Production duke

Southern Gent said:
My Duke is the only go everywhere fixed blade knife I own. I'm like Danny in that it used to be an ESEE 6. Stout and large enough for the big chores a smaller knife won't do (i.e. building a debris shelter or getting at some choice fat wood) but with the geometry to perform all the tasks of a smaller knife as well. If I could only have one tool, it would have to be the Duke.

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Cool pic SG. Probably could have thrown a stick and gotten the goose. Now thats a survival story.

gusbuster said:
I got the custom shop version, love it! :thumbup:

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Thats pretty. We have a couple of custom shop knives this week.
 
Is the duke in s35vn a tough blade ?
How well does it handle batoning and chopping ?
I hear that s35vn has a tendency to chip
 
Revolverrodger said:
Is the duke in s35vn a tough blade ?
How well does it handle batoning and chopping ?
I hear that s35vn has a tendency to chip
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I think the Duke is plenty tough, as is the Bushfinger which I have batonned a lot more.

I can't speak to what you have heard about CPM S35VN and chipping, but I have put quite a bit of cryo-quenched CPM S35VN, done by various knife makers and companies: Ed Martin, Newton Martin, Spartan, now Fiddlebacks, through some pretty crazy stuff. I have never seen any chipping from anything even remotely resembling normal use. I have seen a little flattening of the edge from hitting some knots nearly hard as glass, but that's to be expected from any good steel.
 
Doesn't all this "chipping" myth go back to some issue with a hollow-ground Chris Reeve Knife that was mistreated by some dude who wears a hockey mask and lives in the basement? He hit the knife with a hammer and the edge chipped on a steel pipe or something ridiculous like that. Jeesh.

this steel is worthless if I can't baton it with a hammer through a 3" steel pipe
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trestle said:
Doesn't all this "chipping" myth go back to some issue with a hollow-ground Chris Reeve Knife that was mistreated by some dude who wears a hockey mask and lives in the basement? He hit the knife with a hammer and the edge chipped on a steel pipe or something ridiculous like that. Jeesh.
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Very possible. He lost me at the breaking of the hollow handles in A2 by beating on them with a 2 lb hammer. I didn't stick around for the other tests.
 
Pair it with a Kephart and a machete and you'd have the production knife trifecta.
 
I am planing on getting the duke soon
Looks extremely functional and ideal for canoe camping where rust can be an issue
 
Revolverrodger said:
Is the duke in s35vn a tough blade ?
How well does it handle batoning and chopping ?
I hear that s35vn has a tendency to chip
Click to expand...

If you've had S30V knives and liked the toughness of it, you'll definitely love the 35. It has the same wear resistance, but about 20% greater toughness. Sure, it's nowhere near the toughness of 3V, but the 3V doesn't have as good an edge hold. In all, I'd say the production Duke is plenty tough for the occasional chopping (I'm personally biased against chopping with knives smaller than the camp knife sized knives, in which case, a controlled batoning can essentially do the same job while minimizing the risk to the edge). But it's a cutter before anything else, and I think the edge hold of the 35 will make it great weekender (or more), where you won't have to worry much about it getting dull. As Andy mentioned, I'd recommend pairing it with a machete if you want a chopper. I personally always pair a knife or two with a hatchet or an axe depending on weather, the job, etc.
 
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I was also finally able to order my Fiddleback Forge Production Duke in black canvas, and it'll be here on Monday!
I've been saving my nickels since February, so this thread, mistwalker's review, and RussDXT's review put me over the top.
 
Thanks Whitty this is exactly what I wanted to know
It looks like the new PM technology stainless steels are plenty tough enough for serious use
I got a production model in natural canvas
 
I'm saving. This bad boy is right at the top of the list. I think I need one of the Rick Lowe sheaths to with it.
 
I got mine today, whitty is great to do business with. I'll get some pictures with it in the woods this weekend.
 
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