- Joined
- Mar 19, 2007
- Messages
- 7,443
About four years ago, after much influence from watching Ray Mears on the BBC I began to try and find the 'ideal' bushcraft knife. What I really wanted was a Alan Wood "Woodlore" but at the time the waiting list was somewhere around 8 years and the cost of these knives were... well... way out of my price range.
I started doing research in various places and tried to make an intelligent choice. I narrowed down my steel (High carbon), my handle length (between 4 and 4.5 inches) and my blade length (around 4 inches).
I knew that a maker called 'Muskrat Man' was making knives that fit my bill so I ordered it.
It was NOT the knife for me. It wasn't a true scandi - I could not sharpen it well - and I did not like the handle. Mostly this was simply a bad fit for me and I quickly sold it.
Back to the drawing board. Scandi Edges mystified me. I could not sharpen them well or easily (I was trying to use wet/dry sand paper on plate glass) and they seemed to work terribly for what I was trying to cut (harder wood in Texas). I decided to give convex edges a try and based on what I had read and what I could afford I ordered a Bark River Knife and Tool Aurora:
I absolutely obsessed about this knife and tried to master the art of sharpening a convex edge. I believe that I did so and could get it shaving sharp with little effort. I loved this knife and used it for quite some time - in fact I learned to make sheaths because of this knife. This took quite a bit of further obsession - but I made a decent sheath for it and wore it on camping trips.
I had not given up on Scandi's though and began my search for a scandi knife that I could figure out. I ordered a Koster Bushcrafter from Dan on this forum and got this:
Although the scales were a bit too thin - and the steel was god awful to sharpen (CPM 3V is a super steel that took me quite a while to figure out. Now that I have - I have no issues) - I loved the feel of the knife. The scandi was done well (zero grind) and it handled amazingly. I started to realize that I thought my Aurora was a bit too long in the handle as well as in the blade. I eventually sold the Aurora as well as the Koster when I bought a 2nd and then a 3rd generation Bushcrafter from Dan Koster:
The latest bushcrafter from Dan was CPM 154 (Stainless steel and easier to sharpen) and I even owned one in 01. I LOVED the 01 steel and found it as easy to sharpen as the A1 that the Aurora was made out of. I began making sheaths for other makers knives and began to participate in pass arounds of other makers. I was very fortunate to get their work in my hands and find out what I liked and didn't like about them.
It was around this time that BRKT made the 'Gunny' - a smaller version of their Bravo 1 knife. I ordered one of these that was rampless:
I loved this knife. It was much like the Aurora - but smaller. It was nimble, easy to sharpen, comfortable in the hand, and did everything that my Aurora could do. I eventually sold this blade - but have since bought one back that I still own. I still love this knife.
In an effort to shoot the middle of the Aurora and the Gunny I got in on the Knife Forums Bark River 'Hiking and Camping Forum Knife'
I owned three of these - and loved them. I only sold them because I found myself using other knives more. This is a great knife at a great price by a great company.
I bought a Blind Horse knife Bushcrafter and was in on some of the earliest models of this knife:
It was flat grind double bevel that I didn't like and although the blade pattern was good - the handle was simple too short for my tastes (4 inches). I quickly sold it.
However, because of my exposure to the Kephart like blade style - I ordered what I still feel is one of the ugliest knives out there - the Kephart. This one was made by Bark River again:
It isn't pretty - and the sheath that I made for it wasn't all that pretty - but MAN I love this knife and I still own it. Because of this handle style and the blade style I started looking at other knives in this style...
I found a maker that was being touted as making great knives and ordered one of his knives - the ML Woods and Bush knife. This knife was made out of 1090 steel (great high carbon steel) and the maker is flatly awesome. The blade was a little long for me as well as the handle (in fact it suffered, for me, from the same length of the Aurora) and I eventually sold it - but not after ordering 3 of his Kepharts (one for me, my father and my brother). I got these knives in a slightly longer handle (4.5 inches) and still own mine:
Matt from ML knives then started making a 'Straight Back Kephart' that I ordered - again longer handle - and love. It is sort of the 'Gunny' of the ML line - and is one of my most frequently carried users. It is a forged blade (like all of Matt's knives), is easy to sharpen, and use. I love this knife too.
As you can see - I had fallen in love with the convex edge and didn't find myself carrying a Scandi grind very often. I found out that the Scandi and Convex grinds excel at different things. I find the Scandi grind is truly in its element when used with softer to medium hard woods. It certainly can be employed with harder woods but suffers a bit in edge retention and does work as well. The scandi, on the other hand, works really well with hard woods - but doesn't have the speed and material removing ability with softer woods that the scandi enjoys. (These are just my opinions). However, it was at this time that I started spending my summers back in Michigan - and found myself using the Scandi knives I owned more and more while I was in Michigan.
I still lusted for that Woodlore knife I had fell in love with years prior. I found a maker in the UK making Woodlore like knives by the name of Bernie Garland. I ordered one of his knives:
I even made a woodlore like sheath for it:
It was nearly a clone of the Alan Wood and Bernie did a great job. It was damned near too pretty to use - and while in Texas - I didn't use it much. It was 01 steel 4mm width width with the proper handle profile. I had nearly found my knife.
It was at this time that I really started working with a maker on this board named Andy (Fiddleback Forge). I won a contest on Andy's forum and had handled plenty of his knives (by making sheaths for them) and worked out a deal with Andy. I would design a knife and he would make it. I worked hard with Andy to try and make the knife I thought would be perfect. It would have some of the attributes of the Woodlore but also some of the other things I had come to like in knives. What resulted was the 'Arete':
It was a true collaboration with Andy and other members on this board - and of course it is still one of my favorites. I own it in Scandi and Convex - and love them both.
At this time I got to know a local maker on the boards who goes by Koyote. He was making cool knives out of saw blade steel and he made a 'scandi-vex' knife for me:
This knife was really a cross between a Scandi grind and a convex edge and I loved this knife too. I did sell this knife - simply due to having a bunch of other blades - but I wouldn't hesitate to own another. Plus, the maker was very easy to work with.
I even ventured back into the realm of the double bevel when I had a knife made for me by another awesome maker on this board named Ray Laconico. He made me his version of the bushcrafter:
This is the only knife I have sold and then bought back. I learned how to free hand sharpen double bevel knives with this knife and it is great. 01 steel - perfect fit and finish and a real user.
It was at this time that a young maker had come on the scene (he was 19 at the time) and started making Woodlore Clones as a way of learning the craft. His early work was amazing and I quickly ordered one in Cocobolo:
I loved this knife - and quickly contacted Cody to make me the 'grail' knife. A Woodlore type knife with the proper bolts, scale material, and shape. When I received Cody's knife - I sold the Bernie Garland. It just fit me better. Cody was super easy to work with and quickly turned out another knife for me:
When I received Cody's knife - I sold the Bernie Garland. It just fit me better.
I finally had it. As close to an actual Woodlore as I was going to get. It didn't do anything special that other knives can't do. It isn't magical - but it is a very nice knife and a very nice pattern. I can see why Ray designed it the way he did.
I made the closest I could make to the proper sheath for it:
So - what did I learn from all of this.
1) A quality knife is a quality knife. When the steel, heat treat, fit and finish are all done well - almost any knife can be used effectively.
2) Different knives due different things well.
3) There is no 'one' knife. I own about 10 knives that are made by custom and semi custom makers - and as you have seen - I have owned dozens more - there are things I like about many of them. I pick my knife by my whim and love that I have the ability to do so.
4) The knife does not make the experience. I have never found a situation where I was able to have a better time or see more because I had one style knife over another. Once I had gotten to quality blades made by quality makers - I pretty much found that they did what I needed them to. I would trust my life to any knife in my current stable - but don't find one FAR superior to the others.
I think what I had was a case of envy. I loved the lifestyle that Ray Mears led and confused the hardware with the lifestyle. This is fine if you want to be a knife collector - but I never wanted to own knives just to own them. I always saw them as tools - I just confused the tool with the life. And so it goes...
I think the journey was more fun than the end - and I find that don't obsess about knives as much as I used to. I thought that once I found the right knife - I would be a better bushcrafter - sort of like buying the right Golf club will make you a better golfer. We all know this to be false - it is dirt time that makes you a better bushcrafter - but it took me a long time and a lot of knives to figure it out.
TF
I started doing research in various places and tried to make an intelligent choice. I narrowed down my steel (High carbon), my handle length (between 4 and 4.5 inches) and my blade length (around 4 inches).
I knew that a maker called 'Muskrat Man' was making knives that fit my bill so I ordered it.
It was NOT the knife for me. It wasn't a true scandi - I could not sharpen it well - and I did not like the handle. Mostly this was simply a bad fit for me and I quickly sold it.
Back to the drawing board. Scandi Edges mystified me. I could not sharpen them well or easily (I was trying to use wet/dry sand paper on plate glass) and they seemed to work terribly for what I was trying to cut (harder wood in Texas). I decided to give convex edges a try and based on what I had read and what I could afford I ordered a Bark River Knife and Tool Aurora:
I absolutely obsessed about this knife and tried to master the art of sharpening a convex edge. I believe that I did so and could get it shaving sharp with little effort. I loved this knife and used it for quite some time - in fact I learned to make sheaths because of this knife. This took quite a bit of further obsession - but I made a decent sheath for it and wore it on camping trips.
I had not given up on Scandi's though and began my search for a scandi knife that I could figure out. I ordered a Koster Bushcrafter from Dan on this forum and got this:
Although the scales were a bit too thin - and the steel was god awful to sharpen (CPM 3V is a super steel that took me quite a while to figure out. Now that I have - I have no issues) - I loved the feel of the knife. The scandi was done well (zero grind) and it handled amazingly. I started to realize that I thought my Aurora was a bit too long in the handle as well as in the blade. I eventually sold the Aurora as well as the Koster when I bought a 2nd and then a 3rd generation Bushcrafter from Dan Koster:
The latest bushcrafter from Dan was CPM 154 (Stainless steel and easier to sharpen) and I even owned one in 01. I LOVED the 01 steel and found it as easy to sharpen as the A1 that the Aurora was made out of. I began making sheaths for other makers knives and began to participate in pass arounds of other makers. I was very fortunate to get their work in my hands and find out what I liked and didn't like about them.
It was around this time that BRKT made the 'Gunny' - a smaller version of their Bravo 1 knife. I ordered one of these that was rampless:
I loved this knife. It was much like the Aurora - but smaller. It was nimble, easy to sharpen, comfortable in the hand, and did everything that my Aurora could do. I eventually sold this blade - but have since bought one back that I still own. I still love this knife.
In an effort to shoot the middle of the Aurora and the Gunny I got in on the Knife Forums Bark River 'Hiking and Camping Forum Knife'
I owned three of these - and loved them. I only sold them because I found myself using other knives more. This is a great knife at a great price by a great company.
I bought a Blind Horse knife Bushcrafter and was in on some of the earliest models of this knife:
It was flat grind double bevel that I didn't like and although the blade pattern was good - the handle was simple too short for my tastes (4 inches). I quickly sold it.
However, because of my exposure to the Kephart like blade style - I ordered what I still feel is one of the ugliest knives out there - the Kephart. This one was made by Bark River again:
It isn't pretty - and the sheath that I made for it wasn't all that pretty - but MAN I love this knife and I still own it. Because of this handle style and the blade style I started looking at other knives in this style...
I found a maker that was being touted as making great knives and ordered one of his knives - the ML Woods and Bush knife. This knife was made out of 1090 steel (great high carbon steel) and the maker is flatly awesome. The blade was a little long for me as well as the handle (in fact it suffered, for me, from the same length of the Aurora) and I eventually sold it - but not after ordering 3 of his Kepharts (one for me, my father and my brother). I got these knives in a slightly longer handle (4.5 inches) and still own mine:
Matt from ML knives then started making a 'Straight Back Kephart' that I ordered - again longer handle - and love. It is sort of the 'Gunny' of the ML line - and is one of my most frequently carried users. It is a forged blade (like all of Matt's knives), is easy to sharpen, and use. I love this knife too.
As you can see - I had fallen in love with the convex edge and didn't find myself carrying a Scandi grind very often. I found out that the Scandi and Convex grinds excel at different things. I find the Scandi grind is truly in its element when used with softer to medium hard woods. It certainly can be employed with harder woods but suffers a bit in edge retention and does work as well. The scandi, on the other hand, works really well with hard woods - but doesn't have the speed and material removing ability with softer woods that the scandi enjoys. (These are just my opinions). However, it was at this time that I started spending my summers back in Michigan - and found myself using the Scandi knives I owned more and more while I was in Michigan.
I still lusted for that Woodlore knife I had fell in love with years prior. I found a maker in the UK making Woodlore like knives by the name of Bernie Garland. I ordered one of his knives:
I even made a woodlore like sheath for it:
It was nearly a clone of the Alan Wood and Bernie did a great job. It was damned near too pretty to use - and while in Texas - I didn't use it much. It was 01 steel 4mm width width with the proper handle profile. I had nearly found my knife.
It was at this time that I really started working with a maker on this board named Andy (Fiddleback Forge). I won a contest on Andy's forum and had handled plenty of his knives (by making sheaths for them) and worked out a deal with Andy. I would design a knife and he would make it. I worked hard with Andy to try and make the knife I thought would be perfect. It would have some of the attributes of the Woodlore but also some of the other things I had come to like in knives. What resulted was the 'Arete':
It was a true collaboration with Andy and other members on this board - and of course it is still one of my favorites. I own it in Scandi and Convex - and love them both.
At this time I got to know a local maker on the boards who goes by Koyote. He was making cool knives out of saw blade steel and he made a 'scandi-vex' knife for me:
This knife was really a cross between a Scandi grind and a convex edge and I loved this knife too. I did sell this knife - simply due to having a bunch of other blades - but I wouldn't hesitate to own another. Plus, the maker was very easy to work with.
I even ventured back into the realm of the double bevel when I had a knife made for me by another awesome maker on this board named Ray Laconico. He made me his version of the bushcrafter:
This is the only knife I have sold and then bought back. I learned how to free hand sharpen double bevel knives with this knife and it is great. 01 steel - perfect fit and finish and a real user.
It was at this time that a young maker had come on the scene (he was 19 at the time) and started making Woodlore Clones as a way of learning the craft. His early work was amazing and I quickly ordered one in Cocobolo:
I loved this knife - and quickly contacted Cody to make me the 'grail' knife. A Woodlore type knife with the proper bolts, scale material, and shape. When I received Cody's knife - I sold the Bernie Garland. It just fit me better. Cody was super easy to work with and quickly turned out another knife for me:
When I received Cody's knife - I sold the Bernie Garland. It just fit me better.
I finally had it. As close to an actual Woodlore as I was going to get. It didn't do anything special that other knives can't do. It isn't magical - but it is a very nice knife and a very nice pattern. I can see why Ray designed it the way he did.
I made the closest I could make to the proper sheath for it:
So - what did I learn from all of this.
1) A quality knife is a quality knife. When the steel, heat treat, fit and finish are all done well - almost any knife can be used effectively.
2) Different knives due different things well.
3) There is no 'one' knife. I own about 10 knives that are made by custom and semi custom makers - and as you have seen - I have owned dozens more - there are things I like about many of them. I pick my knife by my whim and love that I have the ability to do so.
4) The knife does not make the experience. I have never found a situation where I was able to have a better time or see more because I had one style knife over another. Once I had gotten to quality blades made by quality makers - I pretty much found that they did what I needed them to. I would trust my life to any knife in my current stable - but don't find one FAR superior to the others.
I think what I had was a case of envy. I loved the lifestyle that Ray Mears led and confused the hardware with the lifestyle. This is fine if you want to be a knife collector - but I never wanted to own knives just to own them. I always saw them as tools - I just confused the tool with the life. And so it goes...
I think the journey was more fun than the end - and I find that don't obsess about knives as much as I used to. I thought that once I found the right knife - I would be a better bushcrafter - sort of like buying the right Golf club will make you a better golfer. We all know this to be false - it is dirt time that makes you a better bushcrafter - but it took me a long time and a lot of knives to figure it out.
TF
Last edited:
