I picked up 2 new Frost Mora knives yesterday in the mail. I got them through Ragnar at RagweedForge if you would like to know.
http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html I already had 1 Mora (a #711 model) made of carbon steel - the steel has long since been stained or aged from it's store bought shininess. It's a working knife but it always felt just a tad light for some things even though it stood up well to things like batoning. I've always been a fan of smaller knives though even though some people prefer the "sharpened prybar" approach.
The two new knives are similar in size and shape but differ in degrees not by leaps and bounds. They are the #911 and #780 models. Both are relatively inexpensive at $12 and $11.50 apiece and shipping was both very reasonable and quick to Canada from New York courtesy of USPS. I received them 10 days after ordering but given the state of cross-border shopping these days, anything short of 2 weeks is almost a miracle!
In the photo the top is the #711, then the #911 and then #780.As you can see in the photo, the blade is a classic drop point shape with a relatively shallow depth. The 780 is a tad deeper and also a tad thicker as it is made from carbon steel that has different heat treating so that the spine is tough while the edge is hard. I figure the tough spine would be a bonus so that it would hold up weld to baton blows. It has a straighter belly and more curve at the end than the 711 and 911 models.
The 780 is 4 1/8", the 911 is 4" and the 711 is 3 7/8" long. The 711 has thin rubber coated plastic on the handle for better grip but I found it a bit rough and it caused a blister while using it. The 911 is absolutely a perfect fit for my smallish hands with a thick textured rubber handle over thermofused plastic and has ridges for the thumb. When I picked up the blade it seems to have very good balance and felt very much like an extension of my hand; it felt at home the moment I took to slicing, cutting or carving a cottonwood branch.
The 780 with its slightly heavier blade also has a slightly shorter handle which give it a more pronounced forward balance instead of a neutral balance. It suggests a more robust chopping motion can be used. I just wish the handle was a tad longer for my taste. The 780 has a more pronounced lower guard and a small ridge from the manufacturing process that I will have to file down. I prefer a smallish guard instead of a large one and this one is a little too large for me. Also the thumb rest doesn't generate a positive feel for me. It has an all plastic handle with a very light pebble finish.
The 711 is a tad bit thinner in thickness and has less depth than the 780. It has a small guard that also required a bit of filing on the plastic to remove a bit of ridging from the manufacture. In general, it's a fine blade but it is a tad lighter than the other two which makes me feel as though it is undermatched for some general tasks like chopping.
The 711 and 911 do not have a lanyard hole while the 780 has a recessed groove and hole that makes adding a lanyard so very easy to do and not be intrusive while holding the knife either. The 711 feels at home when I use a neck lanyard.
All three came with different plastic sheaths and although you can interchange the knives with each sheath they feel most at home in the supplied sheath. They fasten to the belt in differing ways, by either a clip on or being threaded through the webbing of the belt. The one that came with the 911 also has a swivel which I think will come in handy when sitting down.
I filed the back spine of all three knives to take off the smooth corners. This is a trick I picked up from Mors Kochanski - with a carbon steel blade sharpened thusly it makes a very good striker for a ferrocium rod. The volume and size of sparks from this method is much better than using the supplied striker (Light My Fire). I treated all three blades with Tuf-cloth protectant afterwards.
To say that I am impressed with these little blades is an understatement even though I have had 2 of them for just a few hours. While a small blade is no substitute for a big blade, using the proper techniques, the need for a big blade is much reduced. Mors showed me some other techniques like hiving off a wedge from a log and then placing that in the log itself, a simple baton can split another log with ease and you can save the blade for other uses. A small blade works well for carving but a large blade is very cumbersome to do the same chores. A sharpened prybar approach may be great for whacking and chopping and may be more "macho" but I just don't feel any need for it. Give me an axe for chopping larger items.
Just a quick comparison to DR's MK3. The MK3 has a very deep belly and a much higher grind than any Mora knife and the sheer mass of that much blade makes it feel like more of a chopper. But it is also deceiving because a blade of that weight/balance makes me think that it should be about an inch longer and when that length isn't there it makes me wish it was. (Umm, really , the bad joke or innuendo was not intended, it just came out that way!) I actually don't like the depth of the blade or the balance - the MK3 could be marginally longer in the handle to improve that. I showed the blade to Mors and he had a few comments. First of all - he doesn't like guards of any sort, whereas I prefer a smallish guard, so obviously he thought it should be ground down. He thought the textured grip might wear a bit on some peoples hands but I like the feel except for the fact that it could be a little more rounded. The protruding pummel is excellent and he like the fact that I added a paracord lanyard - his preference is still the neck lanyard on the sheath. It's a very pretty blade with the stone wash but I'm almost afraid to use it because of the amount of money I paid for it. That's something that doesn't come to play when I handle a Mora knife. While I like the MK3, it just isn't my first choice in shape or size and the cordura sheath looks like it's trying to be all things for all people instead of simple and functional - in fact I still haven't figured out what all the straps and Velcro pieces are for!
Each to their own but the twice as heavy MK3 will end up in one of my kits instead of on my hip when I am out camping. I can't wait to give my new Mora blades a thorough test in the wilds.
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