SRK performing to its title

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
7,038
So this is a SURVIVAL rescue knife. Ok, considering that I no longer live in the north, what would that typically mean to me. The likeliest event would be getting stuck in the snow, a vehicle issue etc., although I even take precautions in that regard. Get yourself stuck on a lake while ice fishing and you quickly learn to take at least a shovel. Anyway, I'm out of town and the car is buggered, its winter, and night. I always pack a flash light in the vehicle so I brought that along on my experiment. I used a fero rod and the back of the unmodified SRK, which tossed a ton of sparks out. After 10-12 swipes off the fero rod the grass lit right up. My intention was not to have a cooking etc. fire, just a demo, so next to no effort was put into REALLY doing it properly. I knew already from previous experience that it would be relatively easy to start and maintain a fire under those conditions, and with those materials. And as you can see in the pics, there was a wealth of easily accessible natural materials around to use. Temp wasn't bad -16 C., enough to feel the nip on your cheeks and get the nose running a bit. I could definitely survive a cold winter night with this knife as a basic tool, remember that it can also help to provide shelter. The beaver chewed tree truck or just broken limb knobs provide chunks of dried sap that will give your fire a horrendous boost, helps a lot if the materials are a bit damp.






 
Interesting knife for sure, and one which I consider to be a bit of a design classic.

I regard it as one of the best genuine soldiering knives, borne of a time before the faster, harder deeper, more thrusting, over-built clown things started to show up from vendors in storm. It's lovely to see one here. It's like turning back time to a world before Maybelline, and the confectioner's magic wand pudding; “I tell myself it's only an ice-cream but of course it isn't really”.

Outside of that I have mixed views on its utility use. I bought one for my brother at least 20yrs ago. I got to meddle with it a lot 'cos he can't sharpen properly and I can. Mebe it's a harsh comparison 'cos I was using the adorable Master Hunter for everything at the time, but I could never make it cut well just from sharpening. If it was mine I would have tweaked it more than that to bring out a more general level of usefulness, but as it stood I couldn't. I actually quit sharpening it for him because I felt without the necessary profile tweak it betrayed my apparent sharpening ability. Thereafter that was compensated for by him applying a crude scratchy toothy edge that at least made it good for cutting rope and the like. Thus it was condemned to have the potential untapped and live a life more ordinary.

Happy new year mate.
 
baldtaco-II said:
Interesting knife for sure, and one which I consider to be a bit of a design classic.

I regard it as one of the best genuine soldiering knives, borne of a time before the faster, harder deeper, more thrusting, over-built clown things started to show up from vendors in storm. It's lovely to see one here. It's like turning back time to a world before Maybelline, and the confectioner's magic wand pudding; “I tell myself it's only an ice-cream but of course it isn't really”.

Outside of that I have mixed views on its utility use. I bought one for my brother at least 20yrs ago. I got to meddle with it a lot 'cos he can't sharpen properly and I can. Mebe it's a harsh comparison 'cos I was using the adorable Master Hunter for everything at the time, but I could never make it cut well just from sharpening. If it was mine I would have tweaked it more than that to bring out a more general level of usefulness, but as it stood I couldn't. I actually quit sharpening it for him because I felt without the necessary profile tweak it betrayed my apparent sharpening ability. Thereafter that was compensated for by him applying a crude scratchy toothy edge that at least made it good for cutting rope and the like. Thus it was condemned to have the potential untapped and live a life more ordinary.

Happy new year mate.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your comments. Funny, but the first thing that I think about is my butchered grammar when I see one of your replies, lol. But it is what it is at 3 am :) I have no idea what my sharpening skills, or lack thereof, may bring to this tool. But if it gives rough utilitarian service outdoors I will feel satisfied. I also find your comments on the Master Hunter to be interesting as I want to get one of those in the new Carpenter steel, but my vendor of choice was out of stock at the moment. ....Best to you and yours this coming year.
 
Thanks, upnorth, for the review and the great photos! The occasional--and, perhaps unfortunately, rare--tale of actual knife use is what I come to Blade Forums in the hopes of reading. I also believe the SRK to be a great design, and have since its introduction. I think enough of it to keep one in the small survival kit I maintain in my car. You can't give a better testimonial about a knife than to be willing to stake your life on it!

baldtaco-II, I understand your frustration in sharpening the SRK, particularly those models produced when you purchased one for your brother (Carbon V, I'm assuming), as they were very steeply ground. Cold Steel has tweaked the design itself, and the newest models possess a higher, shallower grind that is both sharper out of the box and easier to re-sharpen. That said, I agree with your assertion that the SRK makes for a better soldier knife and the Master Hunter a better woodcraft knife.

Happy New Year, all!

-Steve
 
upnorth said:
There is something about it that I can't define yet. Size, balance, its raw utilitarian orientation, a combination of factors...?, that make this knife very attractive to me.
Click to expand...

After looking at them in the CS catalog for many years, I finally broke down and picked one up for myself for Christmas, and I will say it's one of the most pleasant knives to handle that I've ever felt. Balance, handle size, shape, and material, etc. just make it feel "right" in my hand. Kind of hard to articulate, but it also has a comforting feeling of heft and solidity, without feeling exactly heavy. I can see why this one has been in the CS catalog for so long. :thumbup:
 
The Whip said:
Thanks, upnorth, for the review and the great photos! The occasional--and, perhaps unfortunately, rare--tale of actual knife use is what I come to Blade Forums in the hopes of reading. I also believe the SRK to be a great design, and have since its introduction. I think enough of it to keep one in the small survival kit I maintain in my car. You can't give a better testimonial about a knife than to be willing to stake your life on it!

baldtaco-II, I understand your frustration in sharpening the SRK, particularly those models produced when you purchased one for your brother (Carbon V, I'm assuming), as they were very steeply ground. Cold Steel has tweaked the design itself, and the newest models possess a higher, shallower grind that is both sharper out of the box and easier to re-sharpen. That said, I agree with your assertion that the SRK makes for a better soldier knife and the Master Hunter a better woodcraft knife.

Happy New Year, all!

-Steve
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply and blade development insight, it's appreciated. :thumbup:
 
G. Scott H. said:
After looking at them in the CS catalog for many years, I finally broke down and picked one up for myself for Christmas, and I will say it's one of the most pleasant knives to handle that I've ever felt. Balance, handle size, shape, and material, etc. just make it feel "right" in my hand. Kind of hard to articulate, but it also has a comforting feeling of heft and solidity, without feeling exactly heavy. I can see why this one has been in the CS catalog for so long. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

You pretty much nailed it with the description buddy. I pick it up and I wonder if I would have bought all my fancier ESEE's etc. if I'd gotten one sooner. It was just one of those back burner knives to get whenever, but it surprised me. Anyway, I'm grabbing back ups to my SRK and Tanto. I never had an issue with tough old AUS8 and they are being dumped to make room for the VG-1's. I waited for the holiday mail madness to diminish before ordering an XL Recon 1 Tanto folder, supposed to be in for pick up now but New Years messed that up until Monday.
 
upnorth said:
Thank you for your comments. Funny, but the first thing that I think about is my butchered grammar when I see one of your replies, lol. But it is what it is at 3 am :) I have no idea what my sharpening skills, or lack thereof, may bring to this tool. But if it gives rough utilitarian service outdoors I will feel satisfied. I also find your comments on the Master Hunter to be interesting as I want to get one of those in the new Carpenter steel, but my vendor of choice was out of stock at the moment. ....Best to you and yours this coming year.
Click to expand...

It's not Carpenter it's Crucible for the master hunter. CPM = crucible CTS = Carpenter.. the hunter is CPM-3V
 
I read this thread and had to go down to the safe and pull out my SRK and take a look and heft it a bit. I think I got mine over 20 years ago. I really wanted the Recon Tanto at the time but couldn't afford it. So I picked up the SRK. Glad I did. I've read good things about the SRK in a couple threads here on the forum. Mine is Carbon V. Took it on a couple of overnight camping/hiking trips way back when. Good knife and I'll be keeping it.
 
Last edited:
kgajewsky said:
I read this thread and had to go down to the safe and pull out my SRK and take a look and heft it a bit. I think I got mine over 20 years ago. I really wanted the Recon Tanto at the time but couldn't afford it. So I picked up the SRK. Glad I did. I've read good things about the SRK in a couple threads here on the forum. Mine is Carbon V. Took it on a couple of overnight camping/hiking trips way back when. Good knife and I'll be keeping it.
Click to expand...

A while back I was on a slight search for one of the Carbon V's, heard good things about them. :thumbup:
 
Wanted to buy one of these a while back, but I've heard people say that the rubber handle will loosen over time and eventually cause blade play. But I personally think that this is a good knife in many ways.
 
A lot of people say that Cold Steel's Kraton handles come loose or melt into goo. Perhaps some do. But none of 20 year old models
including my heavily used SRK in Carbon V has. Even though the black blade finish is pretty much all gone. And I've never actually seen
such a handle in all these years. The SRK as a design has withstood the test of time and it's simple basic no frills design has earned it's reputation
for toughness in all it's steel variations.
 
The only time mine melted was when it came in contact with 100% DEET. I live in Florida and mosquitos are brutal. I sprayed DEET all over and after a couple of hours I grabbed the handle and it squished. Never had contact with diesel fuel but I've heard that will melt it too.
 
sinkrate said:
Wanted to buy one of these a while back, but I've heard people say that the rubber handle will loosen over time and eventually cause blade play. But I personally think that this is a good knife in many ways.
Click to expand...

Hear ya buddy but things like that don't bother me much. If a hawk head is loose, I will fill it with rubber silicone sealant. If a sheath snap is wimpy, a few taps with a hammer on the male end, or replacing the snap solves that. I don't mind performing a few minor tweaks. So I figure that if the grip loosens I'll squirt some goop into it to snug it all up again. :)
 
KenHash said:
A lot of people say that Cold Steel's Kraton handles come loose or melt into goo. Perhaps some do. But none of 20 year old models
including my heavily used SRK in Carbon V has. Even though the black blade finish is pretty much all gone. And I've never actually seen
such a handle in all these years. The SRK as a design has withstood the test of time and it's simple basic no frills design has earned it's reputation
for toughness in all it's steel variations.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your insight, it's appreciated.
 
tidefan said:
The only time mine melted was when it came in contact with 100% DEET. I live in Florida and mosquitos are brutal. I sprayed DEET all over and after a couple of hours I grabbed the handle and it squished. Never had contact with diesel fuel but I've heard that will melt it too.
Click to expand...

Interesting observations. I have had a few things go melty/slimy a bit on me from DEET through the year, good heads up, thanks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top