my newest EDC ...
4.5" blade 440C steel
camel bone handle
4.5" blade 440C steel
camel bone handle
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Knives!
- Thread starter TOOL460002
- Start date
Smith357, what is it you like about the Victorinox multi tool?
I've been looking at this too, but a personal recommendation always helps.
Mike
I've been looking at this too, but a personal recommendation always helps.
Mike
A few of my bushcraft/camping knives.
Although the Adventure Sworn in the middle is a total unicorn, and almost impossible to get (A.S. is not taking orders) it's not my favorite. The Casstrom rings ALL the bells.
Top to bottom-
Joker by J. Sabater, sandvik 14c2bn steel. At 4.5mm thick it's a crowbar with an edge. Great knife.
Cudeman bushcrafter- Kickin' knife for under $100.
Adventure Sworn Woodlore Classic- cpm3v steel. The best built knife I have ever even picked up.
L.T. Wright Bushcraft HC- No frills knife from one of America's best makers. 1095 steel
Casstrom Lars Falt- Sliepner steel. Truly great all around knife. If I could design my perfect knife, it would just be this.
Although the Adventure Sworn in the middle is a total unicorn, and almost impossible to get (A.S. is not taking orders) it's not my favorite. The Casstrom rings ALL the bells.
Top to bottom-
Joker by J. Sabater, sandvik 14c2bn steel. At 4.5mm thick it's a crowbar with an edge. Great knife.
Cudeman bushcrafter- Kickin' knife for under $100.
Adventure Sworn Woodlore Classic- cpm3v steel. The best built knife I have ever even picked up.
L.T. Wright Bushcraft HC- No frills knife from one of America's best makers. 1095 steel
Casstrom Lars Falt- Sliepner steel. Truly great all around knife. If I could design my perfect knife, it would just be this.
I like the ergonomics, the overall handle shape with the curve and rounded edges is comfortable when exerting maximum force on the pliers, no hot spots. All the tools lock securely and are accessible without needing to open the pliers. The fit and finish is superb, every surface is polished, the only downside is the cost, about $125 street price before the secondary tool kit.
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Who makes that? I might need one....
I like the LT Wright, I have a couple of old Blind Horse Knives from back when L.T. and Dan worked together.
The blade is a Helle Viking, I made the handle from rosewood and copper.
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I need to get subscribed to this thread, so I will post up the obligatory "family photos"!
The tip of the iceberg:
These days, I am becoming more obsessed with the fixed blade.
The Becker Short Drop Point on the bottom is my candidate for Favorite Working/Outdoor Carry Knife. The reason will surprise some.
That blade is 1095 Cro-Van, Ka-Bar's enhanced formula for a slightly harder and more corrosion resistant hard-use steel. It tends to give up its edge much more quickly than other common knife steels, but that is part of the attraction!
"What?!?! That doesn't make any sense!!!" you may exclaim. Until you consider that some of us came for the cutting, but stayed for the sharpening!
Diamonds, ceramics, and stropping panels on top. Japanese, Belgian, and Chinese natural stones in the middle. A decent accumulation of natural Arkansas stones on the bottom.
Five (plus) varieties of waterstones, three lifetimes worth of stropping supplies and other gadgets, and two Wicked Edge systems, for when the results have to be perfect (including the mirror polish).
The therapeutic effect of sharpening cannot be overestimated. I'm not saying I would be crouched in a tower with a rifle without that distraction, but I am not, in fact, in a tower (with or without a rifle), so clearly we are all better off when I am bent over a stone.
I probably could have said that better, but hopefully you get the idea! Sharpening!!! Whoa!!!
The tip of the iceberg:
These days, I am becoming more obsessed with the fixed blade.
The Becker Short Drop Point on the bottom is my candidate for Favorite Working/Outdoor Carry Knife. The reason will surprise some.
That blade is 1095 Cro-Van, Ka-Bar's enhanced formula for a slightly harder and more corrosion resistant hard-use steel. It tends to give up its edge much more quickly than other common knife steels, but that is part of the attraction!
"What?!?! That doesn't make any sense!!!" you may exclaim. Until you consider that some of us came for the cutting, but stayed for the sharpening!
Diamonds, ceramics, and stropping panels on top. Japanese, Belgian, and Chinese natural stones in the middle. A decent accumulation of natural Arkansas stones on the bottom.
Five (plus) varieties of waterstones, three lifetimes worth of stropping supplies and other gadgets, and two Wicked Edge systems, for when the results have to be perfect (including the mirror polish).
The therapeutic effect of sharpening cannot be overestimated. I'm not saying I would be crouched in a tower with a rifle without that distraction, but I am not, in fact, in a tower (with or without a rifle), so clearly we are all better off when I am bent over a stone.
I probably could have said that better, but hopefully you get the idea! Sharpening!!! Whoa!!!
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Holy crap man! That's one of the gravest cases of addiction ever.
I'm jealous. So many stones. I've got 4 stones, a steel and 4 diamond plates and everyone thinks I'm obsessive. Like it's basses or something. Those new high tech steels in my Japanese kitchen knives made me up my game. I find sharpening an enjoyable task, but I get more pleasure from my sharp edges in use than the actual task. You appear to be the dancing wu li master of sharpening. What's the most acute angle you've sharpened to?
I'm jealous. So many stones. I've got 4 stones, a steel and 4 diamond plates and everyone thinks I'm obsessive. Like it's basses or something. Those new high tech steels in my Japanese kitchen knives made me up my game. I find sharpening an enjoyable task, but I get more pleasure from my sharp edges in use than the actual task. You appear to be the dancing wu li master of sharpening. What's the most acute angle you've sharpened to?
And the worst part is I refuse to seek help!
My affliction was partly fueled by my slightly competitive nature. I started off many, many years ago with the early version of the Spyderco Sharpmaker. That is a simple crock stick type tool with two grades of good ceramic rods. Shaving arm and leg hair was a revelation.
When I learned that others were achieving equal or greater results freehand, I threw myself headlong down the rabbit hole. I think I must have banged my head on the way down, because when I hit the bottom, I was a lot different.
Freehanding took some serious practice, with a 15x loupe and a felt-tip pen at my elbow. A YouTube guy (Ricky goes by "Burrfection" I believe) got me up and running! Learning to feel the blade as it passed over the stone was the better part of the learning process. Not feeling the tiny bevel, but feeling the different drag as I moved from the shoulder to the bevel to the apex. Getting that down was very satisfying, to me.
I bought the little blue plastic guides, but now I only use them for a general signpost to get an appropriate angle. I aim for about 17 degrees or so for kitchen and light duty (or "showing off") edges. Much finer than that is not very practical for most of us. I like to feel for the factory angle when I get a new blade, and maybe adjust a few degrees for personal preference.
Four stones and four diamonds is all a normal person needs. I use the natural stones when the steel allows, because I find it romantic! The feel and sound are different, and seem to awaken some primal memories of when I lived in a cave. The diamonds, ceramics, or CBN are the way to go with the modern supersteels. They keep the number of strokes down, which in turn keeps your bevel more crisp and accurate.
The only thing I would suggest to you is a leather strop or two for fine finishing, if the use of the knife warrants. I sawed up some plywood panels, and carpet-taped some chrome-tanned leather to the surface. I charged a couple with the Herold-Solingen red and black compounds. They did such a beautiful job of polishing that I cobbled together several more to charge with diamond lapping paste at 10, 7, 5, and 3 microns. The mirror finishes you can get with those panels will burn the retinas out of your eyes! They are tremendously useful for other purposes around the shop, as well.
The diamond lapping paste on a leather paddle makes an outstanding tool for polishing frets, as well. It lasts almost forever, and is a lot cheaper to use than Micro Mesh cloth.
In my next post, I might get into receipt paper, and my newest White Whale, cigarette paper!
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This week, I added a Michael Morris friction folder to the collection.
Camp/Bushcraft knives are one of my old obsessions. here are just a few...
The 940/943 Osbornes are my favorite for dressed up EDC. If James Bond carried a pocketknife, this would be the one. Slender, lightweight, perfectly balanced, those knives cut like mad and they fit my hand. CPM-S30V and black aluminum make for an elegant and very useful little knife. I got a couple with a clip point blade, but it seems they are no longer offered.
The Mini-Griptilian is the one that gets the most carry, and use. Stronger and maybe more practical than the Osborne, this is a great design and just the right size. That is a perfect little pocketknife, strong enough for many jobs, very comfortable in the hand. CPM-20CV steel.
Anything bigger than that and I prefer a fixed blade, although the
discontinued Foray might push that a little.
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