Svord economy drop point hunter question

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ocnLogan

Joined
Jul 31, 2011
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Basically, my question is simple. Does anyone have one of these? I have been scouring the web for reviews and impressions of the knife and have come up with a grand total of two threads about them so I would like some opinions on the knife from someone who owns one (or has used one). For reference, this is the knife I am talking about.

svord_dp.jpg


Basically, I've been looking at getting a 4 3/8in tough bushcraftish knife while I wait for the Becker short series to come out (I've got my eye on the BK17). I've been looking at this svord drop point hunter, as well as the Condor Bushlore or sapien (but thats for another thread) but just have basically no info on it. For instance, I know the tang is full length, but its not full width... but exactly how wide is it? How is the L6 steel? How thick is it (heard one reference to 2.5mm, but thats it)? How does it handle? Things like that is what I'm wanting help with.

For reference, this is really the only thread I found with any talk about it, but it is 8 years old.
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2650

I realize that there might not be too many people here that have experience with them, but thought I'd give it a shot :).

Thanks for the help guys.
 
Hi there

I don't have an economy drop point but do have a 320BB which is also drop point and uses the same L6 steel. I've been really impressed with this knife, the L6 takes an edge and holds it well. The blade grind is convex (not full convex like a Bark River) and the grind on mine isn't perfectly even but only slightly off. The blade on mine is full tang and full width at 2.5mm. I personally like the thinner blade profile than most of your "Bushcraft" knives as I've no intention of battoning with it. I'm sure it would batton but it wouldn't have the width to split like an axe would. I contacted Svord and Brian was only too happy to answer my questions.

There are a few vid's of Svord knives on Youtube too.

Cheers

Sam

I personally thing they make a sold, no nonsense knife.
 
avoidspam said:
I personally thing they make a sold, no nonsense knife.
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This. I don't have experience with the above piece, but plan on carrying a number of their fixed blades. I've never heard a bad thing about them other than grinds not being perfectly matched,, and that's a cosmetic issue rather than a functional one. I carry their peasant knives right now and they're tough little bastards. :p

Should begetting some of their Kiwi Machetes in soon, so I'll keep y'all posted. :D
 
The tang is just past the third rivert. A little over 2 mm thick at the most., as most of there sub 6" knives are.
L6 is awesome . you will get it hair spliting sharp very easly. But don expect it to hold that edge for long . well not compared to s30v or d-2.

I have almost every model svord make and use them as my main hunting knives. I have found a beveled edge of about 30 to 40 to be the best compromise between edge holding and sharpness wich is still hair spliting.
From shot to the butchering stage of a white tail size deer (Fallow) it will do it easy. A few wipes on a leather belt will bring it back to hair poping and that will get the venison in the frezzer.
Svords L6 is one of my favorite steels. My Svord Von Tempsky Bowie will out chop and hold a edge as well as my Busse BM.

Here are a few of my favorite Svords. Even have a few customised ones.
SANY0031.jpg


Even when bluntish the knife will still cut very well because of the thickness of the blade.


vonidunmuk-1.jpg

The mighty Von Tempski Forest Ranger Bowie.

MVC-011F-6.jpg

My custom Pesant in a Red stag brow tine.
 
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Excellent info guys, I really appreciate it. In fact, I figured I would get less than this.

Question about the steel on them real quick. I hear L6 is pretty amazing steel, other than it is SUPER prone to rust. Any thoughts on that and how it compares to something more typical like 1095 for instance.

Also, the thickness means it should be a great slicer. But how is it in terms of toughness? I wont be beating this knife up, but I would expect it to be able to stand up to a little bit of batoning (nothing heavy at all, but some firewood prep of 1-2in sticks is within the type of use that it would see).

Thanks for all of the help so far :).
 
L6 is one of the toughest steels I know of. Here's a video about Howard Clark's L6 katanas--he's a world class custom maker so it's sort of an apples and oranges comparison, but it demonstrates a little of what the steel is capable of.

[video=youtube_share;fM9zhwdIRgY]http://youtu.be/fM9zhwdIRgY[/video]
 
oncLogan

I have the drop point Svord and had planned to do a review but other distractions like work have interfered. I will try and answer a few of your questions briefly and as best I can.

The tang as you say is not full width and is not quite full length but ends roughly where the thong hole is. The tang is exposed on the top of the grip only. I have no idea how wide it is but assuming the rivets go through it I would say there is a lot of metal inside the grip.

The blade is quite thin and has a bit of flex. Without measuring it exactly I would say it is around 2 to 2.5mm. This is no heavy duty chopper but would be adequate for most camping and hunting purposes.

Handling is a subjective thing - the grip is substantial and secure and is ok for general kitchen use. It suffers from the usual problem of thin blades in that it can be a bit uncomfortable if you extend a finger or thumb along the spine and apply downwards pressure.

The blade comes delivered with colourful hues from what I guess is heat treating but this is not durable and wears off quickly with use. Mine was reasonably sharp as delivered but a bit less so around the tip. It stains easy but no more or less so than most carbon steel knives. The wood on the grips on mine is a bit nicer than the one in your pic. It is coated in some form of varnish/synthetic semi gloss finish that is functional but had a few big blobs on the butt end that I cut off.

Edge holding has not been a problem but has not been outstanding. The steel is good but don't expect miracles from it.

The knife came with a heavy duty leather sheath that is too long for the knife. It swallows the knife with only about a half inch of the grip exposed and it is difficult to remove one handed. I intended to shorten the sheath by cutting some leather away at the top and restitiching it but the slit belt loops are right near the top.

Overall not a bad knife.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
L6 is one of the toughest steels I know of. Here's a video about Howard Clark's L6 katanas--he's a world class custom maker so it's sort of an apples and oranges comparison, but it demonstrates a little of what the steel is capable of.
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Wow nice. Looks like I need to get one of his katanas. So I can cut vegetables epically.
 
Thank you for the response 2manyknives, I really appreciate it and that does really help me make this decision.

My only "fear" is that it might not be as strong as some of its competition (aka, the Bushlore, as it is a bit thicker at 1/8) but I'm sure in reality it would be just fine.

I'm thinking I might try to pick up a Peasant folder on the cheap to see what I think of the steel and grind and then maybe just go from there.
 
The Bushlore is a tougher knife due to the full profile tang and thicker stock, but that doesn't mean the Svord is a slouch by any stretch of the imagination. Sounds like you've got a good strategy for tackling the conundrum. :thumbup:
 
Just a note, the Peasant knife comes flat ground, not partially convexed like Svord's fixed blades. I wasn't as impressed with the edge on my Peasant, it'll need some work but hey, its cheap:)

Sam
 
My peasant actually came so unevenly ground that the edge curves a good 2-3mm to the side as it approaches the tang. The thing is impossible to sharpen, only about a quarter of the blade is able to get sharp. I'll either have to completely regrind it or just let it collect dust. I hope their fixed blades come better.
 
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SPNKr said:
My peasant actually came so unevenly ground that the edge curves a good 2-3mm to the side as it approaches the tang. The thing is impossible to sharpen, only about a quarter of the blade is able to get sharp. I'll either have to completely regrind it or just let it collect dust. I hope their fixed blades come better.
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Mine is like that too. But paper wheels will get the job done.
 
SPNKr said:
My peasant actually came so unevenly ground that the edge curves a good 2-3mm to the side as it approaches the tang. The thing is impossible to sharpen, only about a quarter of the blade is able to get sharp. I'll either have to completely regrind it or just let it collect dust. I hope their fixed blades come better.
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The Kiwi General Outdoors fixed blades I just got in (haven't got them up on the site just yet) had pretty dull obtuse edges in spite of having a nice thin convex primary grind. I'm "Special Grading" them and they take a VERY nice edge, but the factory edge definitely sucked. I just wouldn't feel comfortable selling them to folks without getting the edges where they need to be. Should be very handy knives now that they're fixed up, though. :)
 
Are there any companies in the US thst carry the full line of Svord knives? I'm looking for the drop point hunter with brass bolsters and the 7" bowie.
 
For those interested, I contacted svord about the hardness of their knives. I am quoting it below in case anyone is interested.

Hello ocnLogan(edited my name out) , thankyou for your interest ,the knives are hardened to RC 55 -58 , the tang on the DP[economy drop point hunter] is about 18mm wide ,and on the KM [Kiwi Machete) is about 15mm and goes 75 % up the handle ,because of the shock resistance of the steel we use and the differential heat treatment and lifetime breakage guarantee ,they are strong .

Blue Ridge knives in Marion VA , should be able to put you in contact with a reseller ,

regards Bryan Baker
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Seems pretty much in line with what I would have guessed based on how they respond to shock and they way they feel during sharpening. :)
 
ocnLogan said:
For those interested, I contacted svord about the hardness of their knives. I am quoting it below in case anyone is interested.
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Sounds about right, but that's alot of swing in the RC, from 55-58. That's honestly, quite a bit of real estate when regarding Rockwell. I mean, its gonna have flex, and be pretty tough, but at 55Rc on a knife, that's not gonna hold an edge very long, me thinks. Don't have to worry about chipping so much. Rolling, maybe.

I'm really looking at those Svord Von Tempski Ranger Bowies. I like big knives.

Moose
 
You might be surprised by the edge retention so long as you aren't cutting a ton of cardboard or rope with it. Most machetes are around the 55 mark and hold an edge just fine as long as you don't hit dirt or rocks. :)
 
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