My first custom knife (JK Lobo) & my first knife review (and a hike) *pic intensive*

Joined
Nov 20, 2006
Messages
600
Some of you may remember my thread from a few weeks ago: So I want a 6 to 7 inch camp knife/chopper...

My requisites were a 6-7" blade and a sub $200 price tag.

I decided on having Stomper at JK Handmade Knives make me a knife of my own design.

This is what I sent him:

large.jpg


A few weeks later this is what I got back:

115579618.jpg


11 1/4" oal, 6 1/4" blade, 3/16" thick 01 steel, almost 2" tall, black micarta handle. John asked me to name it and I decided on "Lobo," which is Spanish for totally awesome knife.

The most important part for me was the handle. I find most knife handles to be too small for me. The Lobo's handle is big, almost an inch wide, perfect for my long hands. It's also contoured very nicely. These shots show what I mean:

115579620.jpg


115579619.jpg


115579622.jpg


John makes sheaths for the knives that he sells. This is the one that came with the Lobo:

115579623.jpg


After taking the glamour shots, the next step was the put the knife through its paces. I took it for a hike on Sunday afternoon with the intention of running a few chopping tests. Unfortunately, too many dang people were hiking in that area and I wanted a bit of solitude for chopping, batoning and picture taking.

This is the area I went to; The jungles of Southern California:

115700006.jpg


I was able to do some cutting. I cut off a maple branch for a hiking stick. The Lobo cut 1/2 way through it in one hit.

115700010.jpg


Here's me and the stick and the knife near the end of the hike. Did I mention it was freaking hot?

115700011.jpg
 
Today I was able to conduct a more intensive knife test. First, the sharpness test. This is what I like to do to see if a knife is sharp. I try to make the smallest paper curls possible (that's my forefinger in the background. Those are some small curls):

115700018.jpg


Then I took the knife outside and tried some batoning. Here I will admit a bit of ignorance... I've never batoned a knife before. After learning you aim for the edge of the wood you're splitting (instead of the middle) and after taking a while to find a good piece of wood to use as a hammer, these are the results:

115700012.jpg

115700013.jpg


I then took the knife to the stout piece of wood that took me so long to find. It was about 2.5" thick:

115700014.jpg


The end result:

115700015.jpg


After batoning and chopping for a while, I tested the edge again:

115700016.jpg


Needless to say, I'm very pleased with this knife. I love the design (if I say so myself) and it feels like it was made for my hand... which it was. It's just the right length for hiking in my area. Big enough that I can use it for chopping, but not so big that I scare people on the trail. It'll be great for camping as well.

One more thing I'd like to say was that dealing with John (Stomper) at JK Handmade Knives was a real pleasure. I'm amazed at how well he brought a knife from design to reality. I posted a few more pictures of the knife in the JK forum over here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=664852
 
That is a cool design Wildewinds. John makes a tough as nails knife and this is probably the coolest knife i've see come from him. I am partial to longer handles. Great pictures too. You have no ass. :eek:
 
Great review of a really sweet knife.
Congrats to you and John on this collaboration.
Now if you will excuse me, I have to clean the drool off of my keyboard :D
 
Nice shots and nice knife Wildwinds. You have to love having your own design brought o life just the way you wanted it. It's an awesome feeling to know the knife you are carrying is actually a part of you and not just some mass produced tool. I tend to like the 5.5 to 6.5 knives myself.
 
great review man...:thumbup: nice pics too...

that is a really cool looking blade.. i like more and more each time i see it.. :)John did a fine job bringing your design to life...:eek:

where abouts in Cali. are you??
 
Glad you got a chance to get out and use it. That was an excellant design, I enjoyed bringing it to life, so much in fact, it`s now part of my standard line! :thumbup:
 
JK really shines on the F&F. Congrats on your first custom and that is really cool that you decided on making your own design. You'll always have a special appreciation for that one!
 
that has got to be the best designed custom knife I have ever seen, im starting to warm up to the custom scene with posts like this one.

That in a 5" blade length would be awesome for me, some kydex pants........ ohhh man.:D
 
Back
Top