Skookum Bushtool

Haloblue, I spoke to Rod about a month or two ago. He said because of the economy he has had a lot of cancellations. So, you may be able to have a Skookum a lot faster then you think.
Click to expand...

Nice! Thanks for the info. I could live with that. :)
 
Mine's natural micarta, A2 with 2 lanyard holes and the butt plate.
My favourite thing about it is the girth of the handles. Beautifully contoured and not too slim. It fits my M/L hand nicely.
I have to say that I don't really notice the extra weight from the plate. I did a similar thing as pict and made a little tie on belt loop (Mine is from paracord. It works well).
 
That last lanyard hole is the only head scratcher to me also. I think the holes were designed more for lashing than as thong holes. My son has the camera but I'm using an O1, no shear hole, nat. canvas model, w/ butt plate. I have both A2 and O1. They perform so close in actual use that it really boils down to a slight edge to A2 in edge holding but O1 is easier to bring back to a perfect edge. But only by a very small margin. I'm using a Bark River Northstar as a comparison knife to evaluate the different grinds. I find the Northstar to be a better slicer. But that's not really a surprise because the finished angle on the edge leads into the cut lower (for woodworking). The thin blade of the Skookum makes it a very close second though. I don't find as much micro-chipping on the Northstar as the O1 Skookum. I havn't used the A2 blade much yet so I'll hold off on that comparison.
The handle of the Skookum is just right for my hand. As a shoemaker I used knives with no guard all the time and they were razor sharp so the lack of a guard on the Skookum doesn't bother me at all. It probably wouldn't be my first choice to dress out a large animal anyway, so I'm not worried about the slipperiness. For small game and fish this knife would be just like my favorite Rapala knife.
The pommel plate has been put to use to crack some of the billions of hickory nuts we have around here. I think it is a good addition to the design.
As far as sharpening a Scandi edge, I'd just get a good combination Japanese waterstone. 400/800 would do it. Or a set of diamond plates. I'm actually using a set of Hard white and black Arkansas stones. . In real use you don't need to bring the edge to a 2000 grit polish eveytime for a woods knife. I say that about the knife but I do that to my wood chisels so there you go.
If I were one of you guys that has a Skookum on order, I'd be very happy with the decision. You will get some great use out of this knife when you really need it to work for you. The case does beg some improvement though. It's good and tough. Seems like the maker must soak the leather in hot water to get it to harden up like this. You're not likely to stick the point of the knife through it and stab yourself. But it should be made with a more common belt hanging configuration.
I want to add that I really like the point on the Skookum. Being a straight back blade, the point seems to drill better than the drop points that I use.
 
Last edited:
Is the rear lanyard hole like that because the rear rivet holds the butt plate on? I am guessing that's the case.

It's a beautiful knife. I will say that I prefer to have some kind of integral contour or ramp to keep my hand from possibly slipping onto the blade. Otherwise the design is fantastic.
 
Is there a reason that Hiwa's blade looks shorter then pict's? Can you order this knife with a different length blade? Does anyone have a picture of the shearing hole as well? I dont believe I have ever seen a picture of it.
 
sawgrass7 said:
Is the rear lanyard hole like that because the rear rivet holds the butt plate on? I am guessing that's the case.

It's a beautiful knife. I will say that I prefer to have some kind of integral contour or ramp to keep my hand from possibly slipping onto the blade. Otherwise the design is fantastic.
Click to expand...

My understanding is the butt plate is welded and that the lanyard hole placement is for lashing to a spear. Anyway, I'm looking forward to mine. I ordered O1, but am contemplating switching to A2.
 
dbltap45acp said:
Is there a reason that Hiwa's blade looks shorter then pict's? Can you order this knife with a different length blade? Does anyone have a picture of the shearing hole as well? I dont believe I have ever seen a picture of it.
Click to expand...

I think it's just lens distortion from his camera making it look shorter.
Rod's website had a picture of the shearing hole on a SBT.
 
Thanks porcupine, I will go take a look again. I ordered mine in 01, but was thinking about going with CPM3V. Any thoughts on that?
 
Can't go wrong with O1 for ease in sharpening and it will throw good spark from a firesteel. A2 will hold an edge a little longer and not as spark good on a firesteel. CPM3V if your going to abuse/neglect it.
 
I ordered it in 01, and I dont plan on abuse or neglect, but it may be nice if it happens to happen on day. I guess I will have to think on it.
 
dbltap45acp said:
Nice J, I think you will love the one from Brain, as well as the Skookum. Give a me a couple weeks to play with my Terassur, then I can send it to you for a couple weeks. Just be easy on her.
Click to expand...

That would be awesome!! Thanks buddy. :thumbup:

tonym said:
Mine is a2 natural linen without butt plate. Rescue Riley is in possession of Will's SBT. It is a2 as well. I compared the 2 together on Wednesday. The handle on Wills ia a lil wider than mine, which I like alot better. I will probably order another from Rod as well. I will however ask him for a wider handle. I would opt for 01 instead of a2, but that is me.

Over all it is a great knife, I might use mine more if the handle was a lil wider..

Also, I have no c lue why the lanyard hole is inside the last pin and not at the end of the handle. Makes no sence to me... That would be my biggest complaint.
Click to expand...

Why O1 Tony?

Cool that you got to compare the Skookums. Dont you have a Terrasaur too? Hows it compare to the SBT? I have one on order w/ brian.

Could it be that im developing a Scandi bug? :eek::o

Its thanks to the Blind Horse Boat tail Scandi. :o Im diggin it, so I wanna try 2 of the best IMO....
 
Thanks for all your help and insights guys. :thumbup:

Its gonna be a long wait on one, but it will be a pleasant suprise....:thumbup:
 
J, I will shoot you a PM when it arrives, give you some of my thoughts on it, then send it off to you after a couple weeks. I am hoping to have it in a week or so.
 
I have never been into waiting very long for any knife. There are just to many good knives out there waiting to be used.:) I guess waiting is for younger more patient people than me.:thumbup:
 
Thanls dbltap...Thats awesome of ya man. Merry Christmas bro.

udtjim- Im the same way man....I just know I wanna try a SBT in the future, so I figured Ill put an order in, and Ill be ready for it when its done. Merry Christmas man..
 
udtjim, I am very much like you, I like instant gratification. If I didnt already have a few nice scandi's then I would have a hard time as well. In the end, I like my Brian Andrews knives so much I thought about canceling my order. I also thought, why not keep the order, get it in hand so I can actuly hold and slice with it, and if my Andrews still does it all I can throw it on the exchange. Trust me, I wish there was a way to hold one before the order goes through, but there isnt any of these anywhere close to me in Wyoming.
 
I guess it's nice to have them all. However we have such great makers here plus the top production knives like the F-1 and dozens of Bark Rivers. Take a good bushcraft knife from any of them and I really don't need much more. It is time for me to think more about what I need, I will never have all I want. It is a endless quest and it's been fun but I am a much poorer man for my obsessions. I have totes full of knives that will never see the light of the outdoors,:o:o
 
I can respect that. Thats pretty much where I am at as well, for the most part atleast. I used to have 30-40 knives, I am trying to bring it closer to 6 users that I really like.
 
That would make knife life much simpler.:D I might have time to actuall use that many.:thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top