Zombie Tools Squid Axe

DanR217 · Mar 19, 2011

I picked up a couple of items from Zombie Tools because I hadn't seen any reviews of any of their products.

The first one I'm going to talk about is the Squid Axe. To me, this item seemed a little more practical than some of their other items.

Two of my major complaints are: 1) the edge has an extremely high bevel and almost no relief. This type of edge seems like it would work well for an actual axe, not a knife, as I couldn't hardly cut anything with the original edge. 2) the kydex that came with it is practically laughable, it doesn't hardly hold the knife in it at all. A slight shake is enough to dislodge the blade...

To take care of the first problem I'm bringing the primary bevel to 17 degrees and the cutting edge to 25 degrees. If this doesn't help sufficiently with the cutting ability, I'll go lower, but I don't think that will be necessary.

To fix the sheath I'll add a snap or velcro closure.

Here's the pics:

Cynic2701 · Mar 19, 2011

Thanks for posting this review! I was hoping that you would do so.

The blade looks like it would legitimately be useful in the kitchen, or for skinning. I'm not a big fan of cord-wraps for knives that are going to be near food (or soon to become food!) items. Have you thought of getting some G-10 or Micarta slabs done for this knife?

What is that thing attached to the knife???

harkamus · Mar 19, 2011

Cynic2701 said:
What is that thing attached to the knife???

Was wondering the same thing, but I think it's part of his sharpening gizmo.

DanR217 · Mar 19, 2011

harkamus said:
Was wondering the same thing, but I think it's part of his sharpening gizmo.

Yeah, its a Lansky sharpener

Cynic2701 said:
Thanks for posting this review! I was hoping that you would do so.

The blade looks like it would legitimately be useful in the kitchen, or for skinning. I'm not a big fan of cord-wraps for knives that are going to be near food (or soon to become food!) items. Have you thought of getting some G-10 or Micarta slabs done for this knife?

What is that thing attached to the knife???

It seems like a decent skinner, but no, I haven't considered g-10 or micarta. They ship their products covered in this black oil type stuff, so if you were going to use it for any kind of food prep, you'd probably want to break it down and clean that stuff off.

DanR217 · Mar 21, 2011

Here's some more pics.

The main bevel is very asymmetrical:

I finished the edge and relief and got it to a polished, shaving sharp adge and took it to some paper:

Then I added a ghetto paracord handle so I could use it as a one or two finger axe:

Before:

After

Then I chopped into an old junk couch and a plank of some light wood:

I nicked a couple of small staples on the couch, so there were a couple of small dings on the edge. Not able to cut paper well, but still shaves:

Spent a couple of minutes on the edge and got it back smooth and scary sharp:

The steel seemed to perform well, but that little edge on the handle makes chopping with it with one or two fingers very uncomfortable. After I get my bench grinder going I think I'm going to get rid of that angle and make a real handle for it so it can be used as a small camp axe.

Overall, I'm not terribly impressed nor terribly unimpressed. For $70 it was worth a shot. I knew I'd probably end up altering it to suit my tastes, which is something I often do. The main thing I don't get it what this knife was designed for? The original edge was too steep for a slicer, but the handle makes it an uncomfortable chopper, so, as I got it, it wasn't very useful.

Now that I'm sure the steel is decent quality, I feel more comfortable spending more time on it to make it a useful tool.

Vertebrae · Mar 22, 2011

Wow, I'm surprised by the lack of symmetry on the main bevel. If it was brought up almost to the logo area I'll bet it would be a really good slicer, and a great shape for skinning. I'd heat the kydex sheath up a bit and cinch it down a bit more if it doesn't retain that well. Do the holes line up for a tek-lok?

DanR217 · Mar 27, 2011

Vertebrae said:
Wow, I'm surprised by the lack of symmetry on the main bevel. If it was brought up almost to the logo area I'll bet it would be a really good slicer, and a great shape for skinning. I'd heat the kydex sheath up a bit and cinch it down a bit more if it doesn't retain that well. Do the holes line up for a tek-lok?

That's what I did with the kydex, seems a little better now.

The holes didn't line up so I drilled my own for this spare SpydercoG clip.

Here it is with that angle ground down and a new 2-3 finger paracord handle:

rinos · Mar 27, 2011

it could be useful as Ulu knife.

eccvets · Apr 2, 2011

hmmmm how sharp is shaving sharp to you, you might wanna try a paper wheel system to see how sharp it can really get rather then just setteling for paper cutting sharp...

JohnnyMayhem · Apr 3, 2011

I wonder how hard it would be to make a bolt on handle for it.

DanR217 · Apr 4, 2011

eccvets said:
hmmmm how sharp is shaving sharp to you, you might wanna try a paper wheel system to see how sharp it can really get rather then just setteling for paper cutting sharp...

hmmm gee i don't know, maybe sharp enough to shave with...

dfkdfk · Apr 7, 2011

This is my first time hearing of Zombie Tools. To be honest I'm not super impressed (although I respect their hustle, the fact that they are handmaking something, etc) but I guess their entire premise is to make weapons to fight off zombies - is this a case where you get what you pay for or do you think this is a legitimately useful tool?

eccvets · Apr 26, 2011

DanBo82 said:
hmmm gee i don't know, maybe sharp enough to shave with...

shaving paper is not nearly sharp enough for me. just shaving hair is also not anywhere near as sharp as an edge can get to. If its good enuf for you, the i guess thats ok for you. Those peices of paper dont look like they were cut by an edge which is anywhere near as sharp as it could be though.

Bhamster · Apr 26, 2011

Remember these are tools specifically designed for one purpose and as such can only really be tested by using it as intended. Any test that does not use real unlive zombies is really not a fair test for this knife.

DanR217 · Dec 6, 2011

dfkdfk said:
This is my first time hearing of Zombie Tools. To be honest I'm not super impressed (although I respect their hustle, the fact that they are handmaking something, etc) but I guess their entire premise is to make weapons to fight off zombies - is this a case where you get what you pay for or do you think this is a legitimately useful tool?

Okay genius, if you can't read my post I'm not going to summarize it for you. Thanks for another jab at the companies "hustle" though, nice way to disguise it in a question. F/O

eccvets said:
shaving paper is not nearly sharp enough for me. just shaving hair is also not anywhere near as sharp as an edge can get to. If its good enuf for you, the i guess thats ok for you. Those peices of paper dont look like they were cut by an edge which is anywhere near as sharp as it could be though.

I can't believe I humored your "how sharp is shaving sharp" question. I'm not about to indulge you in a wiener measuring contest until you tell me your knives are sharp enough to split molecules. F/O

Bhamster said:
Remember these are tools specifically designed for one purpose and as such can only really be tested by using it as intended. Any test that does not use real unlive zombies is really not a fair test for this knife.

Nice, I knew there'd be someone who just couldn't resist. You're so smart, not smart enough to read the other thread where about 50 people already thought they were the first to think of that, but not everyone can be a winner. F/O

BOBO · Dec 6, 2011

Thanks for reviewing one of their knives. I've seen their site, but haven't red anything about them. Thanks for biting the bullet for the rest of us and trying one of their products.

Deviltooth · Dec 7, 2011

I'm a fan of most things zombie. I'm not a fan of a knife you have to modify extensively to end with something useful.

This appeats to be a marketing over product issue.

P.S. I sure as hell wouldn't want to get close enough to a zombie that even modified this would be useful. When a creature is infectious range is what you want.

P.P.S. Yes I know they aren't real.

zak_hunter · May 8, 2014

Does anybody know anyone selling a squid axe? because I'm looking to buy one