Hello to all,
I felt the need to talk (or rather rant) about my Wright & Son bushcraft knife. Its a 4mm 01 Tool steel handmade in England blade with Ebony scales and "custom" sheath included. I bought it new for £140 about a year ago when I first started getting into bushcraft and had some money to throw around.
I am mainly wondering what anyone else who owns this blade under its many handle guises thinks about it. Living in London I've struggled to find the time to get away and put it through its paces, but have done so more in recent months, and the more I use it, the less impressed I am. Particularly after looking at numerous reviews on other similarly priced knives.
In my opinion these are the knives pro's and cons.
Pro's:
1. BOMBPROOF!!! Good 4mm 01 tool steel that I have dropped numerous times on various surfaces without any problems or damage. Takes a beating when battoning wood etc. Obviously this makes it pretty heavy though.
2. Nice blade design, although quite heavy in the handle and the balance point is just behind the 1st rivet.
3.Excellent price for a handmade knife. Prices start at £110 for rosewood handles.
Cons:
1. Awfull sheath!!! Ive seen the exact same sheath for sale from numerous sellers on eBay, which makes me wonder if it is really "hand made"/"custom". It had an OK friction fit initially, but this was lost very quickly, and now there is absolutely nothing stopping the knife falling out if tipped the wrong way (refer to good point number 1 - BOMBPROOF!). The sheath does however give a great fit for my mora clipper, and the plastic mora clipper sheath gives a good fit for the Wright & Sons. They have now undergone a permanent house swap!!!
2. Poor edge: 2 parts
1.I cannot seem to get a good edge on the scandi grind (as in fine enough to glide through paper). I've tried all sorts from my Japanese water stones to wet and dry paper through try to refine the edge with a really rough grit. I have only been able to get something pretty sharp by putting a secondary micro bevel on it (but see point ii below)
2.Poor edge retention. After getting it as sharp as I can the edge is dulled after an afternoon in the woods. The edge on my mora takes far more abuse and can shred paper easily after a few strokes on the strop.
3. Handle scales are poorly fitted. You can catch your finger nail on the tang all round, and there are visible gaps at some points.
4.I find the 4mm blade can be a bit unwieldy for finer work (I think in future I will got wil a 3mm blade + an axe/machete/large camp knife) thins is not the knives fault, but rather a comment on the way 4mm blades handle in general.
All in all my main issue is the inability to get or maintain a good edge, all other issues I would happily live with. At present I am back to using the mora for the majority of activities and am saving up for an enzo trapper.
I am by no means a knife pro and this is only my second fixed blade knife (after my mora clipper). I seriously hope Im not being dense but dont understand how I can get such a good edge on my mora and not this.
Rant over, I'm looking forward to hearing what anyone else thinks.
Regards
Colin
I felt the need to talk (or rather rant) about my Wright & Son bushcraft knife. Its a 4mm 01 Tool steel handmade in England blade with Ebony scales and "custom" sheath included. I bought it new for £140 about a year ago when I first started getting into bushcraft and had some money to throw around.
I am mainly wondering what anyone else who owns this blade under its many handle guises thinks about it. Living in London I've struggled to find the time to get away and put it through its paces, but have done so more in recent months, and the more I use it, the less impressed I am. Particularly after looking at numerous reviews on other similarly priced knives.
In my opinion these are the knives pro's and cons.
Pro's:
1. BOMBPROOF!!! Good 4mm 01 tool steel that I have dropped numerous times on various surfaces without any problems or damage. Takes a beating when battoning wood etc. Obviously this makes it pretty heavy though.
2. Nice blade design, although quite heavy in the handle and the balance point is just behind the 1st rivet.
3.Excellent price for a handmade knife. Prices start at £110 for rosewood handles.
Cons:
1. Awfull sheath!!! Ive seen the exact same sheath for sale from numerous sellers on eBay, which makes me wonder if it is really "hand made"/"custom". It had an OK friction fit initially, but this was lost very quickly, and now there is absolutely nothing stopping the knife falling out if tipped the wrong way (refer to good point number 1 - BOMBPROOF!). The sheath does however give a great fit for my mora clipper, and the plastic mora clipper sheath gives a good fit for the Wright & Sons. They have now undergone a permanent house swap!!!
2. Poor edge: 2 parts
1.I cannot seem to get a good edge on the scandi grind (as in fine enough to glide through paper). I've tried all sorts from my Japanese water stones to wet and dry paper through try to refine the edge with a really rough grit. I have only been able to get something pretty sharp by putting a secondary micro bevel on it (but see point ii below)
2.Poor edge retention. After getting it as sharp as I can the edge is dulled after an afternoon in the woods. The edge on my mora takes far more abuse and can shred paper easily after a few strokes on the strop.
3. Handle scales are poorly fitted. You can catch your finger nail on the tang all round, and there are visible gaps at some points.
4.I find the 4mm blade can be a bit unwieldy for finer work (I think in future I will got wil a 3mm blade + an axe/machete/large camp knife) thins is not the knives fault, but rather a comment on the way 4mm blades handle in general.
All in all my main issue is the inability to get or maintain a good edge, all other issues I would happily live with. At present I am back to using the mora for the majority of activities and am saving up for an enzo trapper.
I am by no means a knife pro and this is only my second fixed blade knife (after my mora clipper). I seriously hope Im not being dense but dont understand how I can get such a good edge on my mora and not this.
Rant over, I'm looking forward to hearing what anyone else thinks.
Regards
Colin
