- Joined
- Feb 4, 1999
- Messages
- 5,786
Unfortunately here in MI I no longer have access to a digital camera, o this review is a little more grassroots than I'd like. Forgive me!
Cold Steel's Bushman knife is very popular, especially here on Bladeforums where everyone can use a cheap, tough, minimalist work knife that we don't mind beating up. The Bushman is a good size, is versatile, cheap, well-made, and infinitely useful. The one drawback is that the sheath is basically useless. When I received mine I was pleased with the super-sharp razor edge, but the sheath made me laugh out loud. I wanted to make a proper sheath for it, but never got around to it. After I stopped selling sheaths Eric contacted me and wanted to know if he could make anything for me, and the Bushman was the only knife we had in common, so I said sure!
The Bushman is a simply made knife, but anything that thin with a round handle (such as Chris Reeve's knives) is tough to make a synthetic sheath for because getting a tight press is a challenge. Eric uses 0.060" thick Stealth Black Concealex on this sheath. The sheath is of "pouch" construction, meaning it is one piece of Concealex folded over and joined along the one side. He uses large black eyelets to join the sheath together, and while I don't generally like eyelets on synthetic sheaths, these are well-set and seem to do a good job of keeping things together. Plus, they add versatility to the sheath. The belt loop is made from the same material, and is very nicely formed. I am impressed with it quite a bit! It is a piece of Concealex folded over, so there is no risk of it popping off the belt, and it is joined to the sheath with two low profile black stainless Chicago screws.
The sheath is well-formed and is free of warps, dips, waves, etc. Eric obviously uses a good amount of pressure in his press, and must change to fresh press pads frequently. The edges of the sheath are nicely contoured and are finished smooth and even polished. For such a cheap knife, this attention to detail shows a lot of what Eric's ethic toward quality is. The eyelets are cleanly set and evenly spaced. There is a bit of extra material along the edge from what I am used to, but nothing major. The belt loop is just as lovingly made, and has impressive fit and construction, too.
This sheath has plenty of retention. I would say it is slightly tighter than what I make for myself, but I would rather have a sheath too tight than too loose, especially for a knife like the Bushman, which invites heavy field use. There is an absolutely glove-like fit, with no rattle or play in the blade or handle. Retention is adequate and enough to hold the knife in the sheath in any position. The knife goes back into the sheath with authority, and unlike Cold Steel's original sheath the knife doesn't twist and catch when being resheathed.
Because Eric Makes these sheaths in small production runs, he has them available all the time and the cost is kept down. This is an extremely high-quality sheath and turns the Bushman into a truly usable field knife. I would highly recommend this sheath to anyone, and I honestly can say that I would not have been able to make a better sheath for this knife. Eric did a great job, and I wouldn't hesitate to order a custom-made sheath from him at some point based on his attention to detail on this simple, but effective design. Great job!
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My Knife & Sheath Pages:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Sheath Makers Referral Directory
chiro75@yahoo.com
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
Cold Steel's Bushman knife is very popular, especially here on Bladeforums where everyone can use a cheap, tough, minimalist work knife that we don't mind beating up. The Bushman is a good size, is versatile, cheap, well-made, and infinitely useful. The one drawback is that the sheath is basically useless. When I received mine I was pleased with the super-sharp razor edge, but the sheath made me laugh out loud. I wanted to make a proper sheath for it, but never got around to it. After I stopped selling sheaths Eric contacted me and wanted to know if he could make anything for me, and the Bushman was the only knife we had in common, so I said sure!
The Bushman is a simply made knife, but anything that thin with a round handle (such as Chris Reeve's knives) is tough to make a synthetic sheath for because getting a tight press is a challenge. Eric uses 0.060" thick Stealth Black Concealex on this sheath. The sheath is of "pouch" construction, meaning it is one piece of Concealex folded over and joined along the one side. He uses large black eyelets to join the sheath together, and while I don't generally like eyelets on synthetic sheaths, these are well-set and seem to do a good job of keeping things together. Plus, they add versatility to the sheath. The belt loop is made from the same material, and is very nicely formed. I am impressed with it quite a bit! It is a piece of Concealex folded over, so there is no risk of it popping off the belt, and it is joined to the sheath with two low profile black stainless Chicago screws.
The sheath is well-formed and is free of warps, dips, waves, etc. Eric obviously uses a good amount of pressure in his press, and must change to fresh press pads frequently. The edges of the sheath are nicely contoured and are finished smooth and even polished. For such a cheap knife, this attention to detail shows a lot of what Eric's ethic toward quality is. The eyelets are cleanly set and evenly spaced. There is a bit of extra material along the edge from what I am used to, but nothing major. The belt loop is just as lovingly made, and has impressive fit and construction, too.
This sheath has plenty of retention. I would say it is slightly tighter than what I make for myself, but I would rather have a sheath too tight than too loose, especially for a knife like the Bushman, which invites heavy field use. There is an absolutely glove-like fit, with no rattle or play in the blade or handle. Retention is adequate and enough to hold the knife in the sheath in any position. The knife goes back into the sheath with authority, and unlike Cold Steel's original sheath the knife doesn't twist and catch when being resheathed.
Because Eric Makes these sheaths in small production runs, he has them available all the time and the cost is kept down. This is an extremely high-quality sheath and turns the Bushman into a truly usable field knife. I would highly recommend this sheath to anyone, and I honestly can say that I would not have been able to make a better sheath for this knife. Eric did a great job, and I wouldn't hesitate to order a custom-made sheath from him at some point based on his attention to detail on this simple, but effective design. Great job!
------------------
My Knife & Sheath Pages:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/frames.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Sheath Makers Referral Directory
chiro75@yahoo.com
Madpoet (Mel Sorg, Jr.) Tribute page:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/madpoet/main.html
