mora knifes

[Nomad_Of_Soul]

g'day folks, i just watched a mors kochanski dvd on knifes and axes in which he states that when it comes to knifes all i need in the wilderness is an mora survival knife which cost around £8! This left me wondering if i should be removing my name from the eternal waiting list at woodlore for the holy grail of knifes (seems like). I did think about this before why should i spend a few hundred on a knife when i could pretty much do the same things with a knife that cost a tenner but i just thought there must be a good reason. I would just like to ask if it is really in my interest to buy a woodlore knife (apart from selling it on ebay just to make a few extra quid which seems to question the worth of owning one as ebay is never short of woodlore knifes, are they over rated? or is everyone just cashing in on the current popularity of bushcraft). Also there are some excellent knife makers out there that produce some fantastic knifes at a reasonable price. With so many bushcraft knifes at crazy prices to insane prices I'm feeling somewhat confused by it all. Is there any simple sites that can explain the benefits of cheap and expensive knifes?

Anyway, this experiment needs your support in order to make it happen Expedition 2008 where knifes will not be needed and only for the extreme minded

 

[Greg]

Hello mate,

Just to let you know, a friend of mine owns an original Woodlore knife,
he let me use it for a w/end and to be honest it didn't suit me, the handle was to small for my hands - remember this was originally designed for Ray Mears and then just produced to make money for Woodlore. So it might not suit you and you would have spent over £200 on it to find this out.
I have found a metal smith who said he could make a Damascus type knife for me to my specs for around £60 - £80 depending on what I want. All I would need to do then is fashion my own handle!

Alot cheaper and to my specs!!

I hope this helps you!

 

[illumeo]

Where did you get the Mors Kochanski DVD ?

 

[desert_emperor]

Nomad,
I have a Mora which cost me 7 1/2 quid and for that price the quality you get is in my belief second to none. I have used the knife for all sorts of work and projects and have to admit if it got broken would be devastated. With the Woodlore i can't help but feel that i would be scared of using the bloody thing for fear of scratching or damaging it! I agree that there are those that see it as the Roll Royce of knives and as such what they should aspire too....me included! However i drive about in a Vauxhall which gets me from A to Z if you see what i mean!

The Woodlore in my opinion is a very very very nice to have but in no way an essential.

Anyway that my 2p worth....good luck in your quest!

All the best....Paul

 

[MitchelHicks]

I've been using one for ages and its fine takes a nice edge as well. I think alot of people shy away from mora knives because of the hard plastic sheaths but if you search on Ebay and even on here there are quite a few people who make sheaths specially for them and the sheath will fit well and if anything ever happens to the knife you can always get a new one which will be the exact same spec as the old one so no need to get a new sheath and you know it'll fit your had the same way.

Hope that helps

 

[fred gordon]

I have a Mora and use it all the time. I got rid of the plastic sheath and made one out of birch bark. Much more satisfying. If I damage the knife or the sheath I know I can get/make another quickly and cheaply without shedding tears over my loss, as I would if it was a RM job. I fear that many people buy the RM knife just to say they have one and that the majority of them probably don't get used, which is a great pity. That's my tuppence worth. Get a Mora, enjoy your Bushcraft!

 

[dwardo]

Buy a blade (£20 and up), some wood (£ free or about 15 for somethin nice) lots of sandpaper and lend a vice and make yer own !

Alternitively there are loads of belting knives for a fraction of the price of a woody. I like the look of the alan special i just could not justify using a knife of that price it would just end up dusty in a display case which would be a real shame IMHO

I was not kidding about the prices or the little amount of kit needed either

 

[MitchelHicks]

If you want a woodlore knife someones selling one on here

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=19941

for £310 which is bargain compared to what you could sell it for on Ebay lol.

I would be scared to use it so I think for now ill stick with my £10 mora lol

Good luck with the knife buying

 

[Nomad_Of_Soul]

Thanks, i th ink i'll give the mora a go but will keep my name on the list for now (only another 2 years and i may receive one). By the time i get one i should be proficient in using it so hopefully it wont end up on the shelf collecting dust (as it would if i bought one now)
I would love to make my own knife but do not have the means to do so.
I bought the kochanski dvd's from here http://www.karamat.com/videosbooks.html

Thanks again folks

 

[FGYT]

g'day folks, i just watched a mors kochanski dvd on knifes and axes in which he states that when it comes to knifes all i need in the wilderness is an mora survival knife which cost around £8! This left me wondering if i should be removing my name from the eternal waiting list at woodlore for the holy grail of knifes (seems like). I did think about this before why should i spend a few hundred on a knife when i could pretty much do the same things with a knife that cost a tenner but i just thought there must be a good reason.

I couldnt spend that much on a Knife ( the woodlore not the Mora )
espesially with out trying to see if i like it. So im making my own its not actually difficult and very cheap to do. I havent got that far just cut the profile at the moment but im already not particularly happy with the shape and thickness etc
i will finish it but i suspect it wont get much use lucky its only £10s worth of materials
ive also got several other blades ive found on here that look usfull im going to try
hopefully one will suit me.

I have just bought a Frost Mora /clipper and its great and going to be very difficult for any other knife to beat by much

If you want a woodlore then
a) make your own from scratch
b) Get a kit Guy SWC Knifes
c) Get a whole knife from this Guy SWC Knifes

buy a Frost any way

this is mine so far

im concentrating on a 3/4 scale wood lore which bar the handle is a very nice handy blade (3mm thick) for me the full size is just to big n heavy IMO
btw teh frost is 2mm thick

atb

Duncan

 

[Greg]

If you want a woodlore knife someones selling one on here

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=19941

for £310 which is bargain compared to what you could sell it for on Ebay lol.

I would be scared to use it so I think for now ill stick with my £10 mora lol

Good luck with the knife buying

How can you say that £310 is a bargain when they only cost £250 on the Ray Mears website!!

 

[Greg]

That is a good site FGYT even cheaper than the blacksmith I was going on about, thanks for the info!:You_Rock_

 

[mayfly]

There is a definite pattern here which goes something like...
1. Buy a Mora
2. Get a decent leather sheath for it
3. Use it. Lots. Do several Mors try sticks and stuff
4. Decide how suited it is to you, i.e. use it as a decent test bed for an idea about your perfect 'user'
5. Get sucked into buying few shiny objects to satisfy your burgeoning habit - fixed, folders, long, short, and so on
6. Get someone to make up or supply your perfect knife, or parts thereof and finish it yourself. If you are really hard core, don't even think about anything other than DIY
7. Use your perfect knife for a while, maybe quite a while
8. Decide you preferred the Mora all along and go back to using it, either storing or selling the shiny objects acquired along the way

Moral of all this - like Mors says, a Mora is all you need to get really, really good at bushcraft. Kudos to Mors for sure!

Thing is, the path to getting really, really good - whatever knife you use - is a long one and its hard to not buy shiny objects along the way

 

[British Red]

I couldnt spend that much on a Knife ( the woodlore not the Mora )
espesially with out trying to see if i like it. So im making my own its not actually difficult and very cheap to do. I havent got that far just cut the profile at the moment but im already not particularly happy with the shape and thickness etc
i will finish it but i suspect it wont get much use lucky its only £10s worth of materials
ive also got several other blades ive found on here that look usfull im going to try
hopefully one will suit me.

I have just bought a Frost Mora /clipper and its great and going to be very difficult for any other knife to beat by much

If you want a woodlore then
a) make your own from scratch
b) Get a kit Guy SWC Knifes
c) Get a whole knife from this Guy SWC Knifes

buy a Frost any way

this is mine so far

im concentrating on a 3/4 scale wood lore which bar the handle is a very nice handy blade (3mm thick) for me the full size is just to big n heavy IMO
btw teh frost is 2mm thick

atb

Duncan

Okay as a guy with a thread running called "an entirely new knife". I guess its only fair I should answer this question.

Is there anything wrong with a Mora?

Yes - there is! The point is all wrong for a start.

That is the opinion of a bloke who carries and uses knives every day and has done for three decades. Other blokes who carry and have used knives for far longer have a different opinion of course.

Okay, in truth, the Mora will be the best "bang for your buck" knife you will ever own. I don't need a better knife. I want one though.

Why? Because I can. Because its fun designing my own (and scary and frustrating). I'll never get the chance to do that in most things.

Think "car". A basic Fiesta is all the car most peopel will ever need. But a lot of us drive bigger, faster, more capable, cars. Why? Because we enjoy it.

In most fields I will never get the opportunity to design. I can't have a Landrover body, with Toyota reliability and Volvo comfort etc. I am very lucky. In knife terms, I can do this for less than the price of one very good golf club. I have been lucky enough to do the same with axes through some very talented people who brought my designs to life.

Do I NEED these things? Nope, a Wetterlings and a Mora would get me through. But I don't NEED to Bushcraft - I enjoy it, its a hobby I take pleasure from. I take huge pleasure from being out in the country. I'm out walking every week. In the quiet times I love to think how the experience could be improved. Its a quiet simple pleasure.

So in answer to your question - a Mora will do everything you need to. If you take pleasure from the craftsmanship and design in a better knife, feel free to indulge yourself - nothing wrong with a little indulgence

Red

 

[FGYT]

There is a definite pattern here which goes something like...
1. Buy a Mora
2. Get a decent leather sheath for it
3. Use it. Lots. Do several Mors try sticks and stuff
4. Decide how suited it is to you, i.e. use it as a decent test bed for an idea about your perfect 'user'
5. Get sucked into buying few shiny objects to satisfy your burgeoning habit - fixed, folders, long, short, and so on
6. Get someone to make up or supply your perfect knife, or parts thereof and finish it yourself. If you are really hard core, don't even think about anything other than DIY
7. Use your perfect knife for a while, maybe quite a while
8. Decide you preferred the Mora all along and go back to using it, either storing or selling the shiny objects acquired along the way

Moral of all this - like Mors says, a Mora is all you need to get really, really good at bushcraft. Kudos to Mors for sure!

Thing is, the path to getting really, really good - whatever knife you use - is a long one and its hard to not buy shiny objects along the way

Yep already worked that one out still going to make a few shiny things its nice to use a file again after being in the CNC engineering age for a while
and i even like the plastic sheath in Bright Orange
ATB

Duncan

 

[topknot]

Hi, keep me and junior posted on your scaled woody.We would like to see the outcome. cheers topknot & junior.

 

[FGYT]

Hi, keep me and junior posted on your scaled woody.We would like to see the outcome. cheers topknot & junior.

will do sufice to say i went over to Mum n dads yesterday for the Mothers day Dinner and that got me access to my old electric bench polisher and pastes so its now very very shiny and all the silver for pins and tube is now here

oh the polisher put a wicked edge on a Mora

ATB

Duncan

 

[rapidboy]

How can you say that £310 is a bargain when they only cost £250 on the Ray Mears website!!

They have not available from Mears for quite some time and fetch more than that on ebay now without £100 + worth of extra's (2 extra sheaths , 2 firesteel's and a Fallkniven sharpening stone).
It really was a bit of a bargain.

 

[Greg]

They have not available from Mears for quite some time and fetch more than that on ebay now without £100 + worth of extra's (2 extra sheaths , 2 firesteel's and a Fallkniven sharpening stone).
It really was a bit of a bargain.

My mistake, that particular deal was agood one because of the extra gear that came with it but there are still people selling these knives for ridiculous prices because of a name.

There are people on this forum who could probably make just as good a knife if not a better one at half the price!

I just find it amazing that people spend so much money on a name, without trying the product first! Its fair enough if your a collector because the Woodlore/ Alan Wood is a very nice knife to have in a collection, but for practical use surely you should at least try out kit before spending all that money!

I personally didn't even buy my first Mora until I knew it was right for me, and like I have already said previously I tried the Woodlore Knife and it wasn't right for me although prior to that I was seriously thinking about buying one because I thought if it was good for Ray Mears then it must be good for me, thankfully I was wrong.
I even compared the Laplander Saw to a cheaper version before buying one even though the cheaper one was better in some respects!

Everyone is aloud their personal opinion, and this was mine.

 

[Woodcutter]

I think everyone has covered most things here, just wanted to add my comments. I love the mora, its light, sharp, and costs next to nothing.

I do however love shiny new things, daunted by the cost of some production knives I started making my own, link below is my latest, my first one is also on there, have a look anyway and let me know what you think, both are users, only use the first one as I may sell this one, there's nothing like making and using your own knife from scratch.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=19803