The site was kindly offered a handmade knife by professional knife maker: Mark Hill aka hillbill on the forum and I was kindly tasked with doing the review.
This was one review I'd been looking forward to for some time as I have seen marks work first hand before, I couldn't wait to get my hands on one and put it through its paces properly.
My bag was packed and it was time to head off into the woods to put the DPB-1 (Drop Point Blade) to the test.
Firstly lets start off with the specs:
As soon as I had found my spot, the knife got put to work. Now obviously a sharp knife cuts well, but I must emphasize just how well the DPB-1 cuts. It's like a hot knife through butter, Mark's got the grind bang on. It cuts deep and easy when your doing heavier work, but fine and thin when your doing more intricate applications.
It's hard to find a knife that excels in both categories of use and just to demonstrate just how sharp it was, I "purposely" (okay maybe not so purposely) slipped and nicked my thumb.
I used several different techniques of cutting to see how the knife "handled"; after all it's important that the knife is comfortable in the hand. If it isn't, you wont get on with it for very long. I found the knife perfectly weighted and it sat in the hand nicely.
I spent a long time looking the DPB-1 over very closely, It's immaculate and Marks workmanship is spot on. The knife is point perfect and finished to as high a standard as I have ever seen. The grain on the yew is stunning and oiled to just the right colour. I would have absolutely no qualms recommending him and his work.
The thing with a handmade knife as opposed to buying a mass produced product is that you can literally feel the work that has gone into it. You really do have no choice but to appreciate the knife and the quality of it. If the DPB-1 doesn't do it for you, he has a whole range of different styles which he offers, and as I said, if none of his "standard" knives take your fancy, then you can get a commission on something that does.
The leather sheath that came with the knife is bang on too, the stitching is perfect and the knife fits snugly into it. The colour came out great also.
Only one small imperfection, and that's a bit of discolouration on the side of the sheath.
This is pretty much un-noticeable though, I just like to be thorough.
If you haven't got a Mark Hill knife, get one! His work is top quality, you're sure to find one from his range that suits you, and if not get him to make you one from scratch (after all, the knife is more personal to you this way), using this knife put a smile on my face.
It has secured my opinion that I need to save up and get Mark to make me a knife to my specs. The knife got used pretty heavily this weekend and it's still as sharp as when I received it, it holds it's edge really well. It may have even changed my preference from stainless to carbon steel!
Many thanks to Mark for donating the knife for review, you can visit his site at the link below:
Security Check Required
This was one review I'd been looking forward to for some time as I have seen marks work first hand before, I couldn't wait to get my hands on one and put it through its paces properly.
My bag was packed and it was time to head off into the woods to put the DPB-1 (Drop Point Blade) to the test.
Firstly lets start off with the specs:
- 3mm 01 tool steel, Yew scales over black liners
- Brass pins / tubes
- 3.5" blade
- 8" total length
- Sheath from 3.5mm natural veg tanned leather
As soon as I had found my spot, the knife got put to work. Now obviously a sharp knife cuts well, but I must emphasize just how well the DPB-1 cuts. It's like a hot knife through butter, Mark's got the grind bang on. It cuts deep and easy when your doing heavier work, but fine and thin when your doing more intricate applications.
It's hard to find a knife that excels in both categories of use and just to demonstrate just how sharp it was, I "purposely" (okay maybe not so purposely) slipped and nicked my thumb.
I used several different techniques of cutting to see how the knife "handled"; after all it's important that the knife is comfortable in the hand. If it isn't, you wont get on with it for very long. I found the knife perfectly weighted and it sat in the hand nicely.
I spent a long time looking the DPB-1 over very closely, It's immaculate and Marks workmanship is spot on. The knife is point perfect and finished to as high a standard as I have ever seen. The grain on the yew is stunning and oiled to just the right colour. I would have absolutely no qualms recommending him and his work.
The thing with a handmade knife as opposed to buying a mass produced product is that you can literally feel the work that has gone into it. You really do have no choice but to appreciate the knife and the quality of it. If the DPB-1 doesn't do it for you, he has a whole range of different styles which he offers, and as I said, if none of his "standard" knives take your fancy, then you can get a commission on something that does.
The leather sheath that came with the knife is bang on too, the stitching is perfect and the knife fits snugly into it. The colour came out great also.
Only one small imperfection, and that's a bit of discolouration on the side of the sheath.
This is pretty much un-noticeable though, I just like to be thorough.
If you haven't got a Mark Hill knife, get one! His work is top quality, you're sure to find one from his range that suits you, and if not get him to make you one from scratch (after all, the knife is more personal to you this way), using this knife put a smile on my face.
It has secured my opinion that I need to save up and get Mark to make me a knife to my specs. The knife got used pretty heavily this weekend and it's still as sharp as when I received it, it holds it's edge really well. It may have even changed my preference from stainless to carbon steel!
Many thanks to Mark for donating the knife for review, you can visit his site at the link below:
Security Check Required
