Mora Garberg ?

Erbswurst

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Mar 5, 2018
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Do you own and use a Morakniv Garberg?

I think about buying the Carbon version.

What are your opinions about that knifes?

 

RichardJackson

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Jul 7, 2011
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Beccles
www.greengrow.org.uk
Great robust knife for the money, big belly so less good for wood carving than pointier options, potentially better for skinning? Haven't tried that.
Heard bad things about multicarry sheath, not tested. Leather sheath fine, not a fan of flaps but it makes it secure.
More experienced reviews from e.g Paul Kirtley, Dave Cantebury, etc online.
Cheers Richard


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

Erbswurst

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Yes, I tend to buy the leather sheath. ( I left the Lego playing age...) I never had a Knife with a flap at the sheath, but I think, I carry it much more around than using it and putting it back every five minutes. Probably that's a good Idea.

Isn't the Carbon version sharper and more robust than the stainless version?

I owned the classic one and currently often use a modern cheap carbon Mora knife, which they throw behind you in a german Hardware shop ("Bauhaus" Mora 840 for only 10,- €).


Both bite in wood like an angry man. I get them on a cheap stone easily shaving sharp.

Isn't the angle of the skandy grind the main reason for the outstanding carving performance of Mora knives?
 
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Dan1982

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Jan 14, 2006
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I have the Carbon version and really like it. Feels great in the hand, well balanced, extremely robust, super sharp spine and very easy to sharpen. Leather sheath is ok, nothing more than that, it does the job. I would certainly recommend if you're considering it.

HTH. Stay safe.

Dan
 
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Snufkin

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Oct 13, 2004
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I have one but really don't like the handle, which I know is very much personal preference. The hard plastic I find quite slippery so I over grip to compensate. I have a Kansbol which has the same shape but with a rubber overjoyed which is one of my favourites.
 
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Dan1982

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I have one but really don't like the handle, which I know is very much personal preference. The hard plastic I find quite slippery so I over grip to compensate. I have a Kansbol which has the same shape but with a rubber overjoyed which is one of my favourites.
From what I understand, Morakniv sacrificed the textured handle found on the Kansbol and Eldris in favour of the improved durability found on the Garberg as it was designed to be as durable as possible. I Managed to get mine at a very reasonable price last summer and use it so frequently that I actually purchased a custom leather sheath for it. It is now my "Go to" belt knife and I tend to reach for or over a lot of other/more expensive options. Knives are always a personal preference as we all know but if you can pick one up for a semi-decent price then it will not let you down.
 

Dan1982

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But I will certainly agree that if you primarily use in a wetter environment or if you intend to use it for a lot of skinning then potentially you may find the handle a little on the slippy side.
 
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Erbswurst

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I am not a hunter. I never skin anything with the only exception of cooked potatoes. And instead of you Brits I don't live in a rain forest. ;)

And I am nearly 50 years old. That means I don't want a knife for playing around with it. I don't have to train carving because I have been a boy scout leader for many years. I know it very well and I am very fast with it, but it isn't my beloved hobby.

In the last two weeks exeptionally I carved a lot, because I fitted out a construction trailer as my Corona Virus holyday domicile with bought and natural wood.
I was impressed by the performance of my brothers cheap Mora 840.

But usually I don't carve, and if I do it, than I just make a tent pole, a few pegs or absolutly simple camp utensils wich are done very fast to use them for one or two nights.
Usually I use 95% of all occasions my Victorinox Compact. The big knife usually I carry around in the rucksack and don't touch it very often.
My bigger knife I mainly use for cutting water melons at French camping grounds during my journeys, for cutting bread in Germany and I carry it mainly as a potential weapon, because on my journeys I often do wild camping not very far away from towns and even at a camping ground or a railway station or whatever you never know...

My current bigger full tang knife for traveling is pretty bad (I don't mean the Mora 840) and I want to buy that new knife more as a survival knive than a bushcraft knife.

I usually don't craft things just for fun, so the better grip of a rubberised handle isn't so important for me. And if I go with a colleague by car, I always have a razor sharp Opinel No8 Carbone with me in the kitchen bag, which is an outstanding good camping kitchen and carving knife.

I am more interested in a bomb proof survival knife, because I often run around with a 3 seasons equipment in winter times. When traveling professionaly in winter times In Germany or France I usually count with a youth hostel or hotel bed, but I always take a basic light and compact 3 seasons bushcraft equipment with me, which reaches down to round about 0*C.
A real survival knife would open to me the option to use that equipment in unplanned "cases of emergency" even in real sub zero conditions, just for one unpleasant unplanned short night.
That's why I want a survival knife even if I usually stay in central Europe. But sometimes we get in eastern Germany -15*C or even deeper temperatures and so I could find myself at midnight in a survival situation if I don't want to go to an expensive hotel or whatever...
I avoid that, but I want to keep the option open. And of course, if I throw a 300 g knife in the 6 kg rucksack I carry nearly every day on my shoulders, it should be a good allround tool.

I use a lot of Decathlon Solognac clothing which works fine for me and which is very cheap, but for important and relatively expensive other equipment I prefere high quality products which are made in Europe.

I'm not so horribly patriotic, but I prefer to spend my money mainly here around: German boots and Rucksack, insulation mat and dry bags, a larger Swedish rucksack too and a Swedish tent, Snugpack SF1 Sleeping bag, made in Britain, Swiss Army knife, and so on. I prefere sending my money to the direct neybourhood if possible. And so a swedish knife would be an interesting option for me.
I think about a British custom made knife as well, but because cheap Mora knifes convinced me, I think about trying out the Mora Garberg. I guess I would get a good value for the money if I choose an industrial product. And there aren't so many industrial made survival / bushcraft knifes from European production on the market.

The Mora Garberg doesn't seem to me to be the most beautiful knife in the world, but I guess, it is a high quality tool. And because I often let my rucksack in the tent on a camping ground or in a hostel room without surveillance, a cheaper industrial productuct seems to be a sensible Idea for me.

@Dan1982
Which glove size do you use?
I use 10 or 11 in German size, that means it is the largest usual size for working gloves. Do you think that the handle of the Garberg fits well to my hands?

In the YouTube reviews people often criticise a secondary bevel at the stainless Garberg. Did your knive have one as well or has/ had it a real scandy grind?

Paul Kirtley tells in his review that the spine of his stainless Garberg was so sharp, that it hurded his thumb a bit when he pressed with it on the spine when carving. Did you have similar problems with the carbon version?
I guess, that those problems mainly came with the first stainless Garberg knifes they produced and that they stopped those problems later, when the carbon version came out. Usually the guys in the Mora factory know very well how to make knifes...

 
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Dan1982

Full Member
Jan 14, 2006
1,039
147
41
Cumbria
I am not a hunter. I never skin anything with the only exception of cooked potatoes. And instead of you Brits I don't live in a rain forest. ;)

And I am nearly 50 years old. That means I don't want a knife for playing around with it. I don't have to train carving because I have been a boy scout leader for many years. I know it very well and I am very fast with it, but it isn't my beloved hobby.

In the last two weeks exeptionally I carved a lot, because I fitted out a construction trailer as my Corona Virus holyday domicile with bought and natural wood.
I was impressed by the performance of my brothers cheap Mora 840.

But usually I don't carve, and if I do it, than I just make a tent pole, a few pegs or absolutly simple camp utensils wich are done very fast to use them for one or two nights.
Usually I use 95% of all occasions my Victorinox Compact. The big knife usually I carry around in the rucksack and don't touch it very often.
My bigger knife I mainly use for cutting water melons at French camping grounds during my journeys, for cutting bread in Germany and I carry it mainly as a potential weapon, because on my journeys I often do wild camping not very far away from towns and even at a camping ground or a railway station or whatever you never know...

My current bigger full tang knife for traveling is pretty bad (I don't mean the Mora 840) and I want to buy that new knife more as a survival knive than a bushcraft knife.

I usually don't craft things just for fun, so the better grip of a rubberised handle isn't so important for me. And if I go with a colleague by car, I always have a razor sharp Opinel No8 Carbone with me in the kitchen bag, which is an outstanding good camping kitchen and carving knife.

I am more interested in a bomb proof survival knife, because I often run around with a 3 seasons equipment in winter times. When traveling professionaly in winter times In Germany or France I usually count with a youth hostel or hotel bed, but I always take a basic light and compact 3 seasons bushcraft equipment with me, which reaches down to round about 0*C.
A real survival knife would open to me the option to use that equipment in unplanned "cases of emergency" even in real sub zero conditions, just for one unpleasant unplanned short night.
That's why I want a survival knife even if I usually stay in central Europe. But sometimes we get in eastern Germany -15*C or even deeper temperatures and so I could find myself at midnight in a survival situation if I don't want to go to an expensive hotel or whatever...
I avoid that, but I want to keep the option open. And of course, if I throw a 300 g knife in the 6 kg rucksack I carry nearly every day on my shoulders, it should be a good allround tool.

I use a lot of Decathlon Solognac clothing which works fine for me and which is very cheap, but for important and relatively expensive other equipment I prefere high quality products which are made in Europe.

I'm not so horribly patriotic, but I prefer to spend my money mainly here around: German boots and Rucksack, insulation mat and dry bags, a larger Swedish rucksack too and a Swedish tent, Snugpack SF1 Sleeping bag, made in Britain, Swiss Army knife, and so on. I prefere sending my money to the direct neybourhood if possible. And so a swedish knife would be an interesting option for me.
I think about a British custom made knife as well, but because cheap Mora knifes convinced me, I think about trying out the Mora Garberg. I guess I would get a good value for the money if I choose an industrial product. And there aren't so many industrial made survival / bushcraft knifes from European production on the market.

The Mora Garberg doesn't seem to me to be the most beautiful knife in the world, but I guess, it is a high quality tool. And because I often let my rucksack in the tent on a camping ground or in a hostel room without surveillance, a cheaper industrial productuct seems to be a sensible Idea for me.

@Dan1982
Which glove size do you use?
I use 10 or 11 in German size, that means it is the largest usual size for working gloves. Do you think that the handle of the Garberg fits well to my hands?

In the YouTube reviews people often criticise a secondary bevel at the stainless Garberg. Did your knive have one as well or has/ had it a real scandy grind?

Paul Kirtley tells in his review that the spine of his stainless Garberg was so sharp, that it hurded his thumb a bit when he pressed with it on the spine when carving. Did you have similar problems with the carbon version?
I guess, that those problems mainly came with the first stainless Garberg knifes they produced and that they stopped those problems later, when the carbon version came out. Usually the guys in the Mora factory know very well how to make knifes...

Hi, I'm a size 9-10 in gloves and find the handle fits my hand very well and is comfortable in a multitude of grips. I personally wouldn't think you would find it small. In terms of a secondary bevel, mine personally didn't appear to have one and if it did then it was absolutely miniscule It has been sharpened a fair amount over the last year so it would appear to have disappeared now. The spine is obviously on sharp but...pros and cons to that. I've not personally found it hurts my thumb but again, depends on how/what your primary use is. I genuinely believe the Garberg is a fantastic tool and I would be surprised if you were disappointed with it.

Hope this helps. Stay safe mate.

Dan
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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Berlin
Thank you!

I guess, it is easier to round the spine than to sharpen it with a simple stone or file, so I have nothing against a pronounced spine.

Was anybody able to compare directly over a longer time of use the stainless and the carbon steel version?
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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Berlin
@Robbi , it depends what you want to do and where.
If one owns a canoe or doesn't use the knife regularly, stainless steel is a good Idea.
Ah: I own a canoe and I don't plan to use this larger knife regularly!

But the sharpest knives I ever used had carbon steel blades!

I get on a simple sharpening stone or even at the bottom of a usual porcelain cup an Opinel Carbone or my brothers cheap carbon steel Mora 840 razor sharp in a few minutes. Yes, my Victorinox cuts too, but I can't sharpen it as fast as my carbon blades. And my impression is that non of my stainless knives became so sharp as my carbon steel knifes, and I owned and used a lot of different knifes during the last 40 years!

That's why I tend to buy a carbon steel knife even if I have a few good reasons to buy the stainless version.
 
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Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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Berlin
Ok, may be a difference if one payed 10 € for an Opinel or Mora 840 or 100 € for a Garberg.

;)

But I never had real problems with rusty knifes. The weather in most parts of Germany and France is usually relatively dry. And I think that black colour of the carbon blade Garberg is a rust protection somehow.
 

chimpy leon

Full Member
Jul 29, 2013
549
146
staffordshire
I like mine a lot more than I thought I would. Much much more in fact. I went for the stainless with multi sheath - mainly because it was the cheapest but also I already have a lot of 4” carbon scandi grind knives, mostly Moras.

It’s heft gives it a reassuring feel like it could be put to any kind of work, no matter how rough. I like the handle comfort, sheath is just about passable. I often have grazed thumb because of the sharp spine but this is easily cured, however this sharpness makes it by far the best fire steel scraper I’ve come across. So far the steel is proving to be tough and fairly easy to sharpen.

A lot of people are put off by the price, refusing to drop £70 on a mora, but if you compare it to all the other stainless full tangs out there. For example the new full tang SAK, it’s a bargain. I like mine and would probably be one of my last knives to go if I had to sell up. And if I did sell it, I’d buy another one... but with the leather sheath.
 

Erbswurst

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 5, 2018
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@chimpy leon

If you compare the stainless Garberg with your other Mora knives, are they more or less identic as wood carving tools?

Do you own Mora carbon blades too?
Are they easier to sharpen than your stainless Garberg or are they pretty much identic?
 

chimpy leon

Full Member
Jul 29, 2013
549
146
staffordshire
@chimpy leon

If you compare the stainless Garberg with your other Mora knives, are they more or less identic as wood carving tools?

Do you own Mora carbon blades too?
Are they easier to sharpen than your stainless Garberg or are they pretty much identic?

I own several carbon Moras. Most have a zero Scandi grind now from sharpening. I’d say the carbon steel Moras are that little bit easier to get that really fine edge by sharpening / stropping than the SS garberg. The carbon requires very little Effort to sharpen - the SS needs a bit more work through the grits.
 
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