Santa came late...

[SpookyPistolero]

The mailman made a stop by my place today, but I'm thinking he may have to claim workers comp after this load. Me and a good friend (I'll wait to see if he wants to be named, but most will probably know by the blades!) have been lending knives back and forth so we can each play with some new steel. This time I got some of my blades returned, and even more new ones to check out! A second package had a couple of blades that Riley sent me to check out at part of a trade. Some pics...

What a lineup, eh?! Let's do from left to right, then move to the top: SWC, JK Kephart, Fiddleback Woodsman (passaround), Skookum, MM custom, Shing, Brian Andrews. On top: custom Mora carver, plain mora, and GB mini.

From above, with measuring tape:

Holy crap that's a lot of sweet steel for one man to be sitting in front of! I would have thrown them in the air and rolled in 'em like money... but I've got enough scars right now..

There is so much to review here that I'm gonna try to section it out by blade, look for the bold.

Where to start? How about that GB mini. I've never called a piece of steel 'cute' before, but that's how this one felt. Just a neat little bugger. This is the first GB I've ever handled, and it made a very good first impression. Good grind, great edge. It makes for some fantastic carving help, when you need to do some rough removal. It really had some surprising chopping power, too.

I picked the only 'comparable' sized hatchet I had, the Fiskars, to chop against it. I was quite amazed to find the GB was winning out after a good bit of wood work. The extra length on the Fiskars allowed for more power, but that edge/grind on the GB really made up for the difference. Makes me really want to try the next size up. :thumbup: The only thing that it was lacking in was splitting efficiency, it just couldn't get the momentum to do it.

 

[SpookyPistolero]

The JK Kephart:
This is the blade that was mostly 'paid for' by winning one of John's many giveaways. I upgraded to fullsize and am happy that I did so! It's a great blade. It's got tiger maple scales, if I recall, that I contoured a bit when I got it:

So how's it hold up during the rough stuff? Just fine! I batoned through quite a lot of firewood, and it was still carving handsome curls when I was done.

Some in hand shots of blades that didn't see quite as much use, for this afternoon at least.
Leather stacked mora carver:

Skookum:

Shing:

MM custom:

More in a second...

 

[tonym]

Those are all junk, send them to me as I like cheap crappy knives!


Wow dude, that is an awesome haul.

Hollow Dweller and Riley are great guys!

 

[BarberFobic1992]

wow, lots of great looking knives there. i got a thing for scandis.

 

[j williams]

Holy cow, thats alot of steel. I would love one of calebs knives. I hear really good things. That shing in cedar is very cool too. They are all nice knives. Thats more steel then I own!!

 

[SpookyPistolero]

Some badass Kiahs sheaths:

Kiah mentioned elsewhere that he's going to be switching to using thicker kydex, just because the other is a pain to work with. The black sheath is the thinner stock, but the freaking rad 'spooky' sheath is the thicker material. I know I'll use both a lot, but the thicker stock is a favorite.
_______________________________________

I was also able to take part in the Fiddleback Woodsman passaround, it's a new model he's developed. What follows is my 'unofficial' review of the blade, since I'm not done working with it and have more that I want to include. But I wanted to share what I could thus far!

Some in hand pics:

How's she split? Very well.

Still shaved afterwards!

 

[SpookyPistolero]

While I was outside I wanted to get a fire going, there was a very brisk wind! Also felt like a cup of hot cider. Had to use my steel fire pit, but at least it made things easy. Now to get a fire going with a mag bar..

Glamor shot:

Tossed the guyot on the rack and let it get to a boil. I placed a flat piece of wood on top so it'd boil easier.

Some warm cider in my cup, and I was ready to try out something else. I posted a thread earlier about those 'lumberjack candles'. So I grabbed the chunk of wood with the flattest bottom, and split it with the Woodsman. I stopped about 1/4 from the bottom so that it wouldn't be a complete split. Wrapped the base with jute, just to secure it, and placed it between two logs to be doubly sure it wouldn't fall. Then I squeezed some suitable kindling down in the gaps.

Turns out those buggers are harder than I had thought! Just could not get that kindling to stay lit for long enough. The wind wasn't helping, but it was hardly the main problem. Next time I'm going to try a few things to get it going right. First, a bigger piece of wood. I'm hoping that will mean bigger gaps in the splits, and more room for some air to flow. Also, I'm gonna use a saw to make the cuts. I want some material removed, not just split.

Gonna do more work with the FB and reserve most major conclusions until the 'official' review. The handle is fantastic. Much more 'full' than my first FB bushcrafter. The laminated handles are gorgeous and a meaningful trademark of his work. The blade length may be a bit more than I prefer, I think this same handle with a 4 or 4.5" blade would be perfect.

I've got LOTS more work that I want to do with all of these blades. They all have really great designs, great edges, and comfortable handles. That's saying a lot from a chubby chaser like me!

Thanks for checking this stuff out! Hope the pics are helpful to folks trying to make decisions about future blade purchases. Take care!!!

:thumbup: :thumbup:

 

[C Bryant]

I have two GB Axes, the Hunter's Axe and the Scandinavian Forest Axe and LOVE them to death. Best axes hands down I have ever used. They have a nice thin bevel which many axes don't have, that allows them to really give a good chop with minimal effort. The come sharp as hell too, and hold a great edge. *watch you shins* They do a number on shins too!

 

[hollowdweller]

Isn't that FB cool? It's a bigger blade than I would carry but the quality is very high:thumbup:

J Williams the cedar one is an SWC.

The Shing is the 2 toned Desert Ironwood.

Cool to see the BGA bushcrafter there. Gives me a sense of scale. I like how it has a curve to the edge like the Skookum.

By the way Spooky. What's the deal with the tape on the Mora handle?

The GB is so light you gotta pretty much rely on the sharpness and sort of whipping it in cutting.

HERE is my review of the Fiddleback Woodsman. Cool blade

 

[SpookyPistolero]

Hey HD! Thanks for so many unexpected prizes!! I'll definitely be keeping the SWC by the way.

The tape on the Mora was just to give a bigger grip right up near the edge. It was a little thinner than I'd like without it. I meant to tell you that you could remove it if you wanted! Are you gonna pick one of those up?

I'll send my Brian Andrews along when I return your other blades, I really think you'll like it. Still the best I've held!! Fantastic handle and blade shape. And it's crazy sharp.

I love the blade thickness on the skookum, makes for a great slicer. Can't make up my mind about the handle, as compared to all the others. Though of course it's still leaps and bounds above most!

That MM was a bit of a surprise to me, it was really comfortable. I'm thinking of getting him to do one with that same handle and blade, but a bit more of a drop point. (That thin tip almost worries me!)

 

[kgd]

I was going to say that I recognized those knives, they are so darn distinctive Great review and wonderful pictures Spooky. Looking forward to the FB full review. Now, off to read HD's review!

 

[j williams]

Isn't that FB cool? It's a bigger blade than I would carry but the quality is very high:thumbup:

J Williams the cedar one is an SWC.

The Shing is the 2 toned Desert Ironwood.

Cool to see the BGA bushcrafter there. Gives me a sense of scale. I like how it has a curve to the edge like the Skookum.

By the way Spooky. What's the deal with the tape on the Mora handle?

The GB is so light you gotta pretty much rely on the sharpness and sort of whipping it in cutting.

HERE is my review of the Fiddleback Woodsman. Cool blade

Oh! Man they look alike!

I like the SWC, but I love that Shing.:thumbup:

 

[SpookyPistolero]

Oh! Man they look alike!

I like the SWC, but I love that Shing.:thumbup:

They are both super comfy. The shing actually has a 'taller' handle, and the slabs are less thick as a consequence. The SWC is a little shorter but feels incredibly contoured. Big fan of the ray mears pattern.

 

[hollowdweller]

Oh! Man they look alike!

I like the SWC, but I love that Shing.:thumbup:

I have another Shing I'm putting a handle on. Inspired by Fiddleback.

Pumpkin Shing

I glued some of the Hemp Burlap Micarta like is on the Muskrat Man, to some 1/8" orange G10 and put it on this other 1/8" Shing I got. Almost done with it.

Spooky, Keep them as long as you want to. I'm probably not going to use any of those till summer anyway and I have others.

Yeah the tip on the MM is scarey it's so thin but actually despite, or maybe because of the thin edge on that one I had trouble with it seems to be one of the most wicked cutters.

Definately going for a Mora 2000. We buy a lot of artisanal bread with thick crust and that thing was better than my bread knives! I could cut a really thin slice of bread:thumbup:

 

[j williams]

HD, I really, really, want to see the pumpkin Shing when you are finished.:thumbup:

Where do you get those Shings?

 

[j williams]

They are both super comfy. The shing actually has a 'taller' handle, and the slabs are less thick as a consequence. The SWC is a little shorter but feels incredibly contoured. Big fan of the ray mears pattern.

I bet your in heaven bro, all those knives just look like your style.:thumbup:

Calebs(MM) knives have always looked really nice to me.:thumbup:

 

[Fonly]

Awesome stuff Spooky, the Fiddle back is ssssiiiiiccckkk!

 

[SpookyPistolero]

I bet your in heaven bro, all those knives just look like your style.:thumbup:

Calebs(MM) knives have always looked really nice to me.:thumbup:

Haha, my hands are actually pretty raw right now because I've been cutting and carving all afternoon! Hell of a way to spend a day. These are all most definitely right up my alley.

 

[Fiddleback]

Man, those are some cool knives bro. What is the wood used on the handle of the 3rd pic down, second from right??

I've got a GB wildlife. Its just about the perfect camp companion. I want to try out the mini for hiking kinda situations.

Lovin the review of that Woodsman so far too.

Happy New Year Y'all.

 

[mtnfolk mike]

holy smokes... what a haul... those are some great looking blades... :thumbup: i love the fact that folks here on W&SS share their blades with one another..:thumbup:

i can't wait to ceck out that woodsman..