OT: To buy or not to buy...

[not2sharp]

A Bamsen, isn't it?

The example I posted above is an older 1990s Morseth pattern. It has been the collection for a decade so it is not going to have much of an impact on the current balance of trade.

n2s
Who believe Americans need to get serious about America; before we can earn anyone's respect.

 

[firkin]

Dadao,

I've used a half-round file to put a substantial, finger choil on both of my JKM-1s. Then I used a small triangular file to add notches for grip. This helps a lot. The ability to comfortably palm the handle adds to safety also. For me, that means taking some material off the top of the handle where it flares towards the butt. Coiling the pinky against the pommel and gripping with three fingers works also. If you're not inclined to do some handle shaping which involves filing the tang and buttcap, I don't think a you'll find the JKM-1 much of a user.

My preference would be for a blade so obviously suited to abusive, heavy duty work to have a more substantial grip. One could pin long bolsters on the substantial ricasso to lenghthen the handle and perhaps provide a small guard with great benfit I think. Thinning the blade to a full convex grind up to the spine would be make a huge difference. One would want to carry a second, thinner bladed knife with the thing for sure. Nobody's gonna choose a JKM-1 to cut their fingernails or tease out a spinter if they have a choice.

It's so overbuilt that it sacrifices a lot of utility that a knife this size should have, I think. What uses people find for this thing in the kitchen other than those normally performed by a thick cleaver, I can't imagine. Well, it would be a good choice for prying the cabinets off the wall during a re-model.

That said, both of mine give me that little tingle the khuks do when I pick them up, so I imagine that I will keep fiddling with them to make them more useful to me. One or both will probably visit a skilled person with a belt grinder at some point too.

 

[Dadao]

Eikervaering, thank you for your thoughtful responses. Yes, I understand that stereotype of Americans is common in Europe, and yes, it's probably been that way for a long time. And as mamav's experiences have shown, it may even have some basis in fact (incidentally, Germans are often stereotyped as behaving the way Americans do in foreign countries, or even worse, especially in Britain, the Mediterranean, and Japan). I hope Europeans understand, however, that the stereotype is not true for the vast majority of Americans.

Incidentally, the boycott is a common form of protest in the US, perhaps moreso than in Norway. I don't know if it's generally effective or not, but it makes us feel better. And it's a great excuse for cheapness for some of us!

firkin, thanks for the info. I don't dare modify any knives of mine, however, or at least any knives I care about. I once went to a lot of time and expense to make a Ka-Bar more utilitarian. When I was done, I looked at it, and thought: "What the @#*! have I done to my knife?!" Never again!