Who Makes Bushcraft Knives???

jll346

jll346

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
May 29, 2006
Messages
4,630
I am looking for a Bushcraft knife here in the U.S but have had no luck. I have found no other place but the UK to purchase one and they work out to be around $300+. I do not want to spend that kind of $$. I just want a simple, tough, reliable Bushcraft knife with a 4' blade and a 4.5" handle. Nothing fancy. I do not care if it is scandi or flatground. I had spoken with Fiddleback but he is getting ready to move so he will be tied up for a while. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks...
 
Bark River makes one, actually 2 depending on your definition of a bushcraft blade

Syn
 
I know Bark River has a few. As much as I like many of the Bark River models for me they use too thick of a stock for the size of the blade. I have owned a few and ended up selling because they are like wedges of steel and not blades. The only one I have left and really like is my Mini Northstar. I guess it is probally good that I do not care for them because I would be on welfare!:eek:
 

Attachments

  • buchcraft.jpg
    buchcraft.jpg
    88.3 KB · Views: 346
Bark River makes several models with thinner stock. How thin are you going for? My bushcraft knife is 1/8" thick stock. The Wolf River is thinner than that even at 0.090" thick.
 
Fiddleback said:
Bark River makes several models with thinner stock. How thin are you going for? My bushcraft knife is 1/8" thick stock. The Wolf River is thinner than that even at 0.090" thick.
Click to expand...

1/8" is fine. I will have one of your knives once you get into your new shop and settled. For me a knife needs to be proportioned as far as length,width and thickness. Bark river will use the same stock on a 3" blade as they will on a 7" bade and for my taste that doesn't work. .170 stock on a tiny narrow blade is senseless for my liking. That's just me.
 
I have seen stuff that would work great by Brian Goode, Scot Gossman, Charles May, Gene Ingram, Sean Ohare, and Roger Linger, and those are just the first names that come to mind. I know I have seen others. In production knives, well, Kellam import a ton of excellent bushcraft suitable knives from Finland. Lots of folks use the Fallkniven F1 to good effect. Have a look at Ragweed Forge, there are good knives on there too.

It is kind of funny hearing someone in America saying they can't find a particular kind of knife:D You guys have a huge choice.

Best of luck
 
I have been looking for an "Original Buchcraft Knife" how I describe it. Pitdog gave me a link I have been looking for. Thanks.......
 
I know you want the Woodlore type of bushcraft knife but I could recommend two knives that I like.
The Fallkniven F1, very popular in the bushcraft community and reliable and I have only heard of ONE that broke, but then it was abused like at knifetests.com.
The Fallkniven H1, a more scandinavian type of knife with 6mm steel :) It is harder to use because it lacks finger guard etc but it doesnt matter.
Both these knives and most other Fallkniven have protruding tang so you can hammer it into something if needed.
If the world was coming down and I could only take one knife it would be the F1 or the S1. If I had a little more time, I would bring an extra F1 just for spare.

No matter what knife you like, a F1 in your pack as backup will save any outing from a disaster. Get one with the zytel sheath and it doesnt matter if it has been under water for a long time, it will still save you day. Tape a sw. firesteel to it and your life might be saved. It doesnt take up much space.
Another option is to get a WM1 to keep around your neck.
 
Please take another look at the Bark River Nebula, which is a Scandi-ground bushcraft knife patterned after the British design. I don't think it is any thicker than some of the British customs going for 3X+ the cost.
 
I have added two Skookum Bush Tool derivatives to my set.

First the original SBT which I have had for a couple of months.

sbt036615xs4.jpg


sbt056642yt6.jpg


This knife is currently one of my favorites for its superb handling and sharp sharp edge.

But not wanting to leave well enough alone Rod has made me a couple of varients which arrived in my hands yesterday.

First the carver, which is a shorter version with natural curly birch scales. This fellow is a very different animal than the standard SBT. Much lighter than the standard SBT, same size handle but a bit shorter and thinner blade. This one feels like a traditional scandi carver in my hand. It should be very nice to use on any sort of carving project.

sbtmine8002mw2.jpg


Next up is the buttless SBT. This one is a real gem. I thought it would be almost impossible to make a better handle than the original SBT, but this is it. The lack of butt plate changes the balance a bit and eases the corner at the heel of my hand. This is going to be even more comfortable in the hand for all the tasks (except maybe Mors beating) that the original SBT could take. This is a very nice derivative with natural tan micarta.

sbtminefront8009xh1.jpg


Rod is a great fellow to work.


Some Stats on my set….

Birch Carver
184.3g total
116g knife alone

Buttless SBT
249.5g total
167g knife alone

My original SBT with baldric braid
302.7g total
189g knife alone
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top