Survive! Knives GSO-4.1 - comparison to BRKT Bravo 1 & Swamp Rat HRLM

g.macdonnell said:
I have a set of DMT diamond benchstones- would the course stone work to square it up? I realize it may take awhile, but i did this to some Moras that are 60, 61 HRC, but UHB 20 isn't 3v...
Click to expand...
Diamond wins over everything. No problem.

Sorry to others, I didn't realize the knife was around 60. That gives up a little toughness for a marked increase in (already excellent) edge retention, and toughness should still be fine. Sounds like a great knife.
 
Thank you, everybody for your help! These are such nice designs, and i love the steel. It good to hear positive feedback, and that i'll be able to sharpen some spine if needed!

I tried ordering yesterday, but the website kept kicking me out. Hopefully today will go better!
 
I have 2 brand new never used or carried factory sealed from survive . black GSO 4.1s with ferro notch in the forums for sale
 
I want to start by thanking chiral for sharing this very objective and detailed review. It says a lot about a man who invests this much time and care into something like this review, and then gives it away for the benefit of all of us. Again thank you.

I love that chiral.grolim has gone all Murray Carter on us and has included a shaving video. I freaked out for a second when it sped up, nice effect. I have the following questions: did you sharpen the knife after thumping on it in the previous videos, or did you shave with it after thumping on it with the factory edge? Second, was this the very knife used in the use videos, or was it another? Just curious as I don't think that I would try shaving with any factory edge that I did not sharpen myself either thumped on or not.

You fared far better then Jeremiah Johnson did with that shaving exercise. When in a survival situation, it is always good to know that procreation will allow the species to go on, and those that have the GSO 4.1 will be better suited to pass their genes along due to their cleanly shaven face, LOL. Sex always sells huh. The only thing that would have made that video better is if your wife came into the last shots really close caressing your cheeks with that satisfied smile.
 
Thank you for all the nice compliments, I hope that i can keep it up for future reviews.
Regarding the shaving video, I sped it up because, while I wanted to document the entire process for the sake of honesty, who wants to sit and watch some random guy on the internet shave?? Not me! Speeding it up cut down on the video time ;) My apologies for the poor timing of WHEN i set it to go faster :D I did better with the GSO-5.1 shaving video (even added a sound-track).

Regarding the knife, that was the factory edge right out of the sheath, no stropping or anything else in my hands - I meant to show just how sharp these knives come, no user-adjustment necessary (unlike knives from a lot of other companies). For that specific task, the edge (or rather my face) would certainly have benefited from a finer finish, I do not prefer it to a dedicated razor, but it did the job :thumbup: This was indeed the knife used in my other GSO-4.1 videos (though i switched out the scales, did the same on my GSO-10). After thumping on it, it was still able to shave though not as smoothly as before. The same is true of the GSO-5.1.

I've joked about doing a shaving-video with the GSO-10 but the factory edge on that is well-worn, so it wouldn't demonstrate anything but my own sharpening skills and absurdity. Whenever my NeckerII arrives, perhaps I'll do another video and try to convince my wife to make an appearance like in the Gillette ads ;)

Again, thanks for posting and thanks for watching the videos!
 
Dude, this was an awesome review, thanks! One question about the scales- I've heard that micarta scales leave the tang of knives vulnerable to rust, and I'd think that scales with small gaps in them would increase such a vulnerability. Fortunately, it looks like the scales are easy to remove. Would you recommend coating the tang in something (like froglube) to prevent rust, or is it even worth it?
 
smellslikepurple233 said:
Dude, this was an awesome review, thanks! One question about the scales- I've heard that micarta scales leave the tang of knives vulnerable to rust, and I'd think that scales with small gaps in them would increase such a vulnerability. Fortunately, it looks like the scales are easy to remove. Would you recommend coating the tang in something (like froglube) to prevent rust, or is it even worth it?
Click to expand...

Any scales on a non-stainless knife, unless thoroughly bonded to the steel, create the possibility of moisture trapped under the scales.
 
I'm surprised that nobody else has commented on this. In your first picture, the chickens are keeping a very close eye on you. In the second, I only see one chicken. I don't see any after that. Hmmm.... Coincidence? I think not!!!!
 
Wonderful thread, Chiral.grolim; thanks! I'll be getting some Survive! knives as soon as I can; in large part because of your detailed review.

Oh, and if you're keeping a list, I would totally buy a couple of your kydex drop loops, should you make them to sell!
 
Just an update to this thread.

S!K has slow production but recently put on sale a version of their GSO-4.1 in S7 Shock Steel, beginning a separate series called SK. I ordered a couple SK-4's and received them <7 days later! What a difference "in stock" makes!
Anyway, i took some photos of each - one "blackout" one "muddy" and put the muddy one through some rough use. Here are the photos and video:

P1010626.JPG
P1010615.JPG
P1010616.JPG
P1010617.JPG
P1010618.JPG
P1010620.JPG
P1010622.JPG
P1010623.JPG
P1010612.JPG
P1010611.JPG


P1010634.JPG
P1010637.JPG
P1010638.JPG
P1010643.JPG


 
Last edited:
fastest cardboard cutter in the west! :)

your wife looks as interested in knives as mine... ;)

I'm tempted with one of these...but I like stonewashed blades a lot too. thanks for posting!
 
rpn said:
fastest cardboard cutter in the west! :)

your wife looks as interested in knives as mine... ;)

I'm tempted with one of these...but I like stonewashed blades a lot too. thanks for posting!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's a long video (by youtube standards, most people - including myself - tend to watch only ~3 min per vid) so I sped up a lot of it, slowed down some of the sparks and a throw to emphasize the action. As a matter of fact, my wife thinks the throwing is the most interesting part, hence her standing there! (also, concern for the well-being of her children ;) ) She has tried a little herself but needs more practice, and she's requested that I teach our kids when they are old enough. But other than that, yeah, the interest in knives is not something we really share :D

I wanted to try out S7 in a small knife, Scrapyard used to use it in thicker models than this one, and I am certainly not disappointed in the steel. I too find the stonewashed blades more appealing in general, but the cerakote is thin, durable, and pretty slick, and i like the shade of this FDE. It still looks more gray in the pics than in real-life, which is why i included the tanker RMD (which looks more blue in the pics than in real-life) as a reference. As for the black, well, it's black *shrug* looks cool though :cool:
 
How hard are the S7 knives? Generally S7 is difficult to get past Rc 57-58. But it is crazy tough...


EDIT: I looked it up on their website, Rc57-58 is what they spec for the S7. slightly less than the hardness on their other knives.
 
Last edited:
Rapt_up said:
How hard are the S7 knives? Generally S7 is difficult to get past Rc 57-58. But it is crazy tough...


EDIT: I looked it up on their website, Rc57-58 is what they spec for the S7. slightly less than the hardness on their other knives.
Click to expand...

Yup, 57-58Rc by Peters. A little softer than the CPM-3V and 20CV (and previous steels), a little less wear-resistant, but very tough. Compared to 1095 from ESEE and others, it's a couple points harder (stronger), 3-4X tougher, and also more wear resistant.
 
Great review! Would love to have all of the Survive! blades but will get started with a 3.5 which shipped last monday.
(I live in Amsterdam, NL so shipping will take some time.. It's the worst wait when a knife has reached Dutch customs and you have to wait for them. Can take up to 3-4 weeks and then you have to pay them for their "service")
Not a lot of hardcore hiking here but I have made longer travels (4/7/12 months) which also included some proper hiking and I would advice the Fallkniven F1 very much for hiking/travelling. Definitely has a nice sharp spine for scraping! ;)
I could imagine that the 4.1 would be serious competition for a travel/ hiking knife for me though..

Btw, is there a big weight difference between the S7 knives and the "regular" ones? I believe the tangs aren't skeletonized.
The weight and blade/handle balance is one of the things that really caught my eye about Survive! I own 1 Swamp Rat (rodent solution) and although I love the design I never use it because there is so much weight in the handle..
 
I can get a weight for the SK-4 on Monday, somehow totally forgot to do that I guess, but the balance is a little off compared to the GSO-4.1 with its skeletonized tang.
I'm sorry I didn't have an F1 to compare it to for the review. The F1 is about the same weight as the GSO-4.1 but has a shorter, thicker blade. I'd be interesting to know how the cutting geometry compares (e.g. thickness ~2mm back from the apex). The GSO-3.5 should be closer in size but much lighter than the F1, and of course lighter than the handle-heavy Rodent Solution :cool: I have an RS, love to abuse it, but the handle weight is an aspect that bothers me about more than one of the swamp rat knives. A tapered or skeletonized tang can be a wonderful thing :thumbup:

Thanks for reading and posting!


EDIT: Weight on the SK-4 is ~7.5 oz, a full ounce more than the GSO-4.1
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top