$22 knife is field and stream 'Best Knife 2010'

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/gear/huntin

qjs

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/gear/hunting/2010/08/cold-steel-pendleton-lite-hunter

this will bring you straight to the article.
qjs

Anybody here own one?

Looks like a nice knife. But I prefer my "Best Knife of 1916" Marbles Woodcraft sheath knife, so I think I'll apply my $22 to the PLB I just bought. ;-)

I just ordered two of them based on the above article. If you go to the Cold Steel "Special Projects" website (no affiliation, just a long time customer) at ltspecpro.com, they are on sale now for $17.99. My order arrived in about three days. So far I have used them in the kitchen for various cooking/cutting chores and am very pleased. The knife is very lightweight (haven't weighed it yet so don't know the specific ounce count). The grip fits very well for me, with average size hands. It is amazingly sharp, and the blade shape goes through most meat an vegetables very easily. It is upswept from about two inches of straight edge, with somewhat of a clip on top that will be good for cleaning game and skinning (as it was designed for). The blade is a little short for use as a dedicated chef's knife, and a little wide as a paring knife, but gets the job done. I also own a CS Finn Bear that is in the same cheap/light category of knife that I also tested in the kitchen. So far I like the Light Hunter better. Complaint: the sheath is cheap crap if you're going to carry this on you on a regular basis, despite what the author of the article said. It's a piece of nylon folded over and stapled with cheap rivets. If this will sit in a bag or glove box, the sheath is just adequate. I will probably make my own sheaths out of kydex for these. I find the grip is slippery. It is simply just plastic molded around the tang of the knife. It has some texture molded in, but not enough. I will break out the woodburner and add some grip, at least to the top where my thumb rests. I have found the steel on the Finn Bear to be easy to clean and sharpen, but it does dull easily, especially if run through the dishwasher with other utensils. I expect the Light Hunter to do the same. Easy to touch up with a ceramic rod sharpener though. Overall: this knife and CS's other 416 Krupp steel inexpensive knives work well and are more knife than the price indicates, much like a Mora. Good buy.

Okay, I guess I'm the dissenting voice here.

Krupp 4116 is indeed a kitchen knife steel. I have the Canadian Belt Knife in 4116, and the kitchen is the only place I use it. It takes a nice edge, and loses it just as fast. I have an old Henckels steel and I can sharpen (not just realign) 4116 with that; it removes metal. That's how soft this steel is. 4116 in a bush knife? You've got to be kidding.

As for the author's claim that Krupp 4116 is vastly superior to plain old 440 stainless: in my opinion he's on crack.

Do yourself a favour and spend your money on a Mora Clipper or Allround. Vastly superior steel. You won't regret it.

YMMV.

Thanks very much for this.

How does the Mora stainless sharpen? Does a Mora come
in that blade pattern for skinning?

Krupp 4116 seems to be a similar composition to Victorinox stainless steel.

Victorinox steel is said to be similar in properties to 12C27. According to Victorinox (2008 Salesman's Brochure), their composition is:
C 0.48-0.60
Cr 13-15
Mo 0.50-0.80
V 0.15

Which is very similar, in fact almost identical. I guess that depends on the heat treatment that the knife blade is given and quality controls of the heat treatment.

It is possible to get laminated VG10/Damask knife with HRC of 60 for around $35. i.e. a much higher steel specification for kitchen/utilty knifes.

http://www.nisbets.co.uk/products/Produc...GroupCode=11707

I don't think much of the cold steels advertising strategy though;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lV9_5M1F9E

Seems like they could sell a few of these knifes to previous San Quentin vacationers or Spetsnaz wannabes.

I think you nailed it. It is called the Pendleton,
Oregon's east side state pen.

Always take the XXX of the year on any magazine with a bag of salt. I know for a fact the car of the year on automobile magazines are really "the manufacturer who bought most ads of the year".

As for cold steel, they always under harden their cheap knives, the kudu use 1.4116 too and some guy tested them to be around 50 HRC.

The Mora stainless sharpens quickly and easily. I would say it's very user-friendly in that regard.

The only Mora knives I've seen with the classic skinning pattern, the big deep belly and aggressively swept tip, are marketed in Canada under the 'Normark' brand; no doubt there are others.

FWIW, I can't claim to be The Mighty Hunter, but from what I've seen the skinning pattern blade is nicer to look at but not necessarily better in practice. I've helped my father skin many a deer with off-the-shelf Moras and never saw a problem. The trick (for me anyway) is to have a very coarse, almost sawtooth edge on the upswept tip; if I have a razor sharp edge, I keep nicking the hide. But there are others here who have much more experience in this sort of thing.

I can't think of too many situations that would require a hunter to skin a deer with a lightweight sheath knife. Certainly, you can field dress a deer with almost any knife.

The blade, sheath, and handle shapes used by Mora and other Scandinavian knifemakers are based on handmade knives used by Laplanders and Finns who lived on reindeer for centuries. If you were hunting with intent to process a deer yourself, you would have other knives and saws in your truck or back at camp specifically for filleting, boning, skinning, and meat cutting. Ontario knives makes some excellent and inexpensive walnut handled carbon steel fillet and butcher knives for under $9.00 for these purposes.

The beauty IMO of the Mora 840 Clippers that I own is light weight (3.7 oz with sheath and paracord lanyard - 107 gr.)low cost, and it's thin 2mm razor sharp carbon steel blade. The blade is thin enough to fillet fish in a pinch, but sturdy enough for meat or light field work such as rope and feather stick kindling. I also think the OD/black color looks great.

I carry one in my pack to supplement the larger sheath knife I carry on my belt, and another in my truck as a backup.

Is the tang strong enough for batoning?

I like to backcountry hunt and be able to fit the animal into
my pack. Having skinned a bear and a deer with an old Swedish
army knife, I found it tough to avoid poking holes in the hide.

I like the blade shape of the Pendleton. Just wondering if a
Mora comes in a similar pattern.

possibly better example of a Pendleton in use (not the lite hunter).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmoyCzoAJas

I don't hunt so I'm just posting these without comment. I've no idea if it means anything.

qjs

No, most Moras have a short tang.

It should be noted that even much larger knives can and do break under heavy batoning. This x-ray of Mora tangs came from a British forum.

Yep gotta watch it no matter what you use, I've seen quite a few broken full tangs include high quality knives like Bark River.

I'm pretty particular about the tang of a knife. My old style Tanto that I've had for years is full tang and so tough you could easily use the knife as a hammer.

I want something like that to be as close to indestructible as they can make it.

I do light batoning with mine (Mora 511). I make a point of stressing my field equipment a bit so I know the limitations.

I also believe batoning depends on proper application of force, avoiding as much as possible putting stress on the handle.

If and when it breaks I'll know more about that knifes limitations. I'll also have learned a bit more about batoning. My experience with that right now is rather limited, to say the least...

Named after original smith that designed, not the prison.....

From ColdSteel Website

Our president, Lynn Thompson bought the first knife that custom maker, Lloyd Pendleton ever made in 1973. Now the two friends have collaborated to produce two of Lloyd's most popular knives, we call them the Lloyd Pendleton Hunter and Mini Hunter.

Just came across this on the Ragweed Forge site. The #34 might be closer to your specs. Standard disclaimer: no affiliation.

http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html

Read this article on batoning. It shows that it is largely technique while batoning which breaks knives.

http://www.barkriverknives.com/docs/batoning.pdf

Wow, that's a very good article! Saved it to my hard drive.

Rats... it got "deep sixed" by my company's web surfing controls. I will have to log in from another computer.

That article is worth the trouble.

I don't do much batoning, but I try to employ the technique described in that article.