very quick review on the Svord Peasant Knife friction folder (+video)

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I got a pink Svord Peasant Knife a while ago just to see how it worked since it was only 13$. It's a pleasant surprise at that cost, if I had to choose the mora style grind or this at the same price, I'd choose this. It opens and closes easily with one hand, it's easy to change the lock tension (friction), and it takes very little to sharpen the main edge since it's so thin to begin with. The handle is simple but feels solid in the hand and has multiple grip positions. The grinds on each side are uneven, but for 13$ I don't expect it to have great attention to detail and it doesn't effect how it works. The edge angle was set to 18 degree's per side from the factory, and the edge thickness was reasonable:
.023" behind edge
.060" behind tip

The only two concerns I had were the tip being slightly burned during the factory sharpening, and the placement of their stop pin. It was set a little to low allowing the edge to come in contact with the chicago screw. I noticed the edge was dented there and fixed it with a nylon washer. Heres the pics of the tip, and a short video of the fix:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8KC3KRc3Ik
[youtube]K8KC3KRc3Ik[/youtube]

Overall I think it's well worth 13$ even with the necessity of adding nylon washers to the bottom chicago screw. I can't comment on edge holding as I haven't yet used it extensively. I'd love to see it in a locking format, or in a simple fixed blade.
 
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Nice video. I really like this knife, too, but I had the same problem as you with the blade contacting the rivet. I choose to put in a larger diameter pin so the blade does not touch anything. Even though this knife needs a few tweaks, it's well worth the time and effort. The blade is made of very good steel.
 
Cool-looking knife. Thanks for sharing. How does the friction folder do in use? Is it something you could use for everyday tasks?
 
lava_lamp said:
Cool-looking knife. Thanks for sharing. How does the friction folder do in use? Is it something you could use for everyday tasks?
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It would do just fine for any task I put to it. I wouldn't carry it for edc just because my kershaw chill does everything I want it to, locks, is smaller and slimmer, and has a pointier tip. The friction lock is okay, it stays open just fine and isn't really a problem, but I wouldn't replace any of my locking knives with it. If I could change anything about this it would be to make it pointier with less belly and to thin out the tip. It's worth the 13$ and makes a great desk knife, I've just got better options for my pockets (the chill is under 30$).
 
I was curious about this one too. The thing is when 75% of a review is an explanation of design flaws and how to work around them that means the original product is crap.

If the company can't bother to implement it's own simple fix for these issues then I can't be bothered to buy their knife.
 
Deviltooth said:
I was curious about this one too. The thing is when 75% of a review is an explanation of design flaws and how to work around them that means the original product is crap.

If the company can't bother to implement it's own simple fix for these issues then I can't be bothered to buy their knife.
Click to expand...

It cost 13$, on one level I'd like the company to fix a reletively simple design issue, but on the other hand... it's 13$. Like mora's true puuko grind not being a good grid for a lot of general use tasks, it needs a small amount of modification to get it into working shape for edc uses. The fix cost me a grand total of 0.20$ in washers, and what would have been 3 minutes disassembling and reassembling the knife. As far as knife fixes go, thats a pretty easy fix. Much easier then something like a liner lock that doesn't engage strongly enough, or a blade that sits unevenly in the handle and rubs on the liners.

Just looking from side to side on the knife, it's unevenly finished where one side is a high flat saber and the other is a full flat. That doesn't affect performance at all. If there's anything I'd like people to take away from this mostly-non-review, it's that the knife takes very little modification to get it into complete working order even though it's super dirt cheap. It can be opened and closed with one hand, it's got a thin edge, it comes in orange and pink for hunters, and it's got a L6 steel where the owner of the company said 'the most important thing with a knife steel is paying close attention to your heat treat and temper'. You just can't find L6 for 13$.

I just wanted to post this to give people a better idea of what they might have to do to this knife so they don't walk away with a complaint about something thats easy to fix. Because once you get past that, there is little to nothing to complain about on this knife as far as working folders go, unless you just don't like friction folders.
 
Okay, I watched the video and understand how some may get use/enjoyment from this knife. Alas, I won't be among them as the design flaws are obvious and carry (with the tang sticking out) is slightly awkward.

Please don't misunderstand, I enjoyed reading the review and I appreciate the information being available so I can make an educated choice.
 
I went camping on the north side of mount Lemmon this weekend for 2 and a half days and tried out the Peasant Knife. It performed as well as I expected and did everything I asked of it. It's not as nimble as my Kershaw Chill or Cold steel Finn Wolf, but it's got a stouter tip then both and a bigger handle, which is a benefit in some instances like batoning. The Peasant knife, despite it's somewhat thick tip, is still only 1/16" thick at it's spine and has a thin edge. I put an 18" releif bevel and a small 24 degree primary bevel on it, both at a high polish.

I have a video that I'll put up when I have the time. All of the wood here is ponderosa pine sapwood, though there was some incredible dense heart wood and the Peasant knife handled it just fine. Heres a picture of the pretty pitchy Heart wood, it sounded like hitting a ceramic plate when chopping on it:
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almost translucent:
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it's hard to see but the pitch is actually boiling out of it on all sides:
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Here is a very simple spike and sort-of-fuzz stick.
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A much better fuzz stick
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Here is me making a somewhat ill conceived plan for an aluminum hot plate. Next time I'll leave out the holes, since all it did was burn anything above it, which did give a great smoke flavor to the onions.

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and the sloppy mess it made, full of smoke flavor :D :
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People have complained about the svords L6 being chippy, but everything I'm seeing is light mashing and rolling.
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The damage was relatively minor, and I could still shave through it without it being too scratchy.
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After steeling it on the back of another knife (a Busse choiless BOSS Jack Proto) and a few strokes on a 1000 grit stone, it was back up to near it's original edge. I didn't competely get out the damaged area, but I only spent about 2 minutes steeling it and hitting it on the stone. All in all it did good for what I expect out of a knife, certainly out of a 13$ knife.
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even though this certainly won't win any awards for best chopper, it's capable of making ghetto poor mans fuzz sticks for fires in the rain by light chopping on the edges:
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all in all I'm quite happy with it for the cost. It's small enough to fit int he main pocket, thin at the spine and edge, and capable of doing most camp tasks for a knife of this size without any problems. I'd still probably stick with a Finn Wolf because I think it's a better carving knife, but is worth having around, especially to hand to non-knife-comfortable friends.
 
I've been looking at these for a while. I'm going to have to break down and get a couple. I think they'd be great to just toss in the pack, tackle box, glove box, stuff like that. How does the lateral strength of the knife feel? Do the handles feel weak with lateral pressure?
 
cramsey3006 said:
I've been looking at these for a while. I'm going to have to break down and get a couple. I think they'd be great to just toss in the pack, tackle box, glove box, stuff like that. How does the lateral strength of the knife feel? Do the handles feel weak with lateral pressure?
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It feels bendier then other folders, but it also feels stronger if your grabbing it hard with your index and middle finger. The plastic scales are only held on by 2 screws and they are flexible by design, you need them to have some flex so you can push them apart with the blade giving you a good variable friction locking mechanism. But, because the scales are flexible, if you tried to grab it at the butt of the handle without having a good grip on the extended tang, it feels so bendy that I'd be worried that the tang would slip out and the knife would start to close.

If your grip is concentrated on your first two fingers it's as capable or moreso than other 1/16" thick folder blades because your partially prying with the extended tang. One long bar of metal (even a thin one) feels more capable than a joint.
 
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