- Joined
- Jun 22, 2020
- Messages
- 488
First things first - here's the pic.
Friend of mine has gotten it and I was lucky enough to try it out too.
I asked him to post the review here, but he doesn't want to join as he feels that'd drag him into never ending rabbit hole. So he asked me to review it myself.
So, this thing cost him about 70€, which is the same price you'd pay for SK-5 Recon Tanto or SRK.
It's D2 tool steel, and to no surprise - it's made in China. Real Steel is Chinese company so it's definitely to be expected, and I don't see it as something negative in this case.
First thing I noticed was that the sheath is real Kydex, not some glass filled nylon crap (looking at Cold Steel), only unusual thing is that belt loop is literally the same material as the seatbelt in your car. Some people like it, some don't (I just don't care).
Sheath has no rattle and retention is just on point, enough to hold the knife in, even while you shake it like it would if you went for a run or something, and still not so thight that you can't pull it out with just one hand without straining to do so.
Once you pull the knife out - if you have medium sized hands like I do (and my friend too), you'll be blown away with how well the handle feels, it feels completely natural. Handle is also textured, it's not agressive, just enough to give more grip, and it doesn't get slippery when wet or bloody (he said it after use on meat).
And after that you notice fit and finish - not even my ESEE3 had fit and finish executed so well. Every single grind is fully symmetrical (even the one on the very edge itself). And handle scales are completely flush with the tang (this is a full tang knife).
Finally, performance, it arrived shaving sharp, and despite him putting some use on it before I put my hands on it - it kept that edge, so we just kept using it.
We were chopping some alive brush and bush was no issue for the steel, and he also used it to process some meat, edge suffered no damage despite some hitting into bones while he was taking meat off...
And last, I'm not sure if it even got dull, but few swipes on chinese diamond sharpener and few swipes on chinese ceramic rod got it even sharper than it was when we started. He doesn't even have a strop, he just strops it on his jeans to clean it and that's all.
It kinda shows me that you don't need to spend crazy ammount of money to get a product with good fit and finish that will perform more than sufficiently for most given tasks you'd use a knife for.
D2 is nothing fancy, and can't be compared to 3V or INFI, or Elmax or other ultra fine stuff, but it's still far from being shit steel and it will hold an edge, be fairly tough and resist corrosion fairly well.
Real Steel seems to HT their D2 very well as I've heard lots of people praise them, and their Bushcrafter is more popular than Mora Garberg here (it's half the price, holds the edge better and so far I haven't heard of one breaking).
IMO - that is 70€ well spent. Design, sheath and fit and finish punch way above their pricing range, and I've also seen D2 steel knives cost a lot more than this one.
Friend of mine has gotten it and I was lucky enough to try it out too.
I asked him to post the review here, but he doesn't want to join as he feels that'd drag him into never ending rabbit hole. So he asked me to review it myself.
So, this thing cost him about 70€, which is the same price you'd pay for SK-5 Recon Tanto or SRK.
It's D2 tool steel, and to no surprise - it's made in China. Real Steel is Chinese company so it's definitely to be expected, and I don't see it as something negative in this case.
First thing I noticed was that the sheath is real Kydex, not some glass filled nylon crap (looking at Cold Steel), only unusual thing is that belt loop is literally the same material as the seatbelt in your car. Some people like it, some don't (I just don't care).
Sheath has no rattle and retention is just on point, enough to hold the knife in, even while you shake it like it would if you went for a run or something, and still not so thight that you can't pull it out with just one hand without straining to do so.
Once you pull the knife out - if you have medium sized hands like I do (and my friend too), you'll be blown away with how well the handle feels, it feels completely natural. Handle is also textured, it's not agressive, just enough to give more grip, and it doesn't get slippery when wet or bloody (he said it after use on meat).
And after that you notice fit and finish - not even my ESEE3 had fit and finish executed so well. Every single grind is fully symmetrical (even the one on the very edge itself). And handle scales are completely flush with the tang (this is a full tang knife).
Finally, performance, it arrived shaving sharp, and despite him putting some use on it before I put my hands on it - it kept that edge, so we just kept using it.
We were chopping some alive brush and bush was no issue for the steel, and he also used it to process some meat, edge suffered no damage despite some hitting into bones while he was taking meat off...
And last, I'm not sure if it even got dull, but few swipes on chinese diamond sharpener and few swipes on chinese ceramic rod got it even sharper than it was when we started. He doesn't even have a strop, he just strops it on his jeans to clean it and that's all.
It kinda shows me that you don't need to spend crazy ammount of money to get a product with good fit and finish that will perform more than sufficiently for most given tasks you'd use a knife for.
D2 is nothing fancy, and can't be compared to 3V or INFI, or Elmax or other ultra fine stuff, but it's still far from being shit steel and it will hold an edge, be fairly tough and resist corrosion fairly well.
Real Steel seems to HT their D2 very well as I've heard lots of people praise them, and their Bushcrafter is more popular than Mora Garberg here (it's half the price, holds the edge better and so far I haven't heard of one breaking).
IMO - that is 70€ well spent. Design, sheath and fit and finish punch way above their pricing range, and I've also seen D2 steel knives cost a lot more than this one.
