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Recently, I was very fortunate to be asked to test a couple of bushcraft knives made by knife maker Paul Fenech.
Paul is a hobbyist maker, although it must be said that when talking to Paul It doesn’t take long to realise that knife making isn’t just a hobby or a career to him, it’s an all consuming passion. He freely admits that he lives, eats and even sleeps knives.
The two models which Paul sent me for testing were his Talisman and Guardian models.
Above: The Talisman on the left and the Guardian on the right.
The Talisman was decked out with gorgeous stag antler handle scales and the Guardian sported a beautifully figured set of masur curly birch scales, topped off with a 3mm brass plate on the pommel. Both knives had the SAE52100 Bearing Steel blade option. The grinds were symmetrical on both knives and unlike many Scandinavian style knives the grinds were ground perfectly flat instead of the usual slightly convex or concave grind. Fit and finish on both knives was excellent.
Below are a few measurements and statistics for each of the models.
MODEL Talisman
BLADE Damascus- 125 layers of ‘Tight Twist Damascus steel composed of 1084 high carbon steel and 15n20 with 2% nickel. This blade is hardened to Rockwell test 57-58 which together with the steel composition makes for a superior tough and very sharp edged blade. Blade is 110mm long, 26mm wide and 4mm thick. Overall length of knife is 220mm.
Or
Bearing Steel- the blade is made of SAE52100 Bearing Steel. This blade is hardened to Rockwell test 58-59.Blade is 110mm long, 26mm wide and 4mm thick. Overall length of knife is 220mm.
MODEL Guardian
BLADE Damascus- 125 layers of ‘Tight Twist Damascus steel composed of 1084 high carbon steel and 15n20 with 2% nickel. This blade is hardened to Rockwell test 57-58 which together with the steel composition makes for a superior tough and very sharp edged blade. Blade is 110mm long, 28mm wide and 4mm thick. Overall length of knife is 225mm.
Or
Bearing Steel- the blade is made of SAE52100 Bearing Steel. This blade is hardened to Rockwell test 58-59.Blade is 110mm long, 28mm wide and 4mm thick. Overall length of knife is 225mm
HANDLES for both Talisman & Guardian- Paul's preferred handle shape is the ‘Coke Bottle’ type. If required Paul can alter the handle shape to suit individual taste.The handle materials can be any of the materials Paul has listed on his website www.customknivesandsticks.co.ukThe handle is oil finished with CCL traditional English oils for a satin finish. A glossy oil and wax finish is available if required but, this is not as durable as the traditional oil finish.Handle length is 110mm on the Talisman and 115mm on the Guardian model.
SHEATHS You can choose from four styles of sheath, a standard British style with a fixed belt loop, a hybrid Brit/Scandi version or two Scandinavian style sheaths. The British and Brit/Scandi sheaths can be provided with a fire steel loop. One of the Scandinavian style sheaths comes with a fire steel loop already integrated but, the other is not suitable for fitting a fire steel loop.The sheath is made from quality veg tanned 3.5mm leather, double stitched with heavy duty strong thread. The sheath is oil and wax finished to a soft sheen.With the Brit and Brit/Scandi sheaths a leg tie lanyard hole and a suitable lanyard of leather thonging is available on request.The sheaths can be finished in brown, black or in an antique effect. Whatever the finish it is fully treated with a neatsfoot oil and carnuba wax mix and buffed up. The aim is to compliment the knife with the sheath perfectly.
Each knife was supplied with a well fitting leather sheath made of 3.5mm vegetable tanned leather. One of Scandinavian design and the other a British/Scandinavian variation which incorporated a clever belt loop and dangler system. It also had an intergral firesteel loop attached.
Above: The Guardian with a Brit/Scand stylei sheath.
Above: The Talisman with Scandinvavian style sheath.
The main thing which struck me when discussing the knives with Paul was the huge choice of options which were available to you. Not only could you choose what handle material you would like from a huge range of natural materials including horn, antler, an amazing selection of hardwoods and even some manmade materials. But I was also given the option of what handle profile I would like, coke bottle, round or oval. Paul also asked me if I were left or right handed, what style of sheath I would prefer and which side of my body I preferred to carry my knife on.
Once all the decisions were made and the answers given. Paul proceeded to make the knives for me.
The knives arrived a few weeks later well wrapped and packaged and most pleasing to me, they were extremely sharp. It’s not often that I receive a knife from a maker and it is as sharp as I would like it to be. Usually I have to spend a little time on the stones and strop to bring the edge up to a satisfactory sharpness. Not so with these knives. They were good to go. So off to the woods for some testing.
The first job was to cut some tent pegs to fix the four corners of my tarp into position. Both knives pointed the tips and then bevelled the back end of the pegs with no problems at all. It’s worth mentioning at this point how comfortable the handles on both knives were. They really fitted my hand perfectly which is a testament to Paul’s initial questions and his skill in interpreting the answers
The Guardian being used to put a point on a tent peg.
Once my tarp and hammock was set up the next job was to gather and prepare some fire wood ready for the evening hours. I used the knives to split some smallish logs into quarters. They were about three to three and half inches in diameter. I placed the blades of the knives on top of the ends of the logs and then used another log to beat the blade down through the log, splitting it along the length of it’s grain. (This technique is called battoning). I have to admit that I don’t usually use this technique as I generally carry an axe for the specific job of splitting fire wood. Both knives handled the job marvellously and it served to prove to me that the knives could cope with this sort of treatment if needs must.
The Talisman splitting firewood by being battoned.
Once the logs had been split down into eigths I then used the knives to turn a few into feather sticks. The knives shaved long thin curls from the wood. It was easy to control the knives, this was partly due to their sharpness and partially due to their ergonomics..
The fire was soon going and I quickly made a pot hanger out of green hazel to support my billy can. I really enjoyed using the knves to carve the hazel. Push cutting with them was a pure joy.
I then set about preparing an evening meal. To be honest the knives were not used much in this task as the weather was extreme I fell back on boil in the bag rations. And so the knives were only used for opening packaging. It was not the sort of night to be preparing an intricate meal over the camp fire with raw ingredients.
My next few tests for the knives took place in my kitchen. I used them to prepare a few meals. Chores that I used them for included peeling potatoes, sliceing tomatoes, carrots and onions. Chopping celery, peppers and mushrooms and preparing a pheasant. The knives performed very well indeed but, as their blades are 4mm thick they weren’t quite as easy to use as a dedicated kitchen knife. At the end of the day though it has to be remembered that these are knives made to be used in an outdoor environment where they may be the only cutting tool you have access to. Therefore a compromise has to be made. A thicker, stronger knife can perform all the tasks such as wood carving, fire wood preparation etc. as well as the finer job of food preparation. On the other hand most kitchen knives would excel at the food preparation but would fail miserably at the other camp chores.
I think it’s worthwhile pointing out some of the observations I made about these bearing steel blades while testing them. Throughout the entire period of testing I found that it was not necessary to resharpen the blades, they were merely stropped a couple of times to bring their edges back to tip top condition. Also, considering that bearing steel is not stainless and the extremely wet weather I used them in. The blades showed almost no signs of staining and no rust at all. Even though at least one night I was out the knives spent the hours after dark hanging from a line under my tarp in very damp sheaths.
On returning from my trip to the woods, I washed both knives in a hot bowl of soapy water, dried them and then applied a coating of olive oil until I was ready to use them again. On occasion I have cleaned knives like this before, only to find that the hot water has raised grain in the handle slabs due to the slabs not being sealed or stabilized correctly. The masur birch on the Guardian did not move at all. However a tiny bit of grain was raised at the back of one of the slabs on the Talisman. I brought this to Pauls attention and he asked me to return the knife and he would see what he could do to solve the problem. Since receiving the knife back Paul has contacted me via email and explained that this has happened due to a few pores opening where a little piece of ‘primary core’ was exposed when the handle slabs were shaped. Paul has suggested several options of how to solve this problem and has asked me which one I would like him to take to resolve the problem He has even gone so far as to suggest removing the slabs and replacing them completely. I find this sort of no quibble ‘guarantee’ refreshing in this day and age. It goes a long, long way in encouraging me to support a maker.
Talking of guarantees. With every knife that Paul makes, he supplies a no quibble guarantee. He only ‘asks’ that people who purchase a knife from him show it the respect it deserves and use but don’t abuse them. Even so Paul still promises to put anything right if, anything should fail on one of his knives. That certainly proves to me that Paul has a huge belief in his own workmanship. I personally think that a no quibble guarantee such as this adds huge confidence to any purchase a buyer may make from a knifemaker such as Paul.
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Don't try to understand 'em, just rope, roll and brand 'em...
Originally Posted by ScanDgrind
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