Southey & JonathanD's Epic Knife Test Thread
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not wanting to defend bear grylls, but i think the orange makes sense, its supposed to be the ultimate survival knife, and in a survival situation losing your knife would be a bad thing, and the bright orange would stand out better if dropped in the woods, i dont think this is what the designers were thinking though, cause obviously a shiny reflective blade would stand out more than a black coated one, and could be better for signalling, maybe they should have made two versions, a polished blade orange version and a coated green handle version
i do hate the name though, maybe its just me but i thought most survival people would say that theres no such thing as the ultimate knife, especially a survival one
ps hows the pommel feel i heard something about them falling of
i do hate the name though, maybe its just me but i thought most survival people would say that theres no such thing as the ultimate knife, especially a survival one
ps hows the pommel feel i heard something about them falling of
Soooo, disasters diverted, well... dealt with at least. Time for a play.
Not much for this session as I was hungry, wet, burned and waiting for the third disaster to strike.
First up, the grip. Surprisingly thinner profile than you would expect. As I said before, it's about the same as a Mora 2010/bushcraft, and just as comfortable.
It was slightly higher in profile than the Mora though, and I found it very comfortable. I could use this for long periods and not get blisters, and it would be great in wet too, I think. Laters for that experiment on dead bunnies.
Ewww, serrations though, me no likey serrations. I can understand them on this sort of knife, and I understand the concept behind Rob Bayleys interrupted edge.... but even so. Why, oh why, and why put them where I do all my heavy cutting. I know BG loves them, so who am I to say it is wrong for him to like them. Loads of people do. I don't. Time to find a sapling that won't impact the environment.
Hmmm, well, how about that, cut just as well as a plain edge with just force and without a sawing motion. Wasn't expecting that. Did it again and used a sawing motion at that point when you know all cutting force is expended. It worked really well. Just as well as a plain blade at 5mm thick at least. I will investigate that edge further over the next few days. Time to do some carving. I really wasn't expecting much from this...
OK, did a simple notch cleanly and easily, time for something else....
Did that too, time for someting a little more complex and fine...
Seriously!!! Yeah, it did them cleanly, quickly and was great to use. It was performing almost as well as my Deval bushy in these areas. The blade is slightly thicker, and suffered slightly, but for crying out loud. This isn't supposed to happen. How can I berate it with my sharp wit when it does this. Time to go home and rethink my life.
Not much for this session as I was hungry, wet, burned and waiting for the third disaster to strike.
First up, the grip. Surprisingly thinner profile than you would expect. As I said before, it's about the same as a Mora 2010/bushcraft, and just as comfortable.
It was slightly higher in profile than the Mora though, and I found it very comfortable. I could use this for long periods and not get blisters, and it would be great in wet too, I think. Laters for that experiment on dead bunnies.
Ewww, serrations though, me no likey serrations. I can understand them on this sort of knife, and I understand the concept behind Rob Bayleys interrupted edge.... but even so. Why, oh why, and why put them where I do all my heavy cutting. I know BG loves them, so who am I to say it is wrong for him to like them. Loads of people do. I don't. Time to find a sapling that won't impact the environment.
Hmmm, well, how about that, cut just as well as a plain edge with just force and without a sawing motion. Wasn't expecting that. Did it again and used a sawing motion at that point when you know all cutting force is expended. It worked really well. Just as well as a plain blade at 5mm thick at least. I will investigate that edge further over the next few days. Time to do some carving. I really wasn't expecting much from this...
OK, did a simple notch cleanly and easily, time for something else....
Did that too, time for someting a little more complex and fine...
Seriously!!! Yeah, it did them cleanly, quickly and was great to use. It was performing almost as well as my Deval bushy in these areas. The blade is slightly thicker, and suffered slightly, but for crying out loud. This isn't supposed to happen. How can I berate it with my sharp wit when it does this. Time to go home and rethink my life.
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Well the test isn't over, but I have to re-evaluate my opinion. Last time I held this knife I thought it was OK. Build quality good, decent features etc. It was OK. It's actually more than OK.
The orange is what strikes people, and it has been called everything from a toy to Action Mans knife because of the colour. As a survival knife, the colour has it's merits, as it would be hard to misplace this in a green/brown environment. Further to that though, i think it makes the knife appear less like the percieved weapon people regard knives as nowadays, and makes it more sheeple friendly. This makes sense when you think of the age group and scouts that will no doubt buy it because of the BG connection.
What really strikes you is the overall package. Look at the Mora Survival.. it's £55!!! This BG Gerber can be had for £60, and half that in the States where it's primary customer base resides. I think out of the two, this Gerber IS the better package, being far more robust than the Mora, and with a better sheath too. But that is for survival and not necessarily bushcraft.
I've still not finished abusing this knife. I will be looking at the pommel, which had issues of breaking before it was re-designed. I did use it to hammer in a wooden stake and bash some hazel nuts and it was fine. I don't intend to knock any masonry nals into a wall, but I will test it. I also want to test the serrated edge further, and investigate sharpening.
Hmmm.
The orange is what strikes people, and it has been called everything from a toy to Action Mans knife because of the colour. As a survival knife, the colour has it's merits, as it would be hard to misplace this in a green/brown environment. Further to that though, i think it makes the knife appear less like the percieved weapon people regard knives as nowadays, and makes it more sheeple friendly. This makes sense when you think of the age group and scouts that will no doubt buy it because of the BG connection.
What really strikes you is the overall package. Look at the Mora Survival.. it's £55!!! This BG Gerber can be had for £60, and half that in the States where it's primary customer base resides. I think out of the two, this Gerber IS the better package, being far more robust than the Mora, and with a better sheath too. But that is for survival and not necessarily bushcraft.
I've still not finished abusing this knife. I will be looking at the pommel, which had issues of breaking before it was re-designed. I did use it to hammer in a wooden stake and bash some hazel nuts and it was fine. I don't intend to knock any masonry nals into a wall, but I will test it. I also want to test the serrated edge further, and investigate sharpening.
Hmmm.
brilliant! looking forward to tomorrows instalment matey, will be off out to play tomorrow with the cheapy Winchester and two other favourites, making some camp furniture and generally being amazing!
I reckon there is a strange kind of reverse nose in the air thing with this one, the other chaps and Edwards first offering were expensive and made by craftsmen, where this is a mass produced piece, even the Helle tamamamagagagagami is in the craftsmen end due to the standing Helle have, so when some one plops a gawdy affordable knife that at first has a few issues its not going to win many supporters, but as has been found before its not untill you get the thing in your hand that you find out it works, what confuses me about this one is that the knife is it in the same line as the LMF 2 but £20ish cheaper, so after the teething problems have been sorted its going to be a decent knife, then you just have to get over the looks, which for me is the hardest bit!
Yeah, the looks are awful and I just couldn't wear one around other 'shrafters without being hugely self-concious about it. But it is a knife I'd let a youngster have. It doesn't look offensive, infact it looks innoffensive. I think it should also be offered in other subdued colours. I also agree that the knife should have a polished blade, but maybe in adverse conditions this finish would be an adantage. At the moment I'd buy it over the Mora Suvival... but that orangeyness 
it looks like its based on the lmf 2, if you look everything between the tip of the blade and the holes at the front of the handle seems the same on both, its just the back end, plus the sheaths are similar
i think i'd rather pay the extra not to have the bg on it if i was going to buy either
i think i'd rather pay the extra not to have the bg on it if i was going to buy either
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it looks like its based on the lmf 2, if you look everything between the tip of the blade and the holes at the front of the handle seems the same on both, its just the back end, plus the sheaths are similar
i think i'd rather pay the extra not to have the bg on it if i was going to buy either
They are a completely different size. The BG is quite a bit slimmer and smaller. I've handled the LMF and it has much more of a military feel to it.
if it was plain edged and polished to i'd agree
interestingly the lmf appears to have a sharpner built in the sheath too, so if you add a whistle and a firesteel you got pretty much the same package, albeit for a higher price, which makes you wonder how much bear grylls had to do with it, when most of the design seems to be pre existing
They are slightly different as I've already said...
Maybe he didn't have much input and just OK'd one design from a few offered. Or they asked him what features he liked and modified an existing design accordingly. Or maybe he saw a picture, wrote BG on the handle, sat back, nodded and said "cool, but it needs more orange". It doesn't really matter, it's the end product that should speak for itself, and after handling both, I like the LMF, but it is different in the hand to the BG blade and far more military oriented with that skull crusher pommel and straight symmetrical handle design. Maybe we'll do a test on that one soon.
I'll make a list of things people want to see done/tested with this knife. I'll do the fun and easy ones, and Southey can do the mega difficult stuff 
1. Batonning
2. Feather sticks
3. Chopping
4. Rope cutting
5. Game prep
6. Fish prep
Please copy and paste the list with any add ons, and we'll do our best to do them.
1. Batonning
2. Feather sticks
3. Chopping
4. Rope cutting
5. Game prep
6. Fish prep
Please copy and paste the list with any add ons, and we'll do our best to do them.
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