Yes, the Roach Belly. I remember seeing these type of knives as a kid. They were used extensively for black powder shooting and skinning animals. Well, Cold Steel has made their own. It's made in Taiwan and costs about $11 at stores. It's model number 20RBC if you're interested. Let's see the rest...
Handle Specifications and Impressions: The handle is made of black polypropylene, and is 4" long. It has a lanyard hole. The shape is somewhat ball-shaped at the butt, while tapering toward the blade. There's no guard, but the handle shape does a nice job of keeping your fingers off the blade. It has a very light pebble texture to it, which helps a little bit. When my hands are gloved or wet, this thing is hard to hold on to. It makes me very glad I added a lanyard. The knife weighs 2.6 ounces.
Blade Specifications and Impressions: The Roach Belly's blade is 4.75" long with a 4.5" cutting edge. It is upswept, as in a skinning knife. The blade is made of 4116 Krupp stainless at a Rockwell hardness of 56-57. This is a hollow ground blade, and it's 2.5mm thick. There are thumb ridges on the spine for better control. The knife came out of the box very sharp, and was made shaving sharp in a few seconds. The tip was very sharp as well, and I was initially afraid that I'd bend it with light stabbing. Not so. As you'll see in the pictures, I batoned it into a tree several times and nothing happened. I had to restore the edge to a shaving sharpness, but that's all. No damage. I'm happy with this blade shape.
Sheath Specifications and Impressions: The sheath is made of black Cordura. It's 6.75" long, excluding the black nylon belt loop that will fit a belt up to 2" wide. It's open at the top; no snap or Velcro. I'm not impressed by this sheath, but it does its job at holding the knife safely until I need it. I had a small problem with running; the knife would creep out about an inch. But nothing more than that. I'd opt for a leather sheath, but this is what you get with a $11 knife.
This represents Cold Steel's value lineup, and is a good bargain. You could do better for $11, but you could also do a lot worse.
On with the pictures...
The Roach Belly batoned into a tree.
Whittling a fuzz stick for fire...
Hanging from a branch in its sheath...
Batoned tip-first into a branch...
Satisfied with the product.
Handle Specifications and Impressions: The handle is made of black polypropylene, and is 4" long. It has a lanyard hole. The shape is somewhat ball-shaped at the butt, while tapering toward the blade. There's no guard, but the handle shape does a nice job of keeping your fingers off the blade. It has a very light pebble texture to it, which helps a little bit. When my hands are gloved or wet, this thing is hard to hold on to. It makes me very glad I added a lanyard. The knife weighs 2.6 ounces.
Blade Specifications and Impressions: The Roach Belly's blade is 4.75" long with a 4.5" cutting edge. It is upswept, as in a skinning knife. The blade is made of 4116 Krupp stainless at a Rockwell hardness of 56-57. This is a hollow ground blade, and it's 2.5mm thick. There are thumb ridges on the spine for better control. The knife came out of the box very sharp, and was made shaving sharp in a few seconds. The tip was very sharp as well, and I was initially afraid that I'd bend it with light stabbing. Not so. As you'll see in the pictures, I batoned it into a tree several times and nothing happened. I had to restore the edge to a shaving sharpness, but that's all. No damage. I'm happy with this blade shape.
Sheath Specifications and Impressions: The sheath is made of black Cordura. It's 6.75" long, excluding the black nylon belt loop that will fit a belt up to 2" wide. It's open at the top; no snap or Velcro. I'm not impressed by this sheath, but it does its job at holding the knife safely until I need it. I had a small problem with running; the knife would creep out about an inch. But nothing more than that. I'd opt for a leather sheath, but this is what you get with a $11 knife.
This represents Cold Steel's value lineup, and is a good bargain. You could do better for $11, but you could also do a lot worse.
On with the pictures...
The Roach Belly batoned into a tree.
Whittling a fuzz stick for fire...
Hanging from a branch in its sheath...
Batoned tip-first into a branch...
Satisfied with the product.
