- Joined
- Feb 9, 2004
- Messages
- 1,447
I just came back from a 7 day BOSS Field/Survival Course. BOSS stands for Boulder Outdoor Survival School; BOSS is famous for their traditional survival skill and low-tech wilderness education. You can read my review of this course in the wilderness survival forum here: Widerness & Survival Skills Forum
During my adventure I was only allowed to bring the bare minimum gear; one knife, poncho, blanket, cup, and water bottle. I needed a knife that I could rely on, one that could perform all the woodcraft efficiently. I have always been a fan of Scandinavian 0 grind knives, Scandinavian knives are well known for their history, culture, artistic designs, and fine craftsmanship. I have found this wide flat bevel with no secondary bevel grind to be the most efficient for woodcraft. This grind is perfectly suited to cutting wood as it provides a sharp edge that slices efficiently & clean. The Scandi is also very easy to sharpen, once you truly understand how its supposed to be done, its very easy to get the exact edge angle since the wide bevel are flat. To sharpen this type of blade, the wide bevel is simply laid flat to the stone when sharpening. You want to remove metal from the entire width of the bevel to preserve the correct angle. You are removing more metal this way, but it doesn't really take a lot longer because you can bear down harder without fear of losing the correct angle. Because the angle is preserved through successive sharpening, and the blade will never have to be reground to restore the profile! This grind is ideal if you expect to sharpen the knife in the field, and don't want to carry a tool kit around. Most Scandinavian Mora style blades have a narrow tang, which is not ideal for batoning or heavy use. The blade should ideally have a full tang knife extending the full length and width of the handle. There is a famous survival school instructor who has a similar knife with many of these features, but I wanted more. To create better balance I wanted a tapered tang, and because I live here salt water I really wanted the blade made of S30V steel. I asked around to several makers and finally came across Roger Linger. Roger listened to my needs and though he never ground a Scandinavian 0 grind before decided to embark on this quest to make my dream Bushcraft knife. Rogers work is unbelievable; he created for me a masterpiece for a very reasonable price and in a very timely manner. The 1/3 grind came out perfect especially for his first time grinding this type of blade. I used this blade very hard during that week; I cut up food, skinned a ground squirrel, carved a spoon, made a spear and carve out the v in the fireboard, and whittled a spindle for my fire by friction set. This knife was my number one tool and performed these tasks easily. Rogers heat treat was dead on, the S30V held a razor edge the entire length of my trip, and only after batoning thru some really hard firewood did I have to touch up this awesome blade. The blade performed so well, all the instructor and students kept asking to borrow my knife. I quickly placed an order for another one, but this time with a Sambar Stag handle with hidden pins. For a great custom knife, you cant go wrong choosing Roger Linger. Roger is a very talented knife maker.
Here is a link to Rogers site:
Linger Custom Knives
Ron Medise
