So it arrived yesterday, and very excited.
Upon opening I was very pleased to see what I had commissioned. Now the blade stock is thick and strong at 4mm, which I was happy with as I was thinking all round camp bushcraft use from the start.
Now to remind you, this is a flat ground sabre grind, that will be a scandi convex in time, to insure this I asked for a very small secondy bevel, and got what I asked for.
The sheath is around 3.5 mm leather and very well done, plus the dangler loop, made a very nice finished piece
Now for the testing, I will be comparing this to the cold steel canadian belt knife, they are similar in size and shape, but not steel or blade thickness.
Next up batoning, this is kind of easy to tell, the custom canadian won out due to the thickness of the steel, and felt good to split with, very comfortable in this use.
Next up was feather sticks, the handle in the new knife, is a little thin near the blade and this made it a little uncomfortable in the hammer hand grip, so found it better to rest the thumb on the blade, this also increased control to use the whole blade.
For powerful push cuts, the handle would need to be wider, but this was designed with hunters in mind and not bushcraft / carving, but it really is very good for controlled cuts and carving, prefect blade shape for what my intended use.
The clear winner was the new canadian, it cut clean and easy, both create similar feathers, wide with big curls.
The weight of the knife, called to do some chopping, and I must admit, it would slowly do the job, I did a comparison between the two to see the depth of cut, the weight and grind bit nicely.
Later on I used this to limb green willow branches, and it cut clean and easily without any effort, very impressed with a knife this size.
So overall I am happy with the knife so far, it is a huge step up from the cold steel and the grohmann, but chose it to not be as slicey in the grind. This is a lovely looking knife and looking forward to spending time with it over the next few months and do a longer term review.
The only improvement I can think of would be the handle thickness near the blade, but a quick wrap of paracord sorts this out quickly.
Now some of the questions will be, is it better than the cold steel or the grohmann, my answer is that is down to personal opinion.
I like my cold steel canadian, it is honest in its materials and use. For reliability in hard bushcraft use, I would go for the custom canadian everytime, for strength and steel choice.
I would recommend anyone to try commissioning their own knife, it is an excellent opportunity to work with craft people and get what you want.
I was very lucky in working with Kiril from Wolven path forge, he was great to deal with, very helpful, and most importantly communicated at every stage. So impressed that I have ordered another blade.
Would I do it again, yes, but the post office on our side was the real issue, and caused a few issues, which put a negative on the whole experience.
Next up would be comparisons with standard forms of bushcraft knives....more to come
Upon opening I was very pleased to see what I had commissioned. Now the blade stock is thick and strong at 4mm, which I was happy with as I was thinking all round camp bushcraft use from the start.
Now to remind you, this is a flat ground sabre grind, that will be a scandi convex in time, to insure this I asked for a very small secondy bevel, and got what I asked for.
The sheath is around 3.5 mm leather and very well done, plus the dangler loop, made a very nice finished piece
Now for the testing, I will be comparing this to the cold steel canadian belt knife, they are similar in size and shape, but not steel or blade thickness.
Next up batoning, this is kind of easy to tell, the custom canadian won out due to the thickness of the steel, and felt good to split with, very comfortable in this use.
Next up was feather sticks, the handle in the new knife, is a little thin near the blade and this made it a little uncomfortable in the hammer hand grip, so found it better to rest the thumb on the blade, this also increased control to use the whole blade.
For powerful push cuts, the handle would need to be wider, but this was designed with hunters in mind and not bushcraft / carving, but it really is very good for controlled cuts and carving, prefect blade shape for what my intended use.
The clear winner was the new canadian, it cut clean and easy, both create similar feathers, wide with big curls.
The weight of the knife, called to do some chopping, and I must admit, it would slowly do the job, I did a comparison between the two to see the depth of cut, the weight and grind bit nicely.
Later on I used this to limb green willow branches, and it cut clean and easily without any effort, very impressed with a knife this size.
So overall I am happy with the knife so far, it is a huge step up from the cold steel and the grohmann, but chose it to not be as slicey in the grind. This is a lovely looking knife and looking forward to spending time with it over the next few months and do a longer term review.
The only improvement I can think of would be the handle thickness near the blade, but a quick wrap of paracord sorts this out quickly.
Now some of the questions will be, is it better than the cold steel or the grohmann, my answer is that is down to personal opinion.
I like my cold steel canadian, it is honest in its materials and use. For reliability in hard bushcraft use, I would go for the custom canadian everytime, for strength and steel choice.
I would recommend anyone to try commissioning their own knife, it is an excellent opportunity to work with craft people and get what you want.
I was very lucky in working with Kiril from Wolven path forge, he was great to deal with, very helpful, and most importantly communicated at every stage. So impressed that I have ordered another blade.
Would I do it again, yes, but the post office on our side was the real issue, and caused a few issues, which put a negative on the whole experience.
Next up would be comparisons with standard forms of bushcraft knives....more to come
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