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brancho

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Feb 20, 2007
3,795
731
56
Whitehaven Cumbria
The full tang/stick tang debate is an interesting one. I for one am not as convinced as you that a full tang is so much of an improvement. Maybe if you want a crowbar but as a knife? Stick tangs are not weak, think sword, think billhook.

I agree with you Robin no need for fulltang just a well made knife

Look HERE to see how much abuse is required (read what it says)
 

John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,150
2,892
66
Pembrokeshire
So - next time I want to batton a lump of concrete into little pieces......I will use a mates Woodlore!
Luuuuuurve my Moras!
 

rg598

Native
You have only one knife on your belt. Why not ask for the best you can get (in the same price range and design)? There is no question that a full tang knife is stronger that one with a partial tang. Making a full tang Mora will increase the price from $10 to $11. And yes, someday you might have to batton with your one knife or use it as a crawbar. The fact that when I get back home I can order another one for $10 doesn't make me feel much better about not being able to use my knife to the fullest while in the woods.
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
You have only one knife on your belt. Why not ask for the best you can get (in the same price range and design)? There is no question that a full tang knife is stronger that one with a partial tang. Making a full tang Mora will increase the price from $10 to $11. And yes, someday you might have to batton with your one knife or use it as a crawbar. The fact that when I get back home I can order another one for $10 doesn't make me feel much better about not being able to use my knife to the fullest while in the woods.

Firstly, not all of us only have one knife on our belt, and quite a few of us have an axe, or a billhook, or both to hand as well :p And I've never seen a full tang mora blade for under £15 either, excluding handle and sheath materials - whereas a Frost clipper can be had for about £8 ready to go. The simple fact is that you really don't need a full tang for batoning a knife, and while I've not batoned the handle on the wood-handled mora, the clipper takes it no problem - which, IMO, it shouldn't have to. I have an axe for splitting! But it is nice to know that my knives can handle it in a pinch.

As for using your knife as a crowbar, why would you "have" to do that? That's not what knives are for. And I don't see why you'd need a crowbar in the woods, anyway... They're good knives - I've only seen a couple broken moras, and neither were at the tang, and both at times when the owners admitted to abusing them. I don't see how you could break a Mora without abusing it.

Atb
Pete
 

rg598

Native
I know there aren't any. My question was why don't they make them? Is the answer just that they are strong enough the way they are? Or that you will never use them in a way that will require them to be stronger? That seems like the easy way out. It doesn't seem right that the answer to why I knife is not stronger is that you can always carry another, stronger knife from a diffrent manufacturer. And how many knives can one carry on their belt?

By the way, it is just as easy to brake a handle by hitting the blade as it is by hitting the handle itself. The pressure is the same because you are equalizing it with your hand. If the pressure was just on the blade sticking out of the log, the knife would flip.
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
I know there aren't any. My question was why don't they make them? Is the answer just that they are strong enough the way they are? Or that you will never use them in a way that will require them to be stronger? That seems like the easy way out. It doesn't seem right that the answer to why I knife is not stronger is that you can always carry another, stronger knife from a diffrent manufacturer. And how many knives can one carry on their belt?

By the way, it is just as easy to brake a handle by hitting the blade as it is by hitting the handle itself. The pressure is the same because you are equalizing it with your hand. If the pressure was just on the blade sticking out of the log, the knife would flip.

Ah, I see what you mean about the full tang bit. Well, if I were to guess, I would say they're stick tang because they don't need to be full tang. Traditionally, they were stick tang and did fine, I expect specifically because they were not expected to do the job of a knife and an axe - they used an axe to do that one. Even now, Mora knives really aren't "survival" knives per se. It might seem to you like the easy way out, but you could argue the same point about just about anything. They don't need to be stronger, so they're not - they don't need to be as strong as they are. You have to consider what the knife is made for, not what you want to use it for. It does an excellent job at tasks which are better suited to bigger, heavier and stronger tools, so I really don't think there's a problem!

I'm not suggesting you need to carry many knives, but I suggest you do a search for "beater and biter" and you'll see what I mean - a combination of a big knife and a small knife works great. Looking at Scandinavian blades, you could have a Leuku and a Puukko. The Mora knives are much more like Puukkos than Leukus.

And IMO it's very easy to utilise a baton in a way that puts no stress whatsoever on the handle. You don't have to hit the tip of the knife, so it won't flip out. If you just use the baton in the centre of the edge that's in the wood, you can hold the handle loosely as a guide, putting little or no pressure on it at all. If the whole knife is in the log other than the tip, then that's a problem, but IMO it's a problem that should have been addressed before you started by making wooden wedges, or using a tool that's meant for the job.

Atb
Pete
 

rg598

Native
You are right. They were never designed for the use I have in mind. I wonder why not, though, considering the growing bushcraft community.

I do carry two knives-I have a RAT 7, and a multi tool with a 3 in blade. That's probably why I am looking for more in the Mora than there is. When I use it I tend to replace my RAT 7 with it rather than the multi tool.

As far as batonning, 9 times of of 10, the knife will have to go some way into the log before it splits. I could use wedges, but I would rather just get the job done-but that's probably a discussion better left for another post.
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
You are right. They were never designed for the use I have in mind. I wonder why not, though, considering the growing bushcraft community.

I do carry two knives-I have a RAT 7, and a multi tool with a 3 in blade. That's probably why I am looking for more in the Mora than there is. When I use it I tend to replace my RAT 7 with it rather than the multi tool.

As far as batonning, 9 times of of 10, the knife will have to go some way into the log before it splits. I could use wedges, but I would rather just get the job done-but that's probably a discussion better left for another post.

Yknow now you mention it, with Bushcraft getting more popular as you say, I reckon Mora of Sweden should make a Leuku. That'd be very nice to see!
 

robin wood

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Oct 29, 2007
3,054
1
derbyshire
www.robin-wood.co.uk
I don't think you realise how tiny the bushcraft market is compared to the output of these knives. How many knives are bought by bushcrafters in the UK annualy? 5,000?

This is a tiny part of Frosts production line at one moment on one day how many blades in this picture alone?

eFrosts-11.jpg


The knives you want (a big chunky bushy) are made in small production runs by specialist makers because there is a small demand from a specialist market.

Why does a surgeon use a scalpel when a sharp axe would be stronger? A small slim knife has very many advantages over a big chunky knife the. Any knife is a compromise depending on what you want to do with it, for most bushcrafters the Frosts clipper is an excellent compromise at a bargain price. If you think you will give a harder time than a mora will take that is fine, there are knives out there for you. Sadly for you, you are in a minority, not many people want what you want so you don't get the benefits of scale of producing 100,000 knives a year.
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
60
Bristol
I think it was Robin Wood who, having spoken to the makers of Mora knifes, described them as being made/used pretty much in place of the “Stanley Knife”
Does anyone have a full tang Stanley Knife? Can you see a need for making all Stanley knives with a full tang?
 

sam_acw

Native
Sep 2, 2005
1,081
10
41
Tyneside
They're almost disposable then! I like them as you can make them as fancy as you want them. I've braided a neck cord to go through the belt loops of the sheath, put a patina on the blade, drilled out the drain hole a little and squared and flattened the spine on mine. Also they only weigh about 100 grams
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
60
Bristol
They're almost disposable then!
Pretty much from what Robin Wood said

When I talked with the owners of the factory about them and said how nice it was to see a culture where folk bought knives that you could sharpen instead of disposable ones he they said many folk don't sharpen them, they are so cheap over there that they are virtually disposable like hard point saws.

.
 

Oblio13

Settler
Sep 24, 2008
703
2
67
New Hampshire
oblio13.blogspot.com
... I wish I could wear mine on my belt all the time...

I've lost a couple because the plastic sheath unclips from my belt. I've had better luck adding a cord and wearing them around my neck.





I've done a bit of traveling in the third world, and I usually pack my things in plastic buckets and take a Mora. Both are useful in countless ways. At the end of the trek, I give them away, and people act like I've handed them $100 bills.
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
Way to ruin my dreams of a Mora Leuku, Robin :p Very good point though, since they are viewed in a more disposable way over there, a Leuku doesn't really fit in with that.

I honestly had no idea that they produced so many. Even selling at under £10, they must be making a fortune!
 

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