Mora Viking

If you are looking into getting into bushcraft but don’t have a lot of money for an expensive knife, I suggest you give the Mora Viking a Shot.

The blade is made from some form of carbon steel which does mean that it needs a bit of care to stop it rusting. Standard Mora shape with a scandi grind. I believe the knife is half tang which does make it a bit weaker but it does stand up to quite a bit of abuse.

A nice feature on the knife is a rough ruler in centimetre scale with half centimetre marks.

The handle is a cheap plastic affair. Bright red so you don’t lose it. There are ridges moulded into it for grip but in my opinion they are naff. If the handle gets wet I suspect the knife will slip and that could lead to complications. However, a small peice of bicycle inner tube could be stretched around the handle to give much more substantial grip.

The sheath is rather lacking in my opinion. The belt loop is far too small and the plastic seems far too weak to be abused  on a belt. The rest of the sheath is adequate. Standard Mora click fit so it doesn’t come out too easily and has the usual drain hole in the bottom.

The first one was given to me by V. I was pretty impressed with it, especially given the ridiculously low price they are sold for – £2.49 ($3.83) – so I went out and bought 3 more.

A worthy addition to a collection of sharp things.

BCNW-O1 bushcraft knife

A good bushcrafter and survivalist will always depend on one item above all others, the knife. Knives have many useful applications, indeed many tasks are either very difficult or impossible to perform without a knife.

After a small amount of consideration after reading some reviews and watching videos I decided to get Bushcraft Northwest’s BCNW-O1 knife. I am not a knife guru at all (this is my second knife) but I love it to bits.

Mike, the proprietor of the store, is a very cool guy, keeping me updated throughout the transaction and even attempted to get the shipping lower. Excellent customer service, go buy something from him.

I cannot go much further without a criticism of the delivery people. USPS and Parcelforce, you suck. 4 days to cross the atlantic, WTF?! Also, HM Customs, die. Die you thieving bastards. Charging me import duty and VAT, for what? So the government gets to fund things I do not agree with? Again, die. Parcelfarce can also die for their clearance fee.

Vitriol off.

I was surprised at the weight of the knife. Heavier than I thought. Does have a lot of steel though. 3.9mm full tang. Fits in my hand wonderfully. I especially like the thumb scallops, great idea Mike.

I also love the scandi grind that the knife has. Most knifes I have seen have 2 bevels which makes sharpening more difficult in my opinion. The scandi grind makes sharpening very easy, just put the whole bevel on the stone and go.

The leather sheath is also very nice. Seems to be very strong and holds the knife securely. The firesteel holder also holds my firesteel snugly. Neither are likely to come out without direct effort to do so.

I do have a criticism of the sheath though. Due to me being a gear whore, I like the functionallity and appearance of PALS webbing. The sheath does not feature that and I think it would make a great addition, of course being leather, this would be difficult.

Due to the lack of PALS, I put a loop of paracord through the belt loop and suspend the knife on a carabiner.

Aside from that fault, the whole package is very nice. A joy to use. Still need to give it a proper workout and a proper razor sharp edge but soon I will be in the bush having fun.

F5F5F5F5F5F5

Knife is on the way, happy days.

Minor dilemma

Today is payday (woohoo!) and I have already spent most of the cash I have on a Kifaru ParaTARP (not tipi, I fail) with all the bells and whistles. I now have enough left over for one more purchase. The question is what?

The shortlist consists of a pair of Vibram Fivefinger Flows or the Bushcraft North West BCNW-O1 bushcraft knife. Any input?

Get a good knife

This is the reason I carry a knife. To all the folk that say that knives are implements of death, have you ever thought about the good a knife can do? Opening packaging, cutting food, a whole myriad of other things. In this case, a knife could have saved this woman’s life.