Just noticed this on a site selling Mora knives:


Maybe that's why Ragweed Forge isn't carrying them anymore.

HJ

I haven't tried a #840, but do I hear a distant echo of Herblock's Law ... "if it's good, they'll stop making it?"

Just bought one from Smoky Mountain Knife works, so they might have a few more in stock. (840)
Nice knife so far, will be finding a place in the go-bag for sure.

Thanks, I might check that out.

HJ

I have a Mora that is similar to the #840 shown above, but I can't remember the actual part number. The blade is stainless and the handle is bright orange plastic with a black rubber center part. It feels very solid in my hand. The blade makes good sparks from a ferrocerium rod.

I recently spent some time practicing shelter building. I brought a pile of knives to play with:

- an old BK&T Combat Utility 7
- a new ESEE Izula (little fixed blade)
- my stainless, orange-handled Mora

I found the Mora to be much better at carving and working the wood. The BK&T was a great chopper and "meat cleaver" blade but it is hard to use for finer work. The little Izula was disappointing: it was small and harder to handle while the blade didn't seem to float through the wood nearly as well as the Mora. It seemed to have the worst qualities of both the big and small knives.

My Mora's sheath is like the #840 above, but I made some mods that help a lot. I don't wear it on a belt, I wear it around my neck with some paracord. This makes it easy to access when wearing many layers in the cold, or raingear. I "sealed off" the open part at the bottom of the sheath's belt clip with a few wraps of duct tape so the paracord can't slip out. I tied a short, stout loop of bungie cord through the top curve of the sheath's belt clip, which I use as a secondary retention device by looping it over the top of the knife handle (size this for a tight fit). Works great.

For it's capability and weight, the Mora is hard to beat. I'm really not willing to carry a 12+ ounce knife when hiking. If weight and bulk are not issues, I'd pack a Mora for the fine work and a big ESEE honker for the heavy work. Otherwise I can get by with the Mora by working smarter, not harder.

I second of the #911 over the #840. The 840 is a bit thinner and a bit too light which makes it a bit better for carving but it doesn't stand up as well to things like batoning. I've subsequently found out that they are both only 1/2 tangs into the handle so I'm not sure how long they will hold together in the long term.