grunt soldier
Gold Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2009
- Messages
- 4,555
Well there is a small pass around going on for these two blades. I received them and figured I would put them through their paces! I love Johns work and the fact that he will make pretty much any design you want him too. his heat treat is great and I love some 01 steel. It doesn't hold a edge quite like some of the newer fancy steels and it will stain but it's very easy to sharpen and clean up. these knives edge retention was very good especially after chopping on some seasoned osage and mulberry. I'm really digging both of these designs. they are both nice big choppers but also work well for smaller tasks and other camp chores. I think they would both really shine paired up with a nice smaller blade.
Both are just a bit over 14 inches long. About 9 Inch blades. nice and wide so good chopping power. The beast scales are pretty thick. maybe just a touch to thick for me but it was still very comfortable. no hotspots even after tons of chopping. The Khukri handles felt awesome in the hand. also no hot spots here either.
A few strikes on the season mulberry. on this wood the nod went to the kukri with a little deeper bite on each hit. the beast faired very well also but I definitely noticed more chips flying with the kukri.
However on 2x4 the beast seemed to bite deeper and send a few more chips flying. again they both did well but for some reason on this wood the beast had the nod
chocking up on the blades you can get some very controlled cuts and still uses them for the finer stuff. they both did it pretty well. obviously this wasn't their intended tasks. I honestly didn't think the kukri would do as well as it did but using the lower portion of the blade it was quite easy. since both choppers sweet spots are out towards the tips the lower portions of the blades were still razor sharp since they hadn't been used. a benefit to the chopper I think
No problem on hard dry wood either. the beast was a little easier with these vs the Kukri
These obviously aren't machete's but they did pretty well on the green stuff. clearing branches and big weeds. the kukri did better on thicker stuff but the beast did better on thinner stuff. the kukri kinda used the forward weight and bludgeoned the branches where the beast had cleaner cuts.
took a few more cuts on the same branch with the kukri
They both again carved pretty well stripping bark. making points, and even notching.
a few of the notches. this is black walnut
even after the chopping, carving, slicing ect. they were still very sharp. not quite shaving sharp but paper cutting was no problem.
a little food prep. they peeled the carrots and cut them up no problem. very clean slices through them when peeling. I honestly didn't think the kukri was going to be very good in here but it had no problems at all. again chocking up and using the lower part of the blade and for chopping using the tip. both did very well in here.
They cut the ribs with no problems. had a few bone strikes and the edges were not effected at all. no chipping or rolling after all days use.
And all cleaned up after a hard day of use!
Over all. I guess if your still with me lol. I got a bit carried away maybe
I'll be continuing to use these for a few more days before sending them off the the next lucky contestant. I'm very impressed with both these blades. as choppers and camp blades. I don't have weights on either one but they are both at a 3/16" thick I believe. Either one would serve you very well as a camp blade or a 1 knife scenario. they do what big knives do very well and they have no problems with a smaller knifes task either.
If your in need a good chopper or have a design of your own you would like to see come to life give John of JK knives a shout. he can hook you and he is very reasonably priced. and his turn around times are awesome!!!
Both are just a bit over 14 inches long. About 9 Inch blades. nice and wide so good chopping power. The beast scales are pretty thick. maybe just a touch to thick for me but it was still very comfortable. no hotspots even after tons of chopping. The Khukri handles felt awesome in the hand. also no hot spots here either.
A few strikes on the season mulberry. on this wood the nod went to the kukri with a little deeper bite on each hit. the beast faired very well also but I definitely noticed more chips flying with the kukri.
However on 2x4 the beast seemed to bite deeper and send a few more chips flying. again they both did well but for some reason on this wood the beast had the nod
chocking up on the blades you can get some very controlled cuts and still uses them for the finer stuff. they both did it pretty well. obviously this wasn't their intended tasks. I honestly didn't think the kukri would do as well as it did but using the lower portion of the blade it was quite easy. since both choppers sweet spots are out towards the tips the lower portions of the blades were still razor sharp since they hadn't been used. a benefit to the chopper I think
No problem on hard dry wood either. the beast was a little easier with these vs the Kukri
These obviously aren't machete's but they did pretty well on the green stuff. clearing branches and big weeds. the kukri did better on thicker stuff but the beast did better on thinner stuff. the kukri kinda used the forward weight and bludgeoned the branches where the beast had cleaner cuts.
took a few more cuts on the same branch with the kukri
They both again carved pretty well stripping bark. making points, and even notching.
a few of the notches. this is black walnut
even after the chopping, carving, slicing ect. they were still very sharp. not quite shaving sharp but paper cutting was no problem.
a little food prep. they peeled the carrots and cut them up no problem. very clean slices through them when peeling. I honestly didn't think the kukri was going to be very good in here but it had no problems at all. again chocking up and using the lower part of the blade and for chopping using the tip. both did very well in here.
They cut the ribs with no problems. had a few bone strikes and the edges were not effected at all. no chipping or rolling after all days use.
And all cleaned up after a hard day of use!
Over all. I guess if your still with me lol. I got a bit carried away maybe
I'll be continuing to use these for a few more days before sending them off the the next lucky contestant. I'm very impressed with both these blades. as choppers and camp blades. I don't have weights on either one but they are both at a 3/16" thick I believe. Either one would serve you very well as a camp blade or a 1 knife scenario. they do what big knives do very well and they have no problems with a smaller knifes task either. If your in need a good chopper or have a design of your own you would like to see come to life give John of JK knives a shout. he can hook you and he is very reasonably priced. and his turn around times are awesome!!!
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