This past Saturday I received my SAZ Bushcrafter International knife. Since this knife is new and doesn't have a lot of exposure yet I wanted to post my initial impressions.
SAZ stands for Swiss Army Zippo, a popular youtuber (is that a word?). His real name is Nick and he appears to be very well liked in the community. I've watched a bunch of his videos. His first design of this knife - which I'll call the Domestic model - is produced by Brute Force Bladeworks. Their URL is no longer working though, so I'm not sure what the story is with those folks.
The Domestic is made from 3/16th 1095 stock, has a kydex sheath and retails for $160. Everything about that model is 100% USA, hence the reason I called it Domestic. It seemed to be a popular knife as it was, but several people asked if he could make one that was less expensive and used 1/8th stock instead. Enter the International. The name was derived from the fact it's made overseas. That model is produced by Knives Ranch.
The International uses 1/8th D2, has a leather sheath instead and a slight 45 degree contour on the front of the handle scales. Beyond that everything else seems to be identical. I chose the International version for 2 reasons; at $65 shipped it sounded like quite a bargain, and I have a ton of knives with 3/16th's or thicker stock already. I wanted to try something thinner this time.
The overall profile is a typical Kephart style knife, and in the past I've found that layout to work well with the type of things I like to do. I'll give you my pro's first, then con's. Note that the impressions are after 2 days of ownership and unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to get it dirty in the field yet (weather in Jersey the past week has been wet every day so I've been housebound).
PRO
CON
Does anyone else have either the Domestic or International version of the SAZ Bushcrafter? And if so, what are your thoughts on the knife.
SAZ stands for Swiss Army Zippo, a popular youtuber (is that a word?). His real name is Nick and he appears to be very well liked in the community. I've watched a bunch of his videos. His first design of this knife - which I'll call the Domestic model - is produced by Brute Force Bladeworks. Their URL is no longer working though, so I'm not sure what the story is with those folks.
The Domestic is made from 3/16th 1095 stock, has a kydex sheath and retails for $160. Everything about that model is 100% USA, hence the reason I called it Domestic. It seemed to be a popular knife as it was, but several people asked if he could make one that was less expensive and used 1/8th stock instead. Enter the International. The name was derived from the fact it's made overseas. That model is produced by Knives Ranch.
The International uses 1/8th D2, has a leather sheath instead and a slight 45 degree contour on the front of the handle scales. Beyond that everything else seems to be identical. I chose the International version for 2 reasons; at $65 shipped it sounded like quite a bargain, and I have a ton of knives with 3/16th's or thicker stock already. I wanted to try something thinner this time.
The overall profile is a typical Kephart style knife, and in the past I've found that layout to work well with the type of things I like to do. I'll give you my pro's first, then con's. Note that the impressions are after 2 days of ownership and unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to get it dirty in the field yet (weather in Jersey the past week has been wet every day so I've been housebound).
PRO
- Excellent QC. Only issues I spotted were tiny stress chips by 1 pin and the lanyard hole. Scales fit perfectly, following the contour of the tang so well that you can't feel any variation in height. Pins and lanyard tube are completely smoothed over and flush.
- Inexpensive. For what I paid this knife is a bargain.
- Light. You could probably use this knife for hours and get no hand fatigue.
- In standard Kephart fashion, the tip is centered so drilling tasks should be easy.
- Came razor sharp, and I do mean razor sharp.
- Speaking of sharp... the spine has pronounced 90 degree edges, making short work of a ferro rod.
- Handle is long enough for my largish hands. That doesn't happen all the time with bushcraft style knives.
- Nice leather sheath made from pretty thick material. Stitching and welt showed no signs of issues. The knife fits snugly as well, so it's not going to come out easily.
CON
- Handle is too thin for me to have full purchase on. My hands are not medium though, so I have this problem frequently, but in general these scales do seem to be a bit on the thin side.
- Scales are polished smooth, making it even more challenging for me. The 'torque test' does show the knife moves around, but again this wasn't tested in the field. I'm hoping it gets better when in actual use.
- This con isn't about the knife per se, but I felt it was worth noting... When Knife Ranch shipped me this one they put it in the sheath and simply tossed both pieces into a cardboard USPS shipping envelope. Without protection of any kind the handle arrived with some visible scuff marks. Not a big deal for me - because it will end up with worse marks after I've been using it for a while - but some type of shipping protection should be included.
- Mine came with a different sheath then what's shown on the Knife Ranch website and what was in the youtube video reviews. The previous version had a loop above the sheath so it hung below your belt, but this one does away with that and instead sits right at belt height. That's a tough angle for me though; it's a little cumbersome to get the knife in/out of the sheath without having to think about the angle and possible damage if I don't get it right. SAZ posted a video yesterday mentioning it as an "upgrade", but for me at least I can't say it was.
Does anyone else have either the Domestic or International version of the SAZ Bushcrafter? And if so, what are your thoughts on the knife.
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