LT Wright Bushcrafter HC

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DocG

Full Member
Dec 20, 2013
869
123
Moray
Morning all,

Does anyone own or have personal experience of the LT Wright Bushcrafter HC, please?

Link to webpage: https://www.ltwrightknives.com/bushcrafter-hc.html

There are lots of positive reviews on YouTube, but few people post bad ones, in my experience, so I'd appreciate some feedback from a "handler" on the forum.

I am looking for a thinner full tang knife that will allow me to carve more intricate items. I have a 4mm thick blade at present which is great for most jobs but causes me trouble when doing finer work. Now I realise that part of the issue is my limited skill level, so I will persevere with my main knife. However, I have found that my old Mora allows me to make netting needles and such more easily. I think it's because the blade is thinner.

The LT Wright knife has a 3/32" thick blade (approx. 2.4mm). Some reviewers from the US are concerned that it's too thin to be useful, but then go on to do lots of carving, etc with it so I'm not sure what to make of that.

Anyhoo, can anyone out there in BCUK land offer comments on this knife?

Many thanks.
 
I would say a fine carver this ain't!

Scandi grinds are still the best all round for wood processing. My main bushcraft knife is sabre ground with an edge bevel - purely because I don't do much carving and use it more for general cutting tasks and food prep. I only really need to notch, point and baton in the way of wood processing.

For fine carving work, I would take a look at something like the mora carving knife, a flexcut carvin' jack or even a standard puukko if you want more all round use out of it. You need a fine point and thinner blade stock behind a scandi grind than the tradional 'bushcrafter - any of those suggestions above will suit your needs.

I think a larger convex grind knife with a rounded point, like the LT Bushcrafter is going away from what you want to achieve.
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,354
2,365
Bedfordshire
Fin's nailed it. That deep blade and rounded spear point are not what you want if you are looking for something to help you carve. For fine carving you want a point and a limited height of blade to help with tight turns. What people "can" do with it is irrelevant. I have seen someone carve figures from chalk then use the same knife to carve a netting needle, the knife was a bog standard Mora, the chalk killed the edge, they were just skilled! You "can" do likewise, but if you are shopping for something to help you, buy the right tool.
 

DocG

Full Member
Dec 20, 2013
869
123
Moray
Thanks for that input.

Do these notes take me back towards a Mors Kochanski style Bushtool, then?

Could I be a bit - not fully, I understand :rolleyes: - right about a thinner, say 2.5 to 3 mm, blade being easier to carve wth, or is that irrelevant?

Comments welcomed.
 
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C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,354
2,365
Bedfordshire
Depends what you want the knife to do. If you want a bushcraft knife that can carve, then something more like the Skookum will work, although it is quite a heavy knife and is designed to follow Mors' idea of a survival knife, tough enough to pound on and still carve well, rather than as a precise carving tool.

Two blades, both sharpened to 20deg inclusive angle, both the same depth, one in 4mm stock and the other in 3mm, the thinner blade will allow you to turn a tighter radius. Slightly. With a Scandi the thinner blade will also be faster to sharpen since there is less metal to remove for any given blade angle. On a Scandi I wouldn't want to go 4mm, ever, 3.5max for my taste and 3.2 better.

Why do you want full tang? That criteria does rather limit your choice.
 
Thanks for that input.

Do these notes take me back towards a Mors Kochanski style Bushtool, then?

Could I be a bit - not fully, I understand :rolleyes: - right about a thinner, say 2.5 to 3 mm, blade being easier to carve wth, or is that irrelevant?

Comments welcomed.

It depends if you really only want to carry one knife, what other tools do you carry and what your main activities are. The truth is is that the 'all round knife' doesn't exist. The Woodlore pattern was Mr Mears' attempt but he is heavily into 'woodwork'. It took me years to wean myself off scandi grinds, as my main user, as my activities favour more slicing - a thin profile behind the edge - which scandis are pretty poor at. I have a flexcut jack and a folding puukko for carving/ whittling My recommendations took into account that you seem to be fairly happy with your 4mm knife for "most jobs" but it doesn't suit you for fine carving. They are mostly pocket tools, to be deployed when you've finished batoning, boring and pushing your main user and want to get down to some fine work.

Do you carry an axe or a saw? If not, that 4mm blade stock probably comes in handy if you need to do heavy processing - so you'll need a second knife.

As for profile - as C_Claycomb said, with particular emphasis on blade height. Drop points, in general are worse carvers because any belly on the edge is going to increase the depth of the blade - which is why puukkos, carving knives, skookums and Mr Mears' latest offering all have the belly sweeping up to meet a flat spine - keeping the blade depth to a minimum for a given edge profile.

From the info you've given (and the ability to carve netting needles makes you a damm fine carver in my book!) I would say that £16 on a Mora carving knife is worth a punt.
 

DocG

Full Member
Dec 20, 2013
869
123
Moray
Why do you want full tang? That criteria does rather limit your choice.

Thanks for the earlier points.

To answer your question, I'm looking to carry one knife (+ a crook/spoon knife, maybe) + a saw + an axe as my tool set. I don't want to go the route of lots of kit; rather I want to establish a reliable, small set I can use with Scouts and friends. I'm following received wisdom about full tang being stronger, but am happy with the idea of a stick tang if that supports the blade. I've had a couple of Moras break on me, so I'm wary of anything less than a full stick tang - I wasn't hammering them, they just split along the edge of the handle.
 

DocG

Full Member
Dec 20, 2013
869
123
Moray
Fin,

Thanks for your input. I hope that my reply, below, to Chris outlines what I'm hoping to achieve. I too noted the shape of the new Woodlore knife with interest. I'll look at your suggestion - thanks for making it.

I have managed spoons etc without a crooked knife, but since I've had one I'm reluctant to abandon it. I'm just cautious of becoming laden down with kit and relying on it when I really need to up my game, not my gear.
 

ED-E

Member
May 22, 2012
16
0
Germany
I had the LT Wright Bushcrafter HC for some time, it is a nice knife but it's not an efficient knife for carving. It's a thin blade but grind-wise it's relatively 'thick'. You'll be disappointed if you expect a Mora's performance.

Depends what you want the knife to do. If you want a bushcraft knife that can carve, then something more like the Skookum will work, although it is quite a heavy knife and is designed to follow Mors' idea of a survival knife, tough enough to pound on and still carve well, rather than as a precise carving tool.
It's not that heavy (195g) and almost as efficient as a Mora. There's not much of a difference in efficiency between the Skookum and my benchmark carving knives. It's certainly an 'All-round knife'.
 

DocG

Full Member
Dec 20, 2013
869
123
Moray
Thanks, Ed.

I appreciate the personal input on the LT Wright - always useful to have first hand insights.
 
Fin,

Thanks for your input. I hope that my reply, below, to Chris outlines what I'm hoping to achieve. I too noted the shape of the new Woodlore knife with interest. I'll look at your suggestion - thanks for making it.

I have managed spoons etc without a crooked knife, but since I've had one I'm reluctant to abandon it. I'm just cautious of becoming laden down with kit and relying on it when I really need to up my game, not my gear.

Yes it certainly did - and minimising 'gear' is always laudable (which is why I'm in the process of ditching all my 4" plus scandi grind knives!).

You mentioned your crooked knike - is it a crooked knife (straight edge with a curve at the end) or a spoon knife (curved along the entirety of the edge)? I ask because a friend of mine has a crooked knife (the former) and I can see it being everything you would want for carving, save the fine point.

Back to your 'one knife'... As a woodworker, you are indeed probably looking for something like a skookum (not readily available) or the new Woodlore Pro ('pro' standing for prohibitively expensive and I would question the 5mm blade stock...). Maybe something along the 3mm blade stock line, with a high scandi grind and enough distal taper to provide a very fine point (which would prohibit prying and even heavy boring).

If you're carrying an axe and a saw, and intend to use both, then I would suggest a standard scandinavian puukko.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
Yes it certainly did - and minimising 'gear' is always laudable (which is why I'm in the process of ditching all my 4" plus scandi grind knives!).

You mentioned your crooked knike - is it a crooked knife (straight edge with a curve at the end) or a spoon knife (curved along the entirety of the edge)? I ask because a friend of mine has a crooked knife (the former) and I can see it being everything you would want for carving, save the fine point.

Back to your 'one knife'... As a woodworker, you are indeed probably looking for something like a skookum (not readily available) or the new Woodlore Pro ('pro' standing for prohibitively expensive and I would question the 5mm blade stock...). Maybe something along the 3mm blade stock line, with a high scandi grind and enough distal taper to provide a very fine point (which would prohibit prying and even heavy boring).

If you're carrying an axe and a saw, and intend to use both, then I would suggest a standard scandinavian puukko.

Mora make some excellent knives with a blade design that have been used for woodcarving for over 125 years.
That series is called Sjöjd kniv.
 
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