new knife, XL nessmuk

[sunndog]

i mentioned on here a week or so ago that i was waiting for three blade blanks fron duncan chandler at dorset woodland blades...one of which was one of his XL camp nessmuk's in 3.5mm



well, while waiting patiently a full knife with the same blade came up second hand and i couldn't resist it

nice leather sheath with it too


the blade and handle shape are just how i thought they would be. the blade shape just feel "right" for a camp knife and the handle is good and long with enough grip for as many different chopping and carving holds as you could want

the only down side to this particular knife is it seems to have been handled for show rather than use. i must point out this knife was not handled by duncan. but by a professional none the less!


if you look, the scales are made from two different woods. i assumed these would be bonded together very well and be about as strong as a single piece. turns out the handle is made up of four seperate pieces of wood, the smaller piece being at the front only makes it worse
they are slightly loose. which showed up after only a coulple of swings to see how it chopped
very poor show IMO and its gonna get re-handled at some point


also i'm not 100% convinced by the grind on this knife. i feel a slightly thinner grind would serve it better all round



but having said all that. i'm still glad i bought it an its certainly more than capable of completing your average camp tasks with ease

even managed to get some weird optical illusions going on in those last two lol


all in all i this knife may well go through some changes but the blade shape and handle (scales not included) are just about perfect for me and the the knife sits happily somewhere between my favorite kukri and cut down tramontina camp knives



cheers.......adam

 

[hammockcamper]

Very, very nice mate... I've had very little experience with big sharps, might have to start having a look at one.

How does the fastening work, I assume its something to do with the shock-cord/popper bit on the sheath?

Probably best to take it off your belt before walking into tesco though!

 

[sunndog]

hi mate, a large camp knife seems to be a bit of a marmite, love or hate thing

personally i find them a great way to carry less tools and still be able to do most things you would generally do with a small knife, axe, and or saw
with this one tool today i was able to process the firewood and make the pot hanger easier than with a small knife and for less weight than a small axe
as for a saw.....well, i'v still not quite worked out why everyone seems to carry one all the time lol


the way i look at it, in this country on a short break. unless its the dead of winter or you're building natural shelters an axe isnt strictly needed, and unless you plan on a lot of carving or some such then niether is a small fixed blade....but you still want/need to do a bit of wood chopping and carving so a large camp knife fits the bill nicely for me



anyway i digress, the sheath is fully closed as normal at the tip, upto the rivet on the back of the blade side. after that its open exept for the little fold over clasp.
normally i always like a drop in type sheath that deep enough to not need any type of fastner. but i must admit i quite like this leather one. the knife wont just fall out with the clasp undone either


i'll still probably end up making my usual camp knife sheath for it though...which is the old olive green issue golock sheath opened out so the whole knife drops inside


......adam

 

[Matt]

that looks awesome mate

 

[sunndog]

Small update on this.


As I said before I wasn't completely happy with the 30deg grind on this knife so today I put a convex grind on it, varying the angles at the tip, belly, and choil for different tasks ...It now cuts, chops, and slices like a brazen bast**d
Well happy with it, now it's the knife I wanted and an instant favorite


Duncan did comment on the grind saying he thought anything finer would be too easily damaged. My use for a camp knife is not ultra heavy duty cross battoning through 8 inch logs so it will be absolutely fine for me


To be fair, if he's selling a knife advertised in this way

Then it should be tough enough for actual users to do it too if they really feel the need


He is also doing a new 10 inch nessmuk......One of those in 5 mm would give my favorite kukri a run for its money as a heavy chopper, hmmmm lol

 

[greenbear]

That's a nice looking piece of kit Adam

 

[sunndog]

Cheers mate, I'm really chuffed with it now. The blade and handle shape were great all along and now iv reground it to my preference it's become properly integrated into my main kit rather sort of sitting on the sidelines looking in lol

My parang blade blank should be with me in a week or so too, so that'll be up on here as soon as it arrives

 

[TinkyPete]

I have one of FYGT's large Nessies and I handled it my self. I really like it and at the minute this is my main goto knife which I use alongside my neck knife and a folder (of some type). mine is the flandi grind with the secondary bevel now convex and it slices and cuts great. Really happy with mine.

 

[sunndog]

nice one, got a pic of it by any chance?


tyis one may get rehandled at some point. my original plan was to handle the nessie, parang and small DSP to match....i'll see how i feel when i'v done the other two i reckon

 

[elliott92]

veeeeeeeeeeeeeery nice mate