They've Arrived

[leon-1]

Well after a bit of a wait the Ingrams have arrived, This is the #5, it has a 3" blade in S30V, 1.5 inch of straight cut file work on the spine and linen micarta scales. The sheath as you can see has a firesteel loop.

and this is the #6, the blade is 4.75" long in S30V once again 1.5" of straight cut file work on the spine and the firesteel holder on the sheath.

Both were to have removable scales, but Gene got in touch because he was worried about the possible consequences of this (that the pins may shear and leave me with a piece of steel with no handles), so I asked if he could make them in the strongest possible construction that he could.

Personal opinion he did a very good job, the #6 sits in the hand very comfortably feels like it has good balance, the #5 i'll let Neil1 make his mind up on since it's his knife (sorry mate pictures up before you even got your hands on it).

Thanks to Gene for a great couple of knives and to Schwert for his help :biggthump

 

[tomtom]

thats a nice pair!!

 

[Adi007]

Nice looking blades Leon! :super: :biggthump

 

[tenbears10]

What is the 3rd one in the gallery? These look great as always. Gene's work is hard to beat IMO.

Bill

 

[leon-1]

I'lltry to get some pitures of the #6 up when it's in use, problem is that I am going to be moving very soon so everything is going into boxes never to be found again :shock:

I may have to keep this one out for a while, just to get a feel for it , honest.

 

[leon-1]

Bill which one do you mean, if you mean the picture of the 3 knives together with thier sheaths, then the one with a black handle is a #30 in D2 (which has been my Bushcraft knife of choice pretty much since I got it) .

If on the other hand you mean the one with the 3 knives with one with the black rubberised handle that is a Fallkniven H1, which I have had for a while and is about as sturdy as the average Oak and a swine to sharpen ):.

 

[tenbears10]

No I did mean the micarta handled one. I forgot you have had it for a while. Hope the #6 is as good as the #30 then.

Bill

 

[Squidders]

Damnit! everyone's Ingrams are arriving and i'm still waiting

 

[leon-1]

thats a nice pair!!

Yes thay are, unfortunately the #5 has made it's merry way out of my hands to the hands of its rightfull owner (now you've got me thinking about it, must resist).

However I do have other things coming, so I will have to stop thinking about this before I get humanely despatched by the bank manager .

The Ingrams look very good quality, the #30 that I have is probably at the top of the tree currently as far as the cutlery that I own at the moment, but I will wait and see when I get a chance to trial the #6 after I have moved.

I can say that the service that I recieved was very good, even when I changed the order, when Gene had concerns they were communicated to me and they were clear and justifiable. Gene's service is very good indeed, I was quoted the 19th of November and Gene actually despatched these on the 4th of November.

I probably would of got them sooner, but customs got hold of them :yikes: so there was a small fee to pay (£8.82, £4 went to the post office and the remainder was the customs charge on goods worth $50, which is about £27.50).

Gene let me know when he started them and as soon as he had finished, they were despatched later on the day that he recieved payment, I will e-mail him to let him know that they have arrived safely and thank him for the service.

Squidders, when Gene lets you know that he has started to make them, that's when the wait begins.

When they get despatched and they don't arrive in the 4-7 days, you start to think that there are dodgy characters in the post office and paranoia sets in.

Then if you are unlucky the cursing starts after you find out that customs have them.

It is all made worth it on the day of collection when you open the box take a few pictures and then find something to cut, it doesn't matter that it is prep for dinner or that you now have a broom with a handle for the vertically challenged.

You know that you have an implement that does what it is designed to do very well, it has simple lines and is wickedly efficient. The sheath is so very basic, there are no gadgets, there are no gizmo's, but it is solid and very functional.

Now I'd best stop on this line before it becomes a blog :rolmao: :rolmao: :rolmao:

 

[Hoodoo]

Great looking blade!

 

[Tvividr]

Nice knives,...... :hyper:

 

[leon-1]

Thanks Hoodoo and Gerd, the collection seems to get bigger by the minute, all are for field use and get used, but I will stop buying for a while (maybe a year or so once the others arrive) so that they can get proper use and evaluation.

The #6 is already growing on me, it feels so comfortable in the hand and fills the grip very well, as soon as I get a chance it will get a proper beasting, the blade length is a little over the width of my palm so I will be interested to see how it performs for smaller work.

The #5 Neil1 picked up yesterday and he virtually skipped out of the house fondling it as he went, he seemed very happy with it and I will be interested to hear what he thinks of it the more he uses it .

 

[Hoodoo]

I just noticed that those are two different knives. Both look sweet. I have his Bird and Trout in S30V and am waiting on another. I forget what he is sending me but I'm hoping to do an article on Gene for Tactical Knives. The more I see them, the more I like them. Really clean, functional lines.

 

[tomtom]

Leon.. can i ask what made you get the #30 as the best bushcrafter in Genes range? as its looking like temptation is going to get the better of me before too much longer! :yikes:

and anyone else which Ingram (for bushcraft ) and why?

 

[leon-1]

Leon.. can i ask what made you get the #30 as the best bushcrafter in Genes range? as its looking like temptation is going to get the better of me before too much longer! :yikes:

and anyone else which Ingram (for bushcraft ) and why?

Well, difficult one, firstly I had read reviews on one or two of Genes knives and came across the passaround on BB, which was covering this knife at the time.

Initially I was looking at one of the others, but after reading the comments on the passaround I could see that this would be a good working knife.

Then I looked at other points about the knife, its size weight, blade design and I liked the grind. There were also comments about the sheath and this was helpfull.

Then one of the guys on BB offered me one at the same cost as he had payed for it (no wait and very reasonable price), he had bought one to find out that he had an identical one being bought for him for his birthday and rather than dissapoint people he kept quiet and sold me the spare so to speak.

I had been using two other knives at this point for field work, a Brusletto and a Fallkniven H1, the #30 was a good compromise of size, weight and construction. It started to make it into my kit more often than one of the others. In the end I found that the #30 was doing the tasks that I would have had the other knives doing completely, so I pretty much stopped using them (the Brusletto is a great little carver and I would never give it up, the H1 is solid and without a doubt one of the most robust and well made knives that I have ever come across, you can batten the hell out of it and it would not make a dent). I still use them, they went with me to the Wildernes Gathering this year, but more often than not the Ingram goes with me.

In the end I found the #30 was no compromise, It is strong, can be sharpened to an edge which borders on lightsaber, if you have the inclination. It balances well in the hand and is comfortable in use on small as well as large tasks, it is truly a superb knife, does not require a load carrying system and a regular gym session to carry it.

Now the question that will jump to most peoples mind is why get another knife if this is so good??

The answer is when battening things I prefer a longer blade, it gives me a larger target to hit, more leverage and I preferred the look of the handle on this (I have used knives with this sort of handle design before and am quite comfortable with them). When skinning with a knife I like somewhere with grip to rest my fingers when supporting the spine (just one of my fads) and so I got Gene to make the #6 to my spec, whilst there my brother had shown an interest in the #5 and his Birthday was coming up so I asked Gene to make a #5 for him with a few little mods.

The #6 will have to really prove itself to replace the #30, but either way I now have 2 exceptional examples of true working knives.

I also keep my options open and always am in search of better peices of kit (selfishly for me, because it is me who will be using it), as far as I am concerned the #30 has set a benchmark that very few others of its size could ever match and "hail the conquering hero" to the tool that surpasses it (hopefully the #6).

The other major factor in this was cost, Genes knives are very reasonably priced with the current exchange rate and you don't often get quality like this at this price. Possibly Allan Blade, but others here have tools by Allan and they are better placed to say what his tools are like, I'll tell you when I get one

I hope this answers some questions ):

 

[tenbears10]

Tom I think any of the drop point models Gene does would make a good bushcraft knife. I like the finger groves which leon has on his and I have on my 20b. If you prefer a straight handle then go for a different model like the #30. You need to decide what blade length you want mine is 3 1/2" and leons is 4 3/4" and the #5 is 3. They are all good in their own way. Nothing like sitting on the fence.

Anyone that has one of Gene's knives would recomend them without question so just try and decide on the handle shape and blade length and you won't be dissapointed. Oh then you have to decide what handle material which is the most difficult choice.

Bill

 

[tomtom]

Thanks Fella's (or maybe not from my bank balances point of view!)
id quite like a littlish blade... the #7s looking good to me! ):

 

[tomtom]

by the way.. what made you get them in Stainless?

 

[leon-1]

by the way.. what made you get them in Stainless?

The #30 is in D2, but the other 2 are made in S30V. I know that most of the people that are here would of preffered blades in 01, but I am down in Devon in a seaside area, a lot of the areas around me are areas that have estuaries leading down to the sea.

Some of us on here know what the sea water and even the air down here can do to a high carbon steel blade and it ain't pretty. I also know that stainless (the super stainless) can be a real swine to sharpen, but I don't seem to have too much of a problem with it and know how to maintain a blade of this type in the field (if not S30V yet, D2 more often than not and VG10). I know that peple will say that it all comes down to maintenance, but I have still seen well maintained high carbon tools rot effectively.

I wanted a knife that would be reliable in pretty much any enviroment, I have seen what Jungle conditions can do to a high carbon steel knife in a short space of time and I have seen what coastal conditions can do as well, I just thought that a stainless blade was a better choice to cover a multitude of enviroments.

Since it still casts a good shower of sparks from a firesteel I am not too worried about not being able to cast a spark from a piece of flint (which is not anywhere near as easy as some people make it look).

I have been working on firebow and am now working on hand drill, there is no shortage of wood down here and after having had a mistake (fundamental flaw) pointed out on the Isla trip (cheers Gary), more often than not now I have success.

So in short the wear resistance and resistance to corrosion for me is justification for a stainless knife.

PS. point to note on this, why do you think Ray in his last series took a little frost stainless and didn't take a nice shiny new woodlore into the jungle???

Both these knives had been on order well before this series started, so there has been no influencing by "Mr. M.", this is just my point of view. ):