How are you finding the Mora?
Haven’t handled it much but so far I like it. Looks to be about the same blade thickness and shape as my Companion but I’m not sure what to make of that extra bevel towards the tip. Is it there just to look cool? But it’s a nice knife and will probably live in my emergency bag. The fire steel rod seems to work fine dragging it on the back of the blade spine. It still makes me a little nervous seeing anything but blade in the handle, but I know that Moras aren’t full tang and I trust them. The green Companion I have has taken huge amounts of abuse, so I would expect the same from this one.
Oh, and this one is stainless steel. I like the carbon steel but this should be good to sit for long periods unattended. All things considered, I like this knife.
It is thick .25 inches. I think this would make the cut as my favorite bug out blade. Oh and it will cut the cheese!
I wondered about that grind. I found Companions great for preparing uncooked meat (and carving wood) but this extra bevel could help tip penetration, maybe skinning tasks too? Without it the tip is quite thick.
On the Bushcraft Forest it is more pronounced, maybe to combine the best of both worlds in one blade. I found a picture where it is clear:
Oooh nice. I’m a big Mora fan. I’ve been meaning to buy that Robust one, too, the one with the thicker blade.
I have a Smith and Wesson Bowie knife that’s huge, but it came with a cracked handle that I didn’t notice until it was too late to return. The Bear Hunter below it is a nice knife too. I would consider it a larger knife but it looks small next to the Bowie.
This came yesterday and my wife made me wrap it and put it under the tree. That’s one of the few great things about being old haha— having to wrap your own presents. But it’ll be nice to have a nice camera to take photos of all the stuff I collect.
As a long time Canon user, EOS40D, I think you will like that a lot, easy to put it all on auto but easy to set what you want as well.
I used to take HDR shots where I could.
It’s my first DSLR so I’m really excited. The SL1 is super compact and it has the newer DIGIC 5 processor. I almost got the T3i but it had the older DIGIC 4 which my SX150 IS point and shoot also has. I also looked at the new mirrorless models but I think I’ll be happiest with the SL1. I got the wife the 8.9” Kindle Fire HDX so we’re both anxious like little kids to open our presents.
So at least with the SL1 if I can’t get good photos out of it then I’ll know it’s me. Sometimes with the SX150, I suspect it’s the camera purposely being difficult.
Sweet. Make sure the first thing ya do is get Magic Lantern loaded on her!
-Jamie M.
OMG thank you. I’d never heard of Magic Lantern before but I Googled it and it looks awesome.
Two more knives showed up yesterday, Y-Start Black Dragon and the Wrangler (copy of Black Fox model BF-617).
The Black Dragon is standard Y-Start quality, that means an excellent fit and finish and razor sharp out of the box. Feels very good in the hand, and the stone wash finish is very nice. It looks small compared to Wrangler, but it isn’t. The blade, made of quality AUS-10 steel is 128 mm long and 6 mm thick.
I’m pleasantly surprised with the Wrangler. For $29.50 I paid for it, that’s one heck of a knife.
Good fit and finish, nice ergonomic handle, pretty sharp right from the factory. It’d like a small machete, with 163 mm long and 4.8 mm thick blade.
And where are the cheap links for those knives?
I bought this the other day, it’s a copy of the British military Martindale no. 2 Golok, costs £15-20 depending on where you buy it or about $30. I don’t know if you can get it in the US, it’s made out of high carbon steel and the F&F is better than the “real” Martindales, which have been shit quality of late. It comes with a genuine British army “frog/bayonet” sheath and is of surprisingly good quality. One major flaw is that unlike the real martindale goloks it comes with a secondary bevel, like most production knives, but if you’ve ever been anywhere where they do real chopping you’ll know convex grinds are the best, any primary grind is better than a secondary bevel for hard use for machetes, big knives, etc. but I don’t know what I’m going to do, either create a large secondary bevel that will be sharp, or completely re-grind it.
Here you can see a comparison of the real thing next to the copy I bought, the copy is shorter and I actually like it smaller. But clearly the bevel is the main issue. I wish I had a grinding machine so I could turn it into a kind of scandi machete grind. 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Army-Machete-DPM-Sheath/dp/B00FWVHKXW/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_2
Alternatively, the Marbles bowie or Bolo/Camp Bolo. All dirt cheap, like $10 for the bowie and $16 for the bolo, camp version is like a hatchet and the long one more of a machete, they also have a new Parang released. Marbles are always exceptionally well made, the steel is solid, perfect for modifications, you just need to sand the handles down:
or for Europe/Global
http://www.heinnie.com/search.asp?strKeywords=marbles&submit=
How thick is the blade stock, in comparison to the Martindale? The machete handle reminds me of the MOD knife, similar construction:
http://www.sheffieldknives.co.uk/acatalog/2-88.html
Good luck with the reprofile!
Yeah, has that same style of rivets. The blade is thicker than the martindale, about 1/4 inch. It said the steel is high carbon but I have no idea of what kind, I’ve heard it’s made in Asia some place, maybe Thailand. I haven’t had a chance to test it since I don’t have an edge on it, I did some initial chopping and I was amazed at how deep it cut, in some cultures they make knives to be the same length as the wrist to your elbow, and it just feels right, much better than the real thing to me. I’ve tried sharpening it and it has some hardness to it at least. The problem is that I don’t have a grinder, so I don’t know what to do about it. And I just spent a lot of money ($300) on these beauties so I don’t really want to spend double it’s cost sending it to someone to grind. I guess I’ll just try to put a solid secondary bevel on it. Also, as far as the British army knife goes, I’ve seen that somewhere for £29 if you’re from the UK. I was considering buying it myself for a bit but decided against it. Not to be sexist but it would be easily manageable by a girl or a smaller man, it has a good forward weight to it and I like minimalist camping.
By the way, are you into Anime at all (judging by your avatar)? I just started watching again, I stopped watching when I was about 17 after exhausting all of the big shows that were out at the time and couldn’t get back into it, but Attack on Titan got me back into the groove and I just finished Toriko and Kuroko no Basuke. Merry Christmas. _
It would take some time, but you could convex it by hand using a strop and compound?
Nice kukhri btw, I like the engraving in the blade.
Thanks. And you can’t really see by the picture but I can’t convex it *(I think, I’m kind of a noob), because it’s slightly hollow ground. I think I’ll just have to make a large secondary bevel and convex that. But for sure if I had a grinder I could get a sweet grind, I’d grind the entire bevel length and I’d imagine it would be a sick chopper. Even blunt with a secondary bevel the thing cuts through planks of wood nearly as good as my old khukuri that weighs even more than it. With a wicked edge, if the steel holds up I could see it as a really nice blade. I just wish they got the damn grind right. :c
If you don’t want to invest into a bigger belt sander you should have a look at the WorkSharp knife and tool sharpener for convexing.
Cool blades!
What’s about the sheats? As I remember the Black Dragon comes with a kydex one.
How comfortable is the handle on the BD?
Got this one in the mail today. Best quality I’ve received in a Chinese fixed blade. Razor sharp and beautiful. And a nice 6” blade to boot.
Yes, Black Dragon comes with a kydex sheath, very sturdy and tight fit.
Wrangler comes with a leather sheath, identical to the one which comes with Black Fox, but it’s a better quality.
Ergonomic of the Black Dragon is very good.