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Will it survive ? Will it break ?
Review of the 420 SS woodsman
- Thread starter Revolverrodger
- Start date
Nice Handle Job!
I figured OKC would do the right on the 420 HC heat treat, I may have to give it a test on some season maple that's almost gone. It did heavy heck to my SP-51 taking off coating and the 5160 came back to normal that surprised me after batoning.
The Review shows what the knife probably is suppose to stand up to, and it seems to to it well. Its wood vs steel, not a rock! The water borne trips is one reason I keep mine around, but not as much as my body allows any more.
Last big whackem and hackem near misadventure trip I did, I grabbed the wrong knife, I grabbed the 5160 Woodsman... didn't notice till I looked at the knife blade. I took knife on the wild trip in the car (given how the tourists drive it was a wild ride) to the olde family farmstead to do that. Oh well next trip I guess.
One thing of a not coated blade, it would also cover camp, and cooking chores as well. That's one main reason I like the Woodsmans, both types.
I figured OKC would do the right on the 420 HC heat treat, I may have to give it a test on some season maple that's almost gone. It did heavy heck to my SP-51 taking off coating and the 5160 came back to normal that surprised me after batoning.
The Review shows what the knife probably is suppose to stand up to, and it seems to to it well. Its wood vs steel, not a rock! The water borne trips is one reason I keep mine around, but not as much as my body allows any more.
Last big whackem and hackem near misadventure trip I did, I grabbed the wrong knife, I grabbed the 5160 Woodsman... didn't notice till I looked at the knife blade. I took knife on the wild trip in the car (given how the tourists drive it was a wild ride) to the olde family farmstead to do that. Oh well next trip I guess.
One thing of a not coated blade, it would also cover camp, and cooking chores as well. That's one main reason I like the Woodsmans, both types.
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I would have liked to test it vs metal wire, nails and cinder blocks but since I payed for it I’m not going to wreck it for no good reason
OK I finally was able to do some hard stuff with one of my 420SS ones. Light twiggy things it seem to cut ok I guess, branch trimming, god my technique is off, plus didn't have a lanyard, I was living dangerously! Well I know an FFG is good at that so I went for hard use SP-51/53 grade stuff!
I batactitoned a tryranical log or two! The logs one so they got Mauled to death after an interruption to show them who was of the greater superior intellgenciealy!
OK reason they the logs won, they were wet seasoned naughty knotty pine types and the blade was an FFG so they were a no go. I smacked and wailed and went through a few baton sticks and left what left a small pile of saw dust. One was showing cracks but the wet wood was just holding itself having a very good swelly time. I smashed and bashed saber grinds throuigh these types logs before, a bit tough doing it but they were different critters better for such a job. So the fail was not the knifes fault but the user not using it for nice medium work, my medium is what most seem to call hard, and NOTE the fail was not getting the log split ONLY.
The knife blade...straight, no nicks or rolls and pretty still sharp. That's the real test I was tacti-testing out. Wet wood might not be much of a test, but the baton whamming I was doing all over the spine and one an off angle attempt, I think we can call this steel durable enough for steel vs wood jobs. To me the Woodsman is a multi-tool task knife that can chop pretty well besides being an ok slicer. But as shown in that U-tube review it can do what you would normally use it for.
My 5160 Woodsman had almost the same problems due to FFG blade, it wasn't the STEEL.
I tried a hatchet before using the maul, hatchet no go also.
So the Steel and Logs both one I say.
My I'll keep the 420SS Woodsman for my versions of light to medium duties for general stuff including kitchen. I''ll probably give one to some one who uses knives on farm things.
The baton was a poplar type, hence all the baton dust.
Editcus:
Well I'm one 420 SS Woodsman down, gave one to my little brother as seems the little sis wasn't around.
I told him it will make a good all round camp knife for woodsy stuff to other stuff, water tripping knife, and good chopper/cleaver/slicer kitchen knife, a usual literally ALL ROUND multi-tool and multi-task knife in one blade. The laminated scales should be water proof enough and to do like some one did with a file for more grippiness I saw some one do on the U-tube.
I batactitoned a tryranical log or two! The logs one so they got Mauled to death after an interruption to show them who was of the greater superior intellgenciealy!
OK reason they the logs won, they were wet seasoned naughty knotty pine types and the blade was an FFG so they were a no go. I smacked and wailed and went through a few baton sticks and left what left a small pile of saw dust. One was showing cracks but the wet wood was just holding itself having a very good swelly time. I smashed and bashed saber grinds throuigh these types logs before, a bit tough doing it but they were different critters better for such a job. So the fail was not the knifes fault but the user not using it for nice medium work, my medium is what most seem to call hard, and NOTE the fail was not getting the log split ONLY.
The knife blade...straight, no nicks or rolls and pretty still sharp. That's the real test I was tacti-testing out. Wet wood might not be much of a test, but the baton whamming I was doing all over the spine and one an off angle attempt, I think we can call this steel durable enough for steel vs wood jobs. To me the Woodsman is a multi-tool task knife that can chop pretty well besides being an ok slicer. But as shown in that U-tube review it can do what you would normally use it for.
My 5160 Woodsman had almost the same problems due to FFG blade, it wasn't the STEEL.
I tried a hatchet before using the maul, hatchet no go also.
So the Steel and Logs both one I say.
My I'll keep the 420SS Woodsman for my versions of light to medium duties for general stuff including kitchen. I''ll probably give one to some one who uses knives on farm things.
The baton was a poplar type, hence all the baton dust.
Editcus:
Well I'm one 420 SS Woodsman down, gave one to my little brother as seems the little sis wasn't around.
I told him it will make a good all round camp knife for woodsy stuff to other stuff, water tripping knife, and good chopper/cleaver/slicer kitchen knife, a usual literally ALL ROUND multi-tool and multi-task knife in one blade. The laminated scales should be water proof enough and to do like some one did with a file for more grippiness I saw some one do on the U-tube.
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OK I finally was able to do some hard stuff with one of my 420SS ones. Light twiggy things it seem to cut ok I guess, branch trimming, god my technique is off, plus didn't have a lanyard, I was living dangerously! Well I know an FFG is good at that so I went for hard use SP-51/53 grade stuff!
I batactitoned a tryranical log or two! The logs one so they got Mauled to death after an interruption to show them who was of the greater superior intellgenciealy!
OK reason they the logs won, they were wet seasoned naughty knotty pine types and the blade was an FFG so they were a no go. I smacked and wailed and went through a few baton sticks and left what left a small pile of saw dust. One was showing cracks but the wet wood was just holding itself having a very good swelly time. I smashed and bashed saber grinds throuigh these types logs before, a bit tough doing it but they were different critters better for such a job. So the fail was not the knifes fault but the user not using it for nice medium work, my medium is what most seem to call hard, and NOTE the fail was not getting the log split ONLY.
The knife blade...straight, no nicks or rolls and pretty still sharp. That's the real test I was tacti-testing out. Wet wood might not be much of a test, but the baton whamming I was doing all over the spine and one an off angle attempt, I think we can call this steel durable enough for steel vs wood jobs. To me the Woodsman is a multi-tool task knife that can chop pretty well besides being an ok slicer. But as shown in that U-tube review it can do what you would normally use it for.
My 5160 Woodsman had almost the same problems due to FFG blade, it wasn't the STEEL.
I tried a hatchet before using the maul, hatchet no go also.
So the Steel and Logs both one I say.
My I'll keep the 420SS Woodsman for my versions of light to medium duties for general stuff including kitchen. I''ll probably give one to some one who uses knives on farm things.
The baton was a poplar type, hence all the baton dust.
Editcus:
Well I'm one 420 SS Woodsman down, gave one to my little brother as seems the little sis wasn't around.
I told him it will make a good all round camp knife for woodsy stuff to other stuff, water tripping knife, and good chopper/cleaver/slicer kitchen knife, a usual literally ALL ROUND multi-tool and multi-task knife in one blade. The laminated scales should be water proof enough and to do like some one did with a file for more grippiness I saw some one do on the U-tube.
This is to be expected of the softer and lower carbon content steel. I’m glad I got all my Woodsmans in 5160. Never had a chipping problem with the occasional nail or rock encounter.
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Well I used my 5160 Woodsman on larger deer parts, not as slicey and dicey as a dedicated slicer and dicer made knife. But its FFG made for an easy slicer and heavy build and weight let me get it through some of the more bigger parts with ease, with out having to whittle the deer hunks down.
OK...I'm getting yet another Woodsman, my 420 SS one is now full duty kitchen knife I use for about every thing in there. I'm not a fancy cook and don't believe in cooking 19 hours for a two bite dinner, but its heavy it slices and cuts things really good. Only the bread knife stuff it can't do very well. Yes its heavy, at times yes its clunky at some stuff but tenderizes things with its spine and other stuff kitcheny stuff okishly. I need a new one for woodsy camp knife food stuffy stuffy, or large critter cutting duties. My brother uses the one I gave him for kitchen mostly stuff as he has the other knives I gave him for out side stuff.
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Did you ever end up trying the rtak2?
Yep I got one of course.
It seems to want to move the "Twiggy" stuff around and barely cut, could be the way the bush I tried it out on, and not as heavy hitting as the SP-51 or SP-53 I find for my normal Tyrannical Botanicals that try and block the old wood roads.
The Woodsman in 420 SS seems good enough for its intended jobs, its not 5160 heavy over abusel level, but it seems to do its job good enough. And its FFG so the edge is thin, but the stainless makes it lower maintenance and its "laminated" handle does work well for waterproofness. (Still athletic tape it or score it like in the vid is avisable for long term use.) Do I wish they still did 5160? Yes! But the OKC heat treat stuff they did on the 420 HC SS is pretty much lives up to what OKC can do with "cheap steel" to make it way better.
It seems to want to move the "Twiggy" stuff around and barely cut, could be the way the bush I tried it out on, and not as heavy hitting as the SP-51 or SP-53 I find for my normal Tyrannical Botanicals that try and block the old wood roads.
The Woodsman in 420 SS seems good enough for its intended jobs, its not 5160 heavy over abusel level, but it seems to do its job good enough. And its FFG so the edge is thin, but the stainless makes it lower maintenance and its "laminated" handle does work well for waterproofness. (Still athletic tape it or score it like in the vid is avisable for long term use.) Do I wish they still did 5160? Yes! But the OKC heat treat stuff they did on the 420 HC SS is pretty much lives up to what OKC can do with "cheap steel" to make it way better.
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Maybe they add carbon during the ht process? The rtak2 is no sp53, for sure, but it cuts fine and batons really well, plus is much lighter. Maybe it just needs a sharper edge and more wrist flicking because my rtak2 does fine, and doesn’t tire out my arm if using it all day.
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I’m still really reluctant to go for the 420 steel. Have you found that it is noticeably softer—it’s supposedly several rc points lower, and I’m worrried I would end up bending the knife if I used it to pry something, or lift a large rock, etc? I know 5160 will bend back, but I think the 420 would not.
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In real world use it has performed very well.
Bending 0.25 inch of steel isn’t exactly easy plus 420hc is a very tough stainless steel
The Woodsman in 420 SS HC seems to do what it was intended to do. Its probably not able to take the abuse of 5160 can take, but it so far seems to work well in the area of Steel vs Wood. To me its a knife that can do light to medium duties and can chop and baton if needed and its SS and "Cheap" laminated handle makes it a decent wet environment use multi-tool.
5160 steel has really spoiled me when it comes to using knives as hard use tools.
5160 steel has really spoiled me when it comes to using knives as hard use tools.
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Have you done any chopping or batoning with a 7”-9” entrek knife? Curious to see what your opinion was. I have the 9” single edge version; I think it’s the Buffalo, but can never remember. I have not yet tried heavy work yet.
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