Passaround - Chris Caine Survival Tool

[Stew]

Ladies & Gentlemen, I'm a bit later in starting this thread but then it's been a bit of a busy time of year.

Matt1 has kindly arranged for a Chris Caine Survival Tool to be sent to me to, so that we can have a passaround on it.

Chris Caine Survival Tool

In order to take part in this passaround you agree to the following ground rules :

All participants must be 18 years old or above and have a minimum of 100 posts or a years membership of BCUK.

You agree to use these knives in a manner that is both safe to you and the people around you. You are solely responsible for your own safety, so like any other sharp tool assure yourself that it is in sound working condition before you use it.

This passaround is aimed at letting people gain a feel of how these knives perform, they can be used hard, but are NOT to be “destruction” tested. If you do use the knife hard, please ensure the edge leaves in as good a condition or better than it arrived.

Each person is responsible for the knife until it reaches the next person on the passaround list. It must be sent Special Delivery with proof of posting and a tracking number.

Each person gets the knife for a full week starting from the time they received it. If there is a problem please notify me soonest.
It would be very helpful for me if each person could just post in the relevant thread when they first receive the knife, and then again when they post it on (thanks).

Please remember this is a £194.00 knife and will come with a sharpening pin. Please ensure it's cleaned after use and lightly oiled and again before passing it on.

I require a postal address and a phone number of participants.

For now, it will be for 10 participants. Depending on how it goes and level of interest, it may get extended.

Please add your interest in participating.

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

 

[JonathanD]

Nice one, I'm listing the Trueways one too.

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4. JonathanD
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

 

[Stew]

Put me down for that one too Jonathan.

 

[JonathanD]

Put me down for that one too Jonathan.

Sorted. Your terms and conditions were so good... I pinched em.

 

[SimonM]

Yes please...

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4. JonathanD
5. SimonM
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

 

[ged]

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4. JonathanD
5. SimonM
6. ged
7.
8.
9.
10.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4. JonathanD
5. SimonM
6. ged
7. Shambling
8.
9.
10.

 

[Dave Budd]

Put me down too I've got to knock some trees over (part of my woodland work, not a strange fetish on my part ) soon so I can give this thing a proper go as a tool irate:

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4. JonathanD
5. SimonM
6. ged
7. Shambling
8. Dave Budd
9.
10.

 

[luckylee]

down too I've got to knock some trees over (part of my woodland work, not a strange fetish on my part ) soon so I can give this thing a proper go as a tool

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4. JonathanD
5. SimonM
6. ged
7. Shambling
8. Dave Budd
9. luckylee
10.
i'm in if thats ok, would love to try one of these tools to see if i could do away with carrying an axe.

 

[topknot]

I've had a play with it earlier, when Chris and Matt turned up at the Silverfox meet.

Topknot.

 

[johnnytheboy]

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4. JonathanD
5. SimonM
6. ged
7. Shambling
8. Dave Budd
9. luckylee
10. johnnytheboy

 

[Stew]

So inbetween the real work, I was able to pop out for a play today.

I took out my cruddy competition cutter to compare with it, as that's the most comparable knife i have at the moment.

It's not as thick or as long as the Chris Caine

It's also got a broken handle, which doesn't make it too comfortable to use!

So a bit of chopping.

A quick test of sharpness with some paper, first my comp knife that hasn't been sharpened since it was last used a year ago, then the Chris Caine which is as it came to me. Chopping down some hazel with the Chris Caine.

[video=youtube;-FXfdgCjGN8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FXfdgCjGN8[/video]

The Comp cutter.

[video=youtube;0_4svFQ4kEs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_4svFQ4kEs[/video]

Then neaten one up with a saw (the real king of this task)

[video=youtube;XR8FmCc4Quo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR8FmCc4Quo[/video]

(Just in case anyone is concerned, the wood is all now in my back garden for some framing and the other stumps have all been cut down with the saw)

Splitting wood.

First with the comp knife whole round to half, then with the Chris Caine whole round to half, half to quarter then comp knife half to quarter.
[video=youtube;x4TK6jgjlEE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4TK6jgjlEE[/video]

Shaving wood. Not feathersticks - I'm not particularly good at them, nor worried about it either.

First with the comp knife then the Chris Caine. Pay attention to the angles of the knives to the wood.

[video=youtube;mSw2Wd6U6-s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSw2Wd6U6-s[/video]

So what are my thoughts?

It's not sharp enough.
When I took it out of it's packaging, I was surprised by the angle it was sharpened at. It shows in the videos. It chops but I think a lot of this is down to sheer mass. If it was sharp to a level that I was happy with (I'm not bothered about splitting atoms) then it would be better. I would love to actually do this but it would change the knife considerably so I won't.
The comp cutter is a lighter and faster knife.

It splits well - it's a hefty bit of steel. Good weight and good thickness.

The handle is huge! I didn't read any blurb before playing with it but it was obvious that the idea is to be able to have your hand close to the blade for fine work

in the middle for general work

or hang right back for chopping

The butt is nice and round. No worries about corners here!

The tip of the spine is rounded over

which makes it comfy in the hand if you're going to use it as a draw knife

Three things from this picture:

First, if your hand is in the forward grip then having the handles tapering or chamfered at the front would be more comfortable.
Second, the ricasso area that is full thickness directly underneath the logo is a very harsh 90 degree corner. It needs smoothing.
Third, the edge transition just washes out. Not really a problem, until you look at the edge itself.

I don't like the edge tapering away like this. The secondary bevel is ground past the point where the 'edge' starts.

Loveless bolts are reassuring from a construction point of view.

The sheath seems quite solid. There's a combination of machine stitching and rivets.

The blade is held in place with three press studs

and is still held well, even if only one is engaged.

It looks like there's a slight nod of the head to a drain hole at the bottom, but I doubt it'll be very effective.

The fold over that holds the buckle in place goes the wrong way, to my mind, or the shape is wrong at the back.

Aesthetically it means the leather matches but functionally it means the thinner section is at the front, which limits the movement of the sheath.

It struggles to move back

but moves forward easily

An alternative would be to change the joining ring to a D ring rather than round.

It also comes with a sharpening rod, which I haven't tried. It looks quite aggresive, though it's not the type of system I have experience of.

 

[ged]

It was clear from your comparison with the competition cutter that the Wright blade was a lot less sharp. We should ask what the view is on sharpening. I'd think it's a waste of everybody's time passing around a blunt knife and being frightened to sharpen it.

Agreed the sharpening near the handle looks a little odd. I like to have a fine, sharp part of the blade as close to the choil as possible, for more delicate work.

That sharpening steel looks practically identical to one I keep on the coffee table. Yes it can be aggressive, but it doesn't have to be. Used gently it keeps a fairly fine blade that I keep by the fire (and which sees a lot of use) in good shape. The steel should be well on top of keeping the Chris Caine tool usable.

 

[JonathanD]

Sharpen the thing. Like Ged says, it's pointless passing around a blunt version.

 

[Stew]

It is sharp, just a fairly obtuse angle.

 

[JonathanD]

It is sharp, just a fairly obtuse angle.

Well in that case, leave it, as we need to test the grind as it comes. You don't expect to re-grind an edge, just to keep it sharp. As long as the edge is sharp, it will be a fair test. Some may get on with that grind as it is, so the passaround will have merit if we all hate it and it doesn't work.

 

[luckylee]

sorry guys, i didnt realise that you have to have a full years membership as well, so i have amended my details.

 

[luckylee]

1. Stew
2. British Red
3. FGYT
4. JonathanD
5. SimonM
6. ged
7. Shambling
8. Dave Budd
9. l
10. johnnytheboy

 

[Stew]

sorry guys, i didnt realise that you have to have a full years membership as well, so i have amended my details.

Stick yourself back in - I meant to have it as one or the other.

 

[Stew]

Well in that case, leave it, as we need to test the grind as it comes. You don't expect to re-grind an edge, just to keep it sharp. As long as the edge is sharp, it will be a fair test. Some may get on with that grind as it is, so the passaround will have merit if we all hate it and it doesn't work.

Agreed. If I dramatically changed the geometry of the knife, it wouldn't be a fair representation of the knife that people would be purchasing.

I would like to really have a try at modifying one to see what could be done with it.