http://www.britishblades.com/forums/ en Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:05:55 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.britishblades.com/forums/images/bbrg/misc/rss.png http://www.britishblades.com/forums/ http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109945-pieinthesky-first-knife!&goto=newpost Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:12:24 GMT I was asked to do a review of the knife designed by pieinthesky and featured in this thread: http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?108339-My-first-knife-UK-EDC . Insanely it’s his first knife. I thought I’d give it a run out against a couple of pocket favourites and a well thought of... I was asked to do a review of the knife designed by pieinthesky and featured in this thread: http://www.britishblades.com/forums/...t-knife-UK-EDC .
Insanely it’s his first knife.
I thought I’d give it a run out against a couple of pocket favourites and a well thought of locker.
The thinking behind my selection went like this: It looks like an engineering project ( I hated what it looked like from the start which was why I hadn’t posted in the thread) so a couple of slippies from engineers (Shing and Cubane) might test it. It’s a one hand opener so a UKPK would be good to compare it to. It’s an ugly bit of plain metal in the modern style so lets try it against a classic shape made beautiful scaled in mammoth by Pennillion. I have very poor teeth left after a car crash so occasionally I like to take a discrete bit of table cutlery with me and a plain Sebenza in BG42 might reasonably be compared with this.
OK, I lied about the Sebenza but as I’d just got it I thought I might as well compare it anyway.
There was an alox SAK on the desk in front of me so I threw that in the mix.

From left to right:
Shing in D2
SAK
pieinthesky in 154cm
Sebenza in BG42
UKPK in S30V
Worstenholm I.XL canoe modded in mammoth by Pennillion
Cubane in 01

Those whose steels I haven’t listed I don’t know. With the Worstenholm I used the biggest blade that I’d described as very hard to sharpen in a previous test.

With a windfall apple that was to provide the “I carry it to cut up my apple at work” test. :)


The first test was to see if all the edges were up to scratch or did I need to tidy any up?
All sliced A4 copier paper easily and smoothly. I was surprised at this by the Shing as I’d been whittling with it on some pretty hard dry wood as well as using it in tests with some fixed blades recently. The saying is “D2 takes a lousy edge and holds it forever” …nothing wrong with this edge.
The blade of the UKPK was dirty as usual and had to be cleaned but again had no problem slicing through smoothly…at first.

Down to the bottom of the garden where the first noticeable divide was observed.
Each of the knives was opened and poked into an old treestump across the grain.

All could do this and stay upright but the SAK reminded me why I don’t use these much as it started to fold on impact. If you stab the knife into the wood in a way that puts the pressure on the back of the spring it’s fine, but the quality of the other blades’ lockup is such that they make you lazy :rolleyes:
Surprisingly the UKPK sprung out of open too and I felt safer holding it properly as Sal advises with a finger firmly in the choil area rather than just from the back like a dart.

Stripping bark.
I’d been asked to test pieinthesky’s knife fairly and honestly but to be aware that it was his only prototype to date and that it had been designed as a gents pocket knife, not as a chainsaw or axe.
A shame really as the lockup is such that you’d feel confident in hacking and slashing all day with it. :) All the knives sliced bark and twig stumps off with ease, so you’ll be OK making your green stick skewers for BBQing.

Pointing an old dry stick from the woodpile was very interesting however and this is where the pieinthesky knife rather fell down.
The Sebenza did a reasonable job in 10 cuts by cutting across half the branch, making a chisel edge.
The UKPK did the same.
The SAK did as well as the UKPK. :O
The Worstenholm, Shing and Cubane cut straight through in five cuts, just ripping the wood off.
The cut from the pieinthesky seemed less effective as the edge fell away towards the tip. The area was sharp but it was difficult to maintain the cut all the way around the curve. :)
With practice this should not be a problem but to begin with you seemed to have less edge to cut with.

Feathersticks
The pieinthesky knife made feathersticks happily, with no feeling of discomfort. Indeed when pressing down when making cuts this design comes into its own!
There is no way that the blade may be sprung out of lock if too much pressure is suddenly released as resistance is overcome in the material being cut. The harder you push the harder the already solid locking action goes to work.
Even if there is a sudden loss of resistance the grip from the hand isn’t likely to let you free the blade reflexly. Even if you did the normal backspring pressure with the shape of the back of the blade and its bar makes breaking from open an effort.
Opening one handed using the thumbstud is easy and secure, for both left handed and normal people :]
It's easier than doing so with the UKPK, too
This has instantly become my favourite backspring arrangement in a slippy. :biggthump

My only reservation is how quickly the backspring arrangement would undergo metal fatigue with owners opening and closing the knife just for the click :rolleyes: :D

Cutting notches in the stick was easily accomplished by all but the SAK worries me with its tendency to spring out of open

The ceremonial apple was sliced smoothly and effortlessly by all as would be expected.
The edges were retested on paper at the end of the very small trial and the pieinthesky blade had lost its ability to make smooth slices through the paper. All the others still could.

I had walked around for the day with this knife in a trouser pocket and it is light and unobtrusive. I do prefer pouches for pocket knives however so I fitted it with the one I carry the Cubane slippy in and it still seemed perfectly comfortable and lightweight.
Opening it in company is another matter however.
It looks tacticool. shouts “knife” as it makes a satisfying click into place as it opens.
You should bottle the sound it makes opening a slippy! Lovely, but not for those who ever saw West Side Story.

The Pennillion has been promoted to pocket duty since it did so well, great gloat factor!

In summary:
I still hate the looks, love the carry.
Love the security when open , hate the effect on passers by from the (lovely) sound of it.
Love the comfort of use, though a clip like the UKPK’s would be nice, not so impressed by the way the edge fades to point in use.
It could do with a good blade steel with good heat treatment (154cm? normally great).

Would I buy one then?

Hell YES! ]]> fluffy http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109945-pieinthesky-first-knife! http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109913-Delta-Foxtrot-From-Fletcher-Knives&goto=newpost Sat, 28 Aug 2010 23:02:02 GMT This is a knife by a young man named Dylan Fletcher. I had been talking to Dylan for a while on another Forum, but like a few others I finally got the chance to meet him at his debut showing at the 2010 International Blade Show in Atlanta back in June. It was then that I got to see in person some... This is a knife by a young man named Dylan Fletcher. I had been talking to Dylan for a while on another Forum, but like a few others I finally got the chance to meet him at his debut showing at the 2010 International Blade Show in Atlanta back in June. It was then that I got to see in person some finished knives which I had been watching "in progress" pictures of, one of which was the "Delta Foxtrot" model (the phonetic spelling of his own initials) that has become one of my favorite knives. This was one he had actually set aside for himself in the process of getting the others ready for the big show, so any little imperfections you may notice aren't really indicative of Dylan's finished work. In deciding to keep this one for himself he devoted his time to finishing up the ones he was going to put on the table. I got the pleasure of taking this one home to try out and ended up being fortunate enough that he parted with it.


This knife is made of 3/16in / 5mm O-1 steel, and black canvas micarta. It has double spacers of black and red, and hollow stainless steel tubing for pins. It has a 5in / 12.5cm blade and a 5in / 12.5cm handle for an an over all of 10in / 25cm and it has an RC of 59-60. Dylan also offers them with kydex sheaths but this one came with a very nice wet formed leather sheath from JRE.

You can see a few more of Dylan's knives here, although he has added a few that aren't listed yet. http://fletcherknives.com/gallery.htm












I really love the ergonomics of this handle, it is as if it were made to fit my hand perfectly, and is very comfortable in every grip I've used it in....including the reverse / chest-lever grip of which the picture is tightly cropped to show detail. The balance point is perfectly on the first finger.






















I decided to put the knife to work in the kitchen, it has a great edge!























. ]]> mistwalker http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109913-Delta-Foxtrot-From-Fletcher-Knives http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109797-Racing-axe&goto=newpost Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:56:36 GMT Anyone here ever used a racing axe ? here is some testing going on.
Farid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNxky...eature=related ]]> farid http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109797-Racing-axe http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109687-Zlideon-zip-repair-review&goto=newpost Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:19:55 GMT Following on from this thread..... http://www.britishblades.com/forums/...hlight=zlideon

Well I got one, I was apprehensive when I first came across it when searching for zip repairs on the net. I thought it looked a good idea, almost too good to be true, but was puzzled as why I hadn't heard of it before, hence my original post.

You can get them for all sorts of zip types, plastic, metal, coil etc; the crucial point is to get the right size, how to measure is on the web site, nicely shown with a digital caliper, but not everyone has one of these, including me. I used an old wooden caliper but carefull measuring with a tape should suffice, you need the zip width and height. Armed with these two measurements you can then look up the correct Zlideon.

It arrived this morning and I am glad to say that within a minute I had the broken slider off and the Zlideon fitted, zip now in working order. The instructions are clearly laid out on the web site and it worked a treat. Apparently they will even work with up to 3 teeth missing!


I've now saved myself a few quid as I reckon it would have been around £20 to get it replaced + fuel or postage (not many tailors near here).

The Zlideons are available from http://www.tentspares.co.uk/ They work out about £8 inc. postage.
The Zlideon web site is http://www.zlideon.eu.com/

Clever idea (wish i'd thought of it) and does what it says on the can! If it fails or I have a problem with it I will update this thread.
Just measure carefully.
Right, I'm off to measure another broken zip now :) ]]> Dogoak http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109687-Zlideon-zip-repair-review http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109556-ESEE3-Review-(pics-and-full-review-added)&goto=newpost Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:37:49 GMT After seeing the start of the ESEE4 review thread, I decided that it isnt fair that you lot get to play with all the cool toys :D So I contacted our local ESEE distributor with a request for a passaround of the ESEE3 on a local bowhunting forum I subscribe to. Im keeping pictures at bay for the... After seeing the start of the ESEE4 review thread, I decided that it isnt fair that you lot get to play with all the cool toys :D So I contacted our local ESEE distributor with a request for a passaround of the ESEE3 on a local bowhunting forum I subscribe to.

Im keeping pictures at bay for the full review, but just thought I should say, WOW this little blade can take a beating. It arrived last week Wednesday and since then has been used on everything from food to cutting into some seasoned hardwood last night and its still got a decent enough edge to thinly slice tomatoes without effort.

I dont know if its the thinner blade, the 1095 or the 20 degree secondary bevel on the flat ground blade that works for me, but apart from my khuk this is the only blade Ive handled that keeps its edge well when considering the workout it has got. 5 Days of use including battoning and carving wood and still you feel scared when the edge runs close to your fingers :D

I will post a full review with pics during the week for all those interested... ]]> Thinker http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109556-ESEE3-Review-(pics-and-full-review-added) http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109231-Bushfinger-A-Knife-By-Andy-Roy-of-Fiddleback-Forge&goto=newpost Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:02:54 GMT I have been following Andy Roy's work for the better part of two years now. Having seen several threads and lots of pictures I knew that he makes some beautiful knives, but getting to see them in person and handle them at Blade just took it to a whole new level for me. A couple of months back I talked to Andy about a smallish knife for bushcraft...but bushcraft from my personal perspective...we talked about prefs and hand size and thus a couple of weeks ago came the Bushfinger. He apparently understands my favorite activities because he did a fantastic job on the knife, not only aesthetically but in function. I really just don't think I could be happier with a knife for all around general use.




This was how the knife arrived and I have to say that Andy Roy definitely has style.






And this is the beauty I found waiting inside the package. This is the knife design Andy has dubbed the Bushfinger.






Specs:

Steel..........................Spalted O-1 Tool steel, 5/32in / 4mm
Grind..........................Hi Sabre Convex
Blade length.................4.3in. / 11cm
Handle Length..............4.5 in. / 11.4cm
Over-all length...............8.8 in. / 22.4cm
Handle Scales................Natural Canvas Micarta
Liners and Bolsters.........Black Canvas Micarta
Pins.............................Natural Canvas Micarta/Carbon Fiber
Bullseye Lanyard Hole.....Stainless Steel/Carbon Fiber

Maker: Andy Roy of Fiddleback Forge




I love this sheath Andy made too, it works great for me both on my belt or in my pocket... where my knife often rides on hikes through the woods. He did an absolutely a fantastic job on this thing, I love his craftsmanship. While I normally don't care much for metal belt clips I have found this one to be well made, very well located and comfortable, plus I do love the ability to quickly relocate the knife when I wish.












Andy did a super job on the little details that make this knife a work of art. I love how he mated the scales and bolsters together at an angle. His plunge line is just super, and the symmetry, which is a big thing with me, is simply fantastic.










This knife is very comfortable in every grip I have used it in over the course of the last two weeks.












I do a lot of cooking so naturally it is something a use a knife for a lot. The Bushfinger is perfect for me because it works great for food prep, it is a perfect size for great controlability. It did great with the veggies











It sliced through the tenderloin like it wasn't even there.










The line of the edge being just below the lowest line of the handle lets me use the entire edge by holding the handle in a pinch grip and rocking the edge on the cutting board to slice and chop things like fresh garlic or fresh herbs. Yep, the Bushfinger does a great job at food prep without looking like a kitchen knife in the process (which I like VERY MUCH!).








Finally getting the knife out in the woods I found it has a great working edge.




. ]]> mistwalker http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109231-Bushfinger-A-Knife-By-Andy-Roy-of-Fiddleback-Forge http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109104-Spyder-v-rat-!&goto=newpost Sat, 14 Aug 2010 12:05:52 GMT Id been meaning to get a large bladed knife for a while ,so when a used Spyderco Forester came up for sale courteous of Mr Rob Evans I jumped at the chance :D.



The same day it arrived Axle ' MTG ' came around with His new Ontario RTAK 2 knife:O .
That afternoon We had a little play with them in the garden , cutting rope, wood ,golf balls etc comparing both knives .

The Rat performed very well at all the tasks as did the Spydie, but We both felt that the Forester's edge bevel was a little thick and would need thinning and I personally felt that the domed head handle bolts would need to be counter sunk further . Both of which I did hurriedly before we met again .

We agreed to meet up Yesterday and took both knives up to Our field for some more testing along with a load of plastic bottles .
We had a quick hunt in the wood for some more golf balls and collected some Hazel poles for cutting.



Some specs on the two knives

Ontario RTAK 2. Spyderco Forester .
blade steel . 1095 carbon = N690C0
O/A length 16.8 inches = 15 9/16 inches
blade 10.25 inches = 9 1/8
thickness 3/16 ? = 3/16 (5mm)
weight 29.5 oz ? = 16.8 oz

I may be wrong on the weight / thickness of the Rat so hopefully Axle will correct them if needed .

Firstly I used both knives to point up the hazel poles.




The knives are fairly similar in the fact that they are flat ground , have removable Micarta scales held on with torx bolts and have usable finger choils . but the Rat is larger and possibly a bit heavier .

Axle cutting cleanly through a hazel pole with the Rat , the full flat blade easily works on green woods


there arnt any pics of the Spydie in action , but the smaller pole was cut by it .

Having a go on a golf ball with the Rat .


And with the Spydie .


Me using the Rat .




And unfortunately the only picture of the bottle cutting , Axle using the Rat, 5 out of 6 bottles (but the 6th was half cut ) isnt bad :D

.

There arnt any pics of Me cutting :C, if I remember correctly the Spydie did 4 but as it was the first time Id cut more than one bottle I think it did quite well .

In conclusion Im very impressed with both of the knives , but the Spydie needs a little more work for My tastes.

I like the big Rat, its a no nonsense tool that will keep going but personally find it a little long in the blade and the handle a little thick and deep for My hands, if it was mine id need to change a few things on the scales but it certainly cuts well .

I love the Spydie , its light enough for Me to use consistently with great balance .
I need to put some liners in order to thicken it a little at the back , but really like the overall ergos however the scales are in need of a good blasting to aid in a better grip and I need to still thin the bevel a little more but these are all personal preferences;).

I hope MTG will be along latter to add His comments . ]]> Ru Titley http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109104-Spyder-v-rat-! http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109050-Fantoni-Harsey-HB01&goto=newpost Fri, 13 Aug 2010 11:20:24 GMT Hi folks

I recently saw the new Fantoni Harsey HB01 Tactucal Folder at Heinnies and fell in love:

http://www.heinnie.com/Knives/Fanton...p-92-760-5138/

It's a knife designed by William Harsey, and the style will be familiar to fans of Lone Wolf knives as they have several of this type. Fantoni are an Italian knifemaking company who have made knives for other brands for many years, including the Lone Wolf knives, but they are now making knives under their own name.

This is a large linerlocking folder, with 6AI4V tianium liners, G10 scales and a CPM-S30V blade. There's a dual thumbstuds, and a flipper on the back of the blade.

:D


Here's an initial pic, showing the G10 scales, pocket clip and lanyard hole. There's an adjustable pivot and two torx screws securing the scales to the titanium liners, one seated underneath the pocket clip, which is itself secured by three torx screws:





Handle close up with the blade open showing the thumbstuds and flipper. The thumbstuds actually open the knife faster than the flipper, which as a dedicated flipper-fan, I think needs to be a couple of millimeters longer for optimum speedy flippiness:





There's major and quite aggressive jimping on the underside of the handle cut into both the G10 and the ti liners, and on the locking liner:





And thumb ramp jimping on both the top of the handle and the spine of the blade. You can also see the three handle separators, the inverse barrel shaped type, which is nice:





So, to the blade! It's a full four inches/105mm of razor sharp S30V swedged pointy goodness, 30mm wide and 4mm thick:





And open showing the handle too:





Half closed:





And in hand for scale:





I absolutely love this knife. It's a huge great handful of flippery Italian luvverliness. Fit and finish is superb, the action is silky smooth and very fast, and the lock up is rock solid. As I mentioned above whilst the flipper is functional, it's not the best I have, but that's a minor criticism as opening using the thumbstuds is very fast indeed.

Fantoni clearly know how to make knives, and make them to the very highest quality.


:pirate:


Danzo ]]> Danzo http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?109050-Fantoni-Harsey-HB01 http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?108838-Gerber-Prodigy-Sheath-mod-survival-kit&goto=newpost Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:49:12 GMT hi all, i have attached a pouch to the front of my gerber prodigy sheath which contains a small survival kit(pics will show all of it) the other mod i have done is tie some paracord tighlty around the top holes in the sheath to tighten the retention in the sheath i would like to know anyones... hi all,
i have attached a pouch to the front of my gerber prodigy sheath which contains a small survival kit(pics will show all of it)

the other mod i have done is tie some paracord tighlty around the top holes in the sheath to tighten the retention in the sheath

i would like to know anyones thoughs on this system
here are the pictures


you can see the pouch and the paracord mod in this one


here is a pic of the same thing


this is the full contents(excluding the small flashlight ive just put in)


my fire lighting tools(bcb firesteel, alcohol handwash, some dry silver birchbark and a small 2 bladed pockrt knife to strike the fire steel with, it throws great sparks)


sharpening stones(falkniven dc4 and felco brand sharpener) and about 10-12 feet of paracord-non hollowed out, also a small jack pyke knife that came in another survival kit


and a small fire i made

thanks for reading ]]> sharpshooter25 http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?108838-Gerber-Prodigy-Sheath-mod-survival-kit http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?108616-Gerber-Prodigy&goto=newpost Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:58:43 GMT I have received this knife yesterday and its great:), i got it for £55:95 of Heinnie Haynes (http://www.heinnie.com), this is a great website, safe secure and a great selection of knifes and gear, now back to the knife for anyone looking for a mid size survival knife this is the one 5 mm... I have received this knife yesterday and its great:), i got it for £55:95 of Heinnie Haynes (http://www.heinnie.com), this is a great website, safe secure and a great selection of knifes and gear,

now back to the knife
for anyone looking for a mid size survival knife this is the one
5 mm thick, 4.75" sandik 12C27 blade, full tang produding out into a glass breaker,
the sheath is great, hard rugged and hopefully long lasting, there are a large number of pictures, sorry for the bad quality the were taken on my nokia 5800, because ive misplaced my camera tonight:(,



here are the pics
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Hope you enjoyed Sharpshooter25 ]]> sharpshooter25 http://www.britishblades.com/forums/showthread.php?108616-Gerber-Prodigy