- Joined
- Nov 18, 2010
- Messages
- 6,118
I recently picked up this great little knife at a get together in Tennessee from the maker, Todd Hunt. We had met previously at Ethan Becker's Spring Gathering in May of this year, and during that time Todd has been quite busy. Originally I had set out to pick up one of his Yuma knives, a slightly larger model, but was unable to find one out of the batch he brought that really jumped out at me (more on that later). I did get to see some of the others he brought, and once I got my hands on this one, I didn't let go. Over the course of the weekend I talked to Todd a great bit about his knives and his philosophy behind the designs and was very impressed with how much thought he put into his designs. I also discovered that like myself he has smaller hands and typically makes his knives with grips designed for bigger hands, which is why I was unable to find a Yuma that really fit me. After some thought I realized that I was much happier with this knife than I would have been with a Yuma as this one would see some use, so I took it outside this morning and spent some time getting acquainted with it.
0.125" thick O1 steel
7.4375" long overall
3.5" blade with 3.375" cutting edge
Tiger G10 scales with white liner
I started off cross-grain batoning through this stick I found. About 0.5" thick or so, it went through without any difficulties.
I then set out to make the bottom peg of an L7 trap, and it performed quite well, and very comfortably.
Next up, I made a fuzzstick (something I still need a lot of practice at) and the knife was an absolute dream to work with for this purpose.
Next I made a small pile of shavings, and like the fuzzstick, it performed flawlessly.
I was able to get some extremely small curls out of it.
I also batoned through a 2" stick, but the wood was so twisted I wasn't getting anything close to pencil sized pieces but chunks of wood, so I didn't bother with any pictures there. For all these tasks it performed incredibly well, with no hot spots or trouble areas that I could feel during or after use. The handle was filling enough that I wasn't straining to keep my grip while using it, and the length is just about perfect for a knife of this size (in my opinion). I think with a different style of sheath it could very easily make an excellent neck knife, and the point is perfect for small tasks requiring large amounts of precision. I would have no qualms using this knife to cut a trap, clean game, or any of a thousand other tasks. I have carried this knife regularly for the last week, and I keep finding myself more and more impressed with how well it performs.
The only things that I think could even be considered as flaws (which would depend greatly on personal opinions) are that the spine was not square, instead having chamfered edges all the way to the point from the ricasso area, which would not work well for a firesteel (although as an upside it was extremely comfortable to use for carving without any sharp edges). Also, the knife came with a very obtuse edge. Personally I prefer this in a knife as I like to know there is plenty of meat for me to work with when I go to sharpen it and put my edge on a blade. I didn't feel as if I would ruin the edge by removing too much material as I convexed it. Again though, those two things would be the only things that could be construed as negatives, although in this instance I found myself very fond of those design choices, and I have no doubt that Todd would be very willing to work with a person to adjust those things to the customer's specifications.
Here is a picture of it with a ZT 0560 for size reference
All things considered, this is by far one of my favorite knives to have ever owned, and I already have an order in with Todd for another of his knives for my fiancee'. I have no doubt that in another couple of years Todd is really going to leave a mark on the knife industry, and I look forward to seeing what he comes up with in future designs.
Todd has a subforum here in Bladeforums, listed at the very bottom of the Hosted Knifemaker's Section: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/889-T-M-Hunt-Custom-Knives
