Similar But Different

thurin

thurin

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I'm now the proud owner of 3 Fiddleback Forge knives: Bushfinger, Hunter and Kephart. The Bushfinger and Kephart definitely fit into the "Bushcrafter" category, although I'll be using the Hunter in that role as well. While the Bushfinger and Kephart are similar, the two examples I have approach it in very different ways.

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Bushfinger is a Convex 3/16" non-tapered with extra wide handles.
Kephart is Scandi 1/8" non-tapered with normal handles.

As you probably already know, I picked up the Bushfinger to fit in my large hands. I've used it quite a bit over the last month or two: working in the yard and tasks related to the BushClass USA classes over at BushcraftUSA. It's worked very well and felt very comfortable even while using it for extended periods of time creating shavings and feathersticks. It's been a beast while batoning firewood. I couldn't be happier with it.

I've only had the Kephart a couple days, but already like it for different reasons. It's light, nimble and an amazing carver.

While they're obviously different grinds, they're also very different in weight and width of blade and handles. Most obviously seen in a spine view.

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I'll have to report back on how well the thinner Kephart feels with extended usage.

Since I have the thickness extremes covered, the next set of extremes I want to test out will be in blade size: a Camp Knife vs an EDKarda for example :)
 
Nice knives. Wow, that bushfinger handle looks like a BEAST next to the kephart. Did you get larger handles on purpose or did it come that way?
 
Raining said:
Nice knives. Wow, that bushfinger handle looks like a BEAST next to the kephart. Did you get larger handles on purpose or did it come that way?
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Between the 3/16" steel and the wider handles, it definitely is a beast. I bought it specifically for the large handles - I need them. Here's a pic from when I first received it:

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I'll take some new in hand comparison shots between the Bushfinger and Kephart when I get back to a camera.
 
I'd second your thoughts, I'm really impressed with the Kephart for carving too.

A comparison pic with my Bushfinger (the Bushfinger is 5/32 and the Kephart is 1/8)

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I did wander if the thinner handle would prove uncomfortable in the hammer grip doing tasks like feather sticks but I haven't found that. I think this may be because the handle is quite deep at the butt.
 
avoidspam said:
I'd second your thoughts, I'm really impressed with the Kephart for carving too.

A comparison pic with my Bushfinger (the Bushfinger is 5/32 and the Kephart is 1/8)

I did wander if the thinner handle would prove uncomfortable in the hammer grip doing tasks like feather sticks but I haven't found that. I think this may be because the handle is quite deep at the butt.
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That tapered tang makes the difference even more pronounced. Hopefully I'll have the same results as you with the Kephart on heavier usage.

Some in-hand pics, including the Hunter:
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And a gratuitous user pic:
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This is a very eye opening thread. I didn't realize the Kephart was that much smaller. I say that because my Bushfinger (1/8" scandi) feels very thin to me compared to my Bushcrafter 5/32 convex. I wonder if your "extra wide" handles feel closer to my Bushcrafter than my Bushfinger.
 
MajorD said:
This is a very eye opening thread. I didn't realize the Kephart was that much smaller. I say that because my Bushfinger (1/8" scandi) feels very thin to me compared to my Bushcrafter 5/32 convex. I wonder if your "extra wide" handles feel closer to my Bushcrafter than my Bushfinger.
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I think this is probably a case of my Bushfinger just being extra wide. You can see this particular one in maw's comparison thread to compare to his other Bushfingers.
I don't have a comparison of my Kephart to other Kepharts to know if it's thinner than normal, but in the 2/15/13 Fiddleback Friday thread where this one came from it looks similar to the Kephart it's pictured with.
 
MajorD said:
This is a very eye opening thread. I didn't realize the Kephart was that much smaller. I say that because my Bushfinger (1/8" scandi) feels very thin to me compared to my Bushcrafter 5/32 convex. I wonder if your "extra wide" handles feel closer to my Bushcrafter than my Bushfinger.
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Thurin's Bushinger is an exception rather than a rule. It is made of 3/16 steel which is thicker than Andy normally uses for knives of that size, and it has extra thick liners. Occasionally Andy throws some out for his "big-handed" customers.
 
MajorD said:
This is a very eye opening thread. I didn't realize the Kephart was that much smaller. I say that because my Bushfinger (1/8" scandi) feels very thin to me compared to my Bushcrafter 5/32 convex. I wonder if your "extra wide" handles feel closer to my Bushcrafter than my Bushfinger.
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Hi Dave,

Sorry for my late reply. I am glad to see though that both thurin and mistwalker already answered your question. Thank you gentleman. :)

I believe both thurin's and mistwalker's replies are spot on. The Bushfinger in question has a 3/16" thick blade with extra thick handles. Hence, it is much wider than the knives Andy normally produces and certainly looks so. I had thought several times about sending it back to Andy to have the handles thinned out, but when thurin posted on Bladeforums, I knew this was the knife for him!

Mark
 
MajorD said:
This is a very eye opening thread. I didn't realize the Kephart was that much smaller. I say that because my Bushfinger (1/8" scandi) feels very thin to me compared to my Bushcrafter 5/32 convex. I wonder if your "extra wide" handles feel closer to my Bushcrafter than my Bushfinger.
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Another thing is that this is a comparison of a thicker than normal Bushfinger, at least 1/32 in the steel, and looking at the liner materials I'm guessing there is another 1/4 inch or so there, to a Kephart made of 1/8 inch stock which is a bit thinner than one made of 5/32 stock with a full tang like mine. So the difference is quite drastic. I have a full tang Bushfinger and a full tang Kephart on hand, both of 5/32 stock. I'll try to take comparison pics tomorrow and you'll see the difference isn't near this drastic.
 
Here's a shot including the Hunter. I think the Hunter is much closer to the Kephart in thickness than my abnormally large (and perfect for me) Bushfinger.

3/16" Bushfinger, 5/32" Hunter, 1/8" Kephart.

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The Liner on the Bushfinger is especially wide compared to the others.
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Hopefully I haven't scared anyone into thinking the Bushfingers are normally that huge. I was just trying to show how different my two Bushcrafting knives were in their approach.
 
Oh, and to add, I had some time last night fooling around with the Kephart. It really is a mean carver. I have no skills whatsoever, but had fun making some tent pegs, notches and some little flower thingy my wife liked.

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thurin said:
Hopefully I haven't scared anyone into thinking the Bushfingers are normally that huge. I was just trying to show how different my two Bushcrafting knives were in their approach.
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Meh, we're all big boys here, hopefully nobody got scared...just maybe a little confused :D

The Kephart is really fun to carve and whittle pegs and trap triggers with. My favorite bushcrafting knife so far, and I love how it handles. Maybe you should hint at Andy to make you a Kephart to match your Bushfinger. It should be about time for another big handed knife or two :)
 
thurin said:
Oh, and to add, I had some time last night fooling around with the Kephart. It really is a mean carver. I have no skills whatsoever, but had fun making some tent pegs, notches and some little flower thingy my wife liked.

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Well done thurin!
 
mistwalker said:
Meh, we're all big boys here, hopefully nobody got scared...just maybe a little confused :D

The Kephart is really fun to carve and whittle pegs and trap triggers with. My favorite bushcrafting knife so far, and I love how it handles. Maybe you should hint at Andy to make you a Kephart to match your Bushfinger. It should be about time for another big handed knife or two :)
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Scared...not me. ;) That was a pretty good one Mist!

Matching Kepart and Bushfinger. What a superb idea! :thumbup:
 
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