Remy
Well-Known Member
No pics yet but I got Mark's knife. Just as awesome as the photos hinted at. This thing's a beast but without feeling over sized or clumsy. The handle is very nicely contoured for my hands (rare actually) and got sandblasted with the rest of the knife so it's got a nice smooth but non reflective finish. He describes it as a fusion of traditional tantos, western tantos and western fighters and I have to agree. The handle is western fighterish, and while there's no upper guard the blade swells upward nicely for your thumb if you want that kind of grip for utility work. The blade actually has a very slight recurve to it, mostly in the first inch or two from the guard, but a slight curve all the way out to where it curves up to the tanto tip. This part is a blend of traditional, western and what I assume is his own touch. It is a smooth curve rather than straight like a western tanto, but the very tip is actually NOT pointy, it kind of hints at exposing an edge to the spine side of the blade. I can see this holding up VERY well in piercing use in tough materials or if abused as an improvised pry bar. The actual bevels on the main blade never quite meet the spine even at the tip and stop about 3/4 of an inch shy of the tip. He beveled that independently from either the full thickness of the bar or close enough I'd have to measure. Talk about a strong design... To enhance piercing and visual appeal he's put short bevels down the spine all the way to the tip.
You can see all that in the photos on page two, but it's hard to tell what's an optical illusion or lighting and what's really there. The sheath is snug and just as pretty as in the pics. I'm definitely going to make a utility sheath for this from kydex. The sheath is well made and tough, not floppy or light leather, but I plan to mount this knife on my emergency gear and it'll get banged around a bit, no need for the leather to be abused. I'll save that for when I wear it on my belt hiking or camping.
Needless to say, I'm thrilled with it. This knife has nearly every element of my ideal heavy duty field knife and since two of the things I like are mutually exclusive... Hard to have both a mostly straight and short (height wise) blade AND a thin light weight blade with a gentle curve most of its length.
You can see all that in the photos on page two, but it's hard to tell what's an optical illusion or lighting and what's really there. The sheath is snug and just as pretty as in the pics. I'm definitely going to make a utility sheath for this from kydex. The sheath is well made and tough, not floppy or light leather, but I plan to mount this knife on my emergency gear and it'll get banged around a bit, no need for the leather to be abused. I'll save that for when I wear it on my belt hiking or camping.
Needless to say, I'm thrilled with it. This knife has nearly every element of my ideal heavy duty field knife and since two of the things I like are mutually exclusive... Hard to have both a mostly straight and short (height wise) blade AND a thin light weight blade with a gentle curve most of its length.