- Joined
- Feb 28, 2002
- Messages
- 13,348
I've been consciously working toward getting a few working knives in the rotation from some of the makers I have worked closely with over the years. Russ is one of those makers from whom I have purchased many knives in the past, but never really put one through its paces.
Blame him for making them so pretty and finishing them so perfectly!
Anyway, I had mentioned this very thing to Russ, and he in turn mentioned he'd been wanting to make a working integral camp knife, with a design based on an old Phillipine knife he'd once had. He suggested that he might take a crack at pounding one out - keep it at a working level finish - then send it to me to get beat on good and hard and get some feedback on the design. Might I be interested?
Um, YES!
Russ sent me a sketch of the basic design so I would have an idea of what to expect:
And the real deal arrived in the mail just last week:
Sweet.
It's about a 9 1/2" of blade, 15 1/4" OAL. The blade is some wickedly sharp Cru Forge V, with a wrought iron spacer and African Blackwood handle.
Initial impressions: this thing is going to be some serious fun. Some good mass to the blade without being overly heavy, and the subtle contouring of the handle makes for a very comfortable grip. I like the fact that there is enough handle that you can kep your hand entirely on wood, without having to choke up onto the metal spacer / integral bolster. This knife feels like it's going to bite - deep.
It will probably be a month before I get down to Dan's for some trail clearing and chopping-stuff-'cause-it's-fun action, and this knife will make the wait even longer. Can't wait to get to know this one on a whole other level.
Roger
Blame him for making them so pretty and finishing them so perfectly!
Anyway, I had mentioned this very thing to Russ, and he in turn mentioned he'd been wanting to make a working integral camp knife, with a design based on an old Phillipine knife he'd once had. He suggested that he might take a crack at pounding one out - keep it at a working level finish - then send it to me to get beat on good and hard and get some feedback on the design. Might I be interested?
Um, YES!
Russ sent me a sketch of the basic design so I would have an idea of what to expect:
And the real deal arrived in the mail just last week:
Sweet.
It's about a 9 1/2" of blade, 15 1/4" OAL. The blade is some wickedly sharp Cru Forge V, with a wrought iron spacer and African Blackwood handle.
Initial impressions: this thing is going to be some serious fun. Some good mass to the blade without being overly heavy, and the subtle contouring of the handle makes for a very comfortable grip. I like the fact that there is enough handle that you can kep your hand entirely on wood, without having to choke up onto the metal spacer / integral bolster. This knife feels like it's going to bite - deep.
It will probably be a month before I get down to Dan's for some trail clearing and chopping-stuff-'cause-it's-fun action, and this knife will make the wait even longer. Can't wait to get to know this one on a whole other level.
Roger
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