New Hawk, CRKT Chogan

I got a new hawk in trade the other day. I have done a few mods and tried to make it duty ready. I am going to be carrying this tool at work for testing and as an emergency egress tool. Look for lots of very hard use on this one folks. If all goes well with this I will be getting a real RMJ Tactical Shrike in the future.

Also, I will do the drawing for the Sargent M3 on Monday.

Brian Sargent Model # 1 Review and Giveaway

Well folks I have done a bunch of work with this knife and it is time to report what I think.

 To start with here are the specs right from Brian.

Steel: Currently O-1 @ .125" thick,Blade length: 3 3/4 inches, Handle length: 4 1/8 inches , Hardware: Brass Corby Bolts,Handle materials: Phenolic, G-10, Carbon Fiber, Wood, Epoxy: West Systems G/flex, Sheath: Taco with Dangler and Firesteel Loop Optional, Grind: Single Bevel , Heat Treat: Peters' Heat Treat - 60rc and cryo'd.

Pretty standard stuff. My first impressions when I grabbed the handle was that I was not sure I was going to like the blocky shape. I am glad I was wrong. The squarish sandblasted micarta may not be pleasing to the eye, but it out preforms most knives I own. The handle will also stand up to a beating.

  I drove it into this dead Elm tree and then stood on it.

This is kinda of a silly test but it really gets the point across how tough this knife is.


One of my standards is firecraft. Even thought this is a relatively small thin knife, it made light work of several types of woods. This Cedar was like butter.

Withe the 90 degree spine it made great scrapings from hard woods and magnesium. It also strikes a firesteel very well.

Another biggie for me is improvising. A knife has to be sharp and stay sharp. All I had to do for sharpening was some touch up on a ceramic DC-4. Even cross batoning did not dull or damage the edge.

 Like I have stated earlier, the knife is tough. It is also a great size to do fine work. I have been using Willow for making projects lately. The Model #1 harvested them like a champ.

 Once harvested, I removed the bark and bound them together for several projects.

This Roycroft snow shoe was a lot of fun to put together.

I also had a failed project that I used this knife for. I was trying to make a rope machine for twisting natural fibers into cordage. This was a blast to make even though it did not work out like I planned.

Even though it is not a kitchen knife, I did some food prep for the testing. The scandi grind and short blade don't really work the best for chopping up veggies. But it did a serviceable job.

My final thoughts. I really like this knife. I liked it enough that I sold my BHK Boat Tail Scandi. I am very sure you will see me carrying this knife in the future.Thanks Brian for a solid knife.By the way Brian did not give me this knife to test. I bought it from him. but, he did send me another knife to give away!!!!!!!!!

Here is a link with some info on this knife.

M3 Bushcraft/Survival Knife

To enter the contest to win this knife you must post a comment on this blog and include you BushcraftUSA screen name. If you are a Supporter of BCUSA I will enter you twice. I will post the winners name at a thread on BCUSA. Good luck, and thanks for the knives Brian.

Gear is stacking up!!!

I have been getting a steady stream of gear in the last few weeks. This is goo and bad. Good because I love gear, bad cause I am getting poorer by the minute. My biggest purchase has been a new pack. Been lookin for a good pack for a few years now. I have tried a bunch. I hope this is the "one".

This Karrimor is a beast!!

I have also received a few different types of pouches. These are the MK-7 EDC pouches from 20$Bandit.

Along the same line is this sweet little map case from Lucky 1-2 Sutlery.

I got news that I will be getting another really cool item to give away in the near future.

Strike Master Padauk Firesteel Review

About a moth ago I was asked to do a review of the Strike Master Survival Tool. I will not lie, I am usually not to keen on combo firesteels. But, I agreed to do it. I told Jeff that I was going to be very honest, he understood where I was coming from and sent me 3 of these fire starters for free to test. He also sent me some history.

Charlie Hutchens is the maker of these. His dad and him started selling firestarters at the Portland Saturday Market in 1981. Gun shows, survival expos, and sportsman's shows were all worked up until Charlie's dad passed in 1995. Charlie now strictly does the Saturday market, and a small handful of sportsman's shows.

They come in 3 sizes. I used the mid-sized one, and I am going to give away the other 2.

I was used to using the magnesium on the Doans bar. That is about a miserable experience. I was very surprised at how easily the mag shaved. Now here is my problem with magnesium, I feel it makes people think they can use marginal tinders. This is a very bad practice to adopt. I tested some wet dead grass with the mag.

 
It smoked like crazy then went out.

I also used some damp Cedar bark.

 I had a much better result. Bottom line is that marginal tinders should not be used when a fire counts. Just my opinion.

I really love the firesteels on these units. They are not mishmetal. They are just like the Light My Fire type, which is my favorite. It works great on shavings.

You can also scrape the African hardwood handle to produce a ready to light tinder. You can also see that the scraper which is provided is not a piece of crappy hacksaw blade. It is thicker and ground to a 90 degree angle which scrapes well.

 I also used this to light my new MSR Universal.

Bottom line, if you like using magnesium you will love this product. For ordering and pricing check out this thread at Bushcraft USA.


Now for the giveaway. just post a comment on this entry. This is what I will send you.

 If you are a member of Bushcraft USA, post your screen name and I will enter you twice.  Good luck.