Lionsteel M4

[Michele1987]

Hello everyone, I am a keen bushcraft and nature in general. I would take a knife bushcraft high quality that I will last over time, I want it compact, robust and reliable. I like the Lionsteel M4, according to you is a good knife? obviously affiancherei a folding saw and an ax for heavy work, let me know what you think, thank you Michael.
These are the characteristics of the knife in question: https://www.coltelleriacollini.it/lionsteel-m4-black-g10-m4g10-coltello.html

 

[C_Claycomb]

Hello Michael,

Welcome to the forum. So you like nature and bushcraft, you want a high quality bushcraft knife that will last a long time, that is compact, etc. You like the M4 and want to know what people here think of it. You plan to also take a folding saw and an ax, so the knife does not need to do very heavy work.

A slightly better place to see the knife is here, 360 pivot around:
https://www.lionsteel.it/n/en/product/1768/m4_g10

Looks like a nice knife. I have a Doug Ritter folding knife in M390 and like the steel much better than S30V, it takes a finer edge more easily and holds it longer, although my experience is that S30V holds a "working" edge longer when you are cutting nasty abrasive material.

For camping and hunting it looks a great knife. G10 will be a bit heavier than wood, you can see that from the listed weight...G10 = 180g, Walnut = 137g

Might work for "bushcraft" depending on what you want to do. It's not going to make wood carving easy for you if you want to make spoons, netting needles and other wooden craft projects. The handle looks a little square in the corners, might become uncomfortable over a long sustained period of carving, and the blade is quite deep/tall, so it won't be able to make tight turns when carving. There is great disagreement about what is the best grind, single bevel, like the Spyderco Bushcraft or the Woodlore, or a secondary bevel on a flat grind like the M4 (that you could convex). For general purpose, the flat grind seems to be the winner, for wood working...depends where you are in the world and your idea of wood working

If you have any question about whether it is the right knife for you, you might do well to wait until you have spent time using a cheaper knife and learned what you want a knife to do and what they feel like in use, then find somewhere that you can pick up and hold the M4, or order it and allow you to return it if you don't like it. It is not a cheap knife to start with if you have doubts. My friend has a Mora with a 2mm thick blade that he has used while teaching bushcraft and wilderness canoeing for the last 16 years. Cheap, but no problem with durability when cared for.

 

[KenThis]

Hello Michael,

Welcome to the forum. So you like nature and bushcraft, you want a high quality bushcraft knife that will last a long time, that is compact, etc. You like the M4 and want to know what people here think of it. You plan to also take a folding saw and an ax, so the knife does not need to do very heavy work.

A slightly better place to see the knife is here, 360 pivot around:
https://www.lionsteel.it/n/en/product/1768/m4_g10

Looks like a nice knife. I have a Doug Ritter folding knife in M390 and like the steel much better than S30V, it takes a finer edge more easily and holds it longer, although my experience is that S30V holds a "working" edge longer when you are cutting nasty abrasive material.

For camping and hunting it looks a great knife. G10 will be a bit heavier than wood, you can see that from the listed weight...G10 = 180g, Walnut = 137g

Might work for "bushcraft" depending on what you want to do. It's not going to make wood carving easy for you if you want to make spoons, netting needles and other wooden craft projects. The handle looks a little square in the corners, might become uncomfortable over a long sustained period of carving, and the blade is quite deep/tall, so it won't be able to make tight turns when carving. There is great disagreement about what is the best grind, single bevel, like the Spyderco Bushcraft or the Woodlore, or a secondary bevel on a flat grind like the M4 (that you could convex). For general purpose, the flat grind seems to be the winner, for wood working...depends where you are in the world and your idea of wood working

If you have any question about whether it is the right knife for you, you might do well to wait until you have spent time using a cheaper knife and learned what you want a knife to do and what they feel like in use, then find somewhere that you can pick up and hold the M4, or order it and allow you to return it if you don't like it. It is not a cheap knife to start with if you have doubts. My friend has a Mora with a 2mm thick blade that he has used while teaching bushcraft and wilderness canoeing for the last 16 years. Cheap, but no problem with durability when cared for.

+1 for this very sound advice.


Another thing I will add is that no 2 people will have the exact same experience with a knife.
Some would get on very well with that knife and some wouldn't.
Even if lots of people say it's a great knife you might use it and not think it was great, and vice versa.
So if you have the cash, and you really like it, and you've done all the research on it and think it might suit you very well, (and you can't go to an actual knife shop to try it in your hand) then why not treat yourself to that knife.
Beware though knife buying becomes addictive...

 

[HillBill]

Forgive my bluntness.... an Italian... 1st post, using google translate on a Uk forum (affiancherei doesn't translate to english, you should have used affiancare( side by side/ in support of))..1st question about an italian made knife and a link to where it can be bought, in Italy.?....... Hmmmmm.... my spidey sense be a tingling

 

[Blundstoned Love]

Forgive my bluntness.... an Italian... 1st post, Uk forum....1st question about an italian made knife and a link to where it can be bought....... Hmmmmm.... my spidey sense be a tingling

"I'd have got away with it too, if it hadn't been for you pesky kids!"

 

[Leshy]

Mr. Claycomb got it 100% right here I think.

And...
+1 for Mora knives

Mora robust is a solid tool and you'll find its a real pleasure to use too...
👍

But if you are " inamorato" with the M4 , then you should at least follow Mr. Claycomb's advice and try it first... Hold it , feel it , use it before you buy.

Only then you will be able to tell if "she" is the one for you... 😀

It does look nice , but that sometimes means nothing.
👍

 

[HillBill]

.........

"I'd have got away with it too, if it hadn't been for you pesky kids!"

 

[Leshy]

Hmmm ... Now that you mention it... 😒

 

[Nice65]

Forgive my bluntness.... an Italian... 1st post, using google translate on a Uk forum (affiancherei doesn't translate to english, you should have used affiancare( side by side/ in support of))..1st question about an italian made knife and a link to where it can be bought, in Italy.?....... Hmmmmm.... my spidey sense be a tingling

It does look a bit of a business promotion. A shame really, if that's what this guy is doing, Molletta has been a BB member for many years, and his collaborations with Lionsteel and Knife Research are well documented and praised across the knife forums without overt advertising.

On the knife itself, I guarantee it'll be produced to high tolerances and have very good fit and finish. I've handled several Molletas and a few Lionsteels. While not always my cuppa, there's no escaping the quality.

 

[C_Claycomb]

I think that the moderators noticed the same things as HillBill, but perhaps without the knowledge of Italian . As it was a first post it had to be approved before appearing on the forum and had been sitting in the moderation queue for a few days. As a promotional post it isn't going to do much here, so I decided to put it up and see where it went. Another way of looking at it, and the one I took, was that it was made by a younger person, starting out, lots of enthusiasm but maybe not so much hands-on experience and that although there may be knife forums in Italy there may not be any bushcraft forums, or none so well established, so here he is asking for advice.