So who is ready for a pass around

I Handed the knife to Dylan today. After he is finshed eveserating the makers skills if any one still wants it I will start sending down the list.
 
I don't know if it is way to late to get on the list. But that knife is so great looking. I would love to get a shot at the passaround.
 
I don't know if it is way to late to get on the list. But that knife is so great looking. I would love to get a shot at the passaround.
Thank you for your interest but the list is so long people are going to be wating a while to get it as it is. I have a few more things in the works that are going to need some field testing. so stay tuned to the same bat chanle at the same bat time!
Again thank you for your interest in my work with out y'all I would not get to do this
 
I have had Dan's knife for about 3 weeks now and I was on the Kepart pass-around before. This knife is a testament to how far Dan has come in a year. However I really loved the wood sheath design of the Kepart. The fit of the micarta guard looks great and all the parts look to fit up extremely well. I really enjoyed working and testing this knife.

Now what every one is probably most interested in, thoughts on the knife:

Handle:

The handle also fits my hand really well. I have large hands and sometimes it is hard to find one that has enough width. Some of the people coming around the house thought it was a little thick but like I said I like it for me. I really like how Dan does his handles with a feature that comes down on either end of your hand. That really seems to help making the knife feel secure in the hand.

I really like how the micarta guard looks and is attached. This guard has two pins and epoxy to keep it very secure. My other knives that I have without a guard I still am usually careful to make sure my hand does not slide up. With this guard I was never worried my hand would slide forward during trying to pierce something.

This knife handle also feels very comfortable doing food prep around the kitchen. This handle was comfortable for me to use for about an hour strait. My wife and I go backpacking and all of our knives we like to shine in the food prep area also.

There is a small hole for some paracord to be inserted. Whatever lanyard you want to put on this knife the rope will have to be fairly small. The internal diameter is only about 3/16”.

Blade:

The blade holds an edge very well. O1 is a great knife steel for this as well as still being able to be sharpened in the field very well. It is very apparent that Dan has mastered the heat-treating of O1 tool steel. That fancy new oven in his new shop should only help him with his other steels too!

The blade is not very tall; I think it is about an inch tall. With it only being approximately an inch tall I would like to see the blade be a little bit thinner to make it more of a slicer knife. With it being 3/16” thick when doing food prep it was a little thick to peel and cut. I think it would be better if it was around an 5/32” to 1/8”. Also if the blade were a bit taller, around 1.5”, I would consider using it more in bushcraft roll.

The swedges on top make it very pointy and the point of the knife is good for puncturing things. When doing this, the micarta guard really helps to give peace of mind that your hand won’t slip forward. This thin point is also very helpful when trying to do very delicate cuts. The blade also tapers down from the guard to the point making the point rather thin. These swedges really help get the point thinner while allowing the rest of the blade to stay very thick.

Sheath:

Dan’s sheath is pretty nice and holds the knife well with the leather ties. This sheath uses leather ties to more securely hold the blade instead of using friction and sticking the knife deeper in the sheath. With the micarta guard it was a little thick to go over the leather ties when inserting and removing the knife. With how much narrower the handle is after the guard these leather ties need to be closer. I would be interested to see what Dan’s sheath man Rob Lo would come up with for this problem.

Overall Impressions:

Overall I really enjoyed using this knife and think that it would work well in more of a hunting roll than a bushcraft roll that I would want to use it in. This knife can sure do a lot of bushcraft things as described by jcoffman55 previous post. The only thing I really have to say that is negative is I wish the blade were a bit thinner for only a 1” tall knife blade. No big deal…Seems to me as I am typing it to be more of a personal preference. It is always better to have a strong blade.

This knife like I said before really shows how much farther Dan has come with his fit and finish of this knife handles and blades. This knife was really a joy to use and I look forward to seeing what other knifes he has coming down the pipe!

Dan thank you again for allowing us the opportunity to play with one of your creations!
 
good review. the knife was waiting for me when i got home last night. i'll tell ya...took me a few minutes to figure out why. "What the....?!?" oh yeah! the passaround!

i am hunting this weekend so hope to get a chance to use it. looks like it would be great at game prep.

i had some initial impressions i was going to post, but i will save it for a more formal review.

nice job on the sharpening KHD.

looking forward to trying it out. thanks for the opportunity Dan.
 
well, i don't think i am going to get a chance to process any game with this knife. so, rather than hogging it, i will post my thoughts and send it on its way.

here she is
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What i liked....
Fit and finish is great. Really like the blade. As Daily said above, the blade stock is thick(er), but i really like the grind. It is ground to a very thin cutting edge. i like it! :thumbup:

seems like it will be a great cutter. i see this as being quite a good hunting knife. i expect it would excel at small game prep (and fish).

Dan also really put a great taper on this tang.
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it was easy to use for fuzz sticks.
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What i didn't like....
The handle. i actually liked the shape quite a bit. it just didn't fit my hand. the handle was 5" long. and the swell was right in the middle. this meant that there was a lot of excess for me (sorry for the crappy pic).
8155535288_789b9cb5bd_b.jpg


you can see what i mean with my hand closed.
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i would have preferred the palm swell to be moved toward the tip. that way, my hand would be pushed toward the guard. even then, i could lose a bunch of length.

now, i know the handle is a very subjective thing... so take that all with a grain of salt. if you have large hands (or were perhaps wearing gloves), then this handle would probably work for you. i would guess it is tough for a maker to come up with one handle that pleases everybody.

Dan, i know you said that you wanted feedback on the guard. first and foremost, the construction was sound. very good. honestly, i can't recall ever seeing a guard quite like this. it was almost like a hidden tang handle...except a hidden tang guard.
however, with all that said...like the handle...it was a bit much for me. it extended a good 1/4" past the knife edge. i would have preferred it either trimmed closer, or have the edge extended. just my 2 cents.

My overall impression was that this knife was quite a unique offering. i really think it would excel at game prep, and i am sorry i didn't get a chance to use it as such. the fit and finish were outstanding. the blade was outstanding. the handle really just didn't fit my hand.

I would like to see this same knife shape in a more compact offering. also, aesthetically speaking...i would like to see a contrasting bolster. i.e. nat micarta and black G10, or vice versa (e.g.).

Dan, thanks so much for this passaround. glad i got a chance to check it out.
 
knife has been shipped to next reviewer/tester.

Received today. I was looking at the box before I opened it, and I couldn't remember ordering anything! Great looking knife. Gonna try it out over the next few days, maybe try out my new camcorder and do a video review
 
Received today. I was looking at the box before I opened it, and I couldn't remember ordering anything! Great looking knife. Gonna try it out over the next few days, maybe try out my new camcorder and do a video review

Yeah...same thing happened to me. it took me a good few minutes to figure it out. i only had your name/address...not your forum name; otherwise i would have given you the head's up.
 
I have to admit a had a bit of a smile with the image of y'all standing thinking, do I owe some one money? Did i drunk order a knife again? Should I tell some one? Can I keep it? Dose my wife know about it?
 
Great looking blade still! I like that long handle, as I like alot of handle. Dan, any plans yet to make this a standard model?
 
So.....where's your next prototype. It's hunting season and I could use it to SKIN stuff if you had a SKINNING knife in your lineup...hint hint.;)
 
my flooring guy bought it on fri day but I have two more blanks next to the grinder if their is any body interested in a dogwood skinner pass around
 
Got it the other day and had it out once- been raining since! :grumpy: I want to try and get it out again- but we'll see. Might just wait for the holiday to pass too for less shipping madness. Who is next?
 
MMMEEEEEEE! Feel free to hold on to tell the weather breaks. I am thinking of something for the kitchen for the next pass around, an thoughts?
 
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