- Joined
- Jul 27, 2005
- Messages
- 8,169
I participated in the SHBA passaround graciously lent out by Mulder. When I opened the box and took out the knife I realized just how heavy this little guy was. It wasnt super heavy but it wasnt light either. Removing it from its sheath (which I liked the way it secured the knife and the overall look) I instantly fell in love with it. It just....FIT! The handle felt great the ergo's were perfect for my hand and the knife though heavy feeling in the sheath did not feel cumbersome in my hands.
Now it rained here in MD from Friday to Monday so I did not get outside to use the SHBA much but I did do some comparison testing and some general work with the knife. I compared the SHBA to my Dumpster Mutt and my Scrapper5 both from Scrapyard. Those two had similar blade lengths and the Dumpster Mutt had similar thickness. Neither had similar handle designs. I also chose those two as I have used them alot and feel comfortable comparing the SHBA to the knives I routinely use. It was also nice to compair INFI with SR101 and SR77 within similar sized knives.
In Kitchen prep I cut up some chicken and sliced up cucumbers, tomatoes etc. The thickness of the SHBA did not lend itself well to kitchen duty, as much as I loved using it, it did not perform as I would have liked. But this isnt a kitchen knife so I did not get discouraged. The DM which also is very thick did not do well either but due to the more acute V Grind it still out performed the SHBA. With the Scrapper5 it wasnt even fair, Its about half the thickness of the other two knives and I have a much more acute convex grind on it. It easily out sliced, and outcut both the SHBA and the DM.
Next I found some wood in my garage and started making Fuzz sticks and cutting notches. The SHBA was very comfortable in use.....actually again my favorite in the hand by far. The control felt better with the SHBA than the other two and I liked the heft in my hand. It made notches well however due to the grind it did not keep up with the Scrapper5 as far as making fuzz sticks which produced much finer curls. I do not detract from the SHBA in this regard as again its not a bushcrafting knife by any means and with a thinner edge I am sure would have done better. The thickness here got me thinking that maybe I would want this knife just a little thinner.
After being cooped up inside Tuesday I felt that it was dry enough to go out and play (I try not to use other's knives in wet conditions as to keep the possibility of rust and pitting to a minimal). I took the three knives to some old spruce bows and did some very light chopping and delimbing of small branches. The SHBA easily took off the small limbs and for its size chopped admirably. The heavy forward weight of the DM made it chop and snap cut well for its size but i found the handle a little small for the chore. The Scrapper just isnt meant for this kind of work, to me its a slicer a cutter and I'd much prefer to batton than attempt to do any chopping with it. I did some wood carving and drilling into some flat planks of board. All three did fine witht he drilling into the plank. Wood carving once again I love the handle shape of the SHBA and the blade shape, it once again would have faired better with a thinner edge and blade but it did not do bad.
For whatever reason I just wasnt feeling the DM....I hardly went to it for much of the work I did making notches and carving. I much prefered the Scrapper and the SHBA's handle and feel for this work. In fact I think I much favored the Scrapper and SHBA for use in all the work I did with these three knives. The ergo's, the balance and the blade shape of these two knives I just found more ideal than that of the DM.
In conclusion: After using all three knives next too each other all I can say is MAKE THE SHBA THINNER! My goodness the knife feels great in the hand, I just wanted to find work to do with it....plain and simple. I love the blade shape for almost any work, it would make an excellent field knife for hunting and camping chores. Throughout all the work I found myself wishing it was as thin as the Scrapper. Now as it is its a great knife and I certainly would keep it as is of course. The thickness feels great in the package its currently in and I am sure in other jobs its thickness helps (chopping if its your only knife, battoning, camp chores). However with the work I most often do a thinner knife benefits me more. I am so very torn on this knife. I love it just the way it is but after using it against my thinner Scrapper I could just see how shaving a little weight you could maintain its balance but make it better at jobs its not excellent at. Please note I did not really compare steels as I felt it unfair with all three having different edge geometry's. None of the three were noticebly dull or chipped or rolled throughout the review.
I look forward to your comments and viewpoints. Mind you I didnt get to do all the work I wanted with the SHBA and as I did no edge modifications of any kind so it wasnt exactly fair....I'll admit that. I just know that a thinner blade in this size and shape would only enhance the knife. Pictures should hopefully follow this afternoon.
Now it rained here in MD from Friday to Monday so I did not get outside to use the SHBA much but I did do some comparison testing and some general work with the knife. I compared the SHBA to my Dumpster Mutt and my Scrapper5 both from Scrapyard. Those two had similar blade lengths and the Dumpster Mutt had similar thickness. Neither had similar handle designs. I also chose those two as I have used them alot and feel comfortable comparing the SHBA to the knives I routinely use. It was also nice to compair INFI with SR101 and SR77 within similar sized knives.
In Kitchen prep I cut up some chicken and sliced up cucumbers, tomatoes etc. The thickness of the SHBA did not lend itself well to kitchen duty, as much as I loved using it, it did not perform as I would have liked. But this isnt a kitchen knife so I did not get discouraged. The DM which also is very thick did not do well either but due to the more acute V Grind it still out performed the SHBA. With the Scrapper5 it wasnt even fair, Its about half the thickness of the other two knives and I have a much more acute convex grind on it. It easily out sliced, and outcut both the SHBA and the DM.
Next I found some wood in my garage and started making Fuzz sticks and cutting notches. The SHBA was very comfortable in use.....actually again my favorite in the hand by far. The control felt better with the SHBA than the other two and I liked the heft in my hand. It made notches well however due to the grind it did not keep up with the Scrapper5 as far as making fuzz sticks which produced much finer curls. I do not detract from the SHBA in this regard as again its not a bushcrafting knife by any means and with a thinner edge I am sure would have done better. The thickness here got me thinking that maybe I would want this knife just a little thinner.
After being cooped up inside Tuesday I felt that it was dry enough to go out and play (I try not to use other's knives in wet conditions as to keep the possibility of rust and pitting to a minimal). I took the three knives to some old spruce bows and did some very light chopping and delimbing of small branches. The SHBA easily took off the small limbs and for its size chopped admirably. The heavy forward weight of the DM made it chop and snap cut well for its size but i found the handle a little small for the chore. The Scrapper just isnt meant for this kind of work, to me its a slicer a cutter and I'd much prefer to batton than attempt to do any chopping with it. I did some wood carving and drilling into some flat planks of board. All three did fine witht he drilling into the plank. Wood carving once again I love the handle shape of the SHBA and the blade shape, it once again would have faired better with a thinner edge and blade but it did not do bad.
For whatever reason I just wasnt feeling the DM....I hardly went to it for much of the work I did making notches and carving. I much prefered the Scrapper and the SHBA's handle and feel for this work. In fact I think I much favored the Scrapper and SHBA for use in all the work I did with these three knives. The ergo's, the balance and the blade shape of these two knives I just found more ideal than that of the DM.
In conclusion: After using all three knives next too each other all I can say is MAKE THE SHBA THINNER! My goodness the knife feels great in the hand, I just wanted to find work to do with it....plain and simple. I love the blade shape for almost any work, it would make an excellent field knife for hunting and camping chores. Throughout all the work I found myself wishing it was as thin as the Scrapper. Now as it is its a great knife and I certainly would keep it as is of course. The thickness feels great in the package its currently in and I am sure in other jobs its thickness helps (chopping if its your only knife, battoning, camp chores). However with the work I most often do a thinner knife benefits me more. I am so very torn on this knife. I love it just the way it is but after using it against my thinner Scrapper I could just see how shaving a little weight you could maintain its balance but make it better at jobs its not excellent at. Please note I did not really compare steels as I felt it unfair with all three having different edge geometry's. None of the three were noticebly dull or chipped or rolled throughout the review.
I look forward to your comments and viewpoints. Mind you I didnt get to do all the work I wanted with the SHBA and as I did no edge modifications of any kind so it wasnt exactly fair....I'll admit that. I just know that a thinner blade in this size and shape would only enhance the knife. Pictures should hopefully follow this afternoon.
Last edited:
