Random knife thoughts at Christmas time...

[Diomedes Industries]

So - I have been testing knives on wood in my garage. I have been cutting in the hammer grip, reverse grip, assisted cut, push cut, chest lever batonning and the like.

The knives I have been testing are:

Bark River Hiking and Camping Forum Knife:

Koster Bushcraft in CPM 154:

Koster Bushcraft in 01:

Bark River Kephart:

These are the four knives that I have in my rotation as my favorites. I have modified the handles on both Kosters and the Bark River H&C Forum knife to fit my tastes - the Kephart remains unchanged.

Here is what I find:

Slicing (This includes slicing meat and thinner strips on wood) in order:

Kephart
H&C Knife
Either Koster.

Push Cutting wood (for notches and the like):

Kephart
Koster 01
Koster CPM 154
H&C Knife

Chest Lever (For cutting a lot of wood):

Kephart
Koster CPM 154
Koster 01
H&C Forum Knife

Batonning:

Kephart (more control and a bit longer in length):
H&C Forum Knife
Koster CPM 154 (better edge resitence)
Koster 01

Drilling:

Either Koster
H&C Forum Knife
Kephart (fairly wide tip)



This has me rethinking a lot. The Kephart, to my eyes, is nearly ugly in comparison to the Koster and the Bark River. The handle is simplistic, the guard is over engineered, and the tip is wide. But the results don't lie. This thing is a cutting machine. There is never any thought with me on this knife - it just does what I want it to do, forever, with little to no maintenance.


I don't know why I find this odd - I just do.

TF

 

[BarberFobic1992]

Very interesting thoughts. The kephart, for me, goes against alot of the criteria for a bush knife, so this is definatly interesting. Thanks for the pics and thoughts :thumbup:

 

[Diomedes Industries]

Barber,

It is an odd thing - that knife. But it is pretty great. I would love to hear what Stomper and others who make them have to say.

I also want to add - that all the knives in the post above are great knives - well made, well designed, and I would carry any of them on any day. Just some thoughts.

TF

 

[Raining]

If you asked me a year ago would I like a Kephart knife, I would have turned it down because it just looked kinda plain, kinda ugly, definitely not sexy.

Now that I have one, the style has grown on my and given the history associated with it, it may very well be my favorite bushcraft-styled knife. It's just so comfortable to hold.

(Psst, you have Kephart labeled as Koster in the first pic!)

 

[Diomedes Industries]

(Psst, you have Kephart labeled as Koster in the first pic!)

Didn't you know that Horace Kephart was related to Dan?

Fixed it.

TF

 

[brians]

Guys,

I'm trying to decide between ML's Kephart and his Woods and Bush knife. How do you find a Kep for food prep and field dressing? I'm torn.

Brian

 

[WalterDavis]

I've got a couple of thoughts for ya, TF First, looks like the Kephart has the most versatile handle. While maybe not the most comfortable, it doesn't appear that it would be uncomfortable in any grip! The other thing, if you've got a micrometer or such handy, I'd love to see the blade thickness of these 1/8" and 1/4" from the edge. My guess, the Kephart is the thinnest Of course, I've never used any of these (I did put handle on a Foster kit knife for somebody else a while back), so I could be wrong about the blades, but from the pictures, that's what I see.

 

[Diomedes Industries]

The blade is the thinnest - but handles that are too nondescript often suck.

TF

 

[WalterDavis]

The blade is the thinnest - but handles that are too nondescript often suck.

TF

Yeah, but they're not limited to sucking in just one hand-hold

I just wish you'd quit talking that thing up so much I'm startin' to get a hankerin' for one, too! Luckily, I'm back to being able to spend at least a little time at the grinder. I may have to give one a try:thumbup: