Iz made me a Soldier River with black micarta scales which is something I've wanted for a long time. He makes a lot of great knives but this is my favorite one. I think it makes an excellent knife for bushcraft and is strong enough to hold up to heavy duty tasks while still maintaining a fine enough edge for delicate work. It is slightly longer than most bushcraft knives which in my opinion allows you to baton larger wood but not big enough to sacrifice user control. Keep in mind this isn't a big chopper so you're not going to want to cut a tree down with it but I can use an axe for that.
My knife test is just about always the same, I make a one stick fire using hedge. This usually gives me an idea how well it will stand up to the standard bushcraft tasks I do. I'm not an expert scientific reviewer nor do I own a lab so if you take offense to my methods...sorry. I also like to cross baton a piece of hedge because even though it has no real use for me in the woods it sure does bring out the flaws in a weak piece of steel.
Specs
blade length: 4 3/4
handle length: 4 1/2
grind: convex
full tang
The knife feels solid, there are no hot spots that I have found, and also has a good square spine for striking a firesteel. I know it really doesnt matter but this knife is very aesthetically appealing to me as well.
No knife review is complete without stabbing it into a log and taking a picture. The Soldier River performed flawlessly during this task.
Before batoning the hedge for tinder, kindling, etc. I wanted to cross baton with it a few times which in my opinion is very hard on a knife. I was using a seasoned Hickory baton and hitting the knife so hard that my ears were ringing from the noise. Youd be surprised how difficult it is to do this task. Once finished I inspected the edge and found no issues.
Here is a picture of my finished fire prep. I know I skimped quite a bit but certain time constraints were in effect (ie: the wife was yelling at me before I left the house!). To baton down the larger branches I did encounter some knots that really put the knife at difficult angles. Rather than removing the knife like you probably should I powered through to see what would happen. After all this was a test and if I damaged the knife then so what, Ill but a new one. Even after the batoning making feather sticks and scrapings was not difficult. I know everyone likes to say that they can chop and baton all day and the knifes does not lose any edge at all but Im not sure I buy that statement. The Turley performed very well but any knife dulls ever so slightly from its initial state of sharpness when used, especially doing what I did with the hedge. At some point you WILL have to sharpen even a Turley if you actually use it as intended rather than just opening cardboard boxes or cutting newspaper. That said lets examine the prep:
Got the fire going. I wanted to see how hard it would be to have a fire in the snow with no base other than some Hickory bark. It was noticeably more difficult to get the fire going this way and a good reminder of why a dry base is important, the moisture really affects the fire. Sometimes the best way to learn is to try the WRONG way so you'll never forget. I don't get much snow so these opportunities are precious.
Im starting to get cold lets get some heat out of this thing!
Think well have some instant hot chocolate:
Dudley approves of the Soldier River, after all he did have one before me anyway:
Overall I really like the knife and think it would make a good regular woods user for anyone who fancies themselves a bushcrafter.
Thanks for reading hope this provided something useful!
Koa
My knife test is just about always the same, I make a one stick fire using hedge. This usually gives me an idea how well it will stand up to the standard bushcraft tasks I do. I'm not an expert scientific reviewer nor do I own a lab so if you take offense to my methods...sorry. I also like to cross baton a piece of hedge because even though it has no real use for me in the woods it sure does bring out the flaws in a weak piece of steel.
Specs
blade length: 4 3/4
handle length: 4 1/2
grind: convex
full tang
The knife feels solid, there are no hot spots that I have found, and also has a good square spine for striking a firesteel. I know it really doesnt matter but this knife is very aesthetically appealing to me as well.
No knife review is complete without stabbing it into a log and taking a picture. The Soldier River performed flawlessly during this task.
Before batoning the hedge for tinder, kindling, etc. I wanted to cross baton with it a few times which in my opinion is very hard on a knife. I was using a seasoned Hickory baton and hitting the knife so hard that my ears were ringing from the noise. Youd be surprised how difficult it is to do this task. Once finished I inspected the edge and found no issues.
Here is a picture of my finished fire prep. I know I skimped quite a bit but certain time constraints were in effect (ie: the wife was yelling at me before I left the house!). To baton down the larger branches I did encounter some knots that really put the knife at difficult angles. Rather than removing the knife like you probably should I powered through to see what would happen. After all this was a test and if I damaged the knife then so what, Ill but a new one. Even after the batoning making feather sticks and scrapings was not difficult. I know everyone likes to say that they can chop and baton all day and the knifes does not lose any edge at all but Im not sure I buy that statement. The Turley performed very well but any knife dulls ever so slightly from its initial state of sharpness when used, especially doing what I did with the hedge. At some point you WILL have to sharpen even a Turley if you actually use it as intended rather than just opening cardboard boxes or cutting newspaper. That said lets examine the prep:
Got the fire going. I wanted to see how hard it would be to have a fire in the snow with no base other than some Hickory bark. It was noticeably more difficult to get the fire going this way and a good reminder of why a dry base is important, the moisture really affects the fire. Sometimes the best way to learn is to try the WRONG way so you'll never forget. I don't get much snow so these opportunities are precious.
Im starting to get cold lets get some heat out of this thing!
Think well have some instant hot chocolate:
Dudley approves of the Soldier River, after all he did have one before me anyway:
Overall I really like the knife and think it would make a good regular woods user for anyone who fancies themselves a bushcrafter.
Thanks for reading hope this provided something useful!
Koa
