSK, that handle looks awesome and the grinds look great. I want to get one of those Bushcarft Tacticals at some point.

Great review!

I see you opted for the upgraded butt-cap for the Apparo.
Are those caps aluminum or stainless?

Thanks Tenbeers! I had mentioned to Newt that I wished the production version of the Apparo came with a compass, and asked about getting one of his for it. The caps are aluminum, but have enough threads that tere haven't been any issues with stripping when really tightening it down.

Great review, thanks. With a steel like CPM S35VN do you think keeping it sharp on a extended outing will be a problem?
Edit, what I mean is it should stay sharp a long time but if it needs to be touched up.

Thanks man, glad you liked the post I am not sure yet. I haven't needed to touch the edge up yet, but in previous experiences with CPM S35VN sharpening in the field hasn't been am issue for me.

 

[caine]

Martin knives are awesome. I carried two different model on a Iraq deployment. Love there knives. Here is a photo of one of them I use to have. I worked it out in Alaska and it was awesome. Traded it for another Martin LOL. I have a Apparo on order. I do have a MCE II I posted up stuff about when I get time. Great guys and there wait time is not bad. Good thing I like about Martin Knives is that they will built the knife the way you want.