Well, I ended up ordering one of these, and it turned up at the weekend. I thought I would post a few initial impressions as they might be useful to other newcomers getting to grips with knives. The one I got is a "traditional" Mora, about 8 inches long with a blade length of around 3.75 inches and an orange wooden handle.
Plastic sheath: I had been warned about this, but it was far worse than I imagined. Reminded me of a plastic toy sword I had as a kid. Comes with a small piece of leather stapled to it for attachment to a belt. Although the quality is bad enough to bring a grown man to the edge of tears, it is surprsingly functional and holds the knife quite tightly. I couldn't get the knife to shift even by turning the sheath upside down and shaking.
The knife: I was immediately surprised by how light it was - lighter than my small SAK. The blade also quite small - I was a bit concerned that a 4 inch blade would be difficult to manage but it seems about the right size. It is only .75 inch/2cm wide - narrower than I was expecting. This is a knife for fine work rather than hacking through a jungle. The blade came covered by some nasty sticky oily stuff to protect it from rust. This was a real swine to shift and along with the orange handle and plastic sheath give you a rather poor first impression.
Once I had cleaned the blade I was quite pleasantly surprised by the blade. It is a nice functional shape and curves gently to a point. The bevel was quite a surprise (this is the first flat ground knife I have seen) as it is quite a fine angle. Coupled with the thinness of the blade (2mm max) I can imagine this coming up quite sharp and being good for carving. The bevel is around 5mm wide so it should be reasonably easy to hold flat on a sharpening stone.
The handle is as garish a colour as people have described - no losing that in the grass and is not very well finished. Some people commented that the handles don't suit them and I can see why. I have reasonably small hands (for a guy) and I found it only just big enough - those with hands like coal shovels are not likely to get on with this knife. The shape of the handle grows on you (it is like an elongated rugby ball) and is quite comfortable if you are doing light cutting. I find it less comfortable if I need to grip it tight as it thins a little too much towards the end. The handle tends to pivot around your middle finger and you need to grip it quite tightly with your little finger - quite tiring after a while.
As eraaij pointed out, the quality of the finish is not high. The paint is uneven and a bit flakey, there are gaps where the blade enters the ferrule and the cutting edge overhangs the handle - could be easy to cut yourself. My blade was also a little bent where it joined the handle. A bit of pressure from my foot seems to have sorted this out now. The blade was not particularly sharp and will need honing before any serious use - I managed some crude whittling but my arms are still as hairy as ever
Overall, the impression is that this is a cheaply made but functional knife put together on a budget. Once sharpened, I am sure it will be a good knife but If you are expecting something fancy then you will be disappointed - this is a cheap working knife rather than something for a display cabinet. It will grow on you but just try not to think about the sheath!
Sorry for the long post but I thought it might be useful for newbies to know what you get from a cheap knife - kind of an antidote to all the postings about "gucci" knives on this site.
Right, now I've got to buy something to sharpen it with ...
Plastic sheath: I had been warned about this, but it was far worse than I imagined. Reminded me of a plastic toy sword I had as a kid. Comes with a small piece of leather stapled to it for attachment to a belt. Although the quality is bad enough to bring a grown man to the edge of tears, it is surprsingly functional and holds the knife quite tightly. I couldn't get the knife to shift even by turning the sheath upside down and shaking.
The knife: I was immediately surprised by how light it was - lighter than my small SAK. The blade also quite small - I was a bit concerned that a 4 inch blade would be difficult to manage but it seems about the right size. It is only .75 inch/2cm wide - narrower than I was expecting. This is a knife for fine work rather than hacking through a jungle. The blade came covered by some nasty sticky oily stuff to protect it from rust. This was a real swine to shift and along with the orange handle and plastic sheath give you a rather poor first impression.
Once I had cleaned the blade I was quite pleasantly surprised by the blade. It is a nice functional shape and curves gently to a point. The bevel was quite a surprise (this is the first flat ground knife I have seen) as it is quite a fine angle. Coupled with the thinness of the blade (2mm max) I can imagine this coming up quite sharp and being good for carving. The bevel is around 5mm wide so it should be reasonably easy to hold flat on a sharpening stone.
The handle is as garish a colour as people have described - no losing that in the grass and is not very well finished. Some people commented that the handles don't suit them and I can see why. I have reasonably small hands (for a guy) and I found it only just big enough - those with hands like coal shovels are not likely to get on with this knife. The shape of the handle grows on you (it is like an elongated rugby ball) and is quite comfortable if you are doing light cutting. I find it less comfortable if I need to grip it tight as it thins a little too much towards the end. The handle tends to pivot around your middle finger and you need to grip it quite tightly with your little finger - quite tiring after a while.
As eraaij pointed out, the quality of the finish is not high. The paint is uneven and a bit flakey, there are gaps where the blade enters the ferrule and the cutting edge overhangs the handle - could be easy to cut yourself. My blade was also a little bent where it joined the handle. A bit of pressure from my foot seems to have sorted this out now. The blade was not particularly sharp and will need honing before any serious use - I managed some crude whittling but my arms are still as hairy as ever
Overall, the impression is that this is a cheaply made but functional knife put together on a budget. Once sharpened, I am sure it will be a good knife but If you are expecting something fancy then you will be disappointed - this is a cheap working knife rather than something for a display cabinet. It will grow on you but just try not to think about the sheath!
Sorry for the long post but I thought it might be useful for newbies to know what you get from a cheap knife - kind of an antidote to all the postings about "gucci" knives on this site.
Right, now I've got to buy something to sharpen it with ...
