Overall Thoughts:
I want to start by saying I am by no means an expert in outdoor knives. I have gone camping countless times though, and my friend group is no exception to the rule of "If you go camping with the boys, bring a badass knife," and I typically do most of the cooking, so I have used plenty of outdoor blades. In my experience, this knife performs FAR better than any other non-kitchen knife I've ever tried. Truly an incomparable difference! Let's get into the details.
The upside of this knife is also the downside: It's truly made for outdoor use.
If you go into it with that expectation, it's a phenomenal tool. The shape falls just in between a kitchen knife and a machete, and it seems like it would feel equally effective cutting vines or widdling wood as it does chopping veggies. The size and weight feel confident and simply badass in hand. It's tough and thick enough to (probably) open a can without getting damaged, but let's not try it just to be safe. It comes in a really nice plastic sheath, which it clicks in and out of in a very satisfying way. It also comes with some kind of mounting supplies, which I didn't play with.
In regards to performance, I was only able to use it in my home, so I can only comment on how it peforms with food. The first thing I did when it arrived was cut a carrot, and it felt... fine. I'm not ashamed to admit that my most used knife at home is my Whustof 8" stainless. It's hard to beat that convenience for quick tasks, and this knife felt quite similar. I then tried it out on some onion and some softer veg like celery and cucumber. The weight allowed it to fall through those watery veggies nicely, but it did struggle tremendously on the onion. In fact, since I wanted a fine dice, I had to put it aside and finish with a thinner blade...
So this sounds like all downside for performance, right? No, absolutely not! As I said earlier, it's about expectations. Is anybody out there in the woods making brunoise onions for tomato sauce? Well, maybe some whackos
), but generally not. So I tried a different approach. I tried to act like I was cooking outdoors, and that was when the knife showed what it could do. The video I included shows me cutting a pineapple, which was an absolute joy. In fact, I picked up a few other knives afterward (saved half the pineapple for that purpose), and this thing really did hold its ground! It far outperformed my Whustof lol. I then rough chopped the other half of that onion, and while it still of course doesn't compare to your prized Japanese laser, it was more than sufficient to get the job done. I should mention that I have always had better luck with pull-cutting on thicker blades, so that's what I was primarily doing on the veg.
All of this, mind you, while still feeling tough and thick enough to truly be used in an outdoor setting. That's the real kicker for me. It is a blade that could literally be used to Indiana Jones your way through the jungle, then get back to camp and cook dinner.
Pros:
- Best performing non-kitchen knife I've used
- Tough enough for actual outdoor use
- Perfect size and shape
- Useable in many scenarios
Cons:
- For culinary applications, it's simply never gonna stack up against a nice chef knife
I've got it packed up and ready to send to
@Gshep91! Also attached a video of its current condition
And of course a huge thank you to
@blokey for hosting this, and always being a great presence in the community!
Pineapple Video: