- Joined
- Jun 23, 1999
- Messages
- 1,209
A BF member query about Swedish knives prompted me to have a look at one of the Ragweedforge pages where I stumbled upon the
http://www.ragweedforge.com/2000.jpg Mora 2000 Survival Knife. An unusual looking knife to say the least with a grind change 2/3 of the way down the blade clearly visible on the picture. I've been favorably impressed with Nordic cutlery in the past, particularly the cost/performance ratio one often (though not always) finds in these knives, so for $26 I figured I had nothing to loose.
The knife arrived in the mail only a few days after I placed the order. The blade is stainless, 5" long, 1" wide and 1/16" thick of stainless steel. The blade has no belly until about 3/4" behind the tip where it curves quickly to meet the slightly dropped spine. The handle is plastic and wraps completely around the tang. At either end of the handle is a hard plastic cap, one at the butt, the other serving as a bolster/guard. Each is oval in shape and offset towards the edge side of the knife. In between the two hard caps, the handle has a swell in the middle that facilitates grip. Its made from a plastic that gives a little (just a very little) when squeezed. The material, and the texture imprinted into it gives a good grip dry, wet, and even when oily. The sheath supplied with the knife is made from plastic, possibly the same material as is used in the butt cap and bolster. Its adequate but cheap (what do you expect for $26), and I might have something custom done in kydex for the blade just because I like is so much...
Why do I like it? Heck I've got survivial knives from Busse, and Livesay, and a hunting knife from Dozier, those three being my only higher-end fixed blades, but this little knife is a really nice. For one thing its ultra light!. What a pleasure it would be to carry this on a backpacking adventure instead of the other much heavier blades. Of course it doesn't chop worth a damn, its light weight being its weakness in this regard. A knife like this is really made for cutting, and in a backpacking context, I usually bring a light saw anyway. Secondly, it cuts magnificently because it is so thin, thinner than anything else I have besides my Aki machete! Finally, it is inexpensive, easy to replace. I'm not going to be afraid of abusing it, though to be sure it will probably take less abuse than the Livesay or Busse.
So what have I done with it? So far, I built a fire, using the knife to shave fuzz sticks and split some small logs up to about 1.5" in diameter by driving the knife through them with another piece of wood. I also used the very end of the blade to scrape a ferrocium rod to start the fire, but before I did that I used the knife to behead, gut and fillet a small salmon and a couple of trout along with a variety of vegetables.
The knife performed admirably. Its thinness is a real plus when it comes to preparing fish. I was especially interested in how the handle would feel when covered with fish oil. It did very well, as well or better than smooth micarta. The handle remained comfortable throughout
All in all, I think this is a pretty good knife, a lot of bang for the buck. It lacks a lanyard hole, and I can't tell if the tang goes all the way through the handle, though the knife's balance point is far enough back into the handle to suggest that it goes at least most of the way through (of course this depends on the density of the plastic). The plastic butt cap doesn't feel like it would withstand any serious pounding. The bolster cap's guard is not deep enough to stop the hand from sliding up onto the blade if the knife got loose on a thrust.
Bottom line, not the most rugged survival knife on the planet, but maybe the best under $30! Best of all, its fun to use.
[This message has been edited by matthew rapaport (edited 02-13-2001).]
[This message has been edited by matthew rapaport (edited 02-13-2001).]
http://www.ragweedforge.com/2000.jpg Mora 2000 Survival Knife. An unusual looking knife to say the least with a grind change 2/3 of the way down the blade clearly visible on the picture. I've been favorably impressed with Nordic cutlery in the past, particularly the cost/performance ratio one often (though not always) finds in these knives, so for $26 I figured I had nothing to loose.
The knife arrived in the mail only a few days after I placed the order. The blade is stainless, 5" long, 1" wide and 1/16" thick of stainless steel. The blade has no belly until about 3/4" behind the tip where it curves quickly to meet the slightly dropped spine. The handle is plastic and wraps completely around the tang. At either end of the handle is a hard plastic cap, one at the butt, the other serving as a bolster/guard. Each is oval in shape and offset towards the edge side of the knife. In between the two hard caps, the handle has a swell in the middle that facilitates grip. Its made from a plastic that gives a little (just a very little) when squeezed. The material, and the texture imprinted into it gives a good grip dry, wet, and even when oily. The sheath supplied with the knife is made from plastic, possibly the same material as is used in the butt cap and bolster. Its adequate but cheap (what do you expect for $26), and I might have something custom done in kydex for the blade just because I like is so much...
Why do I like it? Heck I've got survivial knives from Busse, and Livesay, and a hunting knife from Dozier, those three being my only higher-end fixed blades, but this little knife is a really nice. For one thing its ultra light!. What a pleasure it would be to carry this on a backpacking adventure instead of the other much heavier blades. Of course it doesn't chop worth a damn, its light weight being its weakness in this regard. A knife like this is really made for cutting, and in a backpacking context, I usually bring a light saw anyway. Secondly, it cuts magnificently because it is so thin, thinner than anything else I have besides my Aki machete! Finally, it is inexpensive, easy to replace. I'm not going to be afraid of abusing it, though to be sure it will probably take less abuse than the Livesay or Busse.
So what have I done with it? So far, I built a fire, using the knife to shave fuzz sticks and split some small logs up to about 1.5" in diameter by driving the knife through them with another piece of wood. I also used the very end of the blade to scrape a ferrocium rod to start the fire, but before I did that I used the knife to behead, gut and fillet a small salmon and a couple of trout along with a variety of vegetables.
The knife performed admirably. Its thinness is a real plus when it comes to preparing fish. I was especially interested in how the handle would feel when covered with fish oil. It did very well, as well or better than smooth micarta. The handle remained comfortable throughout
All in all, I think this is a pretty good knife, a lot of bang for the buck. It lacks a lanyard hole, and I can't tell if the tang goes all the way through the handle, though the knife's balance point is far enough back into the handle to suggest that it goes at least most of the way through (of course this depends on the density of the plastic). The plastic butt cap doesn't feel like it would withstand any serious pounding. The bolster cap's guard is not deep enough to stop the hand from sliding up onto the blade if the knife got loose on a thrust.
Bottom line, not the most rugged survival knife on the planet, but maybe the best under $30! Best of all, its fun to use.
[This message has been edited by matthew rapaport (edited 02-13-2001).]
[This message has been edited by matthew rapaport (edited 02-13-2001).]
