Bushcraft Knife
The ideal bushcraft knife developed exclusively for Woodland Survival Crafts
Having ‘made do’ for many years with various off the shelf and dedicated Survival and Bushcraft knives Dave Watson sat down and considered what was required from a ‘bushcraft’ style knife. He realised that a practical knife will always be a compromise. Put simply if the knife is large enough to chop with then there will be a corresponding loss in its suitability for fine carving and whittling, and vice versa. Many ‘Wilderness Experts’ carry with them at least one knife plus an axe and folding or bow saw whilst in the woods. Each of the tools are very good at doing the jobs for which they were designed. So why carry a large knife that will do some of the work that the axe will do whilst also carrying an axe?
How a knife is used (and is seen to be used, as an instructor) is extremely important. Those using larger knives have been witnessed holding the blade itself for the finer skills—not the best example to set, especially for younger students!
The above has led Dave, through much experiment and discussion with Roger Harrington of Bison Bushcraft, to arrive at a blade that is 3¼” long. Roger is well known for his craftsmanship and is amongst the best knife makers in the UK so he was the obvious person to approach.
The thickness of the blade has been optimised at 1/8” that is fine enough to allow carving and whittling, but heavy enough to enable battoning of wood up to 3” in diameter.
The cutting edge comes right up to the handle—this makes shaving wood and the creation of feather sticks and wooden flowers so much easier, with enhanced control and power. The relatively short length of blade makes gouging out wood for e.g., starter holes in friction fire baseboards a pleasure as you have so much more control than longer blades.
Having already mentioned the length of the blade, another vital aspect is its profile. Of immediate note is the pronounced ‘belly’. This is to facilitate carving which it does beautifully.
The knife is also suitable for game preparation. It has a slightly dropped point with the blade being short enough to enable the point to be masked by the tip of the index finger for ‘unzipping’. Again the blade profile helps with this. Skinning is made easy as the knife becomes an integral part of the user’s hand.
The Woodland Survival Crafts Knife is being produced to this specification exclusively for Woodland Survival Crafts Ltd. by Roger Harrington of Bison Bushcraft.
As with most hand made items this knife is not only a tool to do a job but becomes ‘organic’. The evidence for this was seen at its launch at the 2007 Wilderness Gathering. Customers were given the choice of knives available and took over an hour to decide which was the ‘one’ for them.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Knife | £195.00 + £10.00 P&P (UK only) |
Reviews
I am in receipt of the knife and all I can say is WOW!! This thing is a cutter. The handle ergonomics fit me perfectly and it is the right length. The blade grind lends itself to being a marvellous carver. Since yesterday I have put it through some use and testing with great results.
Hats off to the designer and to Roger at Bison for the construction. Once again I appreciate your cooperation and hard work in making this purchase possible. I will be shelving my Alan Wood Bushcraft in favor of this new gem.
Mike Lychock
Since starting a bushcraft school 3 years ago I have found there are some common questions that I am always asked; I saw this on the TV what do you think? Could you easily survive off the land? Doesn’t that taste awful? But the one question I hadn’t anticipated that gets asked of me on pretty much every course was about my knife.
I always keep to hand a basic green handled Frosts 740 knife. It’s always done me good when I needed it and I’ve never bothered to think much more about it. However in the modern day marketing frenzy my clients always seem a little disappointed with my choice of sub tenner tool.
My argument had been it does everything I ask of it and it’s cheap and reliable. What more could I want? Well given the chance to try out the new knife on the (forgive the pun) chopping block, I thought it would be a great opportunity to put my theories to the test.
The Knife in question is a Woodland Survival Crafts design crafted by Roger of Bison Bushcraft. The technical stuff being; 01 tool steel with a flat grind, 3 1/4" at its longest point; the depth of the blade is 15/16"; the thickness is 1/8" and the overall length is 7 1/2". The grip scales are Ash.
First impressions were that of a quality handcrafted tool and sheath. With the refreshing surprise that it wasn’t another variation on a well known and much touted celebrity knife.
Being used to using a 4" knife I have to admit to being a little cautious of the shorter blade, but I will put that down to some Freudian symptom and move on. In short I couldn’t wait to get into the woods and put the knife to some good use.
Crafting
This is most obviously a hand crafted tool. It looks the part and has a nice balance which makes using it a real pleasure. It came with a mirror polished and shaving sharp edge which apart from the occasional strop is yet to require sharpening.
Likewise the leather sheath was a beautifully hand crafted piece of leather with a good tight fit that has worn in well during my last few months of use.
Handle
After a good solid week’s use I think it is the handle which has revealed my only real irk with the knife. I have big hands and found that with prolonged use the knife doesn’t fit quite right in my palm. However speaking to Dave and Roger it seems that a larger handle is an easy thing to change and would soon rectify the issue.
Blade
This is where the real thinking was done, As already admitted I was a little unsure about the length of the blade, however it didn’t take much use for me to become a convert to this new improved blade.
The control and accuracy with which cuts can be made are most definitely easier and more natural than with a longer blade. For fine woodcarving and delicate work I found I could slide my thumb along the spine almost to the tip giving me the necessary control of pressure needed for delicate work whilst the belly and main body of the blade made short work of anything it was put to requiring a little more force.
The spine always produced a good shower of sparks from a ferro rod. So again all round top marks for a great little knife.
Battoning
My preconceptions of how a knife should look initially had me doubting the knife’s ability to baton with a good inch less of blade. In practice again it became obvious that some serious thought had gone into the knife and the conclusion I came to was the same as the reasoning Dave had put into the design. The knife is designed for Bushcraft and as the majority of bushcrafters wouldn’t be seen without an axe it comes down to using the right tool for the right job. Great for splitting small wood, but if you need some wood of substance splitting then use your axe.
Food prep
Exactly what I expected from a good sharp knife. Obviously with such a thick blade fine filleting took a little more care, but when it comes to eating in the outdoors who is looking for wafer thin slices of anything? I found it to be perfectly suited to chopping veg. and meat for the pot and again the short blade was that little bit easier to control when it came to slicing my chorizo and cheese to go with a hunk of bread for lunch.
Conclusion
In conclusion I have to admit I will no longer be using a standard Mora 740. Sure it does most of what I ask it to and there won’t be tears should I ever lose it, however the advantages of a hand crafted and well thought out knife give me that little bit extra.
Even the slightest improvement on any one thing will give you the smallest advantage and as each of those additions and improvements accumulate and in the end what you get is something far greater than its basic counterpart.
The WSC knife is a very capable knife; it has obviously been designed with Bushcraft in mind and is well suited to anyone who feels they need to move on from their clipper or 740.
After a few months of use whilst running courses and “working” in my woods I have grown quite attached to the knife and in fact no longer feel that the handle is an issue.
Dave Roderick of Wildpath
About our shop
At Woodland Survival Crafts our primary interest is in teaching, not selling stuff. Our shop, therefore, is small and simple by choice.
How to Order
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Print the order form out, fill in the details of your purchase, and then post the order form back to us with a cheque for the appropriate amount. Don't forget postage and packaging!
Please allow 21 days for delivery
Postal Address
Woodland Survival Crafts Ltd.,
Windlehill Farm,
Sutton on the Hill,
Ashbourne,
Derbyshire
DE6 5JH