Martindale #2 Golok vs. Livesay RCM

For steel, I would go with whatever the maker was familiar with and confident that he could get a high toughness at a high hardness, 58+ RC. The advantage of going really high end like 3V, over something more traditional like 5160, would be the main benefit of extra stiffness in the blade, as you can run 3V full hard.

If you don't want full prybar ability though, a differential tempered blade is still easily strong enough for wood working, and 5160, 1084 or any similar steel of which there are many, would make a fine choice in the right hands. A nice synthetic for the grip material does have the advantage of being pretty much immune to use.

Not a lot of makers enter this area though, which is a shame, as it is one of the more useful general blade shapes.

-Cliff
 
These changes would come at a price though, which could limit its market. It is however, NIB, a solid working blade for woody vegetation and I would readily prefer it NIB over many high end blades such as the Cold Steel Trailmaster for example.
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Yes indeed, it would raise the price to about that of the RCM! I think keeping the price low, and therefore giving up engineering challenges like primary grinds, was the whole idea behind the British Army's development or choice of the Golok. Makes sense too. As for the Trailmaster, it is not really a comparable tool since their blade lengths are so different. You have to ask yourself "prefer it for what?".

I would think that once you move on to some dryer harder wood the Golok will need more upkeep whereas the harder RCM should hold up much longer. The difference will really start to show.
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It already has. I confirmed that with the first tests The Golok had to be resharpened after only a few minutes hammering very hard dry wood. The RCM hasn't been resharpened yet, and its still cutting very well.

Newt, I forgot to mention how the coatings are doing on the Pecker and the Air Assault. The Pecker is probably 99% intact, but it rarely gets used on anything rougher than an apple, or testing a steak on the bar-b-que. The AA by contrast has been used a lot. Several camping trips, lots of split wood, plenty of tent pegs, shaping wood for traps, cutting rope, hose, food, etc. Its finish is probably 90% intact with the forward edge and tip, along with the underside of the swedge being the only places suffering a little thinning, and a small streak here and there. Pretty nice.
 
Yes, to be specific, for woody brush work. This is a common area of bowie use and the Trailmaster is a well known, decently high end one. A more direct comparison would be the Becker PM, and I would prefer the Golok to that as well for wood, the PM would do much better on lighter brambles and such. The Battle Mistress is a tighter comparison as what it loses in reach it makes up for in being able to run a much thinner edge at a given durability requirement. The Battle Mistress (bowies of the class in general) will have a better handling ability for knife like work, though the Golok, as Chad pointed on on Knifeforums, has a really nice blade shape in the choil area for up close grips, however it could use some sanding to round it out a bit.

-Cliff
 
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