Southey & JonathanD's Epic Knife Swap
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
....and the dead cow is where exactly?.....Mr D you promised us a dead cow....I feel cheated.....what is a test of survival without a breakfast of fresh cow....GRRRRRRR!Disgruntled Mojo 
If you do have a bit of meat over the weekend, give it a go carving, the sweet spot point is a great unzip-per of animals!
....and the dead cow is where exactly?.....Mr D you promised us a dead cow....I feel cheated.....what is a test of survival without a breakfast of fresh cow....GRRRRRRR!Disgruntled Mojo
No cows there. Someone warned them.
I'll give it a go on some bunny.
It was nice, I drank it all and staggered home.
southey mate i was just wondering if you brought the helion for bushcraft or living in aldershot maybe military duties or both perhaps. thers a few of the smaller tops knives that look prety good the UTE and CAT have you tried any others pal
great feature both of you and some great pics and vids too
cheers ash
great feature both of you and some great pics and vids too
cheers ash
No just bought for fun, I never had the chance or cash to get myself a "Rambo knife" when a younger kid so though i would get myself the grown up version, though im slightly disappointed to find out that despite initial impressions it turns out it is actually a use full knife, I amjust uploading the last of my pics then I shall put up some more thoughts,
I'm lucky enough to have owned an original Lile way back in the late 80's and the SLY II which I used loads until 1994. Sadly, and stupidly, I sold the former, and gave the latter away as I really knackered it with my uneducated sharpening in those days. The Hellion really does outperform that knife, as beautifully and quality made as it was.
The thing about the Hellion is the looks. It looks like it was designed by an idiot after he watched the American Ninja trilogy. I was fully expecting that. And getting it in my hands, I wasn't disapointed in those looks. It was only after using it and handling it for real, that I could see the mind behind the design and appreciate it as a really useful and quite well designed blade.
I have read a full-on huge thread about this knife on BCUSA this evening and they all condemn it on looks after the pictures were first published. The mockery and degredation of the knife are massive. They decree that anyone that would buy and use the knife would obviously be an idiot and know nothing of a real knife design. None of those people had ever handled one though. Now a week ago, I might have agreed upon looking at the pictures. But now, I see what many people complain about when they stand up to people who judge by looks. They know nothing, and the opinion expressed counts for nothing without handling the knife. Fair enough, this knife is certainly not for bushcrafters who mainly like carving spoons and other things like that. The blame for it's marketing is in Tops hands. They try to fluff around the combat and hard survival concepts by detailing those points with some BS bushcraft design. Which clearly is not correct. Myke Hawkes design I think is really well thought out, with his civilian survival and military mind in conflict. As such, this is a compromise, with weight on his military design side. As with all survival knives, it can never be perfect, as it tries to encompass all terrain and environment considerations into one blade. That is near impossible. I can see the design in this knife that would work as a help in snow and ice, jungle and desert, to urban combat and E&E behind enemy lines. It's what the best Leatherman is, compared to the home toolbox.
The only real thing daft about the knife I can really facepalm at, are the extras included and really really stupid divot in the scales designed for a firebow drill. Yeah, cos' we want to have a life threatening gash when it inevitably slips and the blade spins into our wrist, ankle or shin, or stabs the foot or forearm as we lose balance. It's even on the wrong side to cause maximum harm when it does happen. Brilliant.
Lesson learned though. Personally, as a survival/combat knife, I'd lose the saw on the spine, and instead, carry a locking Victorinox Soldier or larger version with added fireflash in the sheath pouch. That would add far more power to the survival combination of this package. People can mock this knife as much as they want. But before expressing wisdom and sage knife knowledge, please handle it first and look at Mr Hawkes background to see where he comes from. We've all mocked it in jest here, with a little tongue in cheek seriousness, but on other sites, it has become a "we know better, cos we know best" type of view. You can't do that just by looking at a picture. A lesson I learned before, but still failed to remember.
The thing about the Hellion is the looks. It looks like it was designed by an idiot after he watched the American Ninja trilogy. I was fully expecting that. And getting it in my hands, I wasn't disapointed in those looks. It was only after using it and handling it for real, that I could see the mind behind the design and appreciate it as a really useful and quite well designed blade.
I have read a full-on huge thread about this knife on BCUSA this evening and they all condemn it on looks after the pictures were first published. The mockery and degredation of the knife are massive. They decree that anyone that would buy and use the knife would obviously be an idiot and know nothing of a real knife design. None of those people had ever handled one though. Now a week ago, I might have agreed upon looking at the pictures. But now, I see what many people complain about when they stand up to people who judge by looks. They know nothing, and the opinion expressed counts for nothing without handling the knife. Fair enough, this knife is certainly not for bushcrafters who mainly like carving spoons and other things like that. The blame for it's marketing is in Tops hands. They try to fluff around the combat and hard survival concepts by detailing those points with some BS bushcraft design. Which clearly is not correct. Myke Hawkes design I think is really well thought out, with his civilian survival and military mind in conflict. As such, this is a compromise, with weight on his military design side. As with all survival knives, it can never be perfect, as it tries to encompass all terrain and environment considerations into one blade. That is near impossible. I can see the design in this knife that would work as a help in snow and ice, jungle and desert, to urban combat and E&E behind enemy lines. It's what the best Leatherman is, compared to the home toolbox.
The only real thing daft about the knife I can really facepalm at, are the extras included and really really stupid divot in the scales designed for a firebow drill. Yeah, cos' we want to have a life threatening gash when it inevitably slips and the blade spins into our wrist, ankle or shin, or stabs the foot or forearm as we lose balance. It's even on the wrong side to cause maximum harm when it does happen. Brilliant.
Lesson learned though. Personally, as a survival/combat knife, I'd lose the saw on the spine, and instead, carry a locking Victorinox Soldier or larger version with added fireflash in the sheath pouch. That would add far more power to the survival combination of this package. People can mock this knife as much as they want. But before expressing wisdom and sage knife knowledge, please handle it first and look at Mr Hawkes background to see where he comes from. We've all mocked it in jest here, with a little tongue in cheek seriousness, but on other sites, it has become a "we know better, cos we know best" type of view. You can't do that just by looking at a picture. A lesson I learned before, but still failed to remember.
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How is it against Zombies
I still like the look of the Hellion meself
Really wouldn't want to get that close to a zombie. And I'm certainly not hunting them down on my own for this review. They scare me.
the question is would either of you purchase these knives now that you have had chance to try them
Aha you shall find out when i finally sort my pics out, having a few probs at the moment,
One thing that really surprised me was how grippy the Carbon Fibre was, but a closer look shows you why,
Lots of tiny ridges where the fibres are at the surface, at right angles to each other, giving a lot of grip even when carving a slow cooked joint of beef with fat covered hand(thats not bad carving, thats just how we like our meat sliced)
Meat done, and knife cleaned,
obviously before cooking I had to prep the carrots, this is one veg that normally gets flung around the kitchen by 3mm blades let alone 4mm, caused by the splitting effect rather than it slicing the veg, the high grinds helped here but still didn't totally eliminate the effect,
More to follow,,,,
Lots of tiny ridges where the fibres are at the surface, at right angles to each other, giving a lot of grip even when carving a slow cooked joint of beef with fat covered hand(thats not bad carving, thats just how we like our meat sliced)
Meat done, and knife cleaned,
obviously before cooking I had to prep the carrots, this is one veg that normally gets flung around the kitchen by 3mm blades let alone 4mm, caused by the splitting effect rather than it slicing the veg, the high grinds helped here but still didn't totally eliminate the effect,
More to follow,,,,
When you look at the hump you might think its just for your thumb in a classic one hand power cut styley, but it also gives you more meat for other grips like this for detail carving,
or heavy control for skinning or jointing,
to apply side pressure for curves and to control a slice,
It really is very comfy in lots of grips, though weighty, I noticed this a lot when holding the blade as opposed to the handle, but quickly got used to it,
So I made a spoon, just the knife then sanded with 800 grit, wetted then 1500 grit for a finish,
Didn't use a spoon knife and found the tip of Jon's knife fine for carving a shallow bowl,
Over all I really like the knife, there are some points I would have different if having one for myself namely a little lighter if possible, but thats a personal choice in my knives, the edge retention with the RWL34 is brilliant, would I buy one? Yes, if it were lighter, and maybe had a swoopy handle, and a slightly different profile, and in 3mm, HMMmmmmmmm did some one say seagull
or heavy control for skinning or jointing,
to apply side pressure for curves and to control a slice,
It really is very comfy in lots of grips, though weighty, I noticed this a lot when holding the blade as opposed to the handle, but quickly got used to it,
So I made a spoon, just the knife then sanded with 800 grit, wetted then 1500 grit for a finish,
Didn't use a spoon knife and found the tip of Jon's knife fine for carving a shallow bowl,
Over all I really like the knife, there are some points I would have different if having one for myself namely a little lighter if possible, but thats a personal choice in my knives, the edge retention with the RWL34 is brilliant, would I buy one? Yes, if it were lighter, and maybe had a swoopy handle, and a slightly different profile, and in 3mm, HMMmmmmmmm did some one say seagull
Cool beans. I think you'd like the full flat then. That is a hell of a lot lighter. My favourite scandi antler version in 01 is a hell of a lot heavier though. I really like a weighted handle.
How's that seagull coming along?
How's that seagull coming along?
the thing is the weight was only an issue when holding it like a pen, i guess its the cf but with it being so durable and grippy, for a wet enviroment knife(im guessing that is what the combination is for) i would get used to it, oh yes would really like to try the flat grind! I don't think ive every tried a proper full flat?
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