I have enlans, srms, ganzos, harnds, inron and tekut. But i read tthat the chinese steel do not hold an edge well and mora does. The fat chicken… Really the steel of a mora is much better than srm, enlan, ganzo…? Would we must buy moras and no ganzos and similar?
I’m totally gonzo for some fat chicken.
I know a little about knives and do own chinese knives mostly because they are knives I can loose without much heartache and because they will either be abused or used so lightly that their steel quality doesn’t matter much. They are also very pretty compared to cheap knives available in the ‘west’. That being said, my next purchase will be a Mora.
Blade geometry will impact function for tasks as well. You will most likely find this recent test of mora vs chinese steels interesting
I moderate two different forums that are associated with bushcrafting skills, and am a senior member of a third. I can tell you that in the bushcraft/self reliance/survival/emergency preparedness world, the Mora has earned a well deserved reputation.
To begin with, you just can’t beat the price on the various models. Secondly, whether it’s stainless or carbon steel, the grind is a scandinavian grind. What this means is that it retains the edge for a considerable period of time and is easily sharpened, particularly in the field. You can use the bottom of a ceramic coffee cup, as an example, to sharpen this knife to a razor edge.
Cody Lundin uses the Mora knife which in-and-of-itself is IMO one of the best endorsements for the Mora. He lives off the grid 24/7, teaches desert and winter survival and has literally been all over the world in every bio-region imaginable with a Mora as a neck knife….and it’s worked!
Anyone interested can take a look here on a review of the Bahco 2444 which is the same as a Mora Companion but rebranded. It says Sweden right on the SS blade. And the price just can’t be beat (works out to less than $8 per knife). I’ve given many of these away as gifts and everyone has always given it a huge thumbs up!
The answer is simple. High carbon blades are very reactive to chemicals and oxygen. So they can corrode and rust very, very fast. It takes extra care to keep a Mora in good condition. Mainly, just keeping the blade clean and oiled. Customers not knowing this will bad mouth a knife. Check out the negative comments on Amazon for the high carbon Moras. Fortunately, enough people know this to keep Mora knives in business.
EDIT: Hardened high carbon blades are also more brittle and break/chip easier. This is amplified with a thin blade of a folder. So you have to use such blades for their intended purpose and not for prying and such.
I own 2 Mora knives, not the most impressive looking as a piece of art, but great as knives. They do hold an edge far beyond anything else I own.
Jim
Moras are awesome knives, but they are not folders.
If you want a pocket knife the Mora is not for you.
Dave,
{Anyone interested can take a look here on a review of the Bahco 2444}
I could not find “here.” ??
I have various knives including Mora. They are great knives.
I do not hunt any more, but I finally stopped trying to find knives that would clean and skin 3 deer and 2 moose and still shave the hair on your arm. There ain’t no such animal. I opted for a 2 blade Camillus #26. I would carry a 6 inch steel to touch the blades up. I used that for over 20 years and it would be my hunting knife even now. I used it on Dall Sheep, Mtn Goats, Moose, Elk, Deer Antelope and Bear plus Oryx.
Blades that hold an edge better are harder to sharpen.
Jerry
I have no Moras but I do have a couple of Hultafors, same idea but a little to a lot cheaper than the equivalent Mora.
The Hultafors Heavy Duty and the Chisel Knife are the two that I have, the edges are stropped at the factory and arrive very sharp, the steel is Japanese Carbon steel hardened to 58-60HRC. Some models are available in Stainless Steel as well at the same HRC.
Heavy Duty
Chisel Knife
The current pricing in the U.K. is £5.95 for the Heavy Duty and £6.95 for the Chisel Knife.
Hultafors range also includes specialist knives for insulation cutting, electrical work and painters knife, a plumbers knife also a safety knife/childs first knife with a rounded blunt tip at £2.95
The heavy duty and others would make a great choice of cheap donor for re-handling projects.
Not my pictures, someone with more skill than me did this.
Is the steel different, yes it is, some SanRenMus are using Sandvik 12C27 and there is a Ganzo that uses Krupp 4116.
Myself I like the 8Cr13MoV, 8Cr14MoVand 9Cr18MoV steels. Although they might not hold an edge for long use they are very easy to get to a very sharp edge, my Hultafors Heavy Duty seems to want diamond sharpeners and stropping to get the best edge quickly. Some people use wet/dry or micromesh spongy over a mouse mat to acheive a convex edge, I’ve not tried it myself but no doubt will in the future.
I’m certainly not going to change my buying habits - I’ll take what comes at a price point that I can afford. A super hard, fine steel like Hitachi’s ZDP-189 would be wasted on me, I only use my knives on what I’d call light duty anyway.
When Mora and Hultafors make folding knives for the same or similar prices to SRM, Enlan and Ganzo I’d be interested in trying them.
jerm03 wrote:
. . . Blades that hold an edge better are harder to sharpen
Not to me. I much prefer sharpening harder steel. It feels better to me and can be made much sharper than typical budget folder-type metals. Those folding-knife metals feel softer and even slightly gummy sometimes. Sharpen them to the same angle that I take hardened steels and the edge dulls in as little as one cut sometimes.
Most folks understand that miracle sharpness and holding ability is movie fantasy stuff. When folks say "holds an edge", they mean it is better compared to other metals at holding an edge. Sloppy expression, yes, but it saves lazy folk like me typing and most people into knives understand what is meant .
What is “mora”? It seems to be used as a brand name but is only capitalized once.
Well, it seems an interesting thread!. I have not any mora because always there is a srm, ganzo, enlan etc knive that i buy before than a mora but i do not stop of read about the incredible quality of moras. I am only interested in stainless steel, a companion mg costs 12€ plus shipping… 17€, like a chinese folder. Yes, i know a mora is a fixed knife and not a folder knife but i like fixed too for its strength. I like hultafors and the heavy duty is one of the beter options for the price but it is made of carbon steel and i prefer stainless, and it has not a scandi grind really. I know Cody from “duo de supervivientes” here in Spain, he has got a mora n°1 i think on the neck. I must get a mora soon, but there are some models of ganzo and srm that are tempting me.
By the way, fat chicken = turkey :bigsmile:
A fixed blade and a folder are two very different animals, and sacrifices do need to be made to make a folder.
As Dave pointed out, the Scandinavian grind helps the Mora and similar knives hold its edge longer. As for the blade hardness itself, when I tested them, the Mora (carbon steel) was between an Ganzo folder and a Kershaw folder, both 8Cr13MoV steel.
However, they are all well within the margin of error, so nothing really decisive can be concluded. The only conclusive data was that the pair of scissors were considerably softer than any of the blade steels.
Mora is a valley in Sweden. It includes several different factories that produce knives. All knives that are made in this area will be marked, usually with something like ‘Mora’ and/or ‘Sweden’ on the blade itself.
The link I have to the 2444 knives are simply rebranded Mora knives made in SS and are marked ‘Sweden’ on the blade.
Mora
Mora is a small city (pop ~11K) in Sweden. Mora has a very long tradition in crafts and manufacture. For instance the Mora clock and the Mora knife and also the traditional carved kurbits painted Dala horse. Mora is also well known as being the finish for the big annual 90 km ski race, Vasaloppet.
For outdoor use in wet conditions I prefer Mora knives with the excellent stainless Sandvik 12C27 steel. For daily use the carbon steel is fine. For more serious craft and carpentry the laminated triflex steel is the best.
"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie..."
"That's A-Mora"... 
;)
