Opinions on Mora knives overall quality and usability

bigbcustom

bigbcustom

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Dec 20, 2005
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I have been looking at the Mora knives on Ragweed forge's website. Many of them have laminated blades, and I have heard good things about them. For $10.00-$25.00 they seem like super good deals.

My question that I want opinions on is this:

Compared to what are considered good knives ie. Fallkniven, Benchmade, Kershaw, Becker, etc. how to the Frost Mora knives stack up?

I know they are good buys for the money, but I want to know how everybody thinks they stack up irregardless of price.

For example, Fallkniven F1 at $80.00 vs Mora w/laminated blade at $12.00 how do they compare as far as performance, cutting, and durability?

Thanks in advance
 
I believe that the biggest downside to the Mora (and many other Scandanavian knives) would be that they have carbon steel blades. I have a Finnish knife (like the guarded knives that Ragweed offers for sale), that is carbon steel. You need to clean it very well, particularly after contacting liquid to prevent rust or staining. Even then, you may get some stains. I have an Opinel that I bought used from the TSA, that has a very stained blade due to lack of cleaning, just from sitting around. Interestingly, on those I have always opted (even on brand new ones) to buy the carbon blade. Carbon steel holds an edge very well. I found the Scandanavian knives to be very high quality pieces. I'm not sure if its on par with a $120 knife, but their great pieces. The one downside, on mine atleast, is the unfinished handle which I cover with rubber (ie balloon material) for potentially dirty-work.

My fixed blade performs good for cutting up small game. I know that I have been easily able to zip right through deerhide with my Opinel.

I hope that I was able to help you!
 
I was under the impression you could get Moras with in Stainless, specifically sandvik stainess.

If you plan to use a mora as a field/camp knife, I would get one rubber handle because those have a full tang, although hidden. The ones with birch handles have a tang like a chisel or a file, I believe. I'm sure there's a term for it that I'm ignorant of.

I use mine basically as a beater, and so far it's stood up to every test of toughness. I'd love to see a side by side review of how they stand up next to a Falkniven or a Bark River.
 
Compared to what are considered good knives ie. Fallkniven, Benchmade, Kershaw, Becker, etc. how to the Frost Mora knives stack up?

You could take a look at this whole series of reviews:
www.outdoors-magazine.com/s_topic.php?id_rubrique=22


These are not really comparative reviews, with like for like tests going on..., but there is some useful comment/information here.
 
I have a Mora 2000 and a Clipper models, both with SS(Sandvik12C) blades and they are excellent knives. For the prices paid, you cannot go wrong. In fact, you could pay 2-3X the amount and still have a bargin. I don't know how they compare to Benchmade or Falkniven, as I don't have any of those, but they cut as well as Uncle Henry's, Marttiini's, and Helle's with SS blades. The difference is usually in blades thickness, the Mora's have thinner blades and the other brands haves thicker blades. For pure slicing ability, the thin bladed Mora's win. If you want or need a stouter blade, the others are a better choice. It mostly depends on what you want to do with your knife as to which model you pick. Keep in mind that Mora's have been a favorite of serious woodsmen, hunters, and bushcrafters for decades and I've never heard of breakage problems from hard use. The only breakage I've heard of is from torture testing on purpose to the breaking point. For smaller, thin bladed knives they are very tough.

As for the red handled carbon versions, they may take the best edge of the bunch, properly sharpened. I had one, but decided to sell it based on how the handle felt during use. The standard red handled models have a staight, slick handle with no guard. I didn't feel comfortable with this in a hunting/survival field knife. In the workshop, woodcarving, etc. they might be just the ticket, where hands are dry and conditions controlled. You sacrifice little real world performance with one of the SS, rubber handled versions and gain a lot of grip control in wet, slippery conditions. Folks will chime in that there are things you can do to increase grip traction on a standard Mora, but for the prices of the knives, I found it easier just to buy one that fit my needs.
 
Take a look again at the Mora knives at Ragnar's website:

http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html

I highly recommend you the hard grip Eriksson moras, especially the red (carbon steel, RC 60 hardness) #510 and the blue (Sandvik stainless, RC 58) #545.

They look flimsy on the picture, but are larger in real life, and have large enough handles and useable length (3 3/4") blades. They are not as thick as the Fallknivens, but they arte plenty strong for most knife chores (except strong prying). The tangs on these run to more than 2/3 of the handles!

The Frosts Mora SWAK and variants (the #760 series) have larger plastic handles and their Rc 57 Sandvik stainless blades are a bit larger too, but thinner. Also, the tangs do not run so far, as on the Eriksson ones. Still, they were reported to be strong enough even for batoning. Just search the Forums here.
 
littleknife said:
I highly recommend you the hard grip Eriksson moras, especially the red (carbon steel, RC 60 hardness) #510 and the blue (Sandvik stainless, RC 58) #545.

They look flimsy on the picture, but are larger in real life, and have large enough handles and useable length (3 3/4") blades. They are not as thick as the Fallknivens, but they arte plenty strong for most knife chores (except strong prying). The tangs on these run to more than 2/3 of the handles!
Click to expand...
I've got a couple of the #545. I've been thinking about drilling a lanyard hole in one, but wasn't sure exactly how far back the tang extended. I would like to put the hole about 0.75" from the end. Based on your info, I should hit only plastic. Might try that next weekend.
 
Mora's, stainless or carbon, ROCK and outperform msot knives that cost 5-6 times more.

As for the carbon ones, I just soak the blade in warm vinager for 30 minutes, turns them dark black and rusting is never a problem after that.
 
I cannot recommend the Mora knives highly enough. Some of you will have already seen my previous comments on Mora knives.

They must be the best value knives ever.

And they out-perform all sorts of fancy exotic steel that costs ten times as much.

And they are a pleasure to use - I love using my 3" carbon for wood carving, cutting feather sticks when camping, etc.

The steel is just wonderful quality.
 
Just let the carbon stain and you'll never worry about rust. I've abused the heck out of my 1095 folders, and never a speck of rust.
 
I don't think carbon steel is a negative point at all. On the contrary, I prefer carbon steel to any stainless steel. The "staining" that occurs is actually called "patina," and acts as natural rust protection.
The moras are just as good for nearly any application you will have for them. Maybe they won't stand up to heavy "combat duty," but how many of us actually encounter that? They may not be able to chop through a cinderblock, but do you need to do that anyway? Doubtful.
A $12 Mora (Frosts or Eriksson) will cut anything you need to cut, just as well as a Fallkniven that costs 4x that price. It will also take and hold a keener edge than most other fixed blades, because of the geometry. They have slightly thinner blades, made for slicing instead of marketing as tank-openers to those who are under the illusion that they need a 1/2"-thick blade.
If you're thinking of getting a Mora, do it.
Or, spend an extra $10-$15 and get a nice Järvenpää puukko. Same principle - carbon steel blade, comfy wooden handle, simple no-frills design, pure functionality. And, these come with a nice leather sheath.
Welcome to the world of real, no-nonsense knives!

Alex.
 
Mora knife, is often used (these days) as a generic term for scandinavian knives. Mora is actually a small town in sweden.

As for as mora made knives, and scandinavian knives in general, they usually are carbon, or laminated carbon (or laminated stainless steel) there are some stainless ones that are sandvik 12c27 also.

Usually though, mora knives are usually laminated carbon. They are a great value for the money and will cut as good, and sometimes out cut knives costing many times over their value. They usually (most of the ones Ive tried, owned, etc.) sharpen up quite easily and quickly.

They usually cost around $7.00 and on up. For the money you really cannot go wrong!!!
 
tarsier said:
I've got a couple of the #545. I've been thinking about drilling a lanyard hole in one, but wasn't sure exactly how far back the tang extended. I would like to put the hole about 0.75" from the end. Based on your info, I should hit only plastic. Might try that next weekend.
Click to expand...


Tarsier, here is a link to the Outdoors Magazine article which shows the exact position of the tangs on X-ray pictures.

The Mora#510, which is the carbon steel equivalent of the #545 is the last one on the picture.
(The SWAK equivalent is the first one.)


http://forums.outdoors-magazine.com/viewtopic.php?p=35959


Based on that, I would drill the hole even further back.
 
Thank you all for your opinions/information. I think I will have to purchase a couple, and if I like them, start carrying them on a regular basis.
 
i prefer kj erikssons over frosts any day, better grinds. the 510 red plastic handled is my favorite, theyre around 3€ here, good value
 
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