You may remember in a recent post that I special ordered a DH Russel #1 belt knife from Grohmann knives. If you didn't, then I'll catch you up. It's basically the original #1 style knife in Carbon steel but with a flat Scandinavian grind and in a left handed belt sheath.

The whole process including explaining what I wanted, having the knife made, and shipping took just over a week...and that was including a long weekend.

The knife arrived in a nice gold leaf lettered box. I imagine that all their blades are this way.


The blade was very well oiled, wrapped in wax paper, and shipped in the sheath. The sheath is firm and the leather thick but it's going to need a bit of work to toughen it up so that it lasts...I'm thinking about giving it the old wax treatment. The knife also shipped with a lanyard...a feature I like since I use lanyards with my knives.


The handle is rosewood. It looks very good and should stay nice for a long time as long as it's oiled once in a while just like the blade. I've heard that the handles crack but I suspect those handles were not oiled often or at all.

I was told that the production manager at Grohmann took this request on himself to grind the knife. The grind goes higher up the blade than I was expecting but aside from a tiny bit of uneven grind near the handle, the job appears to have been done expertly. I haven't measured the angles yet and I'm hoping that the edge isn't too narrow. Time will tell if it's and issue as I'll be testing it out this weekend on a camping trip. I did measure the grind on a straight edge and it's very very flat. It is so broad that at first it looked hollow ground but it's not the case.


The unique handle feels VERY good in my hand. I can see why this knife is famed as a hunting knife. Everything about the shape of the handle, angle of the blade, and the sweep of the edge screams slice slice slice! It's no surprise to me that this knife has been featured in New Yorks Museum of Modern Art.


I tested the blade on a scrap of receipt paper. There wasn't an angle it wouldn't push through the paper and no sliver of paper was too thin to cut even thinner...I have some sharp knives but I don't think I've ever had a knife that will cut so effortlessly.


This is my first experience ordering something customized and I think I survived alright. It's not exactly what I had in my minds eye but it's close and pending how it performs I think it was well worth the leap of faith.

Grohmann's customer service was tops. They made every effort to cater to my request and the turn around time was amazing. My only regret is that I didn't have a more challenging request for them as they didn't even blink at this one.

Very nice looking knife, let us know how it works out in the field.

It's nice to hear about companies that are willing to work with the customer and seem to care. Most companies just churn out product and could care less about it, as long as it meets their specs and safety standards.

I don't own any Grohmann knives currently, but after hearing about this I think I'm going to pick one or two up for my collection. Even if I don't really need another knife, I don't have a problem with supporting companies who care.

That one did turn on very nice. I have a couple of their knives but not the original #1.

I just may have to give them a call and see about one similar to yours...righthanded...otherwise the same. I like the high scandi grind. That should be a very nice slicer.

I got one directly from Grohmann a few of years ago. I had attended Blade in Atlanta and stopped by their booth. They had the Boat Knife I wanted but not the Canadian Armed Forces sheath that went with it. They were very accomodating and shipped it just a couple of days later from their offices.

That one is very nice.

This morning I hit the blade and handle with Fluid Film. I use it on all my blades stainless or not just in case but I've never used it on a wood handle like this before. It's recommended for conditioning gun stocks so this should work out fine.

I've decided that tonight I'm going to wax/boil the sheath to harden and preserve it. First time for that so I've found a Canadian source for a Concealex sheath. Then if I botch it I can get a backup. I'd rather keep the original though for traditions sake. I talked to a friend of mine who has a few army issue Grohmanns and his biggest complaint is the knife slicing into the sheath or the tie down (which this one doesn't have). It's such a good slicer that you can do it without noticing. It should make it just a little more secure and less likely to come loose too.

Dude, that is one fine blade. I really like that deep grind -- a real slicer, for people who use a knife to cut rather than pry.

I agree with the qualms about the sheath. I love the look of it, but I want a hard liner and rivets in case Murphy comes calling.

Gotta ask -- how much did this set you back?

And does this grind have a name? How 'bout "The Alberta Clipper"?

I love the Grohmann knives and have been wanting a #1 and survival blade for some time. Your post seals the deal now! Very nice!

A good hot wax dip should set that sheath up nicely I think. Both of my Grohmann's could use that treatment.

The rosewood on both of mine is just fine. I have not done anything special to them. These are good knives and I think the scandi grind may be just the way to go. I was going to order the flat ground camper but I may do this scandi grind instead.

They rounded it off to an even $110. I think it was +$25 over retail. The lefty sheath wasn't extra.

I just finished waxing the sheath. After reading a few how-tos on the internet I went out and bought a few bees wax tea lights and winged it by the seat of my pants as usual.

I'm sure I could have gotten the leather harder but I think I did pretty good for my first attempt. It's holding it's shape so there must be a fair bit of wax in there.


I spared the thong belt loop the treatment to keep it soft. You can really see the color change:

That's beautiful! I can't wait to hear how it performs for you. I'm especially interested in the handle "angle", if it's comfortable.