Beautiful craftsmanship but I’d bet those sheaths would be as saturated as any other after one good deep river crossing 
they have been carried by service men and sportsmen since 1938…you would think if leather sheaths presented a problem they would have done something about it…
Just received Y-Start knife from AliExpress. Very nice piece of cutlery, as Isti already noticed here
The blade thickness on my example is 5 mm instead of 4.5 mm. I think it is worth $35 I paid for it.
Here is size comparison with some familiar knives.
From the top: Delta 5 kit, Y-Start, Bear Grylls S4 copy (also made by Y-Start), Enlan El-01, Sanrenmu 710
Now I’m waiting for a big Black Fox and Wrangler knives which are on the way
Congratulations! That Y-start is a quite good knife for the money.
There are two versions, the one I reviewed (4.5 mm thick blade, thinner more detailed handle with different wood) and the other you bought.
I had both of them (the dark one is the 4.5mm version):
Those look nice. How are the sheaths for those Y-Starts? How are the fit and finish? Do you guys know of any sellers that take pay pal?
That Y-Start looks like a very capable knife. If you squint a bit and hold your head at the right angle :bigsmile: it looks like a fixed blade version of the Enlan/Bee EL-01D. It might be the wood used on the handle, and the blade shape looks similar.
The Delta 5 kit, was it a kit that you made, if so congratulations, it looks great. Even if you didn’t make it yourself then congratulations it looks like a fine knife.
Good collection there.
I’ve got two Enlan EL-01D’s, a stuttering finger on ali-express, I didn’t realise both orders had gone through. I’m waiting on a SanRenMu 710 to arrive from FastTech, I’ve got the animal pattern (or as is says on the SanRenMu, fake, website “Corroded handle) 
) the pattern is raised slightly and being a matt finish helps increase the grip. I’ve also got the satin finish one with the panther and fireball graphic, I might try for the set. J)
It certainly looks like I’m getting the set of EL-01s, I’ve got the KH, GY, D, AB, and an A in the post, only about 4 more, the B, BA, RUI and Boker Magnum versions.
I did a search on Amazon for “y-start” knife and this is what I came up with. Some sort of EDC widget. It looks interesting and well made, though.
At $35 and another $5 for shipping I’ll leave that one. It does show what a good deal Jrvoje and isti242 got on the Y-Start that they bought. Nice looking knife, I haven’t bought a fixed blade for ages. My purchases for the last year or more have been Chinese and folding.
Very nice indeed, I’ve wanted to have a go at something more adventurous than stripping and rebuilding folders but I’m in a very small 1 bedroom flat at the moment and it’s full up with stuff at the moment.
I have been looking at KnifeKits and USAKnifemaker as well as a couple of sites in the U.K.
I notice that they have some of the Delta 5 kits on KnifeKits Boneyard Specials for $19.95, that’s got to be good value.
That is a seriously good looking knife you made yourself there.
I would also second the suggestions in your build thread that you should sign up for the British Blades Forum there’s quite a few members here that are members there as well, it was a suggestion from somebody on there that led me here. :bigsmile: they are a good crew and very knowledgeable about a lot of subjects. There are sub forums covering everything from blades and knifemaking to 4x4s and overlanding, flashlights included of course.
What do you guys think about this? On sale tomorrow for $10.
Not the best quality steel so be prepared to do a lot of sharpening if you use it for machete style clearing.
A lot of blade for the price.
Half the blade is recurve so not easy to sharpen, you will get lots of practice sharpening so you will get good at it. It’s way better to practice on a $10 knife than something more expensive.
For the money, I’d say go for it.
Thanks, will try to pick one up.
$16 knife, full tang, 440C, great quality, solid construction, large blade-handle ratio.
Yes, I saw this one, looks nice. Columbia made it.
It’s good, but not really a chopping knife sadly. I remember seeing this knife from a Chinese website at only $46, the thing that stood out to me was the fact that it looked to have a convex grind on it and looked like a genuinely high quality bowie, when I saw it was sold out I was so sad. I thought I had stumbled across an amazing deal. I also think it’s more likely to be carbon steel than 440C, either way it’s fine for a bowie.
http://www.oneknifestand.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_2&products_id=618
This site has a lot of really good, hand made knives. Sadly all of the good ones are out of stock.
They do still have this Japanese style hatchet though for $36, I can’t say whether the knife or website is legit though:
http://www.oneknifestand.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_2&products_id=426
One of the best value large knives I’ve bought recently was this: http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/chuboya/item/20060422-b003/
It’s a Japanese hatchet that costs a ridiculously low amount. The thing that costs the most was the shipping, I can confirm that it is blue paper steel, laminated, and is a decent little tool. Not full tang, but has good forward weight and doesn’t cost much at all. I wish I lived in Japan so I could get it for $11 with free shipping though. That said it is roughly made and designed as a work tool and not a piece of art.
Another good looking knife. I’m tempted…
The listing says its SK5 tool steel (材質：炭素工具鋼SK5). How long is the tang if not full? It might make a nice rehandle project.
Elk Ridge is another brand of Master Cutlery (also known for M-Tech), so don’t expect good steel or heat treat. Recurves are fun knives to own though.