Southey & JonathanD's Epic Knife Test Thread

[JonathanD]

For all you myopic members out there, this is not a wife test thread (although send in pics and we'll see what we can do). This is a knife test thread. A wholly critical and unashamed look at blades of all shapes and sizes. First off, this much maligned and hated thing...

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Totally not my thing, so we shall see. The owner has put it in the post today, so I should get it tomorrow for some Friday avo testing. Then off to Dave for a loo review.

 

[Retired Member southey]

OOOooohh! cool!

 

[ged]

For those of us who are not only myopic but also fall a bit short in the clairvoyance department, would you explain to us how this works Jonathan?

Do people send you their knives so you can test them?

And should we put the air ambulance on standby?

 

[nitrambur]

Just me that can't see the pic?

 

[JonathanD]

For those of us who are not only myopic but also fall a bit short in the clairvoyance department, would you explain to us how this works Jonathan?

Do people send you their knives so you can test them?

And should we put the air ambulance on standby?

They can do. But we both have loads to keep us going.

Air ambulance already standing by.

 

[resnikov]

Just me that can't see the pic?

Might be being blocked by a work firewall or something but its a bear grylls knife like seen here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003R0LSMO

 

[JonathanD]

Might be being blocked by a work firewall or something but its a bear grylls knife like seen here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003R0LSMO

Sshshsh, don't say the name out loud.

 

[nitrambur]

Might be being blocked by a work firewall or something but its a bear grylls knife like seen here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003R0LSMO

I'm at home so it wont be that, I'll see if adblock is fiddling with it


Hmmm, after opening the amazon link it started working, in fact the url changed, weird

 

[Retired Member southey]

My first will be two from the budget end of the market, and a knife I have had for a while but not really used through being a snob!

Its a Winchester branded stainless ranger available for around £20 on the net,

 

[Retired Member southey]

The fit and finish on this knife is pretty good, there are little bits that jump out to show its mass production such as the slight miss match in the bolsters and the lack of attention to detail shown with the burr being left on the rear brass pin from it being cut to size, the rose wood scales though are very nice, they have a lovely chatoyancy when looked at under a light, the shape of the handle fills the hand well with a good positive grip in fore and back hand grips, the grind is hollow to a convex secondary, and from the tip to an inch down the edge it is quite bullish, though as i think it aimed at the Skinner this could point towards resisting blunting if it comes in to contact with bone? then the secondary rises slightly to give a more acute edge for slicing, it feel nice in the hand, but less so in the foot OUCH!,

The sheath it comes with is fine, strong cordura with flat plastic inserts to hold its shape,

With a generous belt loop,

the popper has a small disc of sticky plastic on the back to help protect the blade from scratches, though it isn't stuck on well, if it buggers off I shall drip a blob of epoxy in it and affix a small patch of black leather,

Thats it for now chaps! have to go and make some lunch for the Twindles! tomato and basil sauce, cheese and pasta today!!

Cheers!

Southey,

 

[Zingmo]

chatoyancy

That'll be my word of the week then!

Z

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

Good stuff, v interesting, thanks


Chatoyancy eh? have to throw that one in somewhere.........

 

[Retired Member southey]

Hahaha wifely got me with it, describing some pebbles she found in Moab!

 

[JonathanD]

Well the Gerber arrived. First impressions were exactly the same as the last time I set eyes on one... less chatoyancy, more orangeyness. Time for some serious testing in hand.... off to the woods I go.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic!

 

[JonathanD]

Well, like the last time I had one of these to look at, my immediate impression was TOY. Orangeyness aplenty with big BG writing on it. When you pick it up, you do leave that impression behind slightly as it is a nice weighty knife that feels very good in the hand. The blade is a hairs breadth short of 5mm. The orange bits on the handle are a hard plastic, while the grey parts are a firm rubberised material that is very grippy. It actually feels like the Mora 2010 in the hand, but heavier and more robust. I still can't help feeling it would have been better accepted and more appealing to people if the orange parts were dark green or even black. But more thoughts on this later.

It was a big surprise when BG went from the Bayley to Gerber, as the knives are poles apart. The Bayley is a great knife, handmade entirely by Rob Bayley. A great British knifemaker we should be proud of. This Gerber, well, it's made in China. There is a big thing about Bear selling out and going for profit. That miht be a fair point, but he does have a massive following, especially young males from 12 to 25. They could hardly afford the S4 which was then £350. So you could argue that he gave the public what they wanted with this relatively inexpensive knife. The thing is, did he deliver a quality product or a massive gimmick that is useless. We shall see.

The Gerber certainly stands out with all that bright stuff going on compared to the Bayley BG original and BG S4.

The sheath on the Gerber does seem well thought compared to the standard nylon jobs with front pocket you see offered. It's not leather, and as it's a survival knife that sees wet environs and dunkings constantly, that is a plus. The integrated firesteel and sharpener are welcome additions with the whole thing strapping in securely. Having looked at the sharpener on the reverse, I can see it would be quite easy to swap it out with a DC4 should you wish to have a ceramic side in there too. The one supplied is like the diamond DC3 side, only slimmer. The knife itself is held in securely by two steel friction springs and the large plastic retention clip on the front. It also has a velcro retention strap. I actually would have preferred a popper here, but again, that is an easy mod. there are two carry options, horizontal and vertical. I like the horizontal carry of Rob Bayleys design - unobtrusive and well hidden. Sadly, the Gerber is longer, so it sticks out more. Vertical carry it is then.

Now to the woods.....

 

[JonathanD]

The woods... hurrah.

Not many people come to these woods, which is surprising as they are huge with pine, deciduous woodland and even heathland all within. Loads of wildlife with Roe and Fallow deer in different areas. I was thinking about them and maybe tracking them later, when I saw this in a field surrounded by woodland...

I watched them for a while, before a watcher at the top of the bank spotted me and came barking at the others to warn them. For a good few minutes none of the others could see me, then one by one they started to make me out before running to the top of the field and into the surrounding forest.

 

[Scottishwanderer]

What tests you do?

Try stick, feather stick and stabbing four cm's into a log an stand on the handle?

 

[mrcairney]

Those woods look awesome. I thought the only good things to come out of Stourbridge where Pop Will Eat Itself and Neds Atomic Dustbin (was never a fan of the Wonderstuff)

 

[JonathanD]

And so, I found the first major flaw. The international rescue (no, not Thunderbirds Drew!!!) signals on the back had already started to rub off. That'd be a bit of an ar*e in an emergency eh!

The knife also comes with Bears emergency survival tips all packaged up into a neat little foldable leaflet which you can tuck behind the pocket on the back of the sheath...

I thought that would make great tinder to test the firesteel.

OK, that was a cheap shot. And it will cost me. Not only did I find out that the stuff I thought was paper, is actually some amazing, plasticky papery type of alien stuff that doesn't burn, tear or get wet. Not even when placed over a flame for a few seconds...

So BG 1, JD nil. It also occurred to me that this is just a borrowed knife, and now I've done that. So I'll have to buy another BG thing like the firesteel to replace it. BG 2, JD nil.

In seriousness though, with the properties it is made from - it would be a damned useful little pamphlet to have in a survival kit as it includes tips on trapping, water, shelter, rescue etc etc. A well thought out little bit of kit printed on that Roswell stuff.

So back to the firesteel. About the same size as the LMF Scout model. It worked well. The knife has a small area squared off for use with this. I found it slightly awkward as I use the spine right at the tip of my knife to push the last 2cm or so of the rod. I used the whole length and drew back the steel with this knife as that seemed to work best.

In true BG stylee, I decided to boil my own wee as I was running low on water...

OK OK, another cheap shot. It wasn't actually wee, but water from a horse butt. Drinking butt that is, not actually from a horses bottom.

Anyway, I paid for that one too. One of the logs the mug was on started to burn, the cup lost it's balance and spilled boiling water on my leg due to the rat pack sticking out and making a convenient funnel right at me...

To top it off, as I was stamping the fire out, a spark landed on my Merrells and set them on fire. Merrells burn very very well on the airflow part. So watch out when you are by fires wearing your Merrells.

BG 4, JD nil.