Mora durability

timann said:
In my experience (I have heard it from others, too) hands has a nasty tendency to be cold, wet and stiff when they hold a knife, especially when they are our in the wilderness, far from doctors and surgeons.
And Murphy`s law;).
This is among the reasons I prefer a little something between my fingers and the edge.
timann
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It often is desirable to have a bit of guard yes, however, the last two years of hunting I have used guardless, ricasso-less blades for all tasks including butchering, and managed not to get nicked. Guards can get in the way if you are carving a notch etc. When push cutting with a a scandi I tuck the butt of the handle into my palm. You can do push-ups on this grip, try taking that force with a guard crushing an index finger!
 
Keep in mind guys, his sister is dealing with arthritis. That can compromise the gripping power of one's hand significantly depending on the extent the disease has progressed.
My 74 year old mother is a good case in point. Her hands are GNARLY with arthritis and her ability to grip has been diminished quite a bit because of it.

Not knowing the extent to which the disease has progressed in his sister's case leads me to err on the side of safety first when recommending a camping/outdoor type knife. It sucks dealing with arthritis in the first place, but, having one's camping trip cut short by an emergency trip to the ER to repair a badly cut finger or two would be the absolute pits.
This is a reason to consider a guarded knife instead of the standard profile puuko in this particular instance.

BTW, great discussion so far. Kudos to the participants.:thumbup:
 
A sharp skandi edge is more than welcome if gripping strength is less than optimal, because less effort is needed to accomplish cuts and material removals. This is quite an important consideration imho to be made.
Then, a guard is an OK thing too, for sure.

Apart from that, my experience with stainless (12c27) Moras is positive: I've done some light prying jobs and batoning with it, and abused its edge by even cutting iron stuff. It took some minor chipping in the worst cases, but it was rather easy to fix with abrhasive paper, and it takes a shaving edge very easily on any sharpening material. Skandi makes for a good usable geometry for unexperienced users. Corrosion resistance is excellent, better than many other stainless steels.
Just my .2 cents. :)
 
misque said:
Keep in mind guys, his sister is dealing with arthritis. That can compromise the gripping power of one's hand significantly depending on the extent the disease has progressed.
My 74 year old mother is a good case in point. Her hands are GNARLY with arthritis and her ability to grip has been diminished quite a bit because of it.

Not knowing the extent to which the disease has progressed in his sister's case leads me to err on the side of safety first when recommending a camping/outdoor type knife. It sucks dealing with arthritis in the first place, but, having one's camping trip cut short by an emergency trip to the ER to repair a badly cut finger or two would be the absolute pits.
This is a reason to consider a guarded knife instead of the standard profile puuko in this particular instance.

BTW, great discussion so far. Kudos to the participants.:thumbup:
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Yep, it's pretty bad worse & in the cold. She likes fishing though and doesn't want to give that up.
 
chenko said:
A sharp skandi edge is more than welcome if gripping strength is less than optimal, because less effort is needed to accomplish cuts and material removals. This is quite an important consideration imho to be made.
Then, a guard is an OK thing too, for sure.

Apart from that, my experience with stainless (12c27) Moras is positive: I've done some light prying jobs and batoning with it, and abused its edge by even cutting iron stuff. It took some minor chipping in the worst cases, but it was rather easy to fix with abrhasive paper, and it takes a shaving edge very easily on any sharpening material. Skandi makes for a good usable geometry for unexperienced users. Corrosion resistance is excellent, better than many other stainless steels.
Just my .2 cents. :)
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She wouldn't be doing any prying. We grew up around the Amish and know how to use knives because of it. This is mostly for fishing/camping, we don't have any use for 'rambo' type activities.
 
I used a carbon Eriksson #2 for years when camping - and that was at least 1 weekend a month and 2 longer trips a year with no problems. Still have it, makes a great kitchen knife - just not camping as much. (also have one of their "big ones - with the 6" blade -- great size for carving up roasts, turkeys, etc... around the holidays)
 
The only enemies of Moras (and guns) are rust and politicians and rust is highly overrated.

I guess you could break one if you set your mind to it, but it'd be difficult. Probably you could sharpen one to death in a decade of daily hard use.
 
A Mora knife is almost never sharpened into death, if it is done by someone with knowledge. It is in fact sharpened into a a fine whittling (sloyd) knife desired for its ability to carve fine details. Really old Scandinavian knives is often left a 1" or 2" well sharpened blade.
In my youth a "good" knife had a red handle and a laminated blade. I have carried such knives a lot.
But there has been stories, of hunters, and military personnel(camp use, not de-animations), and workers, slipping their grip when (here is the point) cold and wet and covered with blood or goo, supposedly more than one should think, so I personally tend to prefer a little extra finger protection.
Even though I know how to use a guard-less knife when cold and wet, I also know I can forget myself, or be a little hasty, if just for a moment(which may be more than enough).
timann
 
timann said:
A Mora knife is almost never sharpened into death, if it is done by someone with knowledge. It is in fact sharpened into a a fine whittling (sloyd) knife desired for its ability to carve fine details. Really old Scandinavian knives is often left a 1" or 2" well sharpened blade.
In my youth a "good" knife had a red handle and a laminated blade. I have carried such knives a lot.
But there has been stories, of hunters, and military personnel(camp use, not de-animations), and workers, slipping their grip when (here is the point) cold and wet and covered with blood or goo, supposedly more than one should think, so I personally tend to prefer a little extra finger protection.
Even though I know how to use a guard-less knife when cold and wet, I also know I can forget myself, or be a little hasty, if just for a moment(which may be more than enough).
timann
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Good point I guess I'll have to find a #1 size but with a guard for her (just in case). Any Ideas on models, or places?
 
ragweed forge as suggested above. look at their KJ Eriksson knives.
(I have a couple of the red, wood handled models and they've been great.)
 
good call.
that guard is also real easy to modify on a belt sander if she doesn't like it, and if you don't like the plastic sheath, Woodcraft sells leather ones. (they're also available from ragweed forge)
 
1066vik said:
good call.
that guard is also real easy to modify on a belt sander if she doesn't like it, and if you don't like the plastic sheath, Woodcraft sells leather ones. (they're also available from ragweed forge)
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I taught myself to sew in Iraq. So I'll make her a sheath.
 
What kind of sheath comes the #40 with anyway. I seem to remember seeing it with a leather sheath here in Norway.
It has already been mentioned, but the guard, or more precisely; top guard, can easily be modified a little if it is in the way.
timann
 
but in that time I have managed to accumulate a couple of #120s and a #106 which I use for whittling, a #780 Triflex Craftsman, a KB-311 blade blank which I fitted with a brass guard and an Osage Orange handle and for which I made up a leather pouch style sheath, and just today a couple of stainless #860 clippers arrived as well. Needless to say, I am very impressed with these knives (in my case they are all Frost's Moras) and am amazed at how sharp they can be, how well they hold an edge and how ridiculously cheap they are. These knives just plain ROCK!
 
Vivi said:
They're great. The SS ones resist corrosion extremely well, better than most stainless steels. They take a great edge and hold it for a while, though the edge holding on Mora's will be outclassed by other stainless steels like VG10, S30V, 154CM etc. Very tough knives. I've bent one 90 degrees and had it return true, and batoned them through lots of wood and even some metal without any issues. I can't think of any way you'd break one unless you tried to.
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hi,man.
i can not belive what you said here .
please show me how tough they are !:D
 
I grew up with Mora knives. Some were old, with sheaths made of pressed paper and a leather flap with ONE slit for the button on the work trousers. Then all the fancy plastic ones showed up. I have had them all. However, I rarely sharpen a Mora knife. It is not worth the effort. I just took a new one and threw the dull one in with the junk. If you visit a swedish farm you will find knives everywhere. Where you might need to cut something, there is already a knife lying about. people rarely carry knives in their pockets because they are everywhere already.
 
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