Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works?

Colin Jason

Colin Jason

Joined
Nov 10, 2002
Messages
267
I just wanted to add this thread to this forum, to maybe catch the eye of more members. It's also in the Custom Knives forum

I've been looking over their site for a while, after finding a thread regarding them a while back. I'm really liking the White River Bowie, and the price has definitely caught my interest. I'm a knife user by nature, and this knife looks right up my alley.

Have any of you dealt with them, and better yet, made some orders? I'm curious to know your opinions, and what you ordered.

Of course, anyone from Mineral Mountain is more than welcome to comment as well.

For those of you who are unaware of this company, here's a quick link to their site: Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works.

:D
 
I have had no experience with the knives of Ted Frizzell, but I have a friend that knows them well and recommends them very highly. He has stated to me that they are well made and a steal at the price they are selling for. These look to be tough knives that are not so expensive that you will worry about using them.

Edited because I forgot a word.
 
John, who runs the site you listed, was a great help in purchasing a unique item that Ted Frizzell no longer makes. I have a couple other things from Ted as well. Tough as nails and surprisingly good value for money. If you like to use your knives, these would be good ones to consider and John would be a good man to contact.

Mike
 
Thanks Keith and MJB for the information.

There were two important things that really caught my attention when looking over this line of knives;

1) The blades are 'rough' looking, which means they would make great 'using' knives.

2) The bowie shape and size is just the way I like 'em... big!

What I mean more specifically by the term 'rough' looking, is that the blades aren't all fancy polished, and have a real 'chiseled' look to them. Everything about it says use me!

I think I'll be sending off some e-mail to the gents over there, and start the whole process about procuring one of these knives. If I manage to get one, I'll let you all know about it.

If anyone else has a comment about these, speak up! I'm actually surprised that only 2 people here, besides myself, have any experience with them. :D
 
I own a White River bowie with the 12" blade. It's a great knife--big, tough, and very sharp. The pictures on the website don't do it justice at all. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
--Josh
 
I have a 12 inch K19 bowie. Big knife at first I thought it would be too heavy but now I do not think so. I also received a 12 inch IGF also big but more easier to handle due to it being more of a fighter.

All in all tough solid knives. Glad I have them.
 
Any info on the T-4 from Mineral Mountain? I'd like to get my hands on one of these. (image borrowed from the website, hope they don't mind.)
t4.jpg
 
I also have a 12" White River Bowie by Ted. I can't tell you how much I love the knife. It's massive due to its width, but mine has a false edge along the entire length of the back, making it a bit lighter. It handles extremely well and I wouldn't hesitate to use it on any tough materials.

You're right about the looks, it screams "Use Me!", and scratches just make it look better.
 
Thanks again for your comments, Josh, Core, and gshamr. It helps to just get some 'how does it feel' comments on their knives. I would be looking towards the 10" blade on the White River Bowie, as I think the 12" would just be too big for me. I still want to keep its size somewhat reasonable.

I do have another couple of questions for you guys though;

1) how wide are the blades? they look to be about 2"

2) what are the sheaths like that they come with?

I'm just curious as to what the total package is like. Of course, if you'd like to include any pictures, I'd be grateful. You can send them to me via e-mail if you like, and I'll post links to them for others to see as well. I've got my own webserver online, so it's not generally a problem.

Again, thanks for the comments. :D
 
I don't have the knife with me, but I would guess that the width of the blade is right around 2 inches. The sheath is kydex with brass rivets around the perimeter. Someone mentioned that the sheath has thin kydex compared to other sheaths out there-- Don't know if this is true or not, as it is the only kydex sheath I have, and it seems pretty sturdy to me. So far it has held up fine. The sheath holds the blade securely, and doesn't rattle, but it is not secure enough to hold the knife in an inverted position, which probably has more to do with the weight of the knife than the quality of the sheath.

I would describe the overall Mineral Mountain package as big and brutal. It might be possible to break one, but quite frankly, I think you would really have to work at it. My wife is not a big fan of knives, but her take on my White River bowie is that if civilization as we know it came to an end, she would want to have that knife with her.
--Josh
 
I just measured my 18" White River Bowie at the widest part of the blade. It is just shy of 2 3/8". I think you're smart to get the 10" blade, I should have. The larger one is a bit big to carry around and if you can't kill or chop what you need with the smaller model, you'll be in trouble.

It is also my first kydex sheath, and I bit thin but tough. I think kydex is great for big knives. Leather flops around too much on your hip. Mine is so form fitted that it won't move even if I invert the knife and shake the sheath. When I first got it, I couldn't pull the knife out and thought it was bonded to the inside of the sheath. I didn't know that you're supposed to pull up first and then out. I can draw it very quickly now.
 
I second Burchtree's request for more info on the T-4. They look very cool. If no one responds I might have to be the designated first guy to get one and report the findings!

Sicarius
 
Hello Andrew,
I have a customer out in R.I., that loves MMHW knives, but not their handles or sheaths. So he sends them to me for rehandleing. So far I have redone their Assassin, and the 12" Combat Bowie. Next week I'll be getting a K-19 Bowie, from him, to put Sanbar Stag on the handle. From a Custom Knifemaker's view point, I'd say that they build one tough knife. No fancy bells or whistles, just good grind lines, backed up with a lot of steel were it counts, and their prices seem resonable, for what you get.
If you would like to see a photo of the "Assassin" with it's new handle, you will find it at the bottom of the page, at the "Repair/Conversion" section, at www.sunrisecustomknives.com A photo of the just finished Combat Bowie is at my Webmaster's waiting to be posted, and will be up in a few weeks.
Best Regards,
Jay Maines
Sunrise River Custom Knives
 
MMHW has great products and John offers excellent customer service. He has always been a great guy to deal with. I have 4 MMHW knives and I love every one of them. I have a Shasqua, a Speed Stick Sr. katana, a kukri and a bowie variant that I snagged off Ebay. It has a blade that has several qualities of several differnt MMHW bowie models rolled into one.

I like their handles as they are no nonsense micarta slabs, done very well and great for a user. The sheaths are thinner stock kydex than usual but are still great for the job.

If you want a MMHW knife but want fancier fittings go to the Dervish knives link on John's page.

I can also speak for Jay Maines. I have a Cold Steel knife that he rehandled for me and he did one hell of a job.

You can't go wrong with any of them.

Peace-
Cam
 
Hey guys. Sorry about the lag in responding to this. I've been a little "incommunicado" on the forums for a few weeks (BUSY!). Anyway, for those of you who had nice things to say about me... THANKS! Below is a a copy from a post (another forum) about the T-4s when they first came out...

--------------------------------------

I recently picked up these two prototypes of Ted Frizzell's new model "T-4 Personal Defense Tool". I have to say that I'm pretty impressed. I'm trying to learn how to take decent pictures, so bear with me while I continue to fumble through this fotogruffy thing!

t4a.jpg


Those of you familiar with Ted's work know that his stuff is not display case stuff- they're meant to be used. He has carved out a nice niche for simple, tough and inexpensive "worker" knives. This model is not a "fancy" knife, but there are some elements that make it stand out from his tradition BigAssBowies and prybar swords.

The first thing that I noticed was the tapered tang; not only is the tang nicely tapered, but so are the handle slabs (canvas Micarta). The result is a thin, almost delicate feeling knife (this being a far cry from the standard muscle knives from MMHW). The handle is very comfortable and nimble feeling.

t4hand2.jpg


The balance is right where the handle meets the ricasso. The finger grooves are very comfortable too- my index finger on one side and the "belly" of my thumb on the other.

t4hand.jpg


Ted uses his standard 1/4" 5160 steel, but the hollow grinds go all the way to the spine (I believe he uses a 10" wheel), so it is almost like a full flat grind.

Fit and finish is typical MMHW- good and clean but nothing "fancy". Ted favors parkerization for his steel to make it more corrosion resistant, but I usually opt for bead blast on his stuff (one of the perks of living in "Arid-Zone A" is rust is very rare).

The T-4 Self Defence Tool is a real treat to play with. I'm thinking about carrying this puppy with me all the time(or maybe two if I'm feeling especially Ninja-y :)). It's very stabby. Thanks Ted!
 
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