Got some birthday money recently and I fancy getting a knife for general camping/bushcraft type stuff and just cos I like nice tools/knives/axes etc. Nothing too specific in mind but not too massive.

This looks pretty but I have no idea if it’s any good or not:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/248362137/finnish-knife-puukko-forged-knife-from?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=viking%20knife&ref=sr_gallery_7

Anyone recommend owt? Happy to stretch the budget a little if needed. What’s the STW-approved knife of choice? 🙂 Ta.

One of these:

Many finishes, colours etc available. Made to order, so no good if you’re in a hurry.

They look nice! And at only double the OP’s budget they’re the perfect STW choice for the OP 🙂

Not fancy building one then? You can either make one from scrap (such as an old file or section of leaf spring), or buy the blank and make the handles.

I’m currently making one from an old file.

I think Daftvader of this very parish makes some luvly looking knives .

Possibly fancy building one but I have numerous other craft-type ‘jobs’ that need finishing first so probably not at the mo. Thanks 5th Elefant but I’m more looking for hippie hipster/lumbersexual than ‘American Psycho’. 😉

Will look up Daftvader, cheers.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/one-for-the-knife-people-new-project-time
Here you go

Recently picked up my first Opinel, a carbon No 8.

It’s a lovely thing, I can see me getting a stainless one too.

Very simple, bloody sharp.
Not sure how safe the locking collar is, but seems OK so far.

I’d be a bit wary of that pukko, it’s shown as a ‘reproduction Viking knife’, and as such, I would wonder about the quality of the steel. I would whole-heartedly recommend an Enzo scandi knife, good steel, decent practical size, and easily in your budget: http://www.moonrakerknives.co.uk/enzo.html
I’ve just been offered a lovely little one-off pukko by a Finnish hobbyist knife maker, but as it was part of a now abandoned project to make a dual knife set-up, and doesn’t have a sheath, at around £95, it was just a bit too expensive; a good sheath could easily cost another forty-fifty quid, and I just don’t have the skill to make a proper wood-lined pukko sheath.
Looked after, and kept sharp with a strop, an Enjo will last decades.

I have a (non lumbersexual) Gerber folder I picked up from a PX in africa in 1998 for very little. It’s shrugged off some pretty hefty abuse and shows no signs of giving up. The hunter drop on here looks ok;
http://www.moonrakerknives.co.uk/gerber.html

Rusty, treat the Opinel with respect, I cut right down the side of my thumb, by the side of the nail, with mine, that’s nearly 2cm. I was on holiday slicing some bits of wood to get my little camping stove going, and the knife slipped, only had superglue and tissue to hold it together! Amazingly it’s actually healed, but it was a salutary lesson in being careful with a very sharp tool!
Mine’s the Carbone No.6, a nice handy little knife, and cheap enough to not be upset if it goes missing.
One thing I did with mine was patinate the blade, using apple cider vinegar, heated in the microwave and the blade soaked for around thirty minutes, excess wiped off and then another session.
It gives the blade an overall dark grey finish, and helps prevent oxidisation. Some months on, it’s worn, but still grey, and it helps prevent too much staining of the steel; hacking off blackberry tendrils overhanging footpaths will really stain carbon steel, patinating it helps reduce it.

For a rather similar type of small knife I would go for this one which is cheap as chips but very strong – Hultafors Heavy Duty Knife.

You can buy one of this with spare cash to buy other things.

From Heinnie Haynes

Some basic comparison here.

😀

Those Hultafors knives are not unlike Mora knives, but they’re that cheap for a reason; plastic handle, plastic sheath, thin blade…
Fine for keeping in the shed, but not a knife that’s going to last, whereas the Enzo Necker 70, which is £38, is almost indestructible, thick blade with a good grind, Micarta handle, stitched leather sheath, that price is almost giving it away!

Cheers CZ, good advice as always.
Not had a carbon blade since the Scouts.
🙂

Does anyone have a link to the previous knife thread? Month or so ago?

Someone posted a link to a cracking little plastic handled general purpose knife, about £28.
Can’t find it at the mo.

CountZero – Member

Those Hultafors knives are not unlike Mora knives, but they’re that cheap for a reason; plastic handle, plastic sheath, thin blade…
Fine for keeping in the shed, but not a knife that’s going to last, whereas the Enzo Necker 70, which is £38, is almost indestructible, thick blade with a good grind, Micarta handle, stitched leather sheath, that price is almost giving it away!

Buy both!

You still have money to spare!

Hultafors as mess around knife or backup while Enzo Necker 70 a proper survival knife.

Thanks everyone. That Enzo does look great for the money.

Though I’m getting tempted to buy a blank and make a handle for it now, hmmm……

I use Mora’s of various models at work and home. Yes they are plastic, but they are sharp (and most hold an edge well) and rigid enough.
Personally, other than aesthetics, I struggle to see why you would pay more…

My Kiwi father in law who is a proper outdoorsman bought me a Buck lock knife as a present. It seems okay so I think he likes me!

This looks like a good cheap option.

http://www.woodland-ways.co.uk/buy-online-mora-companion-knife-860mg–80.html

matt – it is about aesthetics. I might buy that Mora as a functional knife but I do like nice looking axes/knives etc just as a thing to collect/appreciate as well as use.

To fit in with my hipster/lumbersexual brief I am currently thinking of buying one of these and making a handle for it:

http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/cutting-tools/knife-making-accessories/knife-blades/helle-viking-blade.htm

Fair do’s.

In which case, a nice hand made wood handle please, oiled not varnished…

One of ours in use:

Hey Grum, I have one of these sat in a drawer at home, which you can have for £25 if you like ?

Never really used it, and I have an Opinel No 8 which is good enough for what I need.

Let me know.

EDIT : Same as the 2nd one down with the Olive wood handle

Hello!!! just come across this… i will soon be up and running as a business, just waiting for my kiln to be finished so i can get a consistent and accurate heat treat… just got my grinder and am now putting some serious hours in. just designed this little all purpose field and fish knife [/url]DSC_0631 by daftvader77, on Flickr[/img] which im quite fond of…

that said thge cudeman from trail of destruction would be a great general purpose blade and as CZ said the Enzo blades are really really good (i have cut myself more than once on their factory grind its that good). its quite a lot of fun handling a knife yourself , pretty much how i got started! feel free to drop me a pm if you are interested, i can send you pics of what i do…

Dammit! … Now I feel like buying some … 😕

Don’t panic chewy…. I’ll let you know when the first production run is done!!! I’ve also got a couple of really nice woods to play with on the handles too

Only one choice here, Walther PP

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/walther-pp-commemorative-hunting-knife?a=1143775

How about a multi tool?

http://mobile.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Gerber%2022%2001471%20013658014718%20Suspension%20Multi%20Tool%20Box?gclid=CjwKEAjwwbyxBRCS74T049iEp0wSJACkO5v15vTPJBTlx8O2HF2ZJcgzRSKc2dQf9AHGz7v9186zqRoCDArw_wcB

Great little tools.

Thanks trailofdestruction – could well be interested in that, still weighing up options at the mo.

Daftvader – those look really cool but I have a bit of a viking fixation so I quite fancy this:

I can’t quite work out how you would attach the handle without rivets though. It says in the blurb ‘The tang of the blade is peened over a diamond shaped washer.’ Anyone know exactly what that means and is it a stupid idea for me to take this on? I have a shed/workshop with a vice but not much in the way of tools. Is it realistic for me to try and make something like this handle myself? 🙂

go for it, its really satisfying making something like this and you dont need a workshop full of tools, some files, drills, a hammer and sandpaper, is pretty mch all you need.. and time!. this should help…

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9phlDH4h-eU[/video]

edit… i can send you some antler, pale wood block and contrasting slices and squares of leather (dyed and un dyed) if you want to go this route for just the cost of postage

Hey, no worries Grum. As I said, it’s just sitting at the bottom of a draw, so it’s not going anywhere. Just down the road from you btw, and I pass Lancaster fairly often.

Amazing daftvader thanks very much. I will watch that video in a bit once the missus has gone to bed and will probably be in touch very soon. 🙂

I found this also – doesn’t look too crazily difficult. I think that’s the correct method (minus making the blade)?

http://fwknives.com/full_hidden_tang.html

trailofdestruction – cheers, I’m not in Lancaster any more, I live in Hebden Bridge now – do you ever pass this way? My folks are still round Kirkby Lonsdale though and I’m in Lancaster from time to time. I reckon I will take it actually, but I’m gonna have a stab (ba-doom-tish) at making a handle for that viking blade too.

No worries, I’ve got loads of offcuts that won’t get used easily on my knives. That link is OK as far as it goes, I wouldn’t recommend burning the tang in as if done wrong can de temper the blade and bugger it up. But the peening is the same as that as it is done cold.

Grum, a stick tang is easy to fit to a handle, you just drill a hole big enough for the tang to fit down and fill with epoxy glue. I made this one, using a Nic Westermann blade, sat out on the patio using very basic tools, mostly just files.
The wood is stabilised spalted beech with a brass bolster and fibre liner.

To do a riveted handle on a full tang, you do really need a pillar drill, otherwise the holes are very likely going to be out of true. Of course, you could just do away with rivets, just epoxy the scales to the tang and shape when set.

Hey Grum. Nuts, I’m not really coming over that way anytime soon.

Hey daftvader, or anyone else, do you have any useful info or tips about posting knives ? Any do’s or don’ts ?

I’m not sure if there are guidelines for posting knives in the mail these days ?

Cheers

Wrap it up in paper and card, then tape it up completely , then wrap it in bubble wrap and tape it up completely then box or tube and tape that very securely that should then be OK….from the post office website

Sharp objects like knives, kitchen utensils and gardening tools may only be posted if they are packaged appropriately so that they are no risk to employees, other postal items or recipients.
Wrap heavy cardboard around sharp edges and points, strong enough to ensure that the contents do not pierce the outer packaging. Wrap each item with cushioning material. Place in a suitable outer container such as a padded envelope. The sender’s name and return address must be clearly visible on the outer packaging.

What’s Micarta?

I use Mora’s of various models at work and home. Yes they are plastic, but they are sharp (and most hold an edge well) and rigid enough.
Personally, other than aesthetics, I struggle to see why you would pay more…

This ^ And I struggle with the ‘hunting knife’ description. What are you doing with these knives? Clenching them between your teeth and acting out your fantasies on national trust land while families wander by on their way to the tea shop?
Most of these knives look useless for dropping the guts out of a deer and starting to skin it, my dad uses a Mora for that and has an opinel for the string/chord/baler twine jobs.
Anyone who owns a Bowie type knife is a bedwetter (apologies if you actually were in special forces and I take that back)

Micarta is a composite material made up of any fabric/fibrous material held together with either epoxy or a thermosetting resin…
Mrsmith any knife can be used for that or chopping spuds just depends on what you are comfortable using….

Cheers CountZero. I think a fancy a go at making a ‘kebab’ style thing like old fatty Mears does on that video.
Daftvader I will send you an email in a bit if the offer of those bits is still open, that’s great.

MrSmith – great contribution as ever, thanks. 😉

No worries just send me a pm and the length of the tang and I’ll put some bits together for you, I’ve got some nice bits hanging around so will sort some nice contrasting woods and bits. If you have a metal wholesale place near you you may be able to get some brass/bronze/copper offcuts to give it a bit of sparkle…