My impressions of the knife:
Very well made
You
can still see the laser-marks from the blank being cut (similar to the previous generation of Survive! Knives), but I never minded that. The tumbled "nimbus" finish is very appealing.
The edges of the spine are softened (perhaps from the tumbling?) and are particularly rounded at the jimping = greater comfort but no striking a firesteel with this one.
The jimping itself (~1.5" with 1/16" valleys and plateaus) has edges sharp enough to catch your thumb and leave significant marks if a lot of force is used, but they also provide good retention on gloves.
The contoured handles are quite comfortable, except for the semi-guard used to form the index groove into the choil - that groove is a LOT larger than it needs to be, at least for my hand, and it makes the handle a bit more awkward in various grips than a simpler design would be. Laterally, the handle is quite comfortable and the micarta is nice a grippy. It tapers at the neck (down to 0.56") and behind the palm-swell (that swell is 0.91" thick), then flares gently at the pommel - good retention and indexing in hand. It feels like you could use the knife with a lot of force for a long period of time without fatiguing the hand. The handle itself is ~4.31" long, is 1.25" wide at peak but nominally ~1" wide and sports a grip-area (where your hand settles in hammer-grip) ~3.75" long.
Specialty fasteners are a
for me, but to each their own. With the right tool, you should be able to swap scales if desired.
The pommel hole is plenty large for a lanyard (0.188"), though the corners of the micarta there may be prone to damage if you tried to hammer with this knife - they are rather pointed, and the steel sticks out only 3/16" past them.
The balance of the knife is right at the index-guard. Blade (measured from handle scales) is ~4.68" long including the 0.44" ricasso. Cutting edge is 4.25" from heel to tip. That choil features a 1.25" wide groove - awfully wide, but whatever. Blade thickness is 0.162" stock down to 0.025" behind the edge over the 1.34" wide FFG primary bevel, making the primary grind a mere 3' per side. The edge itself is ~0.05" wide for a final angle ~15' per side. The tip is tapered for good slicing rather than strength, just something to keep in mind.
The leather sheath feels a bit flimsy, but it isn't too bad, not sure who makes them for Bradford. The knife fits well, maybe a bit looser than I'd like. *shrug*
The Kydex sheath (pancake here) is made by Dave Brown (Buy Brown) and holds the knife quite securely, reaching 1.25" up the handle. It is bi-layer 0.080" kydex, is 6.5" long and is 3.38" at its widest, which is much wider than I'd like, but *shrug* The holes are spaced 1" and 1.5" o.c. on the edge for use with tek-lok and G-clip accessories. Since I personally hate high-ride sheaths, I tested my own UKE 2.0 (mentioned in my signature) on the sheath and found that it fits, for carrying the knife at various heights or dangler-style. You could also use this for a lower cross-draw carry, but i didn't show that here.
Comparing the knife to others I have on-hand, it most resembles the Busse Hog Muk (and Busse has a variation on this design called the 'Hunter' as well as a Swamp Rat knife called the Vex that is similar), but I prefer the Guardian's more contoured handles.
Against the Becker BK16, I again like the thickness and texture of the Guardian handles, but as with the Busse I prefer the simpler design of the handle that lacks that semi-guard below the index finger. I do prefer the neck-taper on the Guardian to the flare at the neck of the BK16.
Against the Survive! SK4 (identical to the previous generation of the GSO-4.1 in terms of handle and blade shape/length/width/etc.), the very basic SK4 handle works in a greater variety of positions, but I do prefer the curvature and contouring of the Guardian, except again for that bit in the middle. The newer GSO's all feature a more curved and contoured handle, which is superior to all those featured here.
Against the Mora Robust (Companion) - I find the handle of the Mora much more comfortable, though the blade geometry of that knife is far inferior for slicing, and the handle is far less durable than the Guardian.
I don't think you will be disappointed in the quality of the Bradford Guardian 4, it is an excellent build
For me, it is not the design I tend to prefer, so I would not get this knife for myself, but I hope yours sees much use and gives you satisfaction
