I've had a read around and watched some YouTube videos but wanted to ask again for some fresh opinions. What's people's experience?
My current knife is a stainless Mora 2010 Bushcraft knife and I've never been that impressed. I've had 2 other people have a try and sharpen it and although I can get it to cut reasonably well I've never got it to shave hair like I've seen some do with their knives.
I believe the Mora is 12c27 and there's nothing wrong with that. Almost all the Victorinox and EKA/Nordic blades (at least a dozen) I have are the same steel.
12c27 is designed for razor blades, so you should be able to get a razor sharp edge on it fairly easily if the blade hasn't been abused.
The F1 was designed for specific purposes. I'm not sure that it's what you want.
I don't want to open a huge scandi vs convex debate but I'm tempted to try a convex for a change.
Noted, but if you're not used to a convex edge I'd recommend spending less than 200 quid on your first one.
I've never managed to sharpen a scandi well so am I to be trusted with convex? Was thinking of just using a strop and some compound.
A convex edge is supposed to be a tougher geometry than a scandi as there's more metal to back up the edge. But if you can't sharpen a scandi well then I don't imagine that a convex will be any easier.
Work on your technique instead. In my experience more or less any good blade steel responds well to careful stropping. Do you use a flexible strop or a hard backed one?
I'd recommend a hard backing such as plywood or a mechanical tensioning arrangement such as I have on some old, small,
portable razor strops and which I both like and use a lot.
Using Autosol as the abrasive I use them to sharpen some of the more difficult steels, with good results.
Blade on the F1 looks a nice size and I like the fact it's meant to use a good quality Japanese steel. I'm quite partial to Japanese quality.
I'm not a fan of abuse of the word 'quality'. To me, good quality means what it means to manufacturers - ISO9000 - as opposed to for example salesmen, who generally have no idea what it means.
Good quality means to the customer more or less that he gets what was designed (and what he ordered) and it's free of significant defects so that it doesn't fall to bits the first time he uses it.
It might not be designed to be used twice but that doesn't necessarily mean poor quality.
As well as good examples, I've seen some poor examples of quality from Japan.
Main things I've seen people not like is the handle which some feel is not all that comfortable?
The list of changes to the Pro version on the Heinnie Website doesn't mention the handle, but it's obviously different in some ways because it has a stainless cross guard (which for me would be a big put-off for cold weather use - I wonder how much they've thought about that).
The handle on the F1 is something of a compromise. It's never going to be as comfortable for extended use as something more ergonomic.
I like the F1 for its light weight, small size and corrosion resistance, but I would never batton with any laminated blade so if I carry mine it's unlikely to be the only blade I carry.
A convex blade is definitely an acquired taste, but if you do acquire it you might feel more at home with it than with a scandi.
Most of the time I could be happy with either, although I might choose one over the other for any particular job.
In any case I mostly use something more akin to either a full flat or a high sabre grind, generally with a bevel.
I like a convex grind on choppers like my axes, Malaysian parangs, etc. which is IMO where the convex geometry comes into its own.
