[censored] insane trying to figure out how the hell people prefer nasty steak knives with those horrible serrations over a razor sharp smooth edge knife. Side note the Roach belly makes a FANTASTIC food knife.

It really makes you wonder how much if any say les had in the making of them. You would think they would have a slight essence of the Buck special in them since that is his all time fav knife.

Picture the Buck 119 special blade on a black version of the handle.....Now that may be a knife we would all look at and say "Hmm, Yes, Indeed, Quite" and while may not purchase would still not have such big issues with.

I just noticed somthing....Is That photoshopped into his hand????

Amen! UGLEEE!

I like Les as a presenter and writer, but I don't much care for these.

Yes, it does look photo-shopped! Aargh!

At the risk of opening a whole can of worms I would love to see a 'shootout' between these and the BG knives

According to what I've heard and read, Stroud worked with Camillus based on their willingness to work with him at his pace in developing the knives. As mentioned in another thread, here is an hour long interview with Stroud from last September where he mentions the development of the knives prior to the official product announcement - he doesn't mention Camillus by name but does talk about who he was looking for in a partner and why he partnered with them.

The following quote from a different article summarizes some of these things:

Mr. Stroud says that he was involved in every step of the design process. He told the technical people at Camillus what requirements the knives had to meet in terms of design, usability and comfort. And each time a prototype was ready, he took it outside to test. Only after several of these cycles the designs were finalized. He added that a survival knife has to help you to survive and that he wanted to make sure these knives did exactly that, without compromises.

Now, I admit aesthetically these knives don't really do much for me but I am thinking that these will turn out to be good, solid, and affordable choices for the outdoors.

It looks like Les' line of knives is in stores now and reviews are starting to pop up.



Here is a YouTube video with Les talking about the collection: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtTWs9BrMIE

I see this has also been a topic of conversation over at his facebook page too. The following is an excerpt from a recent post where he addressed some the comments the other knife-related statuses generated:

I love knives too and have always worked well with them. I dont know steel so well so I leave that up to the experts. But I can tell you that i frustrated my friends at Camillus by pushing them at every level to make sure these knives were right - and there will still be improvements as comments come back and i get to use them myself over a long time period. They were not meant to be super high-end expensive because they should be accessible financially to most people.
...
But if I am to be honest it is the 'sell out' comment that prompted me to write this while sitting naked on a couch in a hotel room (sorry for the visual :-) ) Yes some things will be made in china - try to exist today and not touch something made across the ocean. But I am with you guys - so far I like the knives - if there is something I dont like about them - Camillus will hear about it and they are committed to fixing anything i have issues with. At least you guys will know I am keeping it personal. I am still making hand made higher end custom knives with the folks at Helle and ax's with Wetterlings - but I am also working on a multi tool and hatchet and saws with Camillus for the future - why? because its fun to do so - and to create something of a legacy one day that I hope my kids can be proud of and that people and their kids can enjoy for years to come. hope this helps a little....Les

As he mentioned, for those preferring the higher-end gear, he has the recently updated Helle Temagami and has announced the Bushman Axe by Wetterlings.

The SK Mountain looks to reasonable value at around $35.

For $35-$50 (RRP) I would probably just get another Hultafors Grovkniv GK Carbon Steel knife for around $7 and spend the rest on a proper flashlight (TANK007 TK-568 @ $14.50), Whistle (Fox 40 @ $5.50) and Signal Mirror (Starflash @ $11), Ferrocerium Rod ($5) and would probably still have enough over for a Bacho Laplander if paying full UK prices for the Les Stroud SK Mountain (if and when it becomes available)

Looks like the Les Stroud Camillus line has come out the same Chinese factory the Bear Grylls line came from.

Of the line, the Arctic knife seems to meet most of what I'd be looking for in a knife ... 4.5 inch blade, no serrations, full tang. It doesn't have all the survival goodies in the sheath like the Mountain, but it does still have the fire steel.



The Desert folder with the integrated fire steel seems interesting too.

That said, I just ordered a Fallkniven F1 so I don't see any of these in my immediate future

The knives looks pretty decent, but the machete is awfully expensive eh? Not sure if it's any better than my $15 walmart machete.

I thought Camillus was now defunct and the only thing that actually remained was the name that was sold to what amounts to a brand marketing company.