Did you order your F1 from Paul at bushcraftcanada.com? Really good dealer of fallkniven products for us Canucks. Excellent customer service as well. I like the look of the stroud knives except for the black finish. Not sure why a survival knife is so subdued but I imagine some people prefer it like that.

Once you get that F1 you will never want another knife anyway. It's hard to build on perfection.

I honestly don't expect much from these, performance-wise (Les Stroud Knives). I'm curious about the handle construction, though. Looks questionable. Anyone know if it's full tang, or partial tang?

No, I actually ordered my Fallkniven from Dale at the-knife-connection. While I like the idea of buying from a BC guy, the price difference moved me to order from south of the border.

I'm definitely looking forward to putting the F1 into use this summer .

Regarding the finish on the Stroud knives, in his promotional video Les says he likes the non-stick coating because it makes dealing with things like pine pitch easier in the field.


In that video, Les states they are full tang, but hidden for comfort / cold weather (like the F1's design).

I'm waiting for some thorough reviews to come out before I make a call on their quality & capability. I know a lot of flak was (and is) thrown Bear Grylls' way but, from all I've read, his Gerber knife turned out to be a good piece of gear for the price.

BG knives get bashed all the time by people who have never touched one, guess it's the "cool" thing to do for them, and that spills over to Stroud knives too.

Camillus is now owned by Acme United. Acme United is a U.S. based company that has operations around the world. They make a lot of school supplies, first aid stuff, and safety stuff for office supply places, Walmart, Target, ect. Not sure how their new stuff is, or where it's produced.

Now, the Schrade cutlery name was bought by Taylor brands, which is the same company that makes Smith and Wesson knives. They bought the name only though, most of their tooling and equipment was bought at auction (I know some went to Benchmade knives). I believe all of their new Schrade line is made overseas.

However, if you want a U.S. made Schrade, Canal Street cutlery was formed by many of the bladesmiths from the original Schrade factory. They're still making knives, albeit in smaller batches and at a higher price point (though with better fit/finish).



I agree with this. I've got a couple of BG knives and I've found absolutely nothing wrong with them. They're fine knives for the price point they are being sold at.

I mean, I've seen his fine edged fixed blade selling for ~$40....that gets you a fixed blade with the quality of a typical Gerber knife, a ferro-rod, a whistle, a simple diamond sharpener, and an ok sheath (all in a high visibility orange). I'd rather see the masses carrying something like that than a lot of the other garbage being sold out there.

Full tang then. Thank you.

Regarding the BG knives-I guess the prudent question to ask would have been "what do I expect from a $40 survival knife?".

You asked "what do I expect from a $40 survival knife" and an answer is this.Many people swear by a $15.00 Mora of Sweden knife and use them long and hard.It's okay to check out gear reviews but one should remember that reviews are ONE persons opinion........


BOATMAN
John

The original retail at my employer was $26.99 for the BG Scout folder. It is on Price Drop (Clearance) and I purchased it for $12.60 + tax. Online, it retails currently for $29.

I have been carrying it for six days as EDC and like it. A good & trusted friend is very enthusiastic about the sheath knife.

I'd be willing to try the LS Arctic, but I'm not thrilled about the silver color of the grip.

Honestly, I think it's fair to say that I could spend $40 on a knife and end up with something which would not let me down in the wild.

Maybe it won't excel at anything, but I think for that price I could end up with a model that could do everything it needs to adequately.

For example, I watched the Equip 2 Endure knife test & review of the BG Ultimate Survival knife and, while I don't think he was awe struck by the knife by any measure, the only signifigant complaint I recall had to do with the serrations and the beating they took when he batonned with the knife (something Gerber has since addressed by releasing the "fine edge" version). All in all, it seems like a capable knife for the outdoors & wilderness survival.

You are probably right. One could, most likely, get by well enough with either the BG or the LS knives. My gripe with both, though, is that I feel that neither of the blade designs are optimal for survival knives. I (personally)doubt that either BG or LS had anything to do with the designs, no matter what their "official" stance on the matter is.

Look at the grinds on the blades Mr. Ritter designed, for example. The grinds are very high, and flat for optimum cutting angle. Some grinds almost reach the blades' spines. There are no swedges or false cutting edges on the spines either. That's so A: one doesn't destroy their baton, and B: more energy from the swing goes into the object of the batonning, instead of into your baton being cut by the false edge.

The design of the BG and LS knives are more of a tactical design with a survival color scheme, IMHO. Like I said, either knife would probably do well enough, but purpose designed tools always perform better, and those (to me, at least) are not designed for the right purpose. YMMV. Oh, thanks for the links, BTW. Enjoyed watching the vids.