wilkinson sword survival knife saw,

[combatbushcraft]

hi my first post,and ive been out testing my wilkinson sword survival knife,old hands will know the saws not to good at cutting trees down,lol
but its brill for getting some nice wood chippings,for some fire starting,
which could save your bacon in a hostile enviroment,
i used to teach combat survival in the army in the 80s,been out of the loop till this year but today ive learned something new,the old blades saw is good for something after all,lol
cheers and good health
sd

 

[IntrepidStu]

I,ve had a wilkinson sword retratchable saw for about a year now and its never let me down once. Exactly what problem have you had with yours??
I didnt know they made a survival knife: any chance of a picture??
Stu

 

[Brendan]

Welcome to bcuk, It's not really a saw on the back of the blade rather a notching tool, I used to use mine when making pegs. Solid knife but many find them too heavy to be practical, I still sometimes get mine out for an airing when not taking a galok or an axe.

 

[combatbushcraft]

cheers for the welcome lads,stu they are not made anymore but some spares and knives are still available at ebay,just type in darmoor survival knife,great blades and are more between my bushcrafter and the golok like brendan states,
you can also get blanks and have them ground to your specs which is nice,just got a blank in stainless 440c for £19.50,which is going to make a superb tool,you can get the spares or get a handle made of your choice,
cheers
sd

 

[Sleepy Weasel]

I've got a Type D Wilkinson Sword Aircrew Survival Knife which cut me to the bone about a month and a half ago. Despite that, I still love it, something about the shape and the weight, and the fact that it's old but still holds a keen edge and takes all the punishment I dish out. It even had the original leather sheath, which promptly got a good dose of Neatsfoot oil and put into storage and the knife now lives in an MOD cordura sheath.

With something that size you're never gonna carve a delicate teaspoon but you can cut the tree down for the wood for it.

The Dartmoor knife looks too modern for my liking, and have heard some reports about the handles parting company with the blades, but each to his own

Hope you enjoy your knife, and try not to get your finger in front of the blade like I did!

 

[Sleepy Weasel]

Oh, and welcome to BCUK too!

 

[Graham_S]

I had a play with Sargeys Dartmoor at the Moot.
His has had a major re-profiling job and id now nicely convexed (and razor sharp)
I found that it was a decent carver as the blade was surprisingly weildy when choked up with a finger in the choil.
It's (unsurprisingly) a decent chopper with the weight and blade profile, but the saw....
Yes it's effective, but with its length, anything you could saw, you could batton through just as quickly. the saw sits just under the thumb when doing powerful cuts when carving (arguably one of the more important survival tasks)

 

[combatbushcraft]

had thoughts on the handle which ive heard can break,i have two and will carry paracord to make a nice rope handle should the worse happen,ones a blank so i will be asking advice on the best general purpose grinds,
one question,if i want to take em out for a walk,do i have to stow them in my rucksack while on the journey?dont want to get caught out with the new rules and regs,and when i used to be a bush baby before, everything was different,
cheers
sd

 

[crazydave]

ah another member of the proper knife club - keep using it and if you need some moral support either let me know or read some american sites. ITS A SURVIVAL KNIFE pure and simple just like the mod knife or my buckmaster so it was never designed for whittling spoons. before crook knives we used an ember to burn the bowl out and scraped the shape in - gives a pretty finish with the smocked grain as well.

the saws on the back are designed for hack you out of an air frame or chopping said airframe up to make things out of. some tried to be less aggressive and better with wood but rarely succeed.

I imagine if you try to pry a car door off then you might risk snapping the blade as the whole unit is rockwell tempered and it should still have the little dent from the factory test.

its sharp, it works so learn to use it better and gauge its limits. its designed to accompany a standard penknife so a swisstool for close work and a small saw. there's no point listening to the 'its not a bushcraft knife' brigade as its obvious its not. its a lot more usefull. conversation I had last week was that short knives are an evolutionary step backwards as the short knife civilisations were wiped out by the big knived ones if you have steel a plenty then you have a little knife and an axe like the swedes. if you have no steel then you make a golock/parang/machete/kukri like the rest of the world

if you wear it under a long smock/jacket when out bimbling then no one should pay you much attention. have fun and see how you get on

 

[combatbushcraft]

i would agree its not a real carver but i do have a rather nice little bushy knife for that,and i plan on getting some carving hooks as my skill grows,
reading the forums and seeing the site i realise how little i really do know,but im keen and have a brain like a sponge,so hopefully over the next couple of years i will start to imporve my bushcraft,
better dig the old warbox out of the loft i think,and see what goodiies ive stashed away,
thanks for the welcome
steve

 

[crazydave]

you'ld be surprised what you can do with it so keep at it, as to knowledge I bet its in there but probably written in a different format

 

[Graham_S]

the saws on the back are designed for hack you out of an air frame or chopping said airframe up to make things out of.

Speaking as someone who has used a Dartmoor knife and a Buckmaster, and who spent 15 years as an Airframe Engineer, I call shenanigans on this little urban myth.
There is no way you are cutting an airframe up with one of those things.
Saw backs are more hassle than they are worth.
The aggressive saw profile will just jam in the metal.
I had a go with a Buckmaster on an airframe while scrapping a helicopter when I was based in Cyprus in the mid 90's. Dismal failure.
I can't see the Dartmoor being much better.