Zlatoust Boyar knife, (Russian made). Strange looking...

PocketKnifeJimmy

PocketKnifeJimmy

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Yup, it's a strange looking knife, and that's exactly why I just ordered one to add it to my collection.
I have noticed that a lot of Russian knives have a unique look about them.

Anyone ever see or handle one of these? Curious to hear what your take on them is. Thanks 👍




Oh, btw, the overall length is listed as being just shy of 17" long. It is listed as it's best use being for Hunting, Camping, and Survival.

Here's the factory product description and specifications...
An impressive knife with a huge blade of variable width and 6 mm spine thickness. The blade has different angles of descents of the reverse lenticular shape, which allows you to cut with the near half of the blade, while the far one chops like a machete. The handle is large, convenient for cutting, has a hole on the top for a lanyard. We recommend taking this knife in the trunk of a car instead of an ax when going out into the woods or countryside. It has no equal, when it is necessary, to chop branches to use under the wheels of a stuck car and when arranging a camping site.

Specifications:

Full length: 428mm

Blade length: 287mm

Blade width: 34mm

Steel grade: 50x14MF 58-60 HRC

Weight without scabbard: 376gr

Weight with scabbard: 480gr


I do already own a fix blade knife made by the same Russian firm, and it is very nicely made.
 
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Interesting blade profile. It appears to have two different grinds - the grind towards the tip looks more obtuse, and the recurve length looks more acute. Functionally, there may be advantages to two different grind profiles on the same knife (ie, thicker/stronger tip). But that edge transition between the two - yikes!!! There is a spot of completely unsharpened edge?? That's going to hinder any kind of slicing action for sure, when you hit that dead spot, lol.

I know nothing about the steel spec (50x14MF, whatever that means). Is it stainless?
 
Interesting design, kind of a stabby 'Tracker" style, without the saw teeth. I'm not personally a fan of compound grinds on big blades, but that one is not bad looking. Not sure about the steel formulation, I've read that max hardness for this steel is 57.5RC, so performance is likely similar to 440A. In my opinion, that's not bad territory for a chopping blade. It just means you'll have to work a little harder at keeping it sharp, but it won't be difficult to resharpen. Enjoy!

EDIT: Kizlyar, the Russian knife company, lists similar steels as 5Cr15Mov, and 1.4116, a Krupp alloy. Not bad for a chopper, the edge will roll instead of chipping, but softer than the 58-60RC claimed by the specs.... And yes, it's stainless.
 
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The bird beak pommel and the stacked handle resembles some traditional Russian outdoor knives but the blade is just pure fantasy, "designed" to have visual appeal - which it does.
Beyond the the looks, it doesn't have any other appeal for me.
The hollow grinds aren't the best for chopping, but at that length they don't provide much advantage for slicing either. The obtuse hollow "saber" grind prevents efficient slashing too, and the lack of guards would not make stabbing very safe for the user, so this would not be a good weapon either. For carving you would want a puukko or a mora style knife, which many traditional Russian knives resemble by the way.
Their recommendation for chopping off branches may work for the soft woods one might encounter in the northern Russian woods, but that is not much of a praise, nor a design "feature" to brag about. You would be much better served by any cheap machete for this purpose.
By the way, 'boyars' were medieval Russian noblemen, the title was adopted from the (Danubian) Bulgarians or maybe from the Volga Bulgars, from where the Danubian Bulgarians originated too. If they wore long dress knives, those would have been very functional weapons too.
 
Thanks for your input, guys. I just collect "stuff", so it's just going to be a unique addition to my collection that breaks the norm a bit.

Like I mentioned above, I do already have a knife made by this Russian firm, and it does seem well made. It too is a bit unique, but not mickey mousey in it's fit and finish. The steel on that one is 95x18, with supposedly a 58-60 HRC hardness. I believe it's a Russian equivalent to 440C stainless steel.
Here is a pic of that knife...

All of my other Russian made knives, (about 20 of them), are 'Kizlyar' brand knives, (not to be confused with the 'Kizlyar Supreme' brand that started up some time after 'Kizlyar' did.

I'll post a few pics of the new knife after I receive it 👍
 
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shane45-1911 said:
Interesting blade profile. It appears to have two different grinds - the grind towards the tip looks more obtuse, and the recurve length looks more acute. Functionally, there may be advantages to two different grind profiles on the same knife (ie, thicker/stronger tip). But that edge transition between the two - yikes!!! There is a spot of completely unsharpened edge?? That's going to hinder any kind of slicing action for sure, when you hit that dead spot, lol.

I know nothing about the steel spec (50x14MF, whatever that means). Is it stainless?
Click to expand...

"50X14MF(GOST) - Budget steel with high corrosion resistance and good toughness. Used in larger, hard use blades like machetes and kukris. Also used in kitchen knives. Interestingly, several Russian sources list max harndess as 57.5HRC, don't see that often to be honest. Anyway, 56-57HRc range is not high by any standard. Works ok for kukris, and meat cleavers, but personally, I'd want something considerably harder for light use and kitchen knives. "
No sweat
 
Zulus said:
"50X14MF(GOST) - Budget steel with high corrosion resistance and good toughness. Used in larger, hard use blades like machetes and kukris. Also used in kitchen knives. Interestingly, several Russian sources list max harndess as 57.5HRC, don't see that often to be honest. Anyway, 56-57HRc range is not high by any standard. Works ok for kukris, and meat cleavers, but personally, I'd want something considerably harder for light use and kitchen knives. "
No sweat
Click to expand...
Yeah, I believe it's become pretty common to use such stainless steels for longer/bigger blades that may need some toughness.
I have an early Condor Swamp-Master machete made by Condor, and it's blade is made of 420HC stainless. I guess it fits the purpose for such things.
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
Yeah, I believe it's become pretty common to use such stainless steels for longer/bigger blades that may need some toughness.
I have an early Condor Swamp-Master machete made by Condor, and it's blade is made of 420HC stainless. I guess it fits the purpose for such things.
Click to expand...
I don't know exact numbers
but Condor is much cheaper than Zlatoust !
So only real choice is Russia or Salvador ...
 
Yup, Condor makes the less expensive products, but they are also much less refined than Zlatoust' products.
Even a Randall Made knife in stainless steel is usually made using 440B stainless steel, but there is obviously much more than just the steel that goes into making a knife, and so it's more than just the steel that one is buying.
Again, Condor and Zlatoust using inexpensive stainless steels to make bigger blades that may get some abuse, is likely not a decision that they solely base on their steel choices being cheaper, but also that the steels will perform adequately for the use that these knives may most commonly be used for.
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
Yup, Condor makes the less expensive products, but they also are much less refined than Zlatoust' products.
Even a basic Randall Made knife in stainless steel is made using 440B stainless steel, there is obviously much more than just the steel that one is buying.
Again, Condor and Zlatoust using inexpensive stainless steels to make bigger blades that may get some abuse, is likely not solely based on their steel choices being cheaper, but also that the steels perform adequately for the use these knives may most commonly be used for.
Click to expand...
I bought Busse Combat 9 and Trail Master SMIII
and Condor and Zlatoust left for others :^)
 
I actually own two Cold Steel Trail Master San Mai 3 Bowie knives, and somewhat recently purchased a Randall Model #1 in O1 steel. I like to have diversity within my collection.
Instead of my always going with the same ole same ole that's out there, I find it pretty cool to think outside the box a bit 😉
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I actually own two Cold Steel Trail Master San Mai 3 Bowie knives and somewhat recently purchased a Randall Model #1 in O1 steel. I like to have diversity within my collection.
Instead of my always going with the same ole same ole that's out there, I find it pretty cool to think outside the box a bit 😉
Click to expand...
I got few hundred of such boxes
I can't dug out of avalanche of boxes ...
Digging first, thinking later


BTW Zlatoust make some really nice knives
Definitely out of my range :^O
 
Here is a picture of one of my favorite Kizlyar knives.
It's a Kizlyar model Phoenix Combat. Here in the United States it has been pretty much fully copied by 'Tops', Tops calling it their 'Wild Pig Hunter', (below is a picture of my Tops specimen as well)...




The Kizlyar Phoenix Combat is made with Russian U8 carbon steel, while the Tops Wild Pig Hunter is made out of 1095 carbon steel.
Both have Micarta type handle scales.

It wasn't all too many years back that finding a Kizlyar in the States was pretty rare, and they commanded a pretty penny. But, while they are still not commonly sold here yet, they can be found at reasonable prices now, ($110 to maybe $150).
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
Yup, it's a strange looking knife, and that's exactly why I just ordered one to add it to my collection.
I have noticed that a lot of Russian knives have a unique look about them.

Anyone ever see or handle one of these? Curious to hear what your take on them is. Thanks 👍




Oh, btw, the overall length is listed as being just shy of 17" long. It is listed as it's best use being for Hunting, Camping, and Survival.

Here's the factory product description and specifications...
An impressive knife with a huge blade of variable width and 6 mm spine thickness. The blade has different angles of descents of the reverse lenticular shape, which allows you to cut with the near half of the blade, while the far one chops like a machete. The handle is large, convenient for cutting, has a hole on the top for a lanyard. We recommend taking this knife in the trunk of a car instead of an ax when going out into the woods or countryside. It has no equal, when it is necessary, to chop branches to use under the wheels of a stuck car and when arranging a camping site.

Specifications:

Full length: 428mm

Blade length: 287mm

Blade width: 34mm

Steel grade: 50x14MF 58-60 HRC

Weight without scabbard: 376gr

Weight with scabbard: 480gr


I do already own a fix blade knife made by the same Russian firm, and it is very nicely made.
Click to expand...

Very cool knife, I'm getting Filipino vibes from the blade profile.
 
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