We (The NIBA) were VERY fortunate to be on the receiving end of a most generous gift from Barnie Garland and Scruff. We received matching Woodsman B&T knives from Bernie and fine leather sheaths from Scruff. Below are some pictures and a review of them.
Please note. Bernie nor Scruff have asked any of the NIBA for a review of their products, nor payment nor any form of endorsement what so ever. I do not wish for any backlash of this review by anyone who dislikes Bernie and who thinks I'm dishonestly "bigging him up" because he has given me a gift.
Here are 3 of the knives (4 were made)
And again
Details of the blades, which were engraved with our user names.
Handles were of stunning stabilised Box Elder burr. the blade is 3mm 01 tool steel. Blade length is 105mm, with the handle an additional 110mm
Some more handle detail.
It was a VERY wet day here (though not nearly as bad as in some areas of the UK) so I undertook a short review of the knife in my workshop.
First up was a spot of light battening, which the knife had no problems with
The knife has quite a high grind (9mm), which leaves the tip quite fine. I had a little bit of concern about how this would cope with battening and of course, making a hole in some wood. It was fine at this, though to coin a phrase,"I wouldn't go opening a tin of paint with it"
I did discover, to my cost, that bernie's knives come VERY sharp. I choked up on the blade to carve the hole, placed my thumb against the sharp edge, and simple pressure, not a slicing action, was enough to open my thumb up and release the red stuff.
15 minutes later and with a bandaged thumb, I made some feather sticks. With the finer blade of 3mm and a good sharp edge, these were easy to do.
A power cut through thumb thick green willow was easily achieved.
I carved a pot hanger from the willow branch. The fine tip made tasks like this very easy to do.
After a bit of carving, I went back to battening again, this time a long piece of wood.
I referred earlier to the fine tip on this knife, so I decided to see what it was good for. Apart from the obvious fact that this knife will make an excellent food prep knife, eg. skinning and gutting, I wanted to see if the fine tip was useful for carving.
I made some curves.....
Then had a go at cutting a circle. Easily done with a fine sharp tip.
Every knife needs a home, and where better to keep it than some fine leather work by Scruff.
Detail of the belt attachment.
And after all that work, I gave the knife a few strokes on a sharpening steel and it was razor sharp again. It was able to slice paper with little effort.
Overall impressions? I think it's a very good knife. It is a shape that I have liked for a long time and the handle suits my hand extremely well. I personally prefer the 3mm blade that this knife has over the thicker 4mm blades that seem to be the Bushcraft norm. I believe that this makes a much more versatile blade with only the smallest compromise on strength. very few us us will ever brake a knife of this thickness and if we do, then it wasn't the right tool for the job anyway.
Highly recommended.
__________________
Please note. Bernie nor Scruff have asked any of the NIBA for a review of their products, nor payment nor any form of endorsement what so ever. I do not wish for any backlash of this review by anyone who dislikes Bernie and who thinks I'm dishonestly "bigging him up" because he has given me a gift.
Here are 3 of the knives (4 were made)
And again
Details of the blades, which were engraved with our user names.
Handles were of stunning stabilised Box Elder burr. the blade is 3mm 01 tool steel. Blade length is 105mm, with the handle an additional 110mm
Some more handle detail.
It was a VERY wet day here (though not nearly as bad as in some areas of the UK) so I undertook a short review of the knife in my workshop.
First up was a spot of light battening, which the knife had no problems with
The knife has quite a high grind (9mm), which leaves the tip quite fine. I had a little bit of concern about how this would cope with battening and of course, making a hole in some wood. It was fine at this, though to coin a phrase,"I wouldn't go opening a tin of paint with it"
I did discover, to my cost, that bernie's knives come VERY sharp. I choked up on the blade to carve the hole, placed my thumb against the sharp edge, and simple pressure, not a slicing action, was enough to open my thumb up and release the red stuff.
15 minutes later and with a bandaged thumb, I made some feather sticks. With the finer blade of 3mm and a good sharp edge, these were easy to do.
A power cut through thumb thick green willow was easily achieved.
I carved a pot hanger from the willow branch. The fine tip made tasks like this very easy to do.
After a bit of carving, I went back to battening again, this time a long piece of wood.
I referred earlier to the fine tip on this knife, so I decided to see what it was good for. Apart from the obvious fact that this knife will make an excellent food prep knife, eg. skinning and gutting, I wanted to see if the fine tip was useful for carving.
I made some curves.....
Then had a go at cutting a circle. Easily done with a fine sharp tip.
Every knife needs a home, and where better to keep it than some fine leather work by Scruff.
Detail of the belt attachment.
And after all that work, I gave the knife a few strokes on a sharpening steel and it was razor sharp again. It was able to slice paper with little effort.
Overall impressions? I think it's a very good knife. It is a shape that I have liked for a long time and the handle suits my hand extremely well. I personally prefer the 3mm blade that this knife has over the thicker 4mm blades that seem to be the Bushcraft norm. I believe that this makes a much more versatile blade with only the smallest compromise on strength. very few us us will ever brake a knife of this thickness and if we do, then it wasn't the right tool for the job anyway.
Highly recommended.
__________________
