More Knives and Throwing Some of Them

If you've read a few posts, you know I'm a bit of a knife freak.  Seriously, I need to start making my own knives, I spend way too much money looking for the perfect ones.

Here's a few of my newest purchases, all pretty nice and none of them were over $35:

Left to Right: BladesUSA Throwing Set, Kershaw, Buck ErgoHunter and another Buck

The BladesUSA throwing set I picked up on Amazon for about eight bucks.  I just wanted something to play around with without blowing too much money.  They are about perfect for a starter throwing knife, cheap, and they seem to throw halfway decently.  Downsides?  They are a little light, which is good and bad.  They don't penetrate very well so you have to have a decent throw for them to stick in the target.  As you can guess, the sheath they come with is very cheap but seems to hold all three knives pretty well.  They probably won't last long, but for eight bucks, I'm not complaining.

The two Buck knives here really impressed me with the feel of their grip.  Both were thick, heavy duty rubber.  They feel great in the hand and definitely won't slip, even when wet.  This first one, the ErgoHunter is designed for right handed use.  In the right hand it is amazingly comfortable.  I guess that means if you're left handed it won't feel right.  There is also a weird patch of "rough" metal near the base of the blade.  I'm not sure if that's for fire starting or what, but it looks odd.  Doesn't seem to affect functionality though.  The blade is an interesting shape and would probably work well as a skinning knife or for general camp use.

I couldn't find the name of this model on the Buck website.  I got it at Cabela's and it's probably my all time favorite general purpose knife.  Great blade thickness, it has the same material as the ErgoHunter for the handle but is a much more ambidextrous grip.  This is also the knife that was borrowed from me during the Hog hunt to knife one of the hogs.  Not to get into too much detail but lets say it was extremely effective.  This is my go-to knife for camping and anything outdoors.  Not too shabby for $20.  If anyone knows which one this is, let me know, I'd love to order another couple of these guys.

Like the previous Buck knife, I couldn't find this Kershaw model on their website.  This is a really nice little knife, the kind of thing that would have been perfect for Boyscout camp when my hands were a little smaller.  Now, I generally prefer something with a more sizable handle for easier use.  Nice steel, good thickness, definitely a quality knife, just wish it had a different handle.  It also came with a nice, if not fancy, leather sheath, which is a definite plus in my book.  More on this knife later.

As usual, I'm very critical of knife sheaths.  Most manufacturers tend to skimp when it comes to how the knife is carried.  However, I'm pleased to say that both Bucks and the Kershaw came with very durable, practical, if not particularly pretty sheaths.  All hold the knives securely, will fit comfortably on a belt, and yet easily release the knife when needed.  The Buck sheaths are some kind of thick canvas fabric with formed plastic sleeves for the actual blade inside.  My only complaint would be that sometimes the blades rattle against the plastic when moving around.  The Kershaw, as mentioned earlier, has an effective, all leather sheath.

Now for the fun part.

I recently purchased the Gil Hibbens book on knife throwing (also from Amazon, purchased at the same time as the BladesUSA throwing set).  Well, it's more of a pamphlet than a book, but it had a couple interesting passages and a few good tips.  I would consider it a pretty basic introduction to the concepts of knife throwing, if you already know the basics than I would recommend getting something a little more indepth.  I had purchased the above BladesUSA throwing knives so that I wouldn't ding up any of my nicer knives learning to throw them around.

One of the things in the pamphlet that caught my eye was when the author mentioned that lots of knives can be used for throwing.  I had always thought that a knife needed to have some special balance or something, but I guess it doesn't need to be that specific.  He had lots of examples, many of which I never would have considered throwing...  folding knives, fighting knives (Kabar, who woulda thought?), hunting knives, etc.  So, of course, I got out my extensive collection of knives and tried throwing them all.  Bwuuuuhuuuhahahahaaa!!!  I was surprised at how many of them actually worked pretty well.

Yes, that's the Kershaw stuck in the zombie's neck.  I told you I would mention it again.  Obviously, the knives designed for throwing were the easiest, but the Kershaw threw as well or better than the BladesUSA.  Neither Buck did too bad, which surprised me because they have such large handles.  Kind of fun throwing a knife that heavy into a faux Zombie.  Almost makes me feel sorry for him.  Almost.  The Kershaw seriously impressed me though, it might not be my favorite camp knife but it's definitely my favorite throwing knife.

For survival purposes, I'm not entirely sure how practical it is to throw one of your primary tools.  In most situations it would make far more sense to make a throwing stick or something similar.  However, if you ever thought it might be fun to throw around your knives... you're right.  It's a ****ing blast!  You definitely need the zombie target though, it just adds the right ambiance.

Gear Review: Edge of Glory Knife Sharpener

This was an interesting little item I picked up at a local Walgreens.  It was in the "As Seen On TV" section and was interesting enough looking that I decided to pick it up.

This is the "Edge of Glory" knife sharpener $9.  I've been looking for a decent sharpener for a while now, there aren't very many outdoor stores in my area of the island.  I know there are some good sharpeners and I'll probably end up ordering one at some point, or trekking around the island to find a good one, but this was cheap and I figured I'd give it a shot.  

This isn't a ground breaking design, it's pretty similar to a lot of the general "kitchen knife" style sharpeners, two sharpening edges in an overlapping V shape.  It also has a suction cup that can be locked down onto a flat surface.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that this is as good as the commercials say (I haven't seen those commercials but it's safe to assume that they claim it performs miracles, the package said it could sharpen a credit card enough to cut a tomato), but this little sharpener does a pretty decent job. 

I ran five different knives and blade styles through this thing, it doesn't give them a razor's edge, but it does touch up the edge nicely.  Obviously, the blades that had serrations didn't work as well, it only works for the blade portion.  The other blade that was a little more difficult was my Karambit.  

Because it has a concave blade shape, instead of convex, it took a little more maneuvering but it still worked. 

Concave Buck knife, Convex Karambit

This thing sharpened all the different knives I ran through it without fail.  About five minutes with this thing was all it took to run all five knives.  Some, like the Karambit, took a little more wrangling than others, but all were sharper afterwards.  Some of these started out pretty dull, I ran them through the "Edge of Glory" 3 or 4 times and there was a drastic improvement.

Is this cheap sharpener the solution to all your knife woes?  Definitely not.  But for how easy it is to use, how quickly it improves the edge, and how cheap it is, this is not a bad deal.  

Another Knife Thread: Lots of Pictures

 I know, I know... you're all tired of knife threads.  Yeah, right, the knife reviews are probably the only reason anyone shows up here.

Anyway, I decided that I wanted to do a kind of "budget" sheath knife review.  There are plenty of half way decent outdoor, hiking, camping knives that won't break the budget.  Here are a few I found, all under $40.

Gerber's Left to Right:  Profile Fixed $25, Freeman Guide $32, Big Rock Serrated $37

There are plenty of other good, cheap knives that could have easily fit in to this post, but it turned out that the three I could get my hands on were all Gerber knives.  I'm not usually a fan of Gerber, I find that their quality is kind of hit or miss.  I've had $20 Gerber folders that worked great and $40 dollar ones that I hated.  Unlike some brands, you have to really get your hands on the knife before you can get a feeling about the quality.  However, in my short time looking for 'discount' sheath knives, these were the easiest to get a hold of.  

All of these are full tang sheath knives, each would probably work relatively well on a camping trip or bug out.  However, each one of these three has a different style blade, grip, and sheath.  Ultimately you have to try out a few different types to see what you like best, but I'll go over a few things that I look for when buying a knife, especially if it's relatively cheap.

Gerber Profile Fixed $25

This is a pretty cool looking knife for the price.  This knife has a lot of metal, which I consider a good thing.  It's heavy, which is a preference of mine.  A sharp blade with some weight behind it requires less effort to use.  A sharp blade with less weight means you have to push harder to get the same result.  That's the experience I've had.

The handle is a little bit of a negative for me on this knife.  You can see in the photo above, if I keep my fingers together my middle finger hits one of the points on the handle.

If I separate my first finger, look where my pinkie ends up.  For my hand type, this handle is a little awkward to use.  I can make it work but it would throw me off.   The next problem I had was with the sheath.

It's made of what looks like quality material, but this style is like two pieces of plastic sewn together around the edges with fabric on the outside.  It's totally flat.  It holds the knife, it's probably pretty durable, but you have to basically force the blade between the two pieces of plastic sewn together.

The sheath isn't a deal breaker to me.  I mean, how hard is it to replace a sheath?  With this knife I would probably swap it out.

Gerber Freeman Guide $32:

This is a slightly more conventional looking knife.  Right off the bat, look at the difference in how the handle fits my hand.  Definitely more comfortable for hands my size.

Like a glove, as Ace Ventura would say.  I really like the shape of the blade, the fit in my hand.  The only complaint I had with the knife itself was the textured area on the back of the blade.  It's hard to see in the photos, but there are notches in the metal where you would put your thumb if you were carving.  Those notches were annoying, and seemed like they would probably tear up your thumb if you were whittling for a while.

Now, lets look at the sheath.

What the heck is this thing?  It looks like it's built for a knife twice this size, or a machete, or something.

Yeah, it covers almost the entire knife.  It's super easy to slide the blade into the sheath... it's getting it back out that's awkward.  I went with two fingers, tweezers-like, on the big metal piece at the bottom of the handle to pull it up high enough to grab it better.  Not easy.

Again, it isn't a deal breaker, but it's annoying.

Gerber Big Rock Serrated $37:

Again, look at the difference in the layout of the grip.  It felt a lot like the Freeman Guide, but it was thicker and I like that better.  If the handle isn't a hand full than the knife usually feels too small for me.  I like big handles and I will not lie.

Over all it seemed like a nice knife.  The only thing that was a little weird was the knob (my thumb is on it in the above photo), it looks kind of funny and might or might not be comfortable when carving with the knife.  It's hard to tell without using it for a while and I haven't had an excuse to use it yet.

And the sheath?

This sheath is surprisingly good after the complaints I had with the first two.  It has a plastic form for the blade inside the fabric.  The knife slides in, easy as pie, doesn't slide around, and secures nicely.  It's not the prettiest sheath, but I probably wouldn't swap this one out.  The only complaint I had with the sheath is how big the belt loop is, it starts where the blade ends and goes all the way up to the top.  I'm not sure if that would cause problems with the sheath sliding around, or it is just convenient for people who like big belts.  Just something to watch.

Here's the three knives, side by side.  Pretty easy to see the differences in the blades and handles.

The three sheaths, side by side.  

I was amazed at how different they all were.  The first and third look similar, but the first is completely flat and the third has the plastic form inside so it is way thicker, it's easier to get the knife in and out.

Any of these three knives would make a decent choice for the budget camper.  They're all full tang, decently sharp, seemingly well made blades.  They're all under $40 and readily available at a lot of outdoor stores and online.  

I wanted to do this post to show you some of the things to look for when determining basic knife quality.  I wanted to look at the differences between common sheath knives and show how important it is to really handle them, get a feel for them, to see which types work best for you.  Remember, these are camping/outdoor knives, practical knives.  If you want something a little more intimidating, there are other options.

Here are a few of my favorite things...

Here are a few of my FAVO-RITE things...  You have to say it in that sing-song voice, just like the line from the song.  If you don't have a sense of humor, what else is worth the effort?

I'm a bit of a knife guy, I've said that before.  Pretty much anything with a blade I'm fascinated by.  In a way, the knife is the most fundamental and most basic tool ever created.  A good knife can be used to make other tools, shelter, and most importantly, open DVD cases.

That's only half a joke.

The truth is, as cool as a 12" Rambo knife is, the unsung hero of the knife world is the small, folding, pocket knife.  How many times does the Rambo knife get used?  Not very often.  But that little folder that you keep in your back pocket gets used on a daily basis.  These knives can do almost anything that Rambo can but they're at hand and a whole lot more portable.  So, there's something to say about the pocket knives out there.

In no particular order, here are my three favorite pocket knives (other than the CRKT, which was previously posted):

 The Buck Paperstone Vantage, $35.  Who's got a negative thing to say about Buck knives?  They're a classic.  This one is a little over a three inch blade and it comes very sharp.  This one, I took off the belt clip because I didn't really like the way it affected the grip, otherwise it's a great knife.

What I like about this Buck is the blade thickness.  I swear, this blade is twice as thick as most pocket knives.  The blade has a great shape, a great edge, and because of it's thickness it's ready for some heavy duty work.  This is a very handy blade.  I keep it on my coffee table and it gets used frequently.

Second up is the knife I keep in my pocket at work.  This is the Leatherman Crater, $35.  I think the version shown here is discontinued, it has the blackened blade that's half serrated.  There is a current version I found online, but it doesn't have the paint job or the serration.

The reason I love this knife is it has a full size phillips and a full size flat head screwdriver.  Most multi tools have a phillips head, but it's too thin or too small to actually use.  Not a problem with the full sized heads on the Crater, very usable.  It also has a clip/bottle opener (though I don't use that as often at work).  Even with the added tools, the handle is only about a 1/4 inch thicker than a normal pocket knife.  For it's size and weight this is quite the handy little tool.  I love Leatherman multi-tools but they can be bulky and heavy, so I don't usually carry one unless I know I need the extra tools.  For the average person, this Leatherman Crater is a lighter, smaller, more handy option.

Next up is the Kershaw Scallion, $30.  I just picked this one up recently.  I like Kershaw blades but they tend toward the expensive and I didn't have much experience with them.  Many of them also have the "Speed Safe Assisted Opening" system, which is basically a spring system that makes the blade extremely easy to open.

I had a somewhat bad experience with an 'assisted opening' system one time.  A couple years ago, I bought a CRKT My Tighe Spring, an extremely cool looking knife.  I'm pretty sure this knife is Klingon standard issue.

Anyway, because the My Tighe was spring assisted the blade opened extremely easily.  One day it came open in my backpack.  I stuck my hand in my pack and felt something funny.  I kept reaching around in there, wondering what that was.  Well, the knife was so sharp that I cut myself three times before realizing that I was being cut.  After that I kept a rubber band tightly wrapped around the closed knife to keep it closed.  What's the point of having a spring assist if you're too nervous to use it?

That made me very tentative when it came to buying assisted knives.

This Kershaw, though, was a pleasant surprise.

The spring assist works great, the blade is excellent quality and extremely sharp.  And you know what else it has?  A safety lock.

You see that sliding screw on the bottom of the handle?  It's very easy to use and doesn't slow down one-handed operation.  Simply push the screw down with a pinkie, push the knob on the back of the blade, and out it pops.  Slide the screw up and the blade cannot be opened.  Safe, and easy to use.  All in all, it's a very nice little blade.


So, that's three cool blades, all under $40.  All handy, all have their purposes, and they are definitely more practical than their larger, more expensive, Rambo versions.  Enjoy.

Gear Review: MTECH USA EXTREME

A while ago I purchased three different knives on Amazon.  If I'm going to be honest, I might have been slightly intoxicated when I made those purchases.  It wouldn't have been the first, or probably the last time.  I was looking for a good camping knife, but I didn't really stick too that very well.

From left to right:  MTECH USA EXTREME, Cold Steel GI Tanto, Cold Steel Shanghai Shadow.

There were a couple things that I didn't realize, in my slightly intoxicated state, when I ordered these knives.  All are blackened, tacticool looking blades.  All are full tang.  All are made in China.  Outsourcing, what can I say?

I've previously posted about the GI Tanto and Shadow.  Now it's time for the MTECH EXTREME.  And, no, that isn't some sort of over exuberance on my part, the company actually capitalizes the name like that.

Out of the three knives that I got this was my favorite.  It was also the most expensive, at $35 (the other two were around $20).  Like the other two, it's full tang.  The EXTREME fits amazingly comfortably in the hand.  It just fits.  That might not be the case with all hand types, I have fairly small hands, but for me it was a great fit.  Very natural.  This knife practically screams to be handled.

It came with the sharpest blade of the three, which says something to me about the pride this company takes in quality.  That isn't always the case.  It wasn't a razors edge but it was definitely sharp enough to use.

This blade is designed for multiple uses.  The flat section, near the handle, is designed more for chopping.  The upper portion is designed for cutting.  The back, while not really as sharp as I would want a saw, could be used for a saw on soft wood.  With sharpening, it would work on a larger variety of woods.

The other thing that I really liked about this knife is the sheath.  Unlike the two Cold Steel blades, this one came with a canvas sheath (internal is hard plastic to keep the blade from cutting through).  It comes with a pocket for a sharpener, an adjustable leg strap, plenty of extra cord, and a nice belt loop.

The portion of the handle for the middle finger is slightly deeper than usual.  This works well for the hand but it also is designed for securing the knife into the sheath.  In the photos below, you can see how the handle fastener fits into that section of the handle very nicely.

I was pleasantly surprised by this knife.  Not only is it really cool to look at, it actually seems to fit the role of a good survival/wilderness knife very well.

It's a good weight, it's a good size, it fits naturally into the hand.  This knife is now an addition to my Bug Out Bag.

Gear Review: Cold Steel GI Tanto

This is the Cold Steel GI Tanto knife.  It's 12 inches long, plastic sheath, and runs around $30 on Amazon.  This is kind of a neat knife.  When I opened the box I wasn't particularly impressed with how it looked but after handling it for a little while it started to grow on me.

The website says the blade is 7" but they are including the non-sharpened part in that measurement.  The actual blade is 5 1/2 inches.  It's full tang, carbon steel, and surprisingly heavy.  The metal is quite thick and the overall knife weights 1.2 lbs.  How many knives weight over a pound?

When you grab it by the handle this thing almost feels like a machete, very blade heavy.  With how thick the blade is, this knife could do some heavy duty work cutting through brush or wood.

Then, because of the strange looking blade there is some flexibility in how you can hold this knife.

This is a cool feature because, when you choke up your hold then suddenly you're holding it right at the balance point of the knife.  Instead of being blade heavy, it's surprisingly comfortable in the hand.  Held like this you could do more fine knife work, whittling, or close carving, shaping.

For how big it is, this knife is surprisingly versatile.

Gear Review: Cold Steel Shanghai Shadow

Ok, so I'm going to start by acknowledging that this isn't really a practical survival knife.  I know that.  It's double sided blade means that it isn't very practical for shaping wood or skinning game.  All great 'survival' knives are full tang, good hilt, thick grip, and almost always one sided.

The Shanghai Shadow popped up on Amazon's little scrolling panel "Customers who viewed this also viewed these".  It was so cool looking, and fairly inexpensive, that I wanted to check it out.  Along with a couple more 'practical' survival knives I added this one to the shopping cart.

It came in this week and I wanted to give a quick review and later on a little more depth.

This is a very cool looking knife, that's why I picked it up in the first place.  I mean, look at this thing, it just screams "THIS IS... SPARTA!!!"

The knife is weighted extremely well.  The balance point is right at the cross bar, which makes this knife feel incredibly light and fast.  It came with a nice edge, not as sharp as it could be, but a couple minutes with a wet stone and it'd be in great shape.

Ok, now a couple of complaints about it.

There is this huge chunk of unshaped metal between the handle and the blade.  It didn't turn out that great in the photo above, but believe me this is a huge eye sore.  I'm not sure why they didn't shape it down to the cross bar (which is also much thicker than it probably needs to be).

Second, the sheath holds the knife securely but looks cheap.  It's just one big chunk of plastic.

Third, from the photos on Amazon I thought this was some kind of Karambit style knife.  That is, that the loop was for a finger, to help keep the blade secure in the hand.  However, this is not the case as far as I can tell.  With how long the handle is, there's no way to put a finger or thumb through without having an awkward grip.  See the two photos below.

The next photo is a comparison between the Shanghai Shadow and a Karambit I picked up at a local Martial Arts Supply store.

The Karambit is a knife that has some serious history in Asia and in Asian Martial Arts.  The loop is for the pointer finger (most novices put their pinkie through it, have the blade facing up).  This knife is meant to be an easy to use self defense knife.  By putting the index finger through it, you form a fist comfortably around the knife.  Anyone who can throw a punch suddenly has a very dangerous self defense technique.

So, the Shanghai Shadow isn't a very practical survival knife, it's not a particularly practical self defense knife.  What is it?  What is it good for?

I pondered over this for a while.  I mean, I had the knife, now what was I going to do with it?  It seemed such a waste to just toss it in a drawer and forget about it.

After a while I came up with a fairly AWESOME use for this thing.  It might not make the best knife, but it would make one hell of a spear head.  Split a nice thick piece of wood about six inches down.  Take off the handle of the Shadow and put it in the split.  That blank section above the handle and the thick cross bar make easy points to secure the head.  Add in another splice or two a couple inches down and you have one hell of a spear.

Look!  I fixed it!  I took off the handle, wrapped it with 8 feet of 550 cord, and I have a ready-made Spear Kit!  That big blade, double sided, makes a perfect hunting spear head.

Forgive the sloppy wrapping job, I followed some very good instructions but whipped it up pretty quick so I could do this post.

To wrap your own knives, check out this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwkp9Tx6OdI