Ok so off to the woods I went for the weekend and with me I took my newly arrived C/U 7, with plans to put this knive through some real life outdoor tests. Out of the box, the knife shaved with ease, even after hacking through a couple of 2x4's. Since I mostly would be carrying this knive while backpacking, I wouldnt be carrying it on my waist due to the packs large hip strap limiting places to strap it to so I moidified the sheath to be somewhat more compact,but modified it in such a way that I could return it back to its original design for when Im not carrying a pack..On the bottom of the sheath there is a section which measures appoximately 1 1/2 inches long with 2 holes in it for running a small diamter rope through for tieing it around your leg. What I did was fold this section back to the inside of the sheath and sewed it in place with 3 stiches evenly place around the curve of the folded section. Next I modified the top section of the sheath.. The section Im refering to starts from the point where there is a strap to secure the handle of the knive and goes up about 4 inches and is where you would run your belt through. I folded this section inward from the point where the strap is. I ran a section of para cord through were you would normally thread a belt through, around to the front of the sheath. I then threaded the two ends of the rope through a locking mechanism typically found on alot of outdoor items such as rain jackets and stuff sacks. These locking mechanism's generally have a hole in the middle, through which you put a small diameter cord through and can adjust the tension of the cord by pressing a spring loaded button and pulling the cord through and then realease the button. What this did for me was shorten the legnth of the sheath and form another section to thread a belt through which would raise the hight the knive would sit when carrying on a belt...In a matter of 5 seconds you can release the tension on the cord, take the loop of cord and pull it over the top of the sheath which returns the sheath back to its orignal state. Now with both modifications the sheath now measures 8 1/2 inches. I think the second mod might be usefull to many who have mentioned in many of the threads that they wanted to raise the height of the knive when carrying it on there belt..And whats nice about this is that its very secure and can be easily converted back to its orginal design. Ok so enough talk let me talk about the overal perfomance of this knive.
So because of the limitations of the backpack's hip belt I needed to have a spot to carry this and at the same point be quickly accessable without having to take the pack off. On the pack I had an side pouch that when I place the knife in, the handle stuck out enough to allow me to reach behind me and easily have access to.
Originally when I recieved the knive I was wondering if it was possibly a little to large to carry..This is the largest of knives I had the pleasure of owning..After this weekend of use, I was left wondering how I managed without such a knife. I guess its the reverse of the Christmas tree effect..You know, when you go to pick out a tree , it always looks like you can fit it in your room of choice. So you get home and start to set it up and realize that the tree has somehow grown a couple of feet since you first picked it and now you have to whip out the old saw and cut it down to fit. Well the knive appeared to have the opposite effect. At home it had the appearance of possibly being to big, but once in the woods, I found it to be without a doubt the perfect size. Your not going to be able to carve a face in a hiking stick but thats where a small SAK comes in. But as far as food prep I found no problem with any tasks I needed to do. Just out of curiosity I took out an apple and was able to slice sections as thin as I wanted, with ease.. So for camp food prep, two thumbs up, I was able to do the same tasks I could do with a smaller knife with the benefit of having a knive that could chop and do other tasks that a smaller knife would not be able to do.
Now off to choping
Hiking for three days from sunrise to sunset lends you to come across many places to where you could just hear these vocies saying "Please chop me" So just looking for an excuse to use this knive I came across a newly downed tree acoss the trail. Like a kid in the candy store I proceded to start hacking through the many branches that ranged from 1/2" to 3" thick. Normally I would have passed this by, due to the fact that my other knives would never had been able to handle this without either damaging the blade or taking much to much time and effort. So after about 30 to 40 branches I had to check the sharpness of the blade. Still shaving sharp, which really surprised me. I at least thought it would have dulled a little but it was honestly still as sharp as when it arrive. Keep in mind that were now up to 3 2x4's, a couple of boxes, and this tree, and still shaves..At this point Im still impressed but felt sooner or later, by the end of this trip, I would have to sharpen this knive to get it back to its original sharpness. Next we came to a beatiful campsite that someone spent alot of time to create. In this site, there was a large log resting 2 1/2 feet above the ground with each end resting on rocks that had been neetly stacked. Only thing that this bench needed was to hack off the knots and stubs left by snapping the branches off which left many sections unable to be sat on unless you wanted to walk with a sort off funny kind off walk. This log was different from the first downed tree due to the fact that this tree was a much harder wood and was dry as a bone, therefore offering a little more of a challenge to the blade. All toghether there were about 6, 3" to 4" stubs about 4" high that I hacked off and smoothed down to match the contor of the log, not to mention slicing off miscellaneous sections to end up with the result of a perfectly smooth seat. Once again I checked the sharpness of the blade, definetly expecting the shaving edge to have been comprimised now. WRONG, this thing still shaved, and now I was really impressed. No knive that I have had would have been able to keep a shaving edge after the stuff I have put it through so far. And I've found the weight of the knife to aid in easy choping and no discomfort in the hand. Many post's have focused around the grips being a slight bit slippery when wet. My hands generally do sweat alot and I can only say that I did not experience the grips to slip at all. OK so, 3 2x4's,a couple of boxes, 30-40 brances off a downed tree, 6 3-4" dry stubs off a log bench, and miscellaneous knife use, and still shaving with no damage to the edge at all. Now I started thinking about what did this knive had that my other knives lacked. Was it the steel, the angle of the edge, I honestly don't know, but whatever it is all I know is that this knive performs better than any other knive I own..
So throughout the rest of the trip I came across dozens of branches that obstructed the trail or at least I thought they did Whatever the case it gave me more reasons to unlease the knife and play...The final hard use test came as I came across an area I decided would make a great spot to set up camp for future trips..I had managed to use the knive to make a make shift rake so I could clear out all the downed branches and the accumulation of leaves from the previous fall. The real test was that a 3 foot round tree(perfect for a seat) had trapped a 10" tree under it which angled upward, obstructing easy movement around camp. I proceded to hack through this tree, not the 3 foot one, I wasnt feeling that ambitious. To speed up the process and to get the cut as close as possible I used another thick and heavy brach to hammer down on the top of the blade. Within a short amount of time I was able to hack through the log with relative ease. Again I was certain that now the blade would be in need of a fine tune to get it back to shaving sharpness. Wrong again, it stilled shaved, there was no damaged to the black coating on the blade, and no damaged to the knive at all. I was really impressed with this knive, its definetely in a different class above the rest of the knives I own..To say I only paid 50 bucks for this knive seems to do the knife an unjustice. If I had a friend let me use this knife prior to knowing its cost I would honestly believe this knive would rest in the $150 range. IMHO I think this knive is a tremedous knife and considering the cost, I dont think anyone could do themselves wrong with purchasing it. Actually let me rephrase that..I think anyone not purchasing this knive would be missing out on a really amazing knife..
I also found the front pocket on the sheath very usefull. In it I placed a little sparky(a flint fire starting thing), my SAK, and a photon L.E.D light. Its nice to have a pocket for things like this beacuse you always know where they are and its very convient to access them.
I do however plan to make one more modification to the knive. When I'm camped out at night and Im awoken due to the snap of brances outsdide, I usually feel around my tent for both my flashlight and my knive. Well to have both incorporated into one I think would be a great combination with many uses. So Im currently designing a method of incorporating 2 LED lights into the handle of this knive to be run off of coil cell batteries which take up little room. For those not familar with LED lights there about as round as a eraser on a pencil, perhaps a little smaller. The light output of these is not comparable to that of a typical halogen bulb found in many hand held flashlights but they are bright enough to do most tasks around camp, and to walk by. The nice thing about them is they can be abused, there is no filament to break inside them, therefore you can step on and bang them and your not going to break them. Also they can last around 10 to 20 hours of use off one 3 volt coin cell baterry. So to mount them flush within the front of the handle would not in anyway compromise the funcionality of these lights no matter how much abuse you put the knife through. Im in the process of figuring out what type of swith to use, one that would be durable, flush mount so as not to be accidentally turned on or off. As soon as I get it all worked out I'll post a picture of the final result and supply the how to's. Thanks to all those who post all their comments on this forum, they definetly aided me in deciding which knive to get and which knives to have on my to get list..Does anyone know what angle this blade is sharpend to out of the factory?
So because of the limitations of the backpack's hip belt I needed to have a spot to carry this and at the same point be quickly accessable without having to take the pack off. On the pack I had an side pouch that when I place the knife in, the handle stuck out enough to allow me to reach behind me and easily have access to.
Originally when I recieved the knive I was wondering if it was possibly a little to large to carry..This is the largest of knives I had the pleasure of owning..After this weekend of use, I was left wondering how I managed without such a knife. I guess its the reverse of the Christmas tree effect..You know, when you go to pick out a tree , it always looks like you can fit it in your room of choice. So you get home and start to set it up and realize that the tree has somehow grown a couple of feet since you first picked it and now you have to whip out the old saw and cut it down to fit. Well the knive appeared to have the opposite effect. At home it had the appearance of possibly being to big, but once in the woods, I found it to be without a doubt the perfect size. Your not going to be able to carve a face in a hiking stick but thats where a small SAK comes in. But as far as food prep I found no problem with any tasks I needed to do. Just out of curiosity I took out an apple and was able to slice sections as thin as I wanted, with ease.. So for camp food prep, two thumbs up, I was able to do the same tasks I could do with a smaller knife with the benefit of having a knive that could chop and do other tasks that a smaller knife would not be able to do.
Now off to choping
Hiking for three days from sunrise to sunset lends you to come across many places to where you could just hear these vocies saying "Please chop me" So just looking for an excuse to use this knive I came across a newly downed tree acoss the trail. Like a kid in the candy store I proceded to start hacking through the many branches that ranged from 1/2" to 3" thick. Normally I would have passed this by, due to the fact that my other knives would never had been able to handle this without either damaging the blade or taking much to much time and effort. So after about 30 to 40 branches I had to check the sharpness of the blade. Still shaving sharp, which really surprised me. I at least thought it would have dulled a little but it was honestly still as sharp as when it arrive. Keep in mind that were now up to 3 2x4's, a couple of boxes, and this tree, and still shaves..At this point Im still impressed but felt sooner or later, by the end of this trip, I would have to sharpen this knive to get it back to its original sharpness. Next we came to a beatiful campsite that someone spent alot of time to create. In this site, there was a large log resting 2 1/2 feet above the ground with each end resting on rocks that had been neetly stacked. Only thing that this bench needed was to hack off the knots and stubs left by snapping the branches off which left many sections unable to be sat on unless you wanted to walk with a sort off funny kind off walk. This log was different from the first downed tree due to the fact that this tree was a much harder wood and was dry as a bone, therefore offering a little more of a challenge to the blade. All toghether there were about 6, 3" to 4" stubs about 4" high that I hacked off and smoothed down to match the contor of the log, not to mention slicing off miscellaneous sections to end up with the result of a perfectly smooth seat. Once again I checked the sharpness of the blade, definetly expecting the shaving edge to have been comprimised now. WRONG, this thing still shaved, and now I was really impressed. No knive that I have had would have been able to keep a shaving edge after the stuff I have put it through so far. And I've found the weight of the knife to aid in easy choping and no discomfort in the hand. Many post's have focused around the grips being a slight bit slippery when wet. My hands generally do sweat alot and I can only say that I did not experience the grips to slip at all. OK so, 3 2x4's,a couple of boxes, 30-40 brances off a downed tree, 6 3-4" dry stubs off a log bench, and miscellaneous knife use, and still shaving with no damage to the edge at all. Now I started thinking about what did this knive had that my other knives lacked. Was it the steel, the angle of the edge, I honestly don't know, but whatever it is all I know is that this knive performs better than any other knive I own..So throughout the rest of the trip I came across dozens of branches that obstructed the trail or at least I thought they did
Whatever the case it gave me more reasons to unlease the knife and play...The final hard use test came as I came across an area I decided would make a great spot to set up camp for future trips..I had managed to use the knive to make a make shift rake so I could clear out all the downed branches and the accumulation of leaves from the previous fall. The real test was that a 3 foot round tree(perfect for a seat) had trapped a 10" tree under it which angled upward, obstructing easy movement around camp. I proceded to hack through this tree, not the 3 foot one, I wasnt feeling that ambitious. To speed up the process and to get the cut as close as possible I used another thick and heavy brach to hammer down on the top of the blade. Within a short amount of time I was able to hack through the log with relative ease. Again I was certain that now the blade would be in need of a fine tune to get it back to shaving sharpness. Wrong again, it stilled shaved, there was no damaged to the black coating on the blade, and no damaged to the knive at all. I was really impressed with this knive, its definetely in a different class above the rest of the knives I own..To say I only paid 50 bucks for this knive seems to do the knife an unjustice. If I had a friend let me use this knife prior to knowing its cost I would honestly believe this knive would rest in the $150 range. IMHO I think this knive is a tremedous knife and considering the cost, I dont think anyone could do themselves wrong with purchasing it. Actually let me rephrase that..I think anyone not purchasing this knive would be missing out on a really amazing knife..I also found the front pocket on the sheath very usefull. In it I placed a little sparky(a flint fire starting thing), my SAK, and a photon L.E.D light. Its nice to have a pocket for things like this beacuse you always know where they are and its very convient to access them.
I do however plan to make one more modification to the knive. When I'm camped out at night and Im awoken due to the snap of brances outsdide, I usually feel around my tent for both my flashlight and my knive. Well to have both incorporated into one I think would be a great combination with many uses. So Im currently designing a method of incorporating 2 LED lights into the handle of this knive to be run off of coil cell batteries which take up little room. For those not familar with LED lights there about as round as a eraser on a pencil, perhaps a little smaller. The light output of these is not comparable to that of a typical halogen bulb found in many hand held flashlights but they are bright enough to do most tasks around camp, and to walk by. The nice thing about them is they can be abused, there is no filament to break inside them, therefore you can step on and bang them and your not going to break them. Also they can last around 10 to 20 hours of use off one 3 volt coin cell baterry. So to mount them flush within the front of the handle would not in anyway compromise the funcionality of these lights no matter how much abuse you put the knife through. Im in the process of figuring out what type of swith to use, one that would be durable, flush mount so as not to be accidentally turned on or off. As soon as I get it all worked out I'll post a picture of the final result and supply the how to's. Thanks to all those who post all their comments on this forum, they definetly aided me in deciding which knive to get and which knives to have on my to get list..Does anyone know what angle this blade is sharpend to out of the factory?
Your assessment of the extremely high performance/price ratio offered by this $50 blade is right on the money.