As promised in another thread, here are my impressions on the use of two tools which I find really interesting: I'm talking about the takes on the "Golok" theme by Bark River Knife & Tool (USA) and MCKF-Molletta (Italy).
Those goloks aren't really traditional, they in fact have to be considered as Western interpretations of this fine tool: both sport a full-tang architecture first of all.
GOLOKS IN NUMBERS:
The Bark River model only sports the full-tang, where the MCKF-5 is more of an "hybrid" blade: a sort of point, of questionable usefulness, makes its appearance, plus the height of the blade is undoubtedly higher than standard.
The Barkie has a 11.1'' long blade, 16.775'' overall lenght, 0,225'' thick blade and weighs 17,125 ounces.
The MCKF-5 has a 12.2'' long blade, 18.20'' overall lenght, 0,185'' thick blade and weighs around 22,5 ounces.
The balancing point on the Bark River golok can be found at about 1'' from the end of the handle, just after the ricasso, so it is quite neutral.
The balancing point on the MCKF-5 appears to be much more forward on the blade, and it makes it feel heavier (and thus could suggest the idea of higher power in chopping activities).
Also, the Bark River sports a full convex grind, which is absurdly sharp.
Instead the MCKF-5 has a full-flat grind with a fairly high convex edge, giving it too a high level of sharpness (it arrived quite dull actually, but I put a razor-like edge on it in a matter of minutes).
For its similarity to the well known pirates' short sword we happen to see in the movies, the "cutlass", this golok born from the creative mind of Michele "Molletta" Pensato and his Italian knife community "MCKF" has been presented as a "golok-machete-cutlass hybrid blade".
But hey, I don't give a damn about labels, do I? So I just took that huge-bladed badass thing in the woods toghether with the Bark river golok, to finish the tests I already had begun in "controlled environment" (read "at home").
Since I cared a to impartially evaluate the two tools and I unfortunately already had made an idea after the initial tests, I proposed to a totally unaware friend to do the tests (unaware even on what a golok was), so that he was free of any prejudice. After telling him nothing but the standard safety rules I had him chop, put a point to sticks, strip bark from branches and the like... Being him a person gifted with excellent manual skills I was sure he would have found by himself the more appropriate technique for him to complete the tasks.
The quite interesting thing, but actually not really surprising, has been that his evaluations matched mines almost perfectly, and I also would like to stress the fact of him being a "normal" person, not a knife-nut like me!
So how did those huge knives behave?
CHOPPING A MEDIUM SIZED LIMB OF UNSEASONED WOOD:
The time needed to accomplish the task is more or less the same with both the tools, with a slight advantage for the MCKF-5 most probably due to the higher lenght and more blade-heavy balance. Both are EXTREMELY powerful.
The Bark River golok penetrates greatly with clean cuts and hardly sticks in the in the wood, while the MCKF-5 has higher tendency to get stuck. I credit the edge geometry for the different behaviour: it is well known how the full convex grind helps to avoid getting a blade stuck in the wood, and I keep in mind how this geometry is in fact often adopted for the king of chopping tools, axes and hatchets.
As it can be seen in the first and last picture of this review, both penetrate greatly into wood.
In short: the MCKF-5 is a tad more powerful, while the Bark River is "easier". Both make for AWESOME chopping tools.
MCKF-5 in use:
Barkie in use:
Limb cut by MCKF-5:
Limb cut by Barkie:
PUTTING A POINT TO A STICK:
Both knives are capable of accomplishing the task quite easily, with the Bark River golok being very much more comfortable thanks to its more neutral balancing, while the MCKF-5 weighing more forward on the blade requires more efforts to control the blade.
In short: the Bark River golok is just more comfortable.
Point by MCKF-5:
Point by Barkie:
PEELING BARK FROM LIMBS:
In this the Bark River really owns. Two are its main advantages, both very obvious in use: again the more neutral balancing point of this golok makes for added comfort, plus it just peels off bark or fine wood shavings as if it was made for that very purpose, while the MCKF-5 shows higher tendency to stick in the wood notching it, or just slide without shaving anything, thus needing much more efforts to adopt the right angle.
Incredibly, and I admit i would have never expected this, from my tests made in "controlled environment" the Bark River golok happened to be more efficient and easy for peeling off bark than much shorter and thinner knives. I call it full-convex black magic... you put voodoo in those blades mr. Stewart, hats off!
Eventually, both knives work well as draw-knives thanks to their lenght and curved blade profile, with an obvious advantage going to the Barkie model due to the afore mentioned qualities.
A positive note for the MCKF-5: thanks to that exotic-looking curved point, that last curve portion of the blade bringing to the point makes for a very useable wood gouge, used by keeping an hand on the knife's spine to direct it precisely while putting pressure with the other hand on the handle.
In short: the Bark River golok is more comfortable and efficient.
HANDLE:
The handle on the Bark River golok is slimmer and longer than that of the MCKF-5. Section profiles are different too, with the Barkie's one being more rounded and the one of the MCKF-5 more squared and thick. Also, the finishing on the micarta slabs is much finer on the Bark River, producing a smoother handle while the handle on the MCKF-5 offers more grip. Some may like better one or another, it's really up to personal taste here.
So which one sports the better handle? This is indeed the only part of the evaluations in which the two testers came to disagree! Such a good occasion to make a thought on an aspect of knives as much important as often overlooked...
While my friend felt a more secure grip with the MCKF-5 golok, I found uncomfortable the presence of the upper-rear "heel" in the final part of the handle, which bugged my palm near the base of the thumb while swinging the golok with a loose grip.
Where can the motivations of such a discrepany be found? First of all everyone's hands are unique, so as it is technique. My hand was probably of analogue size than that of my friend but a bit slimmer: I have fairly standard hands and skinny body, while my friend is more muscular.
Also, because I hadn't tell him nothing but basic safety measures to avoid spoiling him in any way, my friend wasn't using the loose-grip techinque, to which I'm accustomed to.
In short: You can really say "de gustibus non est disputandum" here! I find the handle on the Barkie just ideal, but I understand others may feel differently.
EDGE HOLDING AND EASE OF SHARPENING:
Both goloks held a good edge, with a slight advantage for the Bark River which was still razor sharp after the tests and really popped hair on my arm. Both still coule shave anyway, and were not put into extensive chopping sessions at all.
Both are very easy to sharpen and take a scary edge, and both make for tools which are easy to mantain on the field with a strop or sand-paper layed on a thigh.
In short: both behave very well, further testing could show larger differences but for the needs of the adventurous hiker both will do.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE:
With a price tag of 145 dollars (not including shipping and sheath, which goes for 30$ more) for the MCKF-5 and 230-240 dollars for the Bark River one could argue on which one offers the higher performance-per-dollar ratio; we shall also say the American golok comes with a gorgeous leather sheath whose value could be about three times the simple cordura sheath of the MCKF-5. Of the latter I admit I appreciated greatly the solution for sheating and unsheating of the blade.
All in all, Bark River's golok comes with higher level finishing, thicker stock while being lower in weight and size, a tad more luxurious steel, full convex grind (which can be only obtained with manual workmanship), excellent size/performance ratio... I have little doubts on which I prefer, but MCKF-5 still is a beast of a golok.
That's all folks!
Again, the beasts side by side:
Those goloks aren't really traditional, they in fact have to be considered as Western interpretations of this fine tool: both sport a full-tang architecture first of all.
GOLOKS IN NUMBERS:
The Bark River model only sports the full-tang, where the MCKF-5 is more of an "hybrid" blade: a sort of point, of questionable usefulness, makes its appearance, plus the height of the blade is undoubtedly higher than standard.
The Barkie has a 11.1'' long blade, 16.775'' overall lenght, 0,225'' thick blade and weighs 17,125 ounces.
The MCKF-5 has a 12.2'' long blade, 18.20'' overall lenght, 0,185'' thick blade and weighs around 22,5 ounces.
The balancing point on the Bark River golok can be found at about 1'' from the end of the handle, just after the ricasso, so it is quite neutral.
The balancing point on the MCKF-5 appears to be much more forward on the blade, and it makes it feel heavier (and thus could suggest the idea of higher power in chopping activities).
Also, the Bark River sports a full convex grind, which is absurdly sharp.
Instead the MCKF-5 has a full-flat grind with a fairly high convex edge, giving it too a high level of sharpness (it arrived quite dull actually, but I put a razor-like edge on it in a matter of minutes).
For its similarity to the well known pirates' short sword we happen to see in the movies, the "cutlass", this golok born from the creative mind of Michele "Molletta" Pensato and his Italian knife community "MCKF" has been presented as a "golok-machete-cutlass hybrid blade".
But hey, I don't give a damn about labels, do I? So I just took that huge-bladed badass thing in the woods toghether with the Bark river golok, to finish the tests I already had begun in "controlled environment" (read "at home").
Since I cared a to impartially evaluate the two tools and I unfortunately already had made an idea after the initial tests, I proposed to a totally unaware friend to do the tests (unaware even on what a golok was), so that he was free of any prejudice. After telling him nothing but the standard safety rules I had him chop, put a point to sticks, strip bark from branches and the like... Being him a person gifted with excellent manual skills I was sure he would have found by himself the more appropriate technique for him to complete the tasks.
The quite interesting thing, but actually not really surprising, has been that his evaluations matched mines almost perfectly, and I also would like to stress the fact of him being a "normal" person, not a knife-nut like me!
So how did those huge knives behave?
CHOPPING A MEDIUM SIZED LIMB OF UNSEASONED WOOD:
The time needed to accomplish the task is more or less the same with both the tools, with a slight advantage for the MCKF-5 most probably due to the higher lenght and more blade-heavy balance. Both are EXTREMELY powerful.
The Bark River golok penetrates greatly with clean cuts and hardly sticks in the in the wood, while the MCKF-5 has higher tendency to get stuck. I credit the edge geometry for the different behaviour: it is well known how the full convex grind helps to avoid getting a blade stuck in the wood, and I keep in mind how this geometry is in fact often adopted for the king of chopping tools, axes and hatchets.
As it can be seen in the first and last picture of this review, both penetrate greatly into wood.
In short: the MCKF-5 is a tad more powerful, while the Bark River is "easier". Both make for AWESOME chopping tools.
MCKF-5 in use:
Barkie in use:
Limb cut by MCKF-5:
Limb cut by Barkie:
PUTTING A POINT TO A STICK:
Both knives are capable of accomplishing the task quite easily, with the Bark River golok being very much more comfortable thanks to its more neutral balancing, while the MCKF-5 weighing more forward on the blade requires more efforts to control the blade.
In short: the Bark River golok is just more comfortable.
Point by MCKF-5:
Point by Barkie:
PEELING BARK FROM LIMBS:
In this the Bark River really owns. Two are its main advantages, both very obvious in use: again the more neutral balancing point of this golok makes for added comfort, plus it just peels off bark or fine wood shavings as if it was made for that very purpose, while the MCKF-5 shows higher tendency to stick in the wood notching it, or just slide without shaving anything, thus needing much more efforts to adopt the right angle.
Incredibly, and I admit i would have never expected this, from my tests made in "controlled environment" the Bark River golok happened to be more efficient and easy for peeling off bark than much shorter and thinner knives. I call it full-convex black magic... you put voodoo in those blades mr. Stewart, hats off!
Eventually, both knives work well as draw-knives thanks to their lenght and curved blade profile, with an obvious advantage going to the Barkie model due to the afore mentioned qualities.
A positive note for the MCKF-5: thanks to that exotic-looking curved point, that last curve portion of the blade bringing to the point makes for a very useable wood gouge, used by keeping an hand on the knife's spine to direct it precisely while putting pressure with the other hand on the handle.
In short: the Bark River golok is more comfortable and efficient.
HANDLE:
The handle on the Bark River golok is slimmer and longer than that of the MCKF-5. Section profiles are different too, with the Barkie's one being more rounded and the one of the MCKF-5 more squared and thick. Also, the finishing on the micarta slabs is much finer on the Bark River, producing a smoother handle while the handle on the MCKF-5 offers more grip. Some may like better one or another, it's really up to personal taste here.
So which one sports the better handle? This is indeed the only part of the evaluations in which the two testers came to disagree! Such a good occasion to make a thought on an aspect of knives as much important as often overlooked...
While my friend felt a more secure grip with the MCKF-5 golok, I found uncomfortable the presence of the upper-rear "heel" in the final part of the handle, which bugged my palm near the base of the thumb while swinging the golok with a loose grip.
Where can the motivations of such a discrepany be found? First of all everyone's hands are unique, so as it is technique. My hand was probably of analogue size than that of my friend but a bit slimmer: I have fairly standard hands and skinny body, while my friend is more muscular.
Also, because I hadn't tell him nothing but basic safety measures to avoid spoiling him in any way, my friend wasn't using the loose-grip techinque, to which I'm accustomed to.
In short: You can really say "de gustibus non est disputandum" here! I find the handle on the Barkie just ideal, but I understand others may feel differently.
EDGE HOLDING AND EASE OF SHARPENING:
Both goloks held a good edge, with a slight advantage for the Bark River which was still razor sharp after the tests and really popped hair on my arm. Both still coule shave anyway, and were not put into extensive chopping sessions at all.
Both are very easy to sharpen and take a scary edge, and both make for tools which are easy to mantain on the field with a strop or sand-paper layed on a thigh.
In short: both behave very well, further testing could show larger differences but for the needs of the adventurous hiker both will do.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE:
With a price tag of 145 dollars (not including shipping and sheath, which goes for 30$ more) for the MCKF-5 and 230-240 dollars for the Bark River one could argue on which one offers the higher performance-per-dollar ratio; we shall also say the American golok comes with a gorgeous leather sheath whose value could be about three times the simple cordura sheath of the MCKF-5. Of the latter I admit I appreciated greatly the solution for sheating and unsheating of the blade.
All in all, Bark River's golok comes with higher level finishing, thicker stock while being lower in weight and size, a tad more luxurious steel, full convex grind (which can be only obtained with manual workmanship), excellent size/performance ratio... I have little doubts on which I prefer, but MCKF-5 still is a beast of a golok.
That's all folks!
Again, the beasts side by side:
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