- Joined
- Apr 11, 2021
- Messages
- 274
Happy CPM Monday!
I couldn't find many videos about this fixed blade but there's tons of praise for it everywhere so when I saw thew 3v version was re-stocked, I found a great price and decided to try it out. I've had it for a week so far and I've used it in the garden and the kitchen - honestly its too big to be an 'edc fixed blade' but def appropriately sized for a small camp knife. For a quick comparison, here are the Shaman and the Master Tanto: (keep in mind the Master Hunter has a distal taper in the blade so thickness varies along the length of the grind...)
Blade Length: Master Tanto: 6" Master Hunter: 4.5". Shaman: 3.6"
Blade Thickness: Master Tanto: 0.18" Master Hunter: 0.19" Shaman: 0.145"
Overall Length: Master Tanto: 11.5" Master Hunter: 9.25". Shaman: 8.25"
The MH is decent in the kitchen - all the typical issues/benefits of a full flat grind - tho I think since it's cold steel 3v, IMO, this should be ground much thinner - I'm sure I could baton with this, as-is, without any issue - but why would I when I have an ESEE 5 or a Becker BK7? (I'm not trying to start that conversation lol) It seems to me it may be trying to be too many things for too many users (they are, of course, not the only company to think this way, I'm just sayin...) But here are a few examples from the kitchen - I sliced my first tomatoes from the garden with the AD20.5 for comparison (both on beautiful, sharp af, stropped factory edges) and the Demko is (obvi) more slicey, tho I noticed where you first hit the skin with the MH dictates what kind of cut you will get - so I think this is partially user error - I think once you use the knife a bit, you'll learn where the distal taper is best and you won't have to search for it - (but it's still too thick IMO) The basil chopped great, straight from the garden. Cheese worked but was a little messy. I'd say I'm 50/50 on this master hunter - it's competing with the Tops Camp Creek (S35) and an ESEE 3 (1095) so I may do a comparison video working out which one to let go (it won't be the Tops - that knife is amazeballs). Hope this helps a little bit - I'm just some idiot but I use these tools a lot so there ya go.
One more note on the handles, you probably knew this but they're not your Daddy's Krayex - it's fine, but when you look close versus the master tanto (and when you squeeze them tight) you can see a difference. It's grippy, just less so. And it feels more synthetic? If that makes sense? It lets go easier (the master hunter does.)
but it does have coke bottle contours:
(the grip is symmetrical, the shadows make it look flat on the top…)
I couldn't find many videos about this fixed blade but there's tons of praise for it everywhere so when I saw thew 3v version was re-stocked, I found a great price and decided to try it out. I've had it for a week so far and I've used it in the garden and the kitchen - honestly its too big to be an 'edc fixed blade' but def appropriately sized for a small camp knife. For a quick comparison, here are the Shaman and the Master Tanto: (keep in mind the Master Hunter has a distal taper in the blade so thickness varies along the length of the grind...)
Blade Length: Master Tanto: 6" Master Hunter: 4.5". Shaman: 3.6"
Blade Thickness: Master Tanto: 0.18" Master Hunter: 0.19" Shaman: 0.145"
Overall Length: Master Tanto: 11.5" Master Hunter: 9.25". Shaman: 8.25"
The MH is decent in the kitchen - all the typical issues/benefits of a full flat grind - tho I think since it's cold steel 3v, IMO, this should be ground much thinner - I'm sure I could baton with this, as-is, without any issue - but why would I when I have an ESEE 5 or a Becker BK7? (I'm not trying to start that conversation lol) It seems to me it may be trying to be too many things for too many users (they are, of course, not the only company to think this way, I'm just sayin...) But here are a few examples from the kitchen - I sliced my first tomatoes from the garden with the AD20.5 for comparison (both on beautiful, sharp af, stropped factory edges) and the Demko is (obvi) more slicey, tho I noticed where you first hit the skin with the MH dictates what kind of cut you will get - so I think this is partially user error - I think once you use the knife a bit, you'll learn where the distal taper is best and you won't have to search for it - (but it's still too thick IMO) The basil chopped great, straight from the garden. Cheese worked but was a little messy. I'd say I'm 50/50 on this master hunter - it's competing with the Tops Camp Creek (S35) and an ESEE 3 (1095) so I may do a comparison video working out which one to let go (it won't be the Tops - that knife is amazeballs). Hope this helps a little bit - I'm just some idiot but I use these tools a lot so there ya go.
One more note on the handles, you probably knew this but they're not your Daddy's Krayex - it's fine, but when you look close versus the master tanto (and when you squeeze them tight) you can see a difference. It's grippy, just less so. And it feels more synthetic? If that makes sense? It lets go easier (the master hunter does.)
but it does have coke bottle contours:
(the grip is symmetrical, the shadows make it look flat on the top…)
Last edited:
) was quite a bit thicker toward the tip than the current models with distal taper.
