This is a review of my new Allan Blade Bushcrafter. It is almost his normal current unit. The only difference from his current design is that the blade is 90mm long (3.5 inches) instead of 100mm (4 inches).
First some history. Early last year I was just getting back into the outdoors and was looking for a good knife. It was during this search that I found both BCUK and British Blades. Searching through both sites I found references to a lot of knifes (surprise!) but was taken with the Allan Blade Bushcrafter. It seemed good value and when I contacted Allan he had a spare one in his current batch so I only had to wait a couple of weeks for my new knife. I was very pleased with my Bushcrafter but it turned out there was a problem with the heat treat. The edge of the blade kept rolling. When I asked Allan if this was normal he confirmed that it most definitely was not. He got me to return the knife and sent out a replacement. This took a couple of weeks but I could not fault his customer service. The new Bushcrafter had no such problems and has served me well.
Much as I loved my Bushcrafter and as well as it served me there were a couple of things that after extended use I felt could be better. I am talking here about the specification of the knife, the workmanship could not really be improved. I felt that the blade was just a little too long, In Mors book he recommends a Blade as long as your hand is wide. By this measure my Bushcrafter blade was too long for me. I am 6 foot 3 inches tall and have fairly big hands, so was surprised by this.
Also the handle on my Bushcrafter, along with the kydex sheath, made it look a bit tactical. So when Allan brought out his Scandi PackPal I ordered one with a Maple handle and mosaic pins. This certainly looked less tactical but the handle was slightly smaller than the Bushcrafter and not as good for extended use with my large hands. The maple handle was okay but not really to my taste. I was still looking for my perfect knife. A few months later I ordered a Runt from Allan and after some deliberation I asked for a dark wood handle. The Runt was going to be for use in my canoe so I asked for the multi carry clip on the kydex sheath for attaching to my PFD. When the Runt arrived I knew this was the handle material I wanted on my ideal knife. The multi carry clip on the sheath was brilliant. In one fitting it gives you virtually unlimited carry options. So here is where I was.
My Bushcrafter had the ideal handle size and geometry, the blade was the right thickness. the shape of the blade was right but too long, the PackPal and Runt had the edge grind right up to the handle, which I liked and the Runt had my ideal handle material. The way forward was obvious. I contacted Allan and ordered a Bushcrafter with Cocobolo handle, mosaic pins and a slightly shorter blade than normal. The length of the blade is exactly half way between the usual Bushcrafter and the PackPal. The blade was the usual 01 tool steel with his new antiqued finish.
First some history. Early last year I was just getting back into the outdoors and was looking for a good knife. It was during this search that I found both BCUK and British Blades. Searching through both sites I found references to a lot of knifes (surprise!) but was taken with the Allan Blade Bushcrafter. It seemed good value and when I contacted Allan he had a spare one in his current batch so I only had to wait a couple of weeks for my new knife. I was very pleased with my Bushcrafter but it turned out there was a problem with the heat treat. The edge of the blade kept rolling. When I asked Allan if this was normal he confirmed that it most definitely was not. He got me to return the knife and sent out a replacement. This took a couple of weeks but I could not fault his customer service. The new Bushcrafter had no such problems and has served me well.
Much as I loved my Bushcrafter and as well as it served me there were a couple of things that after extended use I felt could be better. I am talking here about the specification of the knife, the workmanship could not really be improved. I felt that the blade was just a little too long, In Mors book he recommends a Blade as long as your hand is wide. By this measure my Bushcrafter blade was too long for me. I am 6 foot 3 inches tall and have fairly big hands, so was surprised by this.
Also the handle on my Bushcrafter, along with the kydex sheath, made it look a bit tactical. So when Allan brought out his Scandi PackPal I ordered one with a Maple handle and mosaic pins. This certainly looked less tactical but the handle was slightly smaller than the Bushcrafter and not as good for extended use with my large hands. The maple handle was okay but not really to my taste. I was still looking for my perfect knife. A few months later I ordered a Runt from Allan and after some deliberation I asked for a dark wood handle. The Runt was going to be for use in my canoe so I asked for the multi carry clip on the kydex sheath for attaching to my PFD. When the Runt arrived I knew this was the handle material I wanted on my ideal knife. The multi carry clip on the sheath was brilliant. In one fitting it gives you virtually unlimited carry options. So here is where I was.
My Bushcrafter had the ideal handle size and geometry, the blade was the right thickness. the shape of the blade was right but too long, the PackPal and Runt had the edge grind right up to the handle, which I liked and the Runt had my ideal handle material. The way forward was obvious. I contacted Allan and ordered a Bushcrafter with Cocobolo handle, mosaic pins and a slightly shorter blade than normal. The length of the blade is exactly half way between the usual Bushcrafter and the PackPal. The blade was the usual 01 tool steel with his new antiqued finish.
