Pictured is a nice, little scandi bushcraft in Finnish style with ebony and silver handle.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
[quote]SexMachine wrote:
Attached photo is a Woodlore Bushcraft knife with custom Cape Buffalo Horn handles.
[quote] Varquanir wrote:
Indeed. You suffer from a condition called hoplophobia, which is the irrational and morbid fear of inanimate objects, particularly weapons. It has been said that a fear of weapons hints at retarded sexual maturity, but I wouldn’t let it worry you. As long as you recognise your phobia as resulting from a form of conditioning, there is every hope that you will eventually recover.
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I know this wasn’t directed at me but for the record I have not posted anything I would consider a “weapon”. Unless you would call a fishing hook a weapon. Granted the Cold Steel Spetznas entrenching shovel has the duel purpose of being a formidable close quarters dispute resoluter.
Here in Australia fear of “weapons” is widespread and in their wisdom the federal government outlawed “double edged knives” - as we all know, it’s much more dangerous to have your throat slit by a double edged knife. Seriously though, the Fairbairne-Sykes fighting knife design is a pretty deadly weapon. They have “blood groves” to reduce the suction when you’re pulling it out of your victim. Then there’s those nasty little double edged palm knives they call “push daggers” - I’ve read they’re popular with some special forces because they’re so small, light and deadly. And of course the Fairbairne-Sykes was modelled upon the Italian Renaissance stiletto - the famous assassin’s spike. They were a favourite of Italian nobility so there are many highly elaborate, bejewelled versions around. Take a google if you’re interested. And of course, the Fairbairne-Sykes was influenced by the Scottish Dirk - another assassin’s spike of the nobility.
And let’s not forget the Sicilian fighting knives. Sicilian nobles and commoners carried knives for self defence and duelling knives for centuries. There’s too many types to go into.
However, I’m not interested in fighting knives. My interest is bushcraft and particularly the Scandinavian utility knives - knives that serve every purpose for survival and hunting. Sheffield in England and Solingen in Germany have always been renowned for their knife making but the Scandinavians and Finnish in particular developed knives that actually withstood the harshest conditions and had to perform reliably and be easy to sharpen in the field. That’s why the bushcraft community in Europe used the Scandi grind and high carbon steel. Instead of the traditional reindeer horn or stag the bushcraft knives are usually hardwood - although I’ve got a little ivory one pictures above and I’ve heard of giraffe horn and many exotic materials. Mylar is becoming popular too but I like natural materials.
As I said, in North America the Spyderco Bushcraft(G10) knife is the best freely available but it’s minimum $160
And there’s a cheaper option. The Condor Bushlore is a really good quality knife that you can pick up for as low as $35
Plenty of small knife makers in North America that are good. There’s a Canadian company that makes really good skinning knives amongst other things. I can’t think of the name of it now though. But for proper Bushcraft knife in North America the Spyderco is the way to go. Unless of course, you want to shell out $200+ for a US made L T Wright Genesis:
https://www.ltwrightknives.com/the-genesis.html
The L T Wright Genesis is the best US made bushcraft knife in my opinion. It doesn’t compare to the best European made ones though.
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Thanks SM, now I gotta scrape up money to buy that knife![/quote]
There’s some things you need to know before you get a scandi knife. Most sharpening equipment will ruin a scandi bevel. You need a flat grinding/sharpening/polishing surface. They usually come out of the box razor sharp and maintain their edge well with just stropping. If you need to sharpen use a flat surface and start with a fine grit. Grind the entire scandi bevel evenly. It’s a single bevel going right to the edge. Equal on the other side to fold the “burr” over. Then progressively fine grit grades then a final polish.
Scandis are actually the easiest of all grinds but you can duck up the bevel. It’s best to start out with a couple of cheap scandis like the “Mora” survival knife and the Condor I mentioned before at $35. Not the same quality but the best option if you want to learn to sharpen and maintain scandi blades. As high carbon steel can be prone to rust you should oil your tools regularly. There’s many different oils but I prefer Camellia oil.
The Spyderco is really top quality hence the price. I got my SWC bushcraft knife years ago before Ray Mears’ show popularised them and literally quadrupled the price. The new ones are £395:
A world class bushcraft knife but not as good as the first generation in my opinion. The new ones have an oak handle. I love oak and it’s an ancient wood that can live well over 600 years. But it’s too light in colour for a knife handle. I like darker, aged hardwoods. Mahagony and ebony look good as do dark woods with the natural grain visible. Micarta is extremely popular now but I don’t like it. Each to his own.
