Description given on Youtube:
What I look for in a quality bushcraft knife is all in this clip!
If you’re looking for a great knife, this clip will help you demystify a lot of the questions you should be asking before you make your choice. The market is flooded with poor quality gear and your only safeguard is to do your research!
Sorry, this episode is machete free! This channel has many more machete bushcraft related clips if you’re interested or you can find a lot more information at:
http://northarmmacheteco.com.au/
If you’re new to the bushcraft world and want something much more robust than a Mora (Mora’s are great bushcraft knives!), The Mefflin Knives Woodlore is a knife I would recommend.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m really impressed with this knife. I gave this tool a good run in over a few weeks and I can already see, this knife is a keeper!
First up, This is a link to Mefflin Knives Facebook page:
How did I test the woodlore? That’s easy to answer as I live on a farm, I got to run it through the paces of everyday life first, and then I did some bushcraft style work to test the edge retention. Some of the tent pegs I used in the previous clip were carved with it. A few ‘Mors Try sticks’ were carved as well as some light – medium battening. Everything held up nicely with the factory edge and that was with no sharpening or stropping.
I did state in the clip that I know the maker from a distance however, I did not hold back in the review. This is an honest appraisal from a customer’s perspective.
For the scandi fans.
Now to everyone that was upset that I said I was not a fan of maintaining scandi edges, I think I came across a bit harsh in the clip. I don’t script or rehearse these YouTube videos. I have a small board under the camera with a few major points and I just expand on them…It’s a bit organic (‘artists’ often use the word ‘organic’ when they really mean amateur-ish!) but I feel at the very least it becomes its own truth filter.
I don’t dislike scandi as much as it came across in the clip. I find scandi has some very minor benefits in some situations but I find it does not outweigh the extra care needed to maintain them. I find the other edges much easier and faster to maintain with less equipment.
Now for more ‘full disclosure’, I’m in the minority on this. Scandi is the most popular edge style among bushcraft users. It does perform marginally better as a crafting edge and the flat and wide bevels give free hand sharpeners a built in guide to follow.
People often state that with a scandi grind, you need to remove more steel than other edge styles while sharpening and for the most part, I don’t feel this is the case. With a convex edge you still remove material over the whole bevel. Micro bevel sharpening is great, but eventually you will want to reset the bevels as the edge angle will be getting larger or wider with every sharpen. This excludes Hollow grind but that is not commonly found on bushcraft knives anymore.
My problem that I have with scandi is that the whole sharpening process must be performed from start to finish with minimal error using pretty flat sharpening equipment. This is very doable with some practice but even after a lot of sharpening experience, I have to slow everything down to get it done right.
Convex or slightly convex like the fallkniven F1 I find much quicker and easier to maintain. I also find the sharpening gear can be much smaller and not as flat. I always start high on the bevel removing material on each stroke. I increase the angle until I’m working the edge and that’s when I slow down for a moment. The rest of the process is fast. Convex is easily set up for slack belt stropping where you can use more pressure than with zero grind scandi.
Stropping with a compound is far cheaper and less fragile than packing the equivalent stone in with your sharpening equipment.
The advantages of scandi in crafting are founded. You can hold a pretty straight line in the long cuts and it has a slightly better feel of control in the little crafting cuts. Having said that, I can’t say I have ever needed a feather stick to light a fire here in OZ and the feel of control, you just get used to the tools you have.
I can do all the same cuts with a convex except pretty looking feather sticks (mine look messy!). With practice I’m sure I can improve the look and function of them, but I doubt I will get a chance. Fallen gumtree branches are everywhere in OZ. Even the wet ones can get a fire going.
My sharpening mods on this knife will be nothing fancy or new. I will just gradually adjust it with each sharpen to be similar to the original Scandinavian style knives, just a very slight convex.
Hope this did not anger the sharpening nazi’s too much.