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Scagel for a camp knife?
- Thread starter stevenH
- Start date
RokJok
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2000
- Messages
- 4,311
My quick $0.02 worth:
The blade shape may (or may not) work just fine. That'll depend on your particular applications of the knife.
For efficient chip clearing on wood chopping you want enough primary bevel angle to lever the chips out. On the other hand, for penetration on the chopping stroke you want a very slow gradual taper from a thin edge to the spine. Note that these two are counterproductive to each other --- so you need to find a blade geometry that gives a balance of penetration and chip clearing that suits your individual chopping technique and the woods that exist in your target area (hardwoods vs softwoods).
For cutting/slicing chores, you want a thin edge without a lot of shoulder material behind it. The downside of that is the higher tendency for thin edges to get damaged while chopping.
The traditional Scagel handle's natural materials wouldn't be my #1 choice for an outdoor knife. I'd be looking at micarta primarily or Resiprene-C on a Swamp Rat or Busse knife as a secondary choice. **NO** other rubberish materials currently on the market need apply IMHO.
My recommendation would be to carry a two (or three) knife setup. A big long-bladed heavy-duty chopper from the Swamp and a thin-bladed cutter/slicer. To keep it in The Swamp, maybe put together a Battle Rat & Bog Dog combo. Or perhaps a Camp Tramp (if the BR is bigger/heavier than you want to lug around) paired with a Howling Rat as your slicer. Or a Rat Daddy coupled with a Rat Trap folder or Rat Skinner.
To cover woodcrafting and cutting needs, my personal carry choices are:
The blade shape may (or may not) work just fine. That'll depend on your particular applications of the knife.
For efficient chip clearing on wood chopping you want enough primary bevel angle to lever the chips out. On the other hand, for penetration on the chopping stroke you want a very slow gradual taper from a thin edge to the spine. Note that these two are counterproductive to each other --- so you need to find a blade geometry that gives a balance of penetration and chip clearing that suits your individual chopping technique and the woods that exist in your target area (hardwoods vs softwoods).
For cutting/slicing chores, you want a thin edge without a lot of shoulder material behind it. The downside of that is the higher tendency for thin edges to get damaged while chopping.
The traditional Scagel handle's natural materials wouldn't be my #1 choice for an outdoor knife. I'd be looking at micarta primarily or Resiprene-C on a Swamp Rat or Busse knife as a secondary choice. **NO** other rubberish materials currently on the market need apply IMHO.
My recommendation would be to carry a two (or three) knife setup. A big long-bladed heavy-duty chopper from the Swamp and a thin-bladed cutter/slicer. To keep it in The Swamp, maybe put together a Battle Rat & Bog Dog combo. Or perhaps a Camp Tramp (if the BR is bigger/heavier than you want to lug around) paired with a Howling Rat as your slicer. Or a Rat Daddy coupled with a Rat Trap folder or Rat Skinner.
To cover woodcrafting and cutting needs, my personal carry choices are:
- a folding pocket Japanese saw from Frank Tashiro's website so I can section out firewood & don't have to chop. Sawing is MUCH safer than chopping because it offers much better control.
Other such Japanese (cut on the pull stroke) pruning saws would also work: Corona (widely available at home centers & hardware stores) or Silky (relatively expensive). I've also heard good things about the Bahco saws. I just happen to like the adjustability and easy blade change on the Tashiro saw. Search here on BFC for the word "Tashiro" to find other comments by myself and Cliff Stamp on the saw.
- a 7-inch heavy-duty blade like the Camp Tramp or Busse Basic 7 for splitting the sawed rounds to get dry interior wood for kindling if needed. They also work for rougher cutting work where delicacy and finesse are not the priority.
- a small thin-bladed knife Among folding knives, Swiss Army Knives are actually prety good for this, plus offering the versatility of extra tools. Otherwise, use whatever folder you're already carrying. The folder of choice is the Rat Trap from the Swamp. My folder happens to be a Blade-Tech Wegner Pro-Hunter.
However, inherent to all folders is the problem of having nooks 'n crannies among the mechanism where food particles and other gunk can congregate. So I recommend a fixed blade for this small knife, as well as the larger chopper. For a small fixed blade camp kitchen knife, I like the Spyderco Bill Moran Featherweights. I do still need to get a Bog Dog for comparison.
Since this lightweight knife won't see impacts, a commercial (or custom) thin-bladed (typically 1/16" or less wide at the spine) kitchen knife would be a good choice. After all, they're whole design is geared toward doing exactly what this blade's chores are going to be. Also, being usually made of stainless steel, their maintenance needs in the field would be lower than carbon steels.
Cliff Stamp
BANNED
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1998
- Messages
- 17,562
Of that "style" leaves a lot of room for variation, and a quick check on his knives in general wil turn up lots of different types, I would not be displeased to be working with this reproduction :
http://www.tomesknives.com/Model 8 larger.jpg
for bushcraft and then food preperation. As RokJok noted, those two tasks you mentioned are pretty much in opposition so there will be compromise in which area the blade excells.
-Cliff
http://www.tomesknives.com/Model 8 larger.jpg
for bushcraft and then food preperation. As RokJok noted, those two tasks you mentioned are pretty much in opposition so there will be compromise in which area the blade excells.
-Cliff