I got the 42 and 42d recently. I got hooked on them reading mistwalkers post on how the 42 came to be. for the money they are impressive knives. very well thought out designs. thick strong tips but still slicey enough and the ffg really work well for a variety of cutting chores. I prefer the 42 just a bit more.
Thank you. I'm sorry I am late in seeing this and responding I have had a few oral surgeries in the last few weeks trying to fix some of the damage in my teeth and jaws that still exists from my days as an orphan on the streets dealing with encounters with gangs and other predators, and with the toxins the rotting teeth in my jaws were releasing into my system and causing some bad complications with my health. Becoming an authority on survival via surviving rough circumstances at first, then severely deteriorated circumstances and extreme conditions in my youth, came at a higher price than I realized it could or knew it had until recently. I've worked on some similar designs for other people through custom knife makers and liked the results of them in use of the tools. But having grown up in the deep south where the economy was all but non existent through the 70s and 80s, and spending a great deal of time in my youth living somewhat primitively in a modern world gave me another goal. We spent a LOT of time essentially living in the woods along several miles of the Chattahoochee River between West Point Georgia and Columbus Georgia for extended periods of time. Building temporary shelters, hunting, trapping, and running trot lines. To both stock our's and elderly family, friends, and neighbor's freezers with meat and to make money selling on the fish and fur markets. And then living even more primitively, and covertly, for over four years as an orphan on the streets of a few large cities and understanding the struggles that can come into play in life, the whole point of these models was to put the knowledge I had gained in long term uses of knives in serious and intense uses into producing more thought out designs with better handle ergonomics into the more affordable end of the knife market. Thus they would be more in reach of those who have struggled financially the way I have, which from my experiences have been the people who use hand tools the most in life, as well as being economical to the point of not inhibiting rough use, which was the exact niche Schrade knives filled in my life in my youth, being available in any hardware store I entered in my youth, at a price anyone with any sort of job could usually manage to afford without hurting themselves financially. I still have a Schrade Golden Spike I paid less that $30 for in 1981, and I still carry it at times, though the sheath is getting worn.
I was the same as you jbmonkey, I read his story and design theory and had to try them out.
I’m working on fitting some Micarta scales into my budget for the 42 and one of the 55 models I have.
I actually like the factory scales on the 55, but not so much on the 42. The brown color throws me off a little bit in contrast to the leather sheath’s coloring (which I like).
I have a few spare sets of the black scales from a few 42s I gifted to with micarta scales a few years ago when the micarta scales were easier to obtain. The scales are the same for 42 and 42D other than color. I could sell them for around $10 a set just to pay for the priority postage and the gas to go to the PO. I have to make a trip to the PO today if I can or maybe tomorrow anyway to ship off some things I am late in shipping to the southern hemisphere. After the series of surgeries, I've been having to work day and night to play catch up, and hopefully be able to afford the next round of surgeries which we already know is necessary. So I've been leaving before the PO opens, and then not getting back till well after it closed. So I am going to make a trip at lunch one day now that I have caught up enough to take an actual lunch. I actually wanted both leather sheaths to be brown, but it just didn't go that way. I am still working on talking them into doing a sheath like the 55 has that will work on the 42 and 42D.
The 42 has impressed me so much I am giving them to friends and family for Christmas.
Thank you for the feedback, I am glad you are pleased with them. I like how the the 42 turned out myself and keep one in a pack in my truck.
