My new woods roaming partner, a knife by Bryan Breeden (pic Heavy)

[Mistwalker]

A couple of weeks ago Bryan Breeden, a custom knife maker in Nebraska (U.S.) and I got into an email conversation about knives. We talked about what we liked in a knife and what we liked for a knife to be able to do and in order of priority. We learned that we had a lot of similar thoughts in knife use and field craft, and that we both like our knives to be able to serve as defensive tools if needs be. Then we sent a couple of drawings back and forth and ended up coming up with a design that we both thought we liked very much just looking at it on paper. Yesterday the physical reality of that knife design showed up in my mail box, and the following is the story of my experiences with the knife so far.


This is what it looked like out of the box….I wasn’t expecting it so I didn’t check my mail till late and it was after dark so I didn’t get to work with it any until today. Just cut a few pieces of paper in two length ways last night just to watch the other half fall away. It has a six inch long , 3/16 thick blade made of 01 steel, convex edge with no ricasso…cutting edge shaving sharp all the way to 1/8 away from the guard. It has a green canvas micarta handle, black liners, and a 3/16 tang extension, with an over-all length of 10 7/8 inches. The sheath is heavy weight leather, that rides very comfortably on my belt.

The sheathe is a nice tight fit.

The knife looks and feels fantastic, it has a great grip, and a great balance centering on the first finger. The scallop in the spine is great during push cuts.

The first thing I did was grab a piece of Bamboo and a piece of Apple wood to see how the knife handled.

and just cleaning the limbs off the bamboo, and cutting it down some I knew I was going to like this knife!

This is one cut with a steep angle chopping cut while holding the bamboo out with my left and.

and this is done with one single push cut, I love the scalloped spine for this,

Chopping the Apple wood was easier than I expected for such a thick blade, this knife is scary sharp!

Then to see how strong the blade felt I made a couple of deep angle cuts and pried the wood away.

Then I batoned the three sections I’d chopped and the blade cut right through with barely any resistance at all.

Speaking of batoning I really like the tang extension, it really works great for batoning the tip into wood for notching,

Next, after I had it warmed up a little I tried the edge at making some fuzzies. The edge, still felt as sharp as it was before I started and made some nice tight thin curls.

So…after today’s bit of fun with it….

It still shaves hair very easily. And I was right when I thought looking at the drawing that I’d love this knife…I think it is absolutely awesome. Fantastic job Bryan, very well done! I can’t wait to get the smaller one.

 

[Chinkapin]

Nice knife, Mistwalker. Very nice. Looks a bit big for me, but I eagerly await the pics of the smaller one you alluded to. Love your posts and pics, keep up the good work.

 

[Mistwalker]

Nice knife, Mistwalker. Very nice. Looks a bit big for me, but I eagerly await the pics of the smaller one you alluded to. Love your posts and pics, keep up the good work.

For most of my woods travels this one is perfect for my use, but I cannot wait to get the smaller one. It will have either a 4.75 or 5 inch blade made of 1/8 steel. Same blade design and handle material. This thing is awesome to work with and the edge is unreal.

 

[stevesteve]

Very nice indeed. A real working knife, not a weapon but a cutting tool for doing jobs!
Nice sheath too, following the theme of not fancy but will last a lifetime.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Shewie]

Nice looking sharp that Brian, looks like it'll be a good worker round camp.

 

[SimonM]

Looks very nice.

Thanks for taking the time.

Simon

 

[Mistwalker]

Very nice indeed. A real working knife, not a weapon but a cutting tool for doing jobs!
Nice sheath too, following the theme of not fancy but will last a lifetime.

Cheers,
Steve

This knife was meant from the outset to be a woods going knife, and a stout survival tool, and not a combat knife or as a weapon. Lol, I think I probably have enough of those already...but...


Thanks all, glad you like it, it's now my woods roaming partner.

 

[delbach]

Thanks for taking the time to show us your new knife,plus all your other posts enjoyed reading them all. keep up the good work
Andrew

 

[Mistwalker]

Thanks for taking the time to show us your new knife,plus all your other posts enjoyed reading them all. keep up the good work
Andrew

Lol, you read them all?!

Thanks Andrew, glad you enjoy them. I enjoy the times I do or find something worth posting.

 

[Prawnster]

I really like that knife MW.

Looks bombproof and very user friendly.

 

[HillBill]

Nice one. Can't beat a good convex grind on a larger knife.

 

[Mistwalker]

I really like that knife MW.

Looks bombproof and very user friendly.

Thanks Prawnster, I really like it. We designed it to be very tough, very useful, and tried to make it very user friendly. I think we succeeded, I am anxiously awaiting the smaller one.

Nice one. Can't beat a good convex grind on a larger knife.

Thanks Bill, glad you like it.

It's not so bright and shiny anymore.....

Here are a few pics of it in natural light.

 

[Mistwalker]

Took the Recon out in the woods behind my house for a while today, I like the way it blends in with the environment here…very unobtrusive.

Since it rained cats and dogs here earlier naturally my thoughts turned to firecraft. I wanted to try the edge and the spine both out. The razor sharp edge did a great job of thin shavings…I expected no less…and the squared spine did a wonderful job at scraping off the really fine stuff to catch a spark easy.

Not sure what happened with the lighting here…maybe I was too close but I thought it was a cool picture anyway.

Soon, by burning a little pile of fatwood first, I had the wet wood burning good, and all the black smoke from the fatwood helps get rid of the mosquitoes he he he

 

[IJ55]

..... we both like our knives to be able to serve as defensive tools if needs be.

Defensive tools if need be? Please, tell me your having a laugh. Defensive tools against what to be exact? bears? moose? humans? its utter dribble like that which gives outdoor / bushcraft people a bad name.

If I was a knife maker / seller, on those words alone I wouldn't trust you with an envelope opener let alone a large chunk of super sharp steel.

Bet you have some awesome training to be able to weild that knife in a real decent manner.
Heres a sobering statistic.

65% of all people who carry a knife for a defensive tool end up with it taken off them and used against them.

 

[Pignut]

Mistwalker,

Thanks for another great post!

How do you rate that type of grind, never been convinced myself, alsways seems to want to "dig in" when used so shave wood etc

Like the patternation, that looks pretty good (Got something very similar on my MoD machette)

keep up the good work!

(As an aside, we All know how the US has a different view on knife usage, and Mistwalker posts some Very Very good threads, with loads of great info, he obviously knows how to handle a knife, and Uses it out and about (which is better then some of the "cyber crafters" on here!) if you dont like a post, dont respond, tell a mod, whatever, but dont get personal about things......... Just my thoughts)

 

[Shankly]

65% of all people who carry a knife for a defensive tool end up with it taken off them and used against them.

Does that mean that 65% of criminals are all black belt ninjas then.? or that the majority of those who carry a knife for defensive purposes dont actually want to use them on other humans, and can therefore be unarmed.? - Sorry to go off topic, Love the look of the knife by the way..

Shankly

 

[Mistwalker]

Defensive tools if need be? Please, tell me your having a laugh. Defensive tools against what to be exact? bears? moose? humans? its utter dribble like that which gives outdoor / bushcraft people a bad name.

If I was a knife maker / seller, on those words alone I wouldn't trust you with an envelope opener let alone a large chunk of super sharp steel.

Bet you have some awesome training to be able to weild that knife in a real decent manner.
Heres a sobering statistic.

65% of all people who carry a knife for a defensive tool end up with it taken off them and used against them.

I suppose it is most fortunate that you are not my knife maker.

I think I can handle a knife pretty well thanks.

Just 65%? I would think that with the effect of Hollywood on society as a whole the number would be a bit higher.

I wonder what the percentage of narrow minded people surviving trips into serious bush alone is? I'd say there is more than a 65% chance that should you ever venture into any of the worlds darker places you should take someone along with a better understanding of them.

Mistwalker,

Thanks for another great post!

How do you rate that type of grind, never been convinced myself, alsways seems to want to "dig in" when used so shave wood etc

Like the patternation, that looks pretty good (Got something very similar on my MoD machette)

keep up the good work!

(As an aside, we All know how the US has a different view on knife usage, and Mistwalker posts some Very Very good threads, with loads of great info, he obviously knows how to handle a knife, and Uses it out and about (which is better then some of the "cyber crafters" on here!) if you dont like a post, dont respond, tell a mod, whatever, but dont get personal about things......... Just my thoughts)

Thanks Pignut, glad you enjoyed it. This grind is not as easy to make chavings with as a flat grind but I think it will hold up better for chopping and I don't tend to take an axe with me, though I am thinking of getting a folding saw.

Does that mean that 65% of criminals are all black belt ninjas then.? or that the majority of those who carry a knife for defensive purposes dont actually want to use them on other humans, and can therefore be unarmed.? - Sorry to go off topic, Love the look of the knife by the way..

Shankly

I think most actually want to avoid conflict and don't really wish to harm, which in and of itself is a noble thought, and therefore brandish the knife hoping the offender will be scared off. But then find themselves at a loss as to what to do next when the offender pushes the issue because they are untrained and really don't want to harm. Even in skilled hands a knife is not the best choice for a defensive tool, the unskilled should never try. I've personally only ever used them when outnumbered. Against a single knife wielding attacker of the "street thug" type I'd rather be bare handed....for the first few minutes anyway.

 

[Mistwalker]

Well...can't post any pics yet as I'm not at my computer for now, but I just received the second version and when I get back I will post pics of it and my journey to a much different place than home.

 

[Mistwalker]

After working with the first knife Bryan and I designed together I realized that I had one habit that I just couldn't break. All of the knives I have really liked working with over the years have had flat, unsharpened areas imediately in front of the guard. Thus I fell into the habit of hooking my fore finger around the guard during times of rest while using the knife in order to rest my hand by relaxing my grip some. I also tend to do this without thinking about it when ever I am pacing and thinking...I tend to "play" with my knife changing and reversing grips and what have you while I am off in thought. Soooo...after barely knicking my finger on the razor sharp edge just in front of the guard a few times I decided it was safer for me to discuss a different design with Bryan. I recieved it while I was out of town working for two weeks and got to take to it the woods a couple of times just to check it out for feel. I even got to cut a few Honey Locust limbs with it but didn't get any pictures at the time. Because I have been gone for two and a half weeks I have a lot of catching up to do and I will have to post this in segments.


This one is very similar to the original design but with the addition of a shallow choil, and a slightly narrower hande, and a much shallower arch on the convex grind.

The balance is excellent as ever.

I really like working with it. It had no trouble slicing through this dried green bamboo.

It handled chopping this seasoned Apple wood very well, and still shaves.

and it will easily make fuzzies too.

This little guy stopped in to see what I was doing.

 

[Mistwalker]

Well, I got to take it out back for a while today.

The first thing I did was chop a section of seasoned Dogwood, which is pretty darn hard, into small pieces.

Then proceeded to split that into smaller pieces. The knife handled it like a champ, still sharp enough to shave and still no loosening of the handle scales.

Then I did some tip work with it first boring a hole and then stabbing it into a spilt apple limb and prying out chunks and pieces. The tip handled that just fine with no failure what so ever.

Then I did a little firecrafting using the edge to whittle off some shavings and the spine to scrape off some finer material. A few minutes creating tinder, two sparks from a fire steel and had fire.

So far I'm thinking this knife is pretty darn awesome, I am very pleased with the design and with all of the pacing and thinking I've done in the past two days not once have I knicked my finger, I am very well pleased!



I'm already looking forward to the next one!