Wright & Son Handmade Bushcraft Knife - opinions/review

[Totumpole]

Again thanks to all, its off to Adam at JLT knives at some point this week to be re-ground for a very reasonable price. Not a minute too soon either - its lack of bite in the wood resulted in me almost removing a finger whilst carving at the weekend!

 

[yerbache]

I dropped into Proadventure in Llangollen a few months back and took a look at one of these knives with a view to buying "off the peg". Result - pretty much as soon as I picked it up everything felt wrong; balance, handle and particularly the scale issues mentioned earlier. My immediate impression was that it was a cheap, mass-produced clone of the Woodie aimed squarely at people who wanted a copy without the price tag. Needless to say I didn't buy it, and the good folks at Proadventure actually told me they had had a lot of complaints and returns, which pretty much says it all. I decided to save the money and put it towards a decent bespoke one by Ben Orford.

 

[Totumpole]

I have been eyeing up Ben Orfords knives as well as a possible replacement - need to get saving. You made the right choice by getting a feel for it first - I bought it whilst relatively niave, early on in my bushcaft days when I had more money than sense to be quite honest. At the moment will have to make the best out of my bad choice.

 

[deepforest2501]

Have one too, bought it 6 years ago on the bay at the time. I had it reground by Rory Connor knives in Ireland for 25£, good price and he tightened up the sheath as it was working loose. The grind was convex and a nightmare to sharpen. Now its not so bad, a real rough work tool, 4mm thick is great for tougher jobs but it still wont get an edge like a carbon steel mora, in fairness is that not true of most 01 knives?
Anyway, its a rough tool really, not really suitable for fine work, and still hard enough to get a decent edge, I use Japanese water stones, and wet and dry plus stropping, no joy really. You get what you pay for with this knife. Wouldn't really recommend but a tough beast if thats whats needed.

 

[scottishwolf]

Their knives are complete rubbish these days. I bought one and it was sent back and replaced twice before getting a refund.

 

[Totumpole]

Adam at JLT Knives has also offered to sort out the glue failure and scale shrinkage as well as tighten up the sheath for an extremely reasonable extra fee. I'm looking forward to my reborn knife - I will let everyone know if its made a great deal of difference for mine or not.
I think the consensus is that it is a reasonably priced handmade knife that is let down by the details (grind, sheath, scale fit etc).

 

[woof]

saw your knife there the other day.

Rob

 

[John Fenna]

I think the quality control at the factory may be the problem - the A Wright knives are of a very variable standard - I had one of the Bushcrafters for review for one of the mags I write for and while the fit and finish and edge retention were of a pretty good standard the bevels were somewhat uneven.
The knife was returned for comment and evaluation by the company and the only coment I had back was - they are hand made so you cannot expect them to all be accurately ground (or words to that effect)......

 

[SimonD]

whereabouts is jlt knives rob? in grantham?

 

[woof]

Hi Simon,

No he's about a 15min drive south. Drop me a pm .

Rob

 

[Totumpole]

Knife came back from Adam at JLT knives the other week. Been put to good use already. Its the sharpest its ever been and edge retention is much improved. Im extremely happy with the results and cant recommend Adams services highly enough - excellent job at an excellent price. he even sorted out the handle scales andremoulded the sheath fo a small fee.

 

[woof]

Glad your'e happy with it, Adams a good bloke.

Rob

 

[Totumpole]

Glad your'e happy with it, Adams a good bloke.

Thanks for the recommendation Rob!
Thought I'd post a photo (sorry for the quality) to finnish off this thread. The knife has been put through a reasonable amount of use and only required a strop to get a razor edge back. I dont think tempering has been the issue, just a poor grind.

For the amount the knife cost and the amount Adam charged to do his thing, I've still got a handmade woody clone that takes a beating for under £200, if you go with a rosewood handle you can have it all for less than £150. All in all not bad I think. Still dont think the sheath is great, but it will incite me towards my first leather project when I get my hands on some sheath leather!!!