Mr. Koster (Survivor) goes to work!

Andrew Colglazier

Andrew Colglazier

Joined
Sep 14, 2006
Messages
4,409
So, I took my new Survivor out this morning to do some work and get a little dirty. Here are the specs again:

Overall length = 16 inches

Blade
* 9 inches (sharpened), 10 inches to the front of the handle
* A2 steel, hardened to 59 HRc
* 1/4" thick
* 2.25" tall at the belly
* Flats will be "as-forged" finish
* "K" logo will be etched

Handle
* 6 inches (from front of the handle to the pommel)
* 5.5 inches of actual handle material
* 1/4" thick material (0.75" total)
* Natural canvas micarta
* 2 lanyards/tie downs (front safety lanyard = 1/4", rear handle lanyard = 3/8")
* 2 Corby pins (mechanical fasteners)
* Handle is large enough to fit an extra large hand "just right". The rest of us "non-apes" will have some wiggle room - helpful in chopping.

POB (Point of Balance) is "in the ring"

Ring is 1 inch diameter, chamfered inside/out.

First I introduced him to some other hard working blades here on the place. Big ditch knife, small ditch knife, Gerber brush hook. These three tools get worked out regularly clearing brush here on the place. Normally I will use the brush hooks to cut off at the ground the many, many briers and vines and small trees that cluster at the bases of the live oaks that grow in clusters here on our property. Then I go in with gloved hands, gather up big bundles of the vines and briers, and pull them down out of the trees. The smaller branches which remain low on the trunks of the trees have to be cut back, then. Normally I use a medium sized khuk for this job, but today I used the Survivor.
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The flatground, wide blade of the Survivor made short work of smaller saplings and small branches.
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This big blade bites deep and cleanly. I chopped through several pieces of good sized, hard, dead oak branches to see how it would do. Check out the carpenter ants!
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More to follow....

Andy
 
Now something a little bigger, and some batoning.....
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Here is how I hold the knife while chopping. I normally wear gloves, but took them off for the pic.
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When the work was all done, the blade could still slice paper!
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Some observations; first, this is a tough, hard working blade. It kept its edge and sneezed at the hardness of this old, dead oak. The size and shape of the handle, plus the lanyard, allowed a variety of grips. Choking up and using the finger ring made the knife very quick and handy for smaller, less powerful chopping or for cutting up close to the handle.

More to follow....

Andy
 
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Backing down onto the butt of the handle gave plenty of power for hard chopping. I wore gloves when working with the knife, but without gloves I don't think I would try chopping heavily with my finger through the ring. While it is radiused, the shock of hitting hard transferred painfully to the finger. Without gloves, not using the ring, the handle was comfortable and well formed.

The handle slabs are perfectly fitted and very securely attached to the blade. The handle material is also very tough and resists scratching very well.
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I am very happy with this knife. It is a true hard use blade that should last through years and years of work. :thumbup:

Andy
 
Great review and pics!

That is a monster of a blade. I am not a huge fan of big blades, but that one is easy on the eyes and has alot of character!

Thanks for posting.
 
Damn. Dan is a fine knifemaker. Thats sweet Andy.

You must have Mesquitte everywhere there huh?

Nice!
 
Andy that was a knife workout to say the least! Could you do a thread on the Gerber Brush Hook, that seems like an interesting piece of kit. I can't recall seeing a thread on the limits of that tool vs say a Woodsmans Pal.
 
Wow! Nice pics of the damage that thing can do!

Initially I thought it was a bit tacti-cool, but now I see it in a different light, much more useful, but still badass. Thanks for putting it through its paces.
 
1Tracker said:
Andy that was a knife workout to say the least! Could you do a thread on the Gerber Brush Hook, that seems like an interesting piece of kit. I can't recall seeing a thread on the limits of that tool vs say a Woodsmans Pal.
Click to expand...

Watch for another thread.....

Andy
 
What a monster of a knife. I bet it has a great fit and finish, Kosters are good knives.
 
Do you do so much clearing to keep trails clean or just to prevent unwanted growth on your property? I wish I had gotten in on this and had the money as well!
 
If you truly wanted to check the edge - you should have tried to shave the hair off the Carpenter ants. This test is incomplete! ;)

TF
 
CUTS LIKE A KRIS said:
Do you do so much clearing to keep trails clean or just to prevent unwanted growth on your property? I wish I had gotten in on this and had the money as well!
Click to expand...

We have 103 acres. What I've been doing lately is clearing briers from the oak motts around the house, to improve the view and give raccoons fewer places to hide.

Andy
 
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