I got both the Condor Kephart and the OKC field knife,both great knives,convexed both edges and swapped sheaths Very happy with both blades,also have the esse 4hm and I find the first 2 much better for camp tasks Great review
I've had mine for over a year. It was my go to knife and lived in my pack until my wife borrowed it... Now it lives in her pack. :-). I prefer this to all my Beckers and Schrades. It feels almost surgical. Thin, light and ergonomic. Thanks for the review Aaron!
Great review. I've used this knife from skinning/gutting 2 deer now, scaling fish, carving, opening cans of chili (not recommended) as well as primitive crafts (arrows/bow builds). So far I rate 4 outta five stars! Only complaint is the sheath, lacing came apart and I repaired it. Stitching started unravel from trails, brush grabbing the sheath.Beyond that a simple design, straight forward, and its a work horse. Solid knife.
finally I have been waiting for someone cool like yourself to do a review on this knife, I have been eyeing this one as well. great video, keep up the good work
Ontario knife company is hands down the hardest knife company to beat for value for the money, i like this knife design with that long handle, it's now in my az wishlist lol
have you had any issues with the tip,the blade bending or edge retention?I heard that the lower Rockwell on those thinner 5160 blade was not wonderful. I'm looking to buy this knife and here in Canada they cost a little more,so i try to be careful with my money.Thanks
I have never had a problem with the edge and I've put this knife through hell and back I love this knife and would recommend it to anyone who wants to bushcraft
WOW! Aaron, I haven't seen you this excited for a knife in a long time, and I see why! OKC knives seem to take a back seat to the K-Bars ( I own one of each) and I never understood why. This new Bush knife has it all! Great review, Aaron!
I received mine last week complete with fat Ontario edge lol. Yours may have had a heat treat fluke. Mine was typical 5160 and a few short minutes on a 400 diamond stone, then Arkansas, then strop and it cuts through space and time effortlessly! Quick and easy job. Now I'll find out how well the edge holds up. Seems like a great knife so far.
I've had this knife for about 2 years or so now. I absolutely love it. Mine came shaving sharp. I've recently discovered that they have 2 others in this line, a smaller one & a larger chopper. Given how much I like this one, I definitely plan on adding them to my collection. While I like the sheath it comes with I do want to eventually get a leather sheath for it. I thought about kydex but feel the look of this knife would go better with leather.
I see there is confusion on here about what he said. It's not a soft steel but instead 5160 steel. That is steel that cuts other steel. This is why he said it was so hard and time consuming to reprofile the blade edge. I love OKC knives and they come sharp. How sharp you want a knife is a personal preference. Some knives I want to be utility sharp (slice paper test) while others need to be super sharp. The profile of the blades flat grind should be super sharp in my opinion so that's why he sharpened it to his tastes. When it comes to knives and steels used I always look for 5160 first and then D2 second. Just my preference.
I really like your knife review channel but I feel like there could be more here. What are the knives made of? How are they made? Who makes them? Is this steel free range, gluten free, non-GMO?
Aaron, next time you redo, reprofile an edge can you show how you did it? I can't find a vid anywhere showing how to change an edges angle and I "think" I know what to do but I've never seen it done so I don't "know" if I do. I've looked everywhere, even old forum discussions and that did nothing but confuse me. Thanks.
Good review. I have had about enough of factory edges that need to be re-profiled. Glad you brought that to light. Going to nix this one off the short list.
All my knives are convex grind because of the sharpener I use. It seems to be doing the same jobs as the scandi grind ones. But my wood here is different. It's mostly dry bamboo
Say Heah Aaron, In snowy weather I like a stainless, Yeah, My Blackbird SK-5 is very close to this knife. But in colder weather where we're processing alot of wood and building up shelters and so on, I like my Ranger T. F. I. same steel but a 1/4" thick, But I Vexed the edge and its just what I was hoping for. Yeah, I teamed it with my Gen2 SP-53 and I really like this combo. I also have the Ranger Afghan and the Ranger RD-9 both in the 5160 also and Orange G-10 handles that preformed marvelously on one trip where a sudden storm got us moving fast and batoning through a knarly log was bent where I thought the RD-9 was ruined, I'm proud to say I'm still using that set and it's going strong. The moral of my post, O. K. C. makes a decent knife in the 5160. Yeah I recommend this knife, Thanx for sharing it. F. Y. I. did you know the 52100 is a similar steel but with more carbon, That's why I like my go to's.
Aaron Hey I’m very interested in the smaller Bushcraft utility. I’m hung up between the BK16 or the OKC Bushcraft utility. It will be a backpack, camping and skinning knife for deer. What’s your opinion?
I have one of these knives and love it. And I agree with the edge detail of it being to small and needing a reprofile but that is it's only negative and really is not that big of a deal. Ontario makes great knives for a great price.
The Rockwell scale measures Hardness. So actually a lower Rockwell rating on good strong steel like 5160 means it is not as brittle as the same steel in a higher rating. So it will bend instead of break. As far as toughness and difficulty in sharpening I would agree with your thoughts on it, lower Rockwell rating would make it easier to sharpen and less likely to hold the edge as long.
id say out of the box it does have more going for it but the sheaths for a bk16 and a OKC are both of very close comparable quality i have a bk16 fully customized and a blackbird sk5 if comparing them i would take the sheaths out of the combination because they are imho equal value also do not really like that felt crap they put in okc knife sheaths it stops any rattle but never put ur knife away before its really really clean... and then yea this ones handles are nicer so for 10 bucks more id say it would win but id replace both sheaths if using them as my main go to knife and yea i am with u on the full flat grind for a main knife if u want a scandi bring a tiny mora 106 and use it as a neck knife or something for those fine tiny carving tasks. great video as always keep up the good work your videos have helped me pick a few of the nicer knives i own.
seems to slide in some gaps that other knives like this are missing, I like the simple handle. Sheath should be leather though if they are trying to give a real traditional feel. otherwise just go micarta and kydex imo. smooth video brother, take care
I totally agree about the relief edge, I have a SK-5 Blackbird Noir by Ontario and let me tell you, try to reprofile 154cm, a nightmare! Never again. I got the knife mostly squared away but I have marked Ontario off my list for future knives. Ka-bar, ESEE, and Condor would be better in my opinion concerning the edge out of box. Thanks for the review-
Everyone seems to be saying that, I must not have been clear. Just because a steel is softer doesn't always equal it's easier to sharpen. It also has to do with the heat treatments and other things done at the factory with the steel. Bottom line, I don't have the same issue with higher Rockwell 5160 from other companies like Buck and tops when it comes to reprofiling the edge hope that makes sense.
gideonstactical I don't question you experience. Other things must enter into account, (blade geometry? angle? quantity of metal to remove? abrasive wear?) since when I temper my blades, for the same piece of steel the hotter (=softer) means the easier to sharpen/reprofile, and this consistently...
I love this knife, I use it on my land and around the house. Yesterday I was scraping though vines of the stone (natural) wall of my house, I worked a couple of hours with it while pushing the knive under the vines, cutting the roots that were growing on the wall and using it a little bit as a crow bar, lifting the vines of the wall. The knife is a little bit dull, but no damage on the edge to spot. And I did hear scraping quiet a lot. Looking at my knife every now and then, it was not the knife cracked, but the stone or vines :) I am lucky buying it some years ago, mine has the 5160 high carbon steel. Nowadays Ontario changed it for 420HC steel, which I think is a stupid choice. Just going after Buck to enlarge the selling numbers probably. I have a 420HC knife and the edge retention doesn't come near the 5160 steel of my field knife. If I had worked with that knife like I did yesterday with the field knife I could have put it with the garbage.
We ordered a few of these for the knife store that I work at and we were pretty stoked for them to come in finally but they came in yesterday and we were all disappointed. It seems like they tried to do a chisel grind but in the middle of that they said screw it and attempted to sharpen the other side but the edge on the opposing side only covers half the blade and the scales are very misaligned and it was really just a let down sadly
I bought this knife after watching this video 7 years ago. Other than adding a kydex sheath, I’ve done nothing but keep it sharp. Hard to believe Ontario Knife Company is now, no more.
Question: I'm not a expert on different blade types and what they do in Bushcrafting so I like the idea of Scandi because it seems old school Viking capable and think and can be re-edged for 2nd grind. what are Scandi factual draw backs other than "I'm just not a Scandi kind of guy" kind of limited obscure POV sounding answer. Thank you Sir in advance
I like the knife, it's food for thought. I kind have been leaning toward the smaller bushcraft knives. If I ever do go camping again I like to widdle with my swiss knife and make faces one my walking sticks and have the car like close to the campsite, so not sure if I would need it, though I like the American Made aspect and price point. Thanx for bringing it to my attention. Excellent review as always.
I find the handle on this a bit to small. not the length or thickness but the depth. I have to squeeze it too much to feel like I have good control and my hand gets tired. Still haven't got the edge profile quite right on mine. But do agree it is a good value
Haven't given it enough use to make a strong statement about edge holding. Processing small game it could definitely handle, more knife than you need for that but it is easy enough to handle to do it.
I like the looks of that blade. Great looking handles on there too. I hear you on that secondary grind. Give me something so I can create feather sticks. That said if it's not there I'll put it on. Just nice when it comes that way. Overall I really like the way that blade looks. Great video.
Thanks brother! It definitely stands out from the crowd & at a good price. I have had that grind issue on several OKC blades made with their 5160. Hope they change it at the factory.
Gideon, I think you got some wrong information about the HRC scale The Rockwell hardness is the result of the heat treatment. Generally, a lower HRC means a softer blade meaning less-edge retention but easy to sharpen. A higher HRC means more edge retention and harder to sharpen. But note that every steel has a sweet spot and that sweet spot will be awesome at everything a knife must do.... Nice review gotta say that is one good looking knife
Right the low Rockwell and whatever heat treat they are doing makes all of OKC 5160 steel blades very tough and hold a good edge for that steel, but very hard to reprofile. Compared to TOPS knives 5160 or Buck 5160 which have higher rockwells, they are easier to work with but tend to chip out and aren't as tough.
I'm betting thats because OKC Stuff is heat treated in a vacuum chamber while a lot of tops stuff and buck are usually heat treated with a propane torch to make that differential hardness factor. Also 5160 from OKC usually have bigger and more carbides compared to 5160 from buck and Tops which is also one reason why OKC 5160 is harder to sharpen
Thanks for an excellent review as always Aaron. I think I raised this point in the past, comparing the BK16 to other options, but what about the SCHF42 and SCHF42D? Even with custom micarta scales from GKC Outfitters, the price is right at or below this OKC Bushcrafter, and there is no reprofiling of the edge needed. Same full flat grind, excellent steel and heat treatment, low friction anti-corrosion coating, excellent leather sheath. And honestly, custom scales aren't really necessary for better purchase on the handle. $2 worth of hockey tape solves that problem. Any way you slice it (sorry) the Schrades seem like a better deal to me.
Great review, that is definitely a sweet knife. Do you plan on doing a review of the Tops Knives Brakimo? I'm interested in it, but there aren't many reviews on it.
I have said for a long time that i like full flats better then scandis.Its easier to to do finer tasks with them in my opinion.I might have to check this knife out to review it on my channel
+gideons tactical just went and bought one for myself should be coming in a week i'd like to thank you for this review because without it i would have bought a condor swamp romper because of the price but when i saw a flat grind bushcraft knife i was very excited so I went and bought also another reason i bought this was because of the blade length. Thanks Brother - Trevor
Nice review! I've been considering a bark river knife. What do you think about them since they have a convex grind? How can I get a Gideons Tactical moral patch?
53-55hrc is soft as butter. Gransfors bruks run their axes at 57hrc. Low hrc combined with basic steel should make re-profiling easy. Given 5160 inherent toughness I would expect it to be run minimum 58hrc, preferably over 60 but not many cheaper knives do. Buck 420hc with their heattreat would be better. Strength and toughness are not interchangeable. This knife would not be strong-relating to deformation to the edge from high pressure. Very tough; sudden forces exerted on the knife such as lateral loading. In general more strength comes at cost of toughness in same steel class.
The lower hardness should make it easier to reprofile. Toughness has nothing to do with that, it's wear resistance that matters when reprofiling. At 53-55 hrc it would be much easier to grind than at 58-60 hrc.
Ok Gideon, I am usually on par with the things you say but ya lost me on this one. Or maybe I was asleep in class when discussing Rockwell hardness. I thought a lower Rockwell meant softer steel. You are saying, lower Rockwell, so harder to sharpen? I don't know, maybe it's just how you said it or how I heard it (mentioning the steel just before the Rockwell hardness). Thanks for your review of a product I haven't heard from lately (OKC).
Maybe I miss spoke. It is tough. In my experience, just became the Rockwell is low doesn't me it easy to sharpen. Example, buck 420hc Rockwell 59 super easy to get a razor edge or to reprofile, but gerber 420hc Rockwell 55-57 is harder to get a razor edge on and reprofile. Same thing with this 5160 for OKC.
I got mora garberg and this ontario bush field. The mora scrapes wood like a champ. This less so. But it slices better. I think garberg is good woodcraft. This is too but not as good but better with slicing so i say if hunting and skinning the ontario is better with the longer blade and the flat grind. The mora just peels off wood like a master. So i would say just woodcraft then garberg if hunting and cutting and slicing animals then the ontario.
I know what you mean, it's not gummy, it is harder to resharpen and reprofile then my 1095 blades or my 5160 blades for TOPS or Buck. Take it for what it is worth.
Happy to see OKC still has the reprofiling issue. I told them a couple of years back and they wouldn't want to listen. Good steel with a bullshit relief edge equals still bullshit. I would go straight up to esee 6, get some scales and call it a day.
There is an actual reason ontario sharpens their blades so blunt, as they are marketed as "survival", "fighting" blades, which in real use need a blunter edge so you don't destroy edge to easily using it as mentioned. You can always take steel off edge, you cannot add steel to edge. And for me it's great as I reprofile it to my needs and likes. And I will take a handful of my TOPS over Esee, Becker, Ontario for fit and finish, prefer their 1095alloy as well(similar to Becker 1095covan)perfect differentially heat treated blades, better sheaths. But they all have a place in my collection forever.
Its not great and the reason why they really do it is to save time on the belt sander, which is the most costly part in knife production. But keep telling yourself they make it blunter for survival, i digg that 😂
5160 at that rockwell is NOT going to be hard to sharpen. Shame that Ontario didnt use 1095 or 1075 so a spark can be thrown with a rock. The man who wrote the book "Bushcraft" recomended it do that task yet, so many makers leave that feature out.
love the old school look to the knife
I got both the Condor Kephart and the OKC field knife,both great knives,convexed both edges and swapped sheaths
Very happy with both blades,also have the esse 4hm and I find the first 2 much better for camp tasks
Great review
Got one. No edge issues. I did strop it after I got it but I do that to all of my knives. This is pretty much a Kephart design.
I've had mine for over a year. It was my go to knife and lived in my pack until my wife borrowed it... Now it lives in her pack. :-). I prefer this to all my Beckers and Schrades. It feels almost surgical. Thin, light and ergonomic. Thanks for the review Aaron!
No problem, glad to hear you have been enjoying it!
Great review. I've used this knife from skinning/gutting 2 deer now, scaling fish, carving, opening cans of chili (not recommended) as well as primitive crafts (arrows/bow builds). So far I rate 4 outta five stars! Only complaint is the sheath, lacing came apart and I repaired it. Stitching started unravel from trails, brush grabbing the sheath.Beyond that a simple design, straight forward, and its a work horse. Solid knife.
Thanks for your opinion, you are doing all the things I want to do with a knife
Reminds me of the sk5...Another great video A
Kinda looks like a kephart blend. I like it!
It kinda reminds me of the old Kephart knives . And the all American made knife and sheath makes it a no brain'r. Great review !
Aaron. Though I don't care for the knife, I came here for your great reviews. You are probably the best knife reviewer on UA-cam hands down. Thanks.
Really appreciate that my friend.
finally I have been waiting for someone cool like yourself to do a review on this knife, I have been eyeing this one as well. great video, keep up the good work
Thanks Dustin. Hope it helps.
Great video Gideon tactical 👍
I do really like the dark walnut handle.
Ontario knife company is hands down the hardest knife company to beat for value for the money, i like this knife design with that long handle, it's now in my az wishlist lol
Very cool
Arctic Gator Morakniv, then OKC.
I have this knife for two years now it's awesome
have you had any issues with the tip,the blade bending or edge retention?I heard that the lower Rockwell on those thinner 5160 blade was not wonderful. I'm looking to buy this knife and here in Canada they cost a little more,so i try to be careful with my money.Thanks
I have never had a problem with the edge and I've put this knife through hell and back I love this knife and would recommend it to anyone who wants to bushcraft
I absolutely love my Ontario Bushcraft Field knife. spot on review.
I'm curious. when you're not reviewing, and just on a personal fun trip out into the woods, what knives do you take? what are your go to blades?
WOW! Aaron, I haven't seen you this excited for a knife in a long time, and I see why! OKC knives seem to take a back seat to the K-Bars ( I own one of each) and I never understood why. This new Bush knife has it all!
Great review, Aaron!
It is a great out of the box blade.
You can definately get finer feather cuts on wood with this ontario and i like that. The mora gives less so. It gives thicker with the scandi grind.
For woodwork you want scandi grind. I love my BK16 but it totally sucks at whittling wood
I wish you could review the Sigma 3 Sigmora knife.
I received mine last week complete with fat Ontario edge lol. Yours may have had a heat treat fluke. Mine was typical 5160 and a few short minutes on a 400 diamond stone, then Arkansas, then strop and it cuts through space and time effortlessly! Quick and easy job. Now I'll find out how well the edge holds up. Seems like a great knife so far.
I've had this knife for about 2 years or so now. I absolutely love it. Mine came shaving sharp. I've recently discovered that they have 2 others in this line, a smaller one & a larger chopper. Given how much I like this one, I definitely plan on adding them to my collection. While I like the sheath it comes with I do want to eventually get a leather sheath for it. I thought about kydex but feel the look of this knife would go better with leather.
I agree that leather feel right for this one.
in what kind of leather sheat this knife would fit in... tnx
I see there is confusion on here about what he said. It's not a soft steel but instead 5160 steel. That is steel that cuts other steel. This is why he said it was so hard and time consuming to reprofile the blade edge. I love OKC knives and they come sharp. How sharp you want a knife is a personal preference. Some knives I want to be utility sharp (slice paper test) while others need to be super sharp. The profile of the blades flat grind should be super sharp in my opinion so that's why he sharpened it to his tastes. When it comes to knives and steels used I always look for 5160 first and then D2 second. Just my preference.
Check out the Woodsman. It's in 420 now and is a 9 inch blade and .25 in thick. Seems sweet.
I love this knife! I was waiting to find a good review on this knife. Great review like always
I really like your knife review channel but I feel like there could be more here. What are the knives made of? How are they made? Who makes them? Is this steel free range, gluten free, non-GMO?
Did you watch the video?
Lol.
I grew up using full flat grinds......the sabers and Sandi's are new to me in recent years.....love the old school look. ..... PAPA DUKES
Nice glad you like it!
Aaron, next time you redo, reprofile an edge can you show how you did it? I can't find a vid anywhere showing how to change an edges angle and I "think" I know what to do but I've never seen it done so I don't "know" if I do. I've looked everywhere, even old forum discussions and that did nothing but confuse me. Thanks.
This looks like a great knife. Thank you for the review.
Good review. I have had about enough of factory edges that need to be re-profiled. Glad you brought that to light. Going to nix this one off the short list.
All my knives are convex grind because of the sharpener I use. It seems to be doing the same jobs as the scandi grind ones. But my wood here is different. It's mostly dry bamboo
Sure looks like a Kephart style knife. That's where the old school look comes from. Condor makes one and it has Walnut handles as well.
Nice, good to know.
Say Heah Aaron, In snowy weather I like a stainless, Yeah, My Blackbird SK-5 is very close to this knife. But in colder weather where we're processing alot of wood and building up shelters and so on, I like my Ranger T. F. I. same steel but a 1/4" thick, But I Vexed the edge and its just what I was hoping for. Yeah, I teamed it with my Gen2 SP-53 and I really like this combo. I also have the Ranger Afghan and the Ranger RD-9 both in the 5160 also and Orange G-10 handles that preformed marvelously on one trip where a sudden storm got us moving fast and batoning through a knarly log was bent where I thought the RD-9 was ruined, I'm proud to say I'm still using that set and it's going strong. The moral of my post, O. K. C. makes a decent knife in the 5160. Yeah I recommend this knife, Thanx for sharing it. F. Y. I. did you know the 52100 is a similar steel but with more carbon, That's why I like my go to's.
Aaron
Hey I’m very interested in the smaller Bushcraft utility. I’m hung up between the BK16 or the OKC Bushcraft utility. It will be a backpack, camping and skinning knife for deer. What’s your opinion?
Any opinion between this and the Blackbird sk-5? I'm selling my scandi grind knife in favor of a flat grind.
I have one of these knives and love it. And I agree with the edge detail of it being to small and needing a reprofile but that is it's only negative and really is not that big of a deal. Ontario makes great knives for a great price.
I'm I missing something? Low Rockwell is tough? Should be softer
The Rockwell scale measures Hardness. So actually a lower Rockwell rating on good strong steel like 5160 means it is not as brittle as the same steel in a higher rating. So it will bend instead of break. As far as toughness and difficulty in sharpening I would agree with your thoughts on it, lower Rockwell rating would make it easier to sharpen and less likely to hold the edge as long.
id say out of the box it does have more going for it but the sheaths for a bk16 and a OKC are both of very close comparable quality i have a bk16 fully customized and a blackbird sk5 if comparing them i would take the sheaths out of the combination because they are imho equal value also do not really like that felt crap they put in okc knife sheaths it stops any rattle but never put ur knife away before its really really clean... and then yea this ones handles are nicer so for 10 bucks more id say it would win but id replace both sheaths if using them as my main go to knife and yea i am with u on the full flat grind for a main knife if u want a scandi bring a tiny mora 106 and use it as a neck knife or something for those fine tiny carving tasks. great video as always keep up the good work your videos have helped me pick a few of the nicer knives i own.
Aaron, how does this compare to the OKC Blackbird??
The Blackbird is way better.
The Blackbird is stainless...
seems to slide in some gaps that other knives like this are missing, I like the simple handle. Sheath should be leather though if they are trying to give a real traditional feel. otherwise just go micarta and kydex imo. smooth video brother, take care
Thanks my friend. Leather would have been better for the style of knife.
Love micarta and kydex, but definitely not for this design.
I totally agree about the relief edge, I have a SK-5 Blackbird Noir by Ontario and let me tell you, try to reprofile 154cm, a nightmare! Never again. I got the knife mostly squared away but I have marked Ontario off my list for future knives. Ka-bar, ESEE, and Condor would be better in my opinion concerning the edge out of box. Thanks for the review-
No problem, I hope they listen to that part of the review and fix that.
I was hoping you would review this one, thanks! I just didn't get what you said about hardness: a softer steel should be easier to sharpen, no?
Everyone seems to be saying that, I must not have been clear. Just because a steel is softer doesn't always equal it's easier to sharpen. It also has to do with the heat treatments and other things done at the factory with the steel. Bottom line, I don't have the same issue with higher Rockwell 5160 from other companies like Buck and tops when it comes to reprofiling the edge hope that makes sense.
gideonstactical I don't question you experience. Other things must enter into account, (blade geometry? angle? quantity of metal to remove? abrasive wear?) since when I temper my blades, for the same piece of steel the hotter (=softer) means the easier to sharpen/reprofile, and this consistently...
I love this knife, I use it on my land and around the house. Yesterday I was scraping though vines of the stone (natural) wall of my house, I worked a couple of hours with it while pushing the knive under the vines, cutting the roots that were growing on the wall and using it a little bit as a crow bar, lifting the vines of the wall. The knife is a little bit dull, but no damage on the edge to spot. And I did hear scraping quiet a lot. Looking at my knife every now and then, it was not the knife cracked, but the stone or vines :) I am lucky buying it some years ago, mine has the 5160 high carbon steel. Nowadays Ontario changed it for 420HC steel, which I think is a stupid choice. Just going after Buck to enlarge the selling numbers probably. I have a 420HC knife and the edge retention doesn't come near the 5160 steel of my field knife. If I had worked with that knife like I did yesterday with the field knife I could have put it with the garbage.
Do you have a video describing the types of grinds and how they are used for?
just look it up. dave canterbury has a video on them too.
just look it up. dave canterbury has a video on them too.
been looking at this 1 awhile to. thanks for a solid review. would u recommend this 1 over the blackbird sk-5?
How does a lower hardness equate to being harder to sharpen or re-profile? It seems there's some confusion between toughness and hardness.
Is there different scales for this knife the reason I’m asking is that I like this knife but I’m allergic to walnuts
Rouge-eastskier 😐
We ordered a few of these for the knife store that I work at and we were pretty stoked for them to come in finally but they came in yesterday and we were all disappointed. It seems like they tried to do a chisel grind but in the middle of that they said screw it and attempted to sharpen the other side but the edge on the opposing side only covers half the blade and the scales are very misaligned and it was really just a let down sadly
I bought this knife after watching this video 7 years ago. Other than adding a kydex sheath, I’ve done nothing but keep it sharp. Hard to believe Ontario Knife Company is now, no more.
Question: I'm not a expert on different blade types and what they do in Bushcrafting so I like the idea of Scandi because it seems old school Viking capable and think and can be re-edged for 2nd grind. what are Scandi factual draw backs other than "I'm just not a Scandi kind of guy" kind of limited obscure POV sounding answer.
Thank you Sir in advance
Great review but lower hrc usualy means softer material...more of a spring temper, easy to resharpen.
Exactly and especially in basic carbon steel.
I like the knife, it's food for thought. I kind have been leaning toward the smaller bushcraft knives. If I ever do go camping again I like to widdle with my swiss knife and make faces one my walking sticks and have the car like close to the campsite, so not sure if I would need it, though I like the American Made aspect and price point. Thanx for bringing it to my attention. Excellent review as always.
Glad to help, thanks for watching, it would be very good for those type of tasks.
I find the handle on this a bit to small. not the length or thickness but the depth. I have to squeeze it too much to feel like I have good control and my hand gets tired. Still haven't got the edge profile quite right on mine. But do agree it is a good value
Did you ever have issues with the blade or tip bending? Does it keep an edge well? Can it process small games,like rabbits and squirrels? Thanks
Haven't given it enough use to make a strong statement about edge holding. Processing small game it could definitely handle, more knife than you need for that but it is easy enough to handle to do it.
I was wondering, when you aren't doing your knife reviews and just going out for a camping trip, what are your go to knives?
I like the looks of that blade. Great looking handles on there too. I hear you on that secondary grind. Give me something so I can create feather sticks. That said if it's not there I'll put it on. Just nice when it comes that way. Overall I really like the way that blade looks. Great video.
Thanks brother! It definitely stands out from the crowd & at a good price. I have had that grind issue on several OKC blades made with their 5160. Hope they change it at the factory.
It's a cool blade, the only thing close IMO is the USA made K-BAR Mark 1 which comes in leather grip and sheath or Rubber grip and Kydex.
awesome video Aaron was wondering how it compares to the blackbird?
Have they listened to you about the grind since you made this video? Or is it the same still?
Gideon, I think you got some wrong information about the HRC scale The Rockwell hardness is the result of the heat treatment.
Generally, a lower HRC means a softer blade meaning less-edge retention but easy to sharpen. A higher HRC means more edge retention and harder to sharpen. But note that every steel has a sweet spot and that sweet spot will be awesome at everything a knife must do....
Nice review gotta say that is one good looking knife
Right the low Rockwell and whatever heat treat they are doing makes all of OKC 5160 steel blades very tough and hold a good edge for that steel, but very hard to reprofile. Compared to TOPS knives 5160 or Buck 5160 which have higher rockwells, they are easier to work with but tend to chip out and aren't as tough.
I'm betting thats because OKC Stuff is heat treated in a vacuum chamber while a lot of tops stuff and buck are usually heat treated with a propane torch to make that differential hardness factor.
Also 5160 from OKC usually have bigger and more carbides compared to 5160 from buck and Tops which is also one reason why OKC 5160 is harder to sharpen
Do you know when you're going to do your review of the bark river-dark timber Grizzly?
Oct. or Nov.
Your button up shirt looks super comfy, what kind is it? I know, way off topic.
5.11 tactical
Thanks for putting this review together. I was curious though, how did you reprofile the knife?
Why don't you try the bushcraft woodsman knife, its a quarter inch with a ffg, 9.5 inch blade with 5160 steel
Thanks for an excellent review as always Aaron.
I think I raised this point in the past, comparing the BK16 to other options, but what about the SCHF42 and SCHF42D? Even with custom micarta scales from GKC Outfitters, the price is right at or below this OKC Bushcrafter, and there is no reprofiling of the edge needed. Same full flat grind, excellent steel and heat treatment, low friction anti-corrosion coating, excellent leather sheath. And honestly, custom scales aren't really necessary for better purchase on the handle. $2 worth of hockey tape solves that problem. Any way you slice it (sorry) the Schrades seem like a better deal to me.
The schrades are great, but this will outperform them in all the smaller task. Thinner blade, just physics.
gideonstactical Fair point. There's no disputing the benefits of a thinner blade.
great video. another comparison would be the LTWright High carbon bushcraft, with the leather sheath it a little over $100
How would the bushcraft compare to the Ontario blackbird? The blackbird is a pinch more expensive but looks very similar. Thoughts anyone?
They are similar, I like the handle on this on a little more. More ergonomic and not as blocky.
It's an Ontario black bird with different handle material and steel it seems.
What degree reprofile did you do
I am not sure I free handed it. I usually do 17degees each side.
@gideonstactical OK I'm considering getting one or a buck 119 or the brahma tactical model
How does this compare with the Bk 62?
Great review, that is definitely a sweet knife. Do you plan on doing a review of the Tops Knives Brakimo? I'm interested in it, but there aren't many reviews on it.
I am wrapping up the testing and should have the review up in a few weeks.
gideonstactical Right on!
I have said for a long time that i like full flats better then scandis.Its easier to to do finer tasks with them in my opinion.I might have to check this knife out to review it on my channel
Right on!!
+gideons tactical just went and bought one for myself should be coming in a week i'd like to thank you for this review because without it i would have bought a condor swamp romper because of the price but when i saw a flat grind bushcraft knife i was very excited so I went and bought also another reason i bought this was because of the blade length. Thanks Brother
- Trevor
Good looking knife.
Thanks ! I've been waiting for a good review on this knife
Thanks for watching!
Why do you strip the coating off the BK16 blade?
I might choose the Buck Punk.
Have you seen the newest Cerberus model? It looks 100% schweet! I REALLY hope you get to review it.
JuandelaCruz001 I am testing it right now... and it is sick!
gideonstactical Hahaha! I somehow knew you would! We always liked the same designs since way back. God bless from the Philippines.
flying fish your gifted lol love your video as always I find it very educational. thinking I might want this knife now
Thanks so much, you won't be sorry.
I blued mine with gun blueing, it’s nice, razor sharp.
Isn't this the knife that won Field & Stream "Best of the Best" in 2014? They seemed to think the bevel was pretty good from factory.
It did, I can only tell you my experience.
Nice review! I've been considering a bark river knife. What do you think about them since they have a convex grind? How can I get a Gideons Tactical moral patch?
I like convex grinds you just need to know how to sharpen them. No patches yet.
If you've never played around with a convex ground knife, pick up an Opinel. They're very inexpensive, and great little knives.
I have a review on one
Ok thanks
I'm left handed, The sheath looks like it my be ambidextrous. Is it?
Fred Copper I have the Woodsman by OKC with the same sheath, and yes, it's right or left handed. Even the snap retention strap is adjustable.
Such a good looking knife compared to the scandi bush blade. Great review.
53-55hrc is soft as butter. Gransfors bruks run their axes at 57hrc. Low hrc combined with basic steel should make re-profiling easy. Given 5160 inherent toughness I would expect it to be run minimum 58hrc, preferably over 60 but not many cheaper knives do. Buck 420hc with their heattreat would be better. Strength and toughness are not interchangeable. This knife would not be strong-relating to deformation to the edge from high pressure. Very tough; sudden forces exerted on the knife such as lateral loading. In general more strength comes at cost of toughness in same steel class.
The lower hardness should make it easier to reprofile. Toughness has nothing to do with that, it's wear resistance that matters when reprofiling. At 53-55 hrc it would be much easier to grind than at 58-60 hrc.
Ok Gideon, I am usually on par with the things you say but ya lost me on this one. Or maybe I was asleep in class when discussing Rockwell hardness. I thought a lower Rockwell meant softer steel. You are saying, lower Rockwell, so harder to sharpen? I don't know, maybe it's just how you said it or how I heard it (mentioning the steel just before the Rockwell hardness). Thanks for your review of a product I haven't heard from lately (OKC).
Maybe I miss spoke. It is tough. In my experience, just became the Rockwell is low doesn't me it easy to sharpen. Example, buck 420hc Rockwell 59 super easy to get a razor edge or to reprofile, but gerber 420hc Rockwell 55-57 is harder to get a razor edge on and reprofile. Same thing with this 5160 for OKC.
gideonstactical Ok then! Thanks for the quick response, sir! Hope to see more reviews soon!
Speaking of Mora and Scandis: are we gonna see a Mora Garberg review?
Yes, late this year or early next.
I got mora garberg and this ontario bush field. The mora scrapes wood like a champ. This less so. But it slices better. I think garberg is good woodcraft. This is too but not as good but better with slicing so i say if hunting and skinning the ontario is better with the longer blade and the flat grind. The mora just peels off wood like a master. So i would say just woodcraft then garberg if hunting and cutting and slicing animals then the ontario.
I like it.
tuff dose not equal hard to sharpen .it sometimes means softer ps mabe gummier may seam hard to sharpen
I know what you mean, it's not gummy, it is harder to resharpen and reprofile then my 1095 blades or my 5160 blades for TOPS or Buck. Take it for what it is worth.
yup i understand btw thanks for the great vid bro god bless
Can’t think of a time when I would want a scandi…
Awesome!
huh??? I always want a Scandi.
awesome knife for the price and great vid as usual. too many knives, not enough money. decision, decisions. 😋
You got it so many choices.
Happy to see OKC still has the reprofiling issue. I told them a couple of years back and they wouldn't want to listen. Good steel with a bullshit relief edge equals still bullshit. I would go straight up to esee 6, get some scales and call it a day.
There is an actual reason ontario sharpens their blades so blunt, as they are marketed as "survival", "fighting" blades, which in real use need a blunter edge so you don't destroy edge to easily using it as mentioned. You can always take steel off edge, you cannot add steel to edge. And for me it's great as I reprofile it to my needs and likes. And I will take a handful of my TOPS over Esee, Becker, Ontario for fit and finish, prefer their 1095alloy as well(similar to Becker 1095covan)perfect differentially heat treated blades, better sheaths. But they all have a place in my collection forever.
Its not great and the reason why they really do it is to save time on the belt sander, which is the most costly part in knife production. But keep telling yourself they make it blunter for survival, i digg that 😂
It's like the Mora of flat grind.
I just bought the Ontario Bushcraft from Midway USA for $47.99. 7/29/18
5160 at that rockwell is NOT going to be hard to sharpen. Shame that Ontario didnt use 1095 or 1075 so a spark can be thrown with a rock. The man who wrote the book "Bushcraft" recomended it do that task yet, so many makers leave that feature out.
Full flat tends to roll
gr8 blade, tyfs
I'm not into scrandis either...lol