So here I am camping as I type this out on my crackberry.

Yesterday I went to get my wife a hot dog stick and was excited to try the knife out. All I could find was some wet and rotting dead fall. The wrist thick limb broke with minimal effort yet when I snapped off a branch and sharpened the tip, the edge bent and nicked up! Once I made sure there was no dirt or rocks in the wood I proceeded to get steamed about it. In fact I sent Grohmann a quick email on the spot.

Fortunately I carry a couple of DMT diamond sharpeners whenever I go camping for just such occations. I started to work the blade like I would any other Scandinavian knife. I was horrified to discover that they'd hollow ground the blade just a little. Not only is the grind too thin but it's hollow! I should have waited to send that email!

Hollow or not I tried again once it was sharp again. This time I tried cutting a pencil thick branch off of a sapling. It wouldn't do it. When I pulled the knife back my jaw hit the ground...the edge wa ripped up bad. Any of my other knives would need to be hammered onto steel to show this much damage. I'll upload pics when I get home.

An hour with the coarse diamonds and the bevel isn't flat nor has the damage been repaired.

I'm crossing my fingers that my great customer service experience was not a lucky one time deal.

Sounds like they skipped heat treatment.

They sure as heck skipped something! I would be, no pun intended, a very unhappy camper!!!

Came home a bit early so here are the pictures...be warned it's pretty bad. You can see where it's unpolished after the sharpening which clearly revealed the hollow grind. I can't help but wonder if they just took an off the shelf knife and ground it down until there was just one bevel. It would explain the narrow bevel angles and if they were hasty with their grinding they could have annealed the blade.

I did a quick test and I can put a bend in the blade with a push from a finger nail...and not a hard push...and my fingernails are hard like butter.

I'm going to call them on Monday and get this sorted out. I don't want to be a dick about it but at the same time this is the most I've ever paid for a knife and I'm worried about getting burned.

The first two were taken after I touched the blade up the first time. The 3rd is where I gave up. The DMT Coarse diamond stone cuts fast but the damage was too great. Pretty much an exercise in futility anyhow...there's obviously something really wrong...or a combination of things.

The pictures make me wonder what would happen if you tried to cut a medium well cooked Rib-eye steak.

Editedfor typographical error-Bo

I personally would not have messed with the blade after your first problems with it, and just returned it to them as it was. Hopefully they won't try to say you were a part of the problem. Good luck with the company!!!

Agree, it should have gone back to the company as is. They should have been given a chance to make it right before the issue was raised in public.

Now that it is raised, the only knives I've seen with an edge like that were cheap Taiwan kitchen knives -- thin blades with cheap steel. What steel is in this Grohmann?

Hacksaw,

You shouldn't have a problem with the company. If you do, give me a shout. I use to live in the area (well, Truro) and my dad still travels to Pictou often on business. He can hand deliver it - sometimes face to face resolving does wonders. Heck, he prob still has contacts there (not sure, but wouldn't doubt it).

Wish you luck, but I don't think you need it. They are a stand up company and more then likely it was an honest mistake.

Kris

The Steel is 'European C70' Carbon Hardened to 56-58 according to Grohmann.

I didn't mind trying to sharpen it again because I took pictures first. It's still bad and I'm sure that I could still recreate those results on the tip where there was no damage. I'm fairly confident they'll want to make this right...I'm just not sure what the final solution will be...I'm flexible.

I think this is just a simple oops on their part. It's an unusual request and the first time they've done this kind of thing. It's a hunting knife and should have been tested before going out the door IMO. It doesn't really matter at this point what happened as long as it gets taken care of somehow.

I think it's funny that at the very top of their warranty card in big bold letters it reads 'Superior Handcrafted Quality'. Reading that gave me a little chuckle. Their warranty also states that: 'Dents...breakage or chipped edges' void the warranty.

I also don't mind raising the issue in public because of the fact that I already gave them such high praise and many of you seem to be considering ordering from Grohmann...the story should be finished before that happens. I'm a very spontaneous person so waiting until the entire thing is done with just isn't my style. If they're honest people (and I have no reason to think they aren't), then this will get resolved. If they make it hard, then you all should know that too so you can make educated decisions about similar purchases...from any company, not just Grohmann.

Grohmann was very prompt in replying to my emails this morning...but while their answers have been prompt and professional, their message isn't what I expected.

I'm going to send the knife back for them to look at but they are treating this as sending it back for repair only.

They are sticking to a strange position that this knife can ONLY be used for skinning and pelting and can't be used on 'hard' surfaces and that even after repair, this will be the case. They aren't even considering the fact that there could be something wrong or that a mistake could have been made.

They also mentioned that the repairs may be at my own expense and not covered by warranty.

Not very impressed at the moment...we'll have to wait and see.