- Joined
- Mar 18, 2008
- Messages
- 9,491
Back around April I saw a post by TKnife that inspired me to contact Nick of NWA Knives. He let me know that there was a long leed time and and I would probably have the knife between December and January. He was very proffesional and once my name came up he contacted me to make sure I still wanted the knife. He didn't take any money until the knife was about ready.
IMO this is how ordering a knife should be, and it is exactly what all the other makers I have dealt with due.
I made my order on impulse not knowing any specs. I saw the pics TKnife posted and I wanted one. After handling a couple of Forum knives I was really impressed by the fit and finish. I only handled well used Forum knives so I had no idea how the edge would be. I like a very thin edge and favor convexed. Most of the flat grinds I have had been on the thick side. The Camp Knife I ordered is a thick knife at a 1/4" at the spine, so I expected to have to rework the edge a lil.
Well it is January and yesterday I received the knife by UPS! The packaging was bomb proof; it gave my Izula a work out just getting to the knife.
When I saw the lovely reddish brown sheath I smiled as the red and black Micarta handled just about glowed as it protruded out of the top.
The sheath came very stiff as it was dipped in beeswax. The stitching tight and the edges smooth. It has a drop loop which will work perfectly on my baldric.
I carefully unsheathed the knife which took a little force as the sheath held the knife extremely tight. I understood why when I had the knife in my hand, I didn't want to let go either.
The 5 1/2" handle is extremely comfortable and perfectly contoured. There is no gaps between handle and tang. It is perfectly finished.
The balance is at the ricasso, which when using the choil to choke up makes the knife very fast and easy in hand.
On to the blade. If you can get your eyes past the beautiful Hamon line, you notice two sets of very well thought out thumb grooves; one for normal grip and one for a choked up grip using the choil.
As I look at the thumb grooves I see just how thick this knife is, wow! It is easily my thickest knife not counting my HI Khuk. That makes me go right to the edge. I feel the edge, and go back to the spine. It makes you do a triple take as I need to make sure the edge that is resting against my thumb belongs to this thick tank of a knife. How in the hell do you go from a 1/4" and taper it down to a near zero edge. I have 1/8th inch knives with thicker edges than this. All 7" of edge is evenly ground and razor sharp! I love this style drop point. It has a sharp pointy tip, but still gives a lot of belly to the blade; about an 1 1/2" at widest point.
I always get excited when I know a new knife is on the way, but I haven't been this exited holding a knife in a long time.
The only negative: I don't carry a knife this size a lot and prefer using a small knife most of the time, I doubt it will see a lot of woods time. But this will definitely be my go to camp knife!
I plan on getting it dirty at the New England gathering on Saturday, so in use pics and thoughts when I get back. In the mean time enjoy these pics.
Thanks Nick for an Excellent knife, and thanks all for looking.
More coming.
IMO this is how ordering a knife should be, and it is exactly what all the other makers I have dealt with due.
I made my order on impulse not knowing any specs. I saw the pics TKnife posted and I wanted one. After handling a couple of Forum knives I was really impressed by the fit and finish. I only handled well used Forum knives so I had no idea how the edge would be. I like a very thin edge and favor convexed. Most of the flat grinds I have had been on the thick side. The Camp Knife I ordered is a thick knife at a 1/4" at the spine, so I expected to have to rework the edge a lil.
Well it is January and yesterday I received the knife by UPS! The packaging was bomb proof; it gave my Izula a work out just getting to the knife.
When I saw the lovely reddish brown sheath I smiled as the red and black Micarta handled just about glowed as it protruded out of the top.
The sheath came very stiff as it was dipped in beeswax. The stitching tight and the edges smooth. It has a drop loop which will work perfectly on my baldric.
I carefully unsheathed the knife which took a little force as the sheath held the knife extremely tight. I understood why when I had the knife in my hand, I didn't want to let go either.
The 5 1/2" handle is extremely comfortable and perfectly contoured. There is no gaps between handle and tang. It is perfectly finished.
The balance is at the ricasso, which when using the choil to choke up makes the knife very fast and easy in hand.
On to the blade. If you can get your eyes past the beautiful Hamon line, you notice two sets of very well thought out thumb grooves; one for normal grip and one for a choked up grip using the choil.
As I look at the thumb grooves I see just how thick this knife is, wow! It is easily my thickest knife not counting my HI Khuk. That makes me go right to the edge. I feel the edge, and go back to the spine. It makes you do a triple take as I need to make sure the edge that is resting against my thumb belongs to this thick tank of a knife. How in the hell do you go from a 1/4" and taper it down to a near zero edge. I have 1/8th inch knives with thicker edges than this. All 7" of edge is evenly ground and razor sharp! I love this style drop point. It has a sharp pointy tip, but still gives a lot of belly to the blade; about an 1 1/2" at widest point.
I always get excited when I know a new knife is on the way, but I haven't been this exited holding a knife in a long time.
The only negative: I don't carry a knife this size a lot and prefer using a small knife most of the time, I doubt it will see a lot of woods time. But this will definitely be my go to camp knife!
I plan on getting it dirty at the New England gathering on Saturday, so in use pics and thoughts when I get back. In the mean time enjoy these pics.
Thanks Nick for an Excellent knife, and thanks all for looking.
More coming.
you dog Tony... that thing is awesome....i love the fit and finish on Nick's knives... they're all so clean looking and feel solid in the hand, while in use...
You made a good choice on that:thumbup: 
