Knives and Tools

Recent Knife/Tool Reviews

Gerber Curve

Wonderful product, well-made. Worked reliably for many years. Full review

Estwing Leather Sportsman's Axe

Well-built little hatchet.             OK, so first off I must say that this review is from Australia, so pricing and types of wood encountered are very different to a USA-based review. Firstly, as it is fully imported from the US the little Estwing here sells for just over AUD$100.   The second thing to bear in mind is a thing called the janka hardness scale, an international scale that determines the hardness of any timber globally.  Interestingly the number one spot is held by a native… Full review

Opinel No. 6 Folding Knife

Lightweight with a well designed blade shape for camp kitchen preparing food. My first Opinel knife I acquired I think was a number 7 from from REI in 1975. It had a pear wood handle and was a great tool. I lost it some 10 years later...  Last year my wife signed me up with Bespoke and in one of the boxes showed up a number 8. A good knife too for the same uses. Full review

Opinel No. 6 Folding Knife

I was introduced to Opinel knives in 1991, and I have been using them ever since—on three continents. Great addition to the pack—alongside my Swiss Army knife of course. Great addition to a well-equipped backpack. Full review

Opinel No. 6 Folding Knife

Light, small, tough, and available. The blade you may find you need, at a price you definitely can afford. A simple design—one sharp, thin (1mm), pointy blade, which folds into a thinly finished beech handle. A chromed, spring steel lock ring, at the riveted pivot point, is a wonderful low-tech way to keep the knife open-or closed—until you change your mind. Available in many lengths; the seven centimetre blade works, for me. It weighs a negligible 27 grammes . If your daily life involves building… Full review

ESEE Knives Junglas

The flagship of all Esee knives. The only knife you really need to do everything in the outdoors. This knife will do big and small knife tasks equally well. If you're interested in an Esee product, this is the one you want first. I've worked this knife hard for about 6-7 years now. It is a do-it-all knife sized machete. You can chop with it, cook with it, carve with it, cut rope, clean fish, baton, scrape bark you name it and the Junglas can do it. It's got a very interesting high saber grind that… Full review

Morakniv Kansbol

Marginal performance in the field and nothing special. I'm a sucker for reviews and finally bought a Mora knife. I use a lot of knives and test them pretty hard. I have read and watched countless videos about Mora for over a decade now. This new Kansbol was supposedly the best bushcraft knife according to everyone rating these online at the time. Well, after playing with this toy, I found it absolutely useless and drastically overpriced for what you get. I just don't get the Mora hype. Mora knives… Full review

KA-BAR Becker Companion BK2

Most useless knife I've ever owned. I have owned and tested a lot of knives in the field and I really don't get the love for this model. I think people with little experience buy this and then give it 5 stars. Just look at the pics, the knives look unused. Nobody that used a knife daily could actually like this. Maybe they just like being hard on themselves trying to make this ridiculous knife perform? I just simply cannot believe the positive reviews. I bought into the Amazon rating hype many years… Full review

Ontario Knife Company SP-1 Combat Knife

Best knife for the money. A one and done survival, combat, and camping knife. This knife does not get enough credit in the outdoors industry. This is simply the best do-it-all camping/survival knife made for the price. In my pursuit for knife perfection, I spent a lot of money testing everything popular on the market. I have some really great knives as a result, but were they really that much better? No. When you're looking for bomb proof and high value it's definitely the venerable SP1. Unlike… Full review