My latest knife: light & tough bushcraft/backpacker companion

defaultuser

defaultuser

Joined
May 3, 2006
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Hey guys,

Just wanted to share pics of the latest knife I made (for myself :o)...almost finished it for father's day :D

I had this idea for a while; making a tough but small fixed blade, trying to lighten it as much as I could in order to bring it comfortably on my long hikes. Some of you might remember seeing a drawing of it on the JK anniversary knife design contest, on which I finished close second (hats off to protourist on his killer design). I wanted a comfortable (read: rounded) handle as well, because for me, there's nothing more relaxing than whittling stuff besides the campfire after a long day hiking!

Here's some specs and characteristics:
- CPMD2 drop point blade, heat treated to 60rhc by Rob at Ranger Original in Alberta, Canada.
- OAL 8 inches on the button, blade lenght of 3.5 inches.
- Scandi grind, with a very small "v" edge, 1/8" thickness.
- Thumb portion of the spine is squared for firesteel stricking and to have better control.
- Tip portion of the spine is rounded in order to be easier on batons.
- Red micarta handle (given to me by my good friend and knifemaker Bob Mayo), SS pins, lanyard hole. The handle and blade is hollowed - see pics on post #2)
- 0.093" kydex sheath, small tec-loc, firesteel loop, aluminum screws.
- Matching red micarta firesteel, with my trademarked triangle-ergo-shape :p
- Weight of 3.1oz for the knife, and 5.8oz for the whole package (sheath, firesteel, etc). Pretty good!!!

Let me know what you think, what you'd change or do differently, what you like or dislike...whatever

OK, OK... 'nuff talking and let's see some pictures!

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(con't)
 
The looks great! I like it a lot!
 
Excellent work! I actually voted for that knife. On the flip side, here are some roughed out versions of the designs I drew up for that contest, its not even close to as clean as you're build, but they actually work pretty well in the field. Just keep in mind that these are the first two knives I've made. The matierals used are recycled band saw blade and canvas micarta. I'm working on cleaner ones using some of Aldo's 1/8th inch 1084.

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Thanks for the complements, I used some hill billy heat treat on those, lol. Up to non magnetic in a 1 brick forge and quenched in slightly preheated oil. Tempered in my super accurate (could be I don't really know) toaster oven, 350 on the small one, 400 on the bigger one. Edges are thinned out convex and they both cut like the devil. I've battoned the crap out of both of them, either battoning is over rated as a testament to toughness, or I got really lucky on the heat treat. I even used the smaller one as a chisel to install hinges on a solid oak door and the edge held up great.
 
I like the looks. Seems like it would be pretty comfy to use with the overall shape of the knife. :thumbup:
 
Nice looking knife. How do you like the CPM D2? I've been thinking of giving it a try.
Scott
 
Thanks Scott! I really liked working with it; it filed pretty easily, not as easy as O1 but not as hard as S30V...somewhat in between :D Sanding was a breeze; I couldn't believe how fast my file scratches dissappeared on the 220 grit! Definitely give it a try. Now, I don't know yet how it will hold it's edge and its toughness, but I'll find soon enough...
 
Thanks for the info. I've found that S90V, S35 and CPM154 have really taken a nice finish so I'm not suprised the CPM D2 was the same. I've always been impressed with regular D2 so the CPM version should work out well.
Scott
 
3 oz for a 8" knife (1/8" at that) is pretty darn good, looks like a very usable design- bully for you! :)

if your looking to shave a gram or two, I'm guessing you could come up w/ something lighter than the tek-lok
 
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