Hi folks
A couple of months ago I got in touch with a chap called Willem who goes by the name of Smokepole here. He lives in South Africa and has been making knives for a number of years. He's knives have attracted a significant amount of attention over here with several group buys and he's always been keen to produce knives that fit issues like UK knife laws. I asked Willem if he could produce a tough, hard working knife for me which would be comfortable to use. He worked with me to develop this knife, there is a WIP thread here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ole-Ranger-Friction-Liner-Lock-Knife-Finished
This is the result:
I received the knife on Friday and have been using the knife over the weekend for various tasks. Here is a short review (with a few pics
)
The spec's of the knife are as follows:
3mm/ brass liners, Black Chacate scales and a 4mm blade in O1 steel. The blade is full height convex, my favoured grind and hard to find on a folding knife.
Overall length: 215mm
Blade: 90mm
Cutting edge: 85mm
Pivot: 4.5mm
The nearest knife I have as a comparison is the Spyderco Gayle Bradley
As you can see it is a touch larger, the thickness of the knife is where things really change however
I measure it at about 20mm thick and before i received the knife I was concerned that it would be a bit too chunky. Now that i have had the knife for a few days I can see that I needn't have been concerned. The knife fills my hand really well, the classic handle shape is comfortable in all grips I've tried.
I've worked the knife hard in the hammer grip with no problems.
At the design stage Willem suggested combining the liner lock with an extended friction folder tang.
This design provides several benefits; the knife is easy to open with one hand by pushing the extended tang. Despite the 4mm blade Willem has got the balance just right so the blade glides smoothly open with the lock engaging with a nice 'clunk'. The extended tang adds security in most grips should the lock disengage although I have to say the width of the scales put the lock bar well away from pressure points. One advantage I hadn't expected is that the tang dissipates torsional stress, passing it into the liners instead of the pivot. This makes the whole knife stronger and extends the life of thew pivot under heavy use.
Willem supplied a nice horizontal carry, hide leather sheath for the knife, it doesn't sit in your pocket well
I've been experimenting with different positions, have settled on this so far....
The sheath holds the knife well and I've kept the lanyard Willem put on the knife to help get it out.
I had hoped to take some pic's of the knife in the woods doing some Bushcraft type tasks but the sunshine brings other 'household' tasks....
Still, I had some nice dry Scot's pine so made some feather sticks which it did with ease.
I'm enjoying experimenting with different tinder at the moment, in particular making really fine curls with dry wood. Again, despite the knife's size, no problem
Of course, if you do all that you've got to set fire to it
I also made a tent peg with a small lashing joint to try out a few cuts and positions.
I had asked Willem to put a shallow convex grind on the knife and it's exactly as I had hoped for. I don't use my knives for battoning type tasks, the grind and bevel have kept strength behind the edge whilst ensuing the knife slices well. I even sliced carrots and apple, I wouldn't pick it as a vegetable knife but it managed.
Overall I'm really impressed with the knife, and happy to be using and original design which works and looks great. I know Willem is proud of the first of this model, and so he should be. He has recently registered as a maker on the forum, I think you'll be seeing a lot more of him.
Sam
A couple of months ago I got in touch with a chap called Willem who goes by the name of Smokepole here. He lives in South Africa and has been making knives for a number of years. He's knives have attracted a significant amount of attention over here with several group buys and he's always been keen to produce knives that fit issues like UK knife laws. I asked Willem if he could produce a tough, hard working knife for me which would be comfortable to use. He worked with me to develop this knife, there is a WIP thread here: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ole-Ranger-Friction-Liner-Lock-Knife-Finished
This is the result:
I received the knife on Friday and have been using the knife over the weekend for various tasks. Here is a short review (with a few pics
)The spec's of the knife are as follows:
3mm/ brass liners, Black Chacate scales and a 4mm blade in O1 steel. The blade is full height convex, my favoured grind and hard to find on a folding knife.
Overall length: 215mm
Blade: 90mm
Cutting edge: 85mm
Pivot: 4.5mm
The nearest knife I have as a comparison is the Spyderco Gayle Bradley
As you can see it is a touch larger, the thickness of the knife is where things really change however
I measure it at about 20mm thick and before i received the knife I was concerned that it would be a bit too chunky. Now that i have had the knife for a few days I can see that I needn't have been concerned. The knife fills my hand really well, the classic handle shape is comfortable in all grips I've tried.
I've worked the knife hard in the hammer grip with no problems.
At the design stage Willem suggested combining the liner lock with an extended friction folder tang.
This design provides several benefits; the knife is easy to open with one hand by pushing the extended tang. Despite the 4mm blade Willem has got the balance just right so the blade glides smoothly open with the lock engaging with a nice 'clunk'. The extended tang adds security in most grips should the lock disengage although I have to say the width of the scales put the lock bar well away from pressure points. One advantage I hadn't expected is that the tang dissipates torsional stress, passing it into the liners instead of the pivot. This makes the whole knife stronger and extends the life of thew pivot under heavy use.
Willem supplied a nice horizontal carry, hide leather sheath for the knife, it doesn't sit in your pocket well
I've been experimenting with different positions, have settled on this so far....
The sheath holds the knife well and I've kept the lanyard Willem put on the knife to help get it out.
I had hoped to take some pic's of the knife in the woods doing some Bushcraft type tasks but the sunshine brings other 'household' tasks....
Still, I had some nice dry Scot's pine so made some feather sticks which it did with ease.
I'm enjoying experimenting with different tinder at the moment, in particular making really fine curls with dry wood. Again, despite the knife's size, no problem
Of course, if you do all that you've got to set fire to it
I also made a tent peg with a small lashing joint to try out a few cuts and positions.
I had asked Willem to put a shallow convex grind on the knife and it's exactly as I had hoped for. I don't use my knives for battoning type tasks, the grind and bevel have kept strength behind the edge whilst ensuing the knife slices well. I even sliced carrots and apple, I wouldn't pick it as a vegetable knife but it managed.
Overall I'm really impressed with the knife, and happy to be using and original design which works and looks great. I know Willem is proud of the first of this model, and so he should be. He has recently registered as a maker on the forum, I think you'll be seeing a lot more of him.
Sam
