Blue G10 and satin finish 01. Linerless with lanyard hole and two pins for structure.
Legal EDC.
It arrived today along with a £26 charge for importing based on the declared insurance value of $AUS 225. :(
If Alistair had charged by the hour ... I'd have had a bigger bill. :O :lol:
The knife.
Lovely clean lines. Good cutting position.
The fit and finish are excellent!
No obvious join when the blade is open either to the eye or to the touch, clear half stop, solid lockup and no lateral play at all. :biggthump
On the down side the makers mark is already getting scratched off with opening and closing.
It's a fine mark that perhaps would suit the side of the blade better.
Shaving sharp out of the box is good.
Serious downside, however, is the backspring strength.
Nail nicks don't work for office nails.
They were developed when people had chunky industrial uses for their hands and nails weren't quite so girly.
To be honest some of the most interesting penknives I've seen were switchblades for pipe bowl scraping: tiny blades in 2"bodies that open with a button because the hands of the workers using them weren't up to fiddly little nail nicks either.
This is for my daughter and is too tough to open and very snappy to close. The girl wouldn't want to break a nail. I handed this to both male and female patients today to get their opinions.
Everyone liked the shape and feel . One of each could not open the knife.
I would not use this knife with wet or greasy hands although the design cries out for such use in this country.
Easy open is a must, I feel in this market.
I did a poll on this subject recently and the majority didn't see it my way.
I'll let my daughter give her own verdict tonight.
Cubane plans to post the pictures of the construction so I can add a review. :D
I've had tougher backsprings and the sculpting of the scale helps with a pinch grip to open but too tough for me. I can open it and it snaps to a half lock like it's on parade! Snap out to fully open and it feels so solid you'd mistake it for one of the better lockers.
Very Aussie Rugby League defence. :)
I can't really resist running it out against a Shing slippy this weekend :)
..or a Davison :O ]]>
I'm a fan of Michael's work turning worn out old files into shiny new knives and have one of his clever little friction folders (and have been dithering about ordering a matching one with a wharncliffe blade for a while).
So when I saw that he was doing some camp knives made from Nicholson files I gave in to temptation and ordered one, as did the Mrs. Mine in Rosewood scales and hers in "Cinnamon" coloured scales.
Collected them from the post office on Wednesday morning and couldn't wait to get home to unpack them and have a look see.
Well, the grinding was absolutely perfect. Symmetrical both sides, with his trademark finish that leaves the marks that it was once a file there but without a single rough edge. Hollow ground, with a fabulously sharp, even secondary bezel.
The wood scales and micarta bolsters were polished to a gorgeous shine too, and the tan leather sheaths fit the knives like a glove and had really good hand-finished stitching.
Everything sounds perfect yes?
Unfortunately not.
All the steel that had been enclosed by the sheath on both knives was a uniform orange hue. :O :C And it wouldn't shift easily! :C :C (A soft rag, WD40 and finally micromesh eventually shifted it on one blade, but where the orange had been was left really ugly dark patina).
I dropped Michael a PM asking if he had any suggestions for cleaning them up and restoring the polish and he replied as soon as he'd logged in to the forum with a effusive apology and a question as to what colour the sheaths were.
As soon as I PM'd back that they were tan, he replied telling me that he'd had a batch of leather from a supplier in the past who'd changed their tanning method and the sheaths made from that leather had caused the knives (high carbon files remember) to suffer from really bad surface tarnishing, but he'd thought they'd fixed the problem with this batch of leather.
To cut a long story short, Michael has asked me to post the knives back to him and he'll replace them, refund me the postage fees for me to return them to him, and refund me the import tax and Royal Mail fees so I don't end up out of pocket in any way.
All this was arranged and sorted within a couple of hours of my first PM to him.
I'm well pleased, and just thought he deserved a bit of public appreciation for it.
So thank you Michael!
:happy14: :party11: :happy65: :biggthump ]]>
im writing this review after i did a trade with rob for his own made small bushy (i was looking for a bison bushmans pal) and im really impressed with both robs service and most importantly his work!!!
i teach bushcraft and i use my knives regulary and "probably" more than most therefore i know what i like and like what i know when it comes to cutting tools.
the knife is 01 steel, "2 3/4 long, 3mm thick, scandi grind and a full tang the handle is stag antler with a white and black liner on each side (imo really sets off the antler) the sheath is really well made from 3mm quality leather and has a drop loop on a ring to aid comfort when sitting and crouching.
I was really impressed by how comfortable it was in use and considering this was a trade and not designed by me, for me, it is just what i have looking for in a small bushy comfortable when in use, i made several spoon blanks and a pot hanger from hazel and all it needed was a strop on the belt and it was shaving sharp (as i recived it)
i would really recommend robs knives to all who use their knives and appreciate quality tools.
rob doesn,t know im writing this review and i feel his work deserves recognition ( i dont know rob personnaly)
all in all 11/10 brilliant service workmanship the whole hog
i WILL be buying my next bushcraft knife from rob no question about that and i would urge others to do so as he is cheaper if you were to buy one, and has a better approach to customer service as he called me to check if i was happy (this has never happened to me before)
brilliant if you would like to see a piccy im not that computer clever and you can see his work on my blog
www.britishbushcraft.blogspot.com ]]>
Here it is with a Falkniven TK3 and a Kershaw.
It's marketed as "Pradel Excellence", but is more than likely made in China not France. Liner lock, ceramic blade, stainless (perhaps) liners, some sort of injection molded plastic liners with synthetic rubber inserts. Cheap pocket clip. Cheap nylon sheath. Nice, stylish black cardboard box.
Opening it is like running your fingers down a blackboard, despite what appear to be teflon washers between the tang and the liners.
The problem turns out to be the liner lock grating against the tang, and you can clearly see the black mark it's left after a negligible amount of use.
I really bought it for the blade. Unfortunately, the tip is already chipped and there's a tiny notch in the blade. Given that it's only cut a few sheets of paper and the action is far too stiff for flipping or playing, this is pretty impressive fragility. I've no idea what caused the chip, but this photo clearly shows where the tip hits the screw moulding on the inside of the scales. Looking closer, this is because there's far too much play in the pivot, and so the blade can move even when it's in contact with the stop pin.
In terms of cutting power it's nowhere near as sharp as the TK3 was out of the box, and is about on a par with the Kershaw which hasn't been sharpened in a twelve month despite occassional EDC use. It will just about slice freely held paper if you get the angle right, but leaves a very rough cut. It feels like it was ground on an 80-grit wheel.
Given the fragility of the blade and its lack of cutting power, I'd have to class it along with hernias-for-weightlifters in terms of usefullness and appropriateness for purpose.
nick ]]>
Some pics...
Front of bag:
Rear of bag:
Back pocket:
Inside:
The stuff I might lug around on a daily basis (the empty tub would normally have lunch in, and I'm not sure why I carry a klippit with me, but it's been in my bag for a couple of years now...)
No, that's not an empty envelope, it contains one of these:
Everything in the bag (it is more organised than it looks, honest!):
And it still closes!
I have been using a Maxpedition Pygmy Falcon II for my commute, but I've been finding a rucksack is not the best bag on a crowded tube train. So I switched to a small Billingham Hadley, which is great except it doesn't have enough pockets, and is a little on the small side. Hence this one.
The bag looks well made and has some padding. The fabric doesn't feel like the weatherproofing will rub off on clothes. The water bottle pouch on the inside takes my small water bottle (750ml), but I don't think it would take a 1l nalgene bottle. It does take everything I usually carry. The organiser pocket on the front is very basic - two small pouches, one slightly wider than a normal pen. The poppers are easy enough to open. The canvas strap is as comfortable as can be expected.
It got it's first outing today, including about quarter of an hour in fairly heavy rain, which it shrugged off quite nicely. ]]>
I have a Spyderco sharpmaker which I use to sharpen all my knives. They are all spyderco and therefor I run them through the usual coarse and fine stones, after which I strop on leather with T-cut. I can get the knives sharp, about at the point where it can cut paper easy but not in one direct clean swipe. I was thinking it would help to strop after the sharpmaker on some fine & very fine sandpaper but my question is, is the fine stones of the sharpmaker more fine than the sandpaper and therefor would I be going backwards if I were to strop on these after fininishing with the sharpmaker? I can get the edge rather polished on the strop but not highly reflective. I think I am about 80% of the way to getting a hairpopping edge. I am currently using and working on my Tenacious & UKPK.
Thanks
Kit ]]>
Had a few requests for pics / video of the machine itself, hence this thread...
I'll do a fulsome review with photos shortly, but for now, here's videos of setup and sharpening.
PART 1 - SETUP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCSOyhsNDKc ]]>
http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/olight...stmas-set.html
Thought it seemed good value, so took the plunge and bought one.
Set contains an Olight M20 (R2) and a Titanium ITP Eos A3.
The set comes in a hard plastic case with foam padding inside with cutouts shaped to take the 2 lights and the holster and instruction manuals etc.
A few pics :-
The set comes with a semi rigid holster, 4 spare O rings, a spare GITD rubber tail boot, a knurled section to replace the grip ring, a 2x CR123 battery magazine and what looks like a good quality lanyard for the M20. It also has 2 spare O rings for the wee Eos.
I did happen to notice that this version of the Eos did not have the pocket clip attached like the SS and black versions that are available so emailed Antony to see if this was an error. He quickly checked his current stock and told me that they were all like that. He subsequently emailed Olight who told him this had been done as they thought that the pocket clip may mark the Titanium finish but would send Antony some if he had customers who wanted one (I do).
Will not dwell too long on the Eos as there is other reviews of this light already on the forum but will say that the Titanium one seems a bit lighter than the other 2 versions and that it is a very well put together small light.
So will get on with the M20 Warrior.
I have always liked lights this size. They are usually a good size for carrying, flexible in that you can use a variety of different battery sizes (this will run on 1x 18650, 1x 17670 or 2x cr123 or 2x rcr123) and the output from them is usually excellent. This light is no exception.
On inspecting this light found that all threads were well lubricated, anodising was excellent and that fit and finish was also good quality.
The light has an OP reflector which produces a decent amount of spill but also excellent throw.
Changing the power is very simple (3 levels plus strobe), just a twist back and forward of the lights head takes you to the next level. It also has the added benefit of remembering the last setting you were on so no need to go through them again to get to the one you were at.
I took this light with me to work last week (night-shift) and was very happy with its performance.
The claimed runtime is around 4hours on max but by my calculations I have exceeded this by almost 1hour (I was using it in 15min blasts on max). I have not needed to recharge/replace the 18650 battery yet. I do realise that this was not a flat out test but I am very impressed none the less. (Will cover the battery a bit further down).
The holster that comes with this light is quite unusal in that it has a hole in the bottom of it and in the flap over cover which allows you to operate the light while still located in it. It also has 2 flexible pouches (1 on each side) for carrying a couple of spare batteries.
The SS bezel is removable and I am sure you can screw on different diffusers but can't seem to find a link to support this theory at the moment.
The battery I was using was one of the 3000mAh Red Ultrafires which are new to me.
I am a big fan of the AW's and never saw any need to use anything else but I saw a thread on CPF that said these batteries were excellent. So given the fact that they were around half the price of the AW's and available in the UK I gave them a go. I am very impressed with them so far. (I will reserve full judgement once I have used them for several months as I will need to test their long term reliability).
Overall I can't think of any faults with either of these lights and given that fact it is only around £5 more expensive than buying an M20 on its own I would say it was excellent value for money(even more so given the BB discount that Antony allows us).
I believe stock levels of this set are pretty limited so if this does it for you I wouldn't hang around as I doubt they will last long. ]]>
A few months ago I needed a new bag. My problem was that I was continually changing bigger bags (mixing between motorcycle bags (e.g. backpack, tank bag, tail pack, topbox), hand luggage for travel and man bag type work bags) and I was continually forgetting to take something or it was just taking too long to move things in between bags. The biggest problem would come when I was going to take the tube in rather than bike in so I needed something I could just move between bags.
It had to have multiple pockets to help with organisation, not a one-pocket-bag.
It had to be discreet and not scream TACTICAL!.
It had to be small enough to move between other bags and still leave me room to pack stuff
I was actually planning on buying a MaxP Neatfreak initially but the price was stalling me. Dave pointed me to the Spec Ops Pack Rat in his thread (http://www.britishblades.com/forums/...ad.php?t=78062) as an alternative to the Neatfreak
The Neatfreak and the Pack Rat are both organiser bags, however they are slightly different. The Pack Rat (I’m going to shorten this to PR to make it easier) is smaller and is more of a drop in organiser, i.e. you drop it in another bag. The Neatfreak is slightly deeper (and marginally bigger in other dimensions) and comes with a strap to be used as a shoulder bag; it has very similar functionality
I bought a Spec Ops Pack Rat a few months ago and have used it daily ever since. Its made life so much easier I can’t believe I survived before, though to be fair my edc has probably grown as a result! At the moment I stick it in the topbox on my bike so it tends to be my only bag.
This is what the PR looks like when its full of my stuff, as you can see its pretty discreet given that its just plain black nylon
There is a Velcro mesh pocket on the front and another pocket (non Velcro or mesh) pocket on the back. I don’t really use them apart from sticking something in temporarily like a letter or bit of paper. The main part is clearly the zip that opens the organiser up. This is what it looks like when you open that zip
I tend to leave my Blackberry, iPhone and wallet on top. I have a security pass in my wallet, I can ‘touch in’ by holding the pack up to the security card reader at work without having to remove it. Blackberry and iPhone are used a lot so they’re there for easy access, I tend to take them out first when I get to work and when I get home.
As you can see the interior is bright yellow. Here’s a pic with those three items removed to get a full idea of what it looks like normally. It gives you a good idea of the arrangement of the pockets. The yellow actually does make it easier to find things in pockets, I thought it was a gimmick at first but amazingly it works.
The other thing saw of you may have noticed from the last two photos is that it is self standing. They have designed the zip very cleverly, it does not zip round the 3 sides fully, in fact its about an inch short on either side. This lets the organiser flap open but stay together (if that makes sense), rather like a oyster shell rather as oppose to a book. It basically stops you opening it and then the whole thing flapping open and all your stuff falling out.
I fit quite a few things in the bag, here is one side with kit loaded in
Here is a load out of all the stuff in that side (top left in a clockwise order)
- Torch (edit - its a Nitecore D10, can't believe it just said torch, sacrilege!)
- Victorinox Swiss Champ
- Leatherman Juice XE6
- Headphones for my blackberry (which also work on the iPhone)
- Business Cards and a little notebook thing I got from a client with post its and page markers in. Its great, even though I’ve never actually used it
- Moleskine Notebook
- Rotring 900 fountain pen. Love this pen
- Black Sharpie
- Green Pilot fineliner, don’t really use this
- Two in one pen, ball point and pencil in one
The other side with kit loaded in
Load out as before
- Chewing Gum
- Inhaler
- 3G USB stick for work
- Encrypted USB memory stick for work
- Colibri jet lighter, have had this for years!
- Hair gel (used when I get to work or client on the bike and need to do my hair!)
- Mini biro, looks posh but it’s a freebie for Virgin Atlantic
- BB cufflinks, in case I forget to put some on or take some with me
- Spare fountain pen cartridge
- Compass (very useful when abroad)
- Cable for blackberry
- Cable for iPhone
- First Aid Kit (plasters, wipes, paracetamol etc) along with ear buds for the bike and an emergency sachet of hair gel. I’m not vain, just have bad hair without any in!
- Mini pack of tissues
- Mini umbrella
There are four things that I’d taken out and forgot to put back in.
Coin Purse. Only recently discovered the joys of carrying change at work (Vending machine!), always took notes and left change at home!
Sunglasses. Use them when its sunny on the bike, Sun is low right now so gets quite annoying without them
Keys. I’ve done a separate thread for my keyring and what I carry
McFeelys Pocket Wrench II
Once all my stuff is loaded up (and the four things above are in) its relatively full but I can still fit useful little things in when I need to. I really rate this bag, it feels like good quality without being overkill. I’m incredibly happy with it. I can’t recommend it highly enough!
Here’s a final pic of the items in the PR (less the four things above)
One last thing - I’ve been doing quite a lot of travel/flying recently and my routine is pretty good now. This bag fits perfectly in the lower outer pocket of my MaxP Condor II, its like its designed to fit! All I do is take out the lighter, LM Juice XE6 and the Vic Swiss Champ and I’m good to go! A word of warning for those going through Africa, they don’t like lighters going onto the plane on your way back (yet you can take them there in the same way happily!). They made me empty that Colibri lighter of gas when I was in Zambia. When I came back from Nigeria the other day I had a bic in my pocket and I had to bin it.
Thanks for looking! ]]>
from Russell's thread here:
http://www.britishblades.com/forums/...ad.php?t=90996
Trevor has been making knives in this mold for ages, affordable pocket knives that can be spruced up with little effort to give you a real treat and for the non knife makers among us, something that can be easily brought up in quality by spending a little time on the finish.
I scraped the swarf off of it and rubbed it down with micromesh on a rubber block so you can easily get into all the areas that the hand might encounter so now it's nice in the hand, about 10- 15 minutes work all told. I like the redwood.
This is a peach of a knife, ridiculous for the price. It is easy to open with a pinch grip to half stop, tough to open the rest of the way with a very firm lock up. The reverse is true closing it of course so the last snap shut is easy to control.
A beauty.
The control of the blade through the opening / closing arc is the real bonus for me, something that had been discussed recently, the desire for a slippy that can be opened readily with a rock solid legal lock up :)
It has been doing EDC duty and cuts very well with no feeling that the open blade presents any danger to the hand.
Stunning :D ]]>
I contacted Mark and Ali at Rugged River after reading the threads about traditional style canvas packs on this forum and others. After some quick and helpful responses from them regarding some modifications I then placed my order. The pack arrived after about a week.
I must state that this is my first pack of this type and that I know nothing about leather working or indeed any of the craft that goes into making a traditional canvas pack like this. I must also say I have no connection to Rugged River or it's owners. I'm just a punter, so to speak.
Initial impressions were very good indeed. The high quality of the materials was evident just by looking at it and, as has been remarked before about packs like this, it smelled wonderful! When I got hold of it to give it 'the once over' the standard of workmanship became apparent- absolutely faultless. Not one stitch out of place not one rivet that looked like it hadn't hit home. No this pack was made by someone who takes a great deal of pride in their work and is meticulous in their attention to detail.
So it looks and feels the part, how did it perform? What's the first thing you do with a new pack? Load it up! Here it is about 75% full.
This is not a small daypack. I had previously estimated that it would hold around 35 litres in volume. I know this isn't very scientific but it 'feels' like it will hold quite a bit more. More than enough for a day hike with dependants (read kids) and easily enough for a camp out overnight in warm weather. However if this puts you off, the cinch straps on the side will reduce the size of the pack considerably.
Incidentally that is a GB wildlife hatchet in the wand pocket. It is too big to fit in the pocket 'head-down' but is very secure carried as you see it there. A GB small forest axe was a bit unstable when carried in the wand pocket like that due to it's extra length but it was fine when carried head down inside the actual pack with the handle poking out the top (Ray Mears Northern Wilderness style).
So it carried enough kit for a day camp with all the family. Here you can see the pack to my left, now half empty. Please excuse my rubbish tarp set up. The kids were crying with hunger and while I'm trying to do their lunch on the stove it only goes and starts to rain. This probably explains my flushed expression here too!
I was a little worried that the leather straps would take some 'breaking in' and that perhaps I would have to go through a little discomfort on my shoulders to achieve this. This was not the case at all. I found that the generous width of the straps made them very comfortable indeed. The one modification that I requested was the addition of a sleeve on the lower back area to take a waist belt. Mark and Ali were not only very happy to do this but they also offered to make a removable canvas and leather belt to fit. This was very nicely done as well. For my purposes at the moment it was probably an unnecessary addition. I have found the back just as comfortable to carry without the waistbelt fastened as it is with it in use. Maybe if I was hillwalking or scrambling then the waistbelt would offer more stability but this was not something I feel I would need for hiking on reasonably level terrain.
Here's a shot of the pack loaded with the lid open. It has good sized flaps at the sides to help prevent the ingress of rain. Whilst we're talking weather I have not yet been out with it in any inclement conditions so cannot testify as to the pack's weather-proofness. It does feel like it has a proofing agent on the canvas and the care leaflet provided advises re-proofing with 'Fab-Sil'. It also advises using Neatsfoot oil on the leather to keep it soft and waterproof, I have some on the way. Back to the open pack, I'll try and recall off the top of my head what I had inside. DD 3x3 tarp, large FAK, quite a bulky homemade hobo stove, billy cans, brew kit, firelighting kit, water bottle, drinks for the kids and food for everyone, kids overcoats, couple of fieldbooks, folding saw and all the small bits of kit that you need when you're setting up a little camp. The map pocket inside the back of the front (if you get my meaning) is very handy indeed for keeping all those small miscellaneous items close to hand and stopping them from working their way down to the bottom of the pack.
Is there anything I would change about it now that I've tried it? Nothing major. The inside of the leather shoulder straps are finished shiny like the outside and I found that as I walked they would slip outwards and would have to be pulled in again ocassionally to be comfortable. I don't know if it's feasible but perhaps if the inside of the straps were unfinished 'rough' leather then this would not be noticable. When I say noticeable, I mean noticeable enough for me to mention in a review so as to appear balanced but not noticeable enough for me to not enjoy using the pack. One other small thing would be to have more holes in the lid straps so that it could be cinched right down when only half full but that is something I can easily remedy myself.
I fully understand that when you opt for traditional gear over modern then you have to be prepared to compromise. You can't just throw your gear in this pack. You have to decide which bits of kit you want against your back as you walk. You have to accept that you will not get in and out of the pack as quickly as you could if it had plastic snap fastenings. But you will have a pack that, in my mind at least, looks and feels like it belongs in the outdoors, made from natural organic materials. A pack that will last and last and no doubt look and feel even better with time.
To sum up for those skipping to this bit, I really like this pack. It looks fantastic, feels fabulous and performs admirably. As to the makers, Rugged River are very nice people to deal with, I could not have asked for better service.
You'll find them here:
http://www.ruggedriver.com/p1.htm
Cheers
Sean ]]>
The knife is very nicely finished indeed, with a tapered tang, very nice sculptured handle and a cracking quality sheath. As this is designed for heavy chopping work i see little point in trying to feather sticks etc. So i went at the 4" dia tree trunk which it dispatched with great ease, after testing a close examination of the edge showed no chipping or flat spots on the edge at all, (heat treat spot on!!) All in all a very nice heavy duty knife which performed very well indeed under conditions for which it was made. I will pass this on to Diamond Dave shortly.
Cheers Paul. ]]>
So what's the general consensus? ]]>