Carving challenge with a Mora Robust and some foul-mouthed sarcastic philosophy

Having some sort of container is not only practical and sometimes even beautiful, but can also make all the difference in the woods. You can collect water in it and even boil it in order to achieve a certain degree of disinfection. Not the same amount as in tap water, but hopefully keep at least some of it in your body.  And do not get me wrong: Modern people have no defence against E.Coli bacteria or some of the other bstds you can find in the creeks. So please do not try this at home. Your body is accustomed to drink Chloride- disinfected water. Boiling water will remove some of the ugly stuff in the water, but not microplastics or chemicals.  Anyway, you could even improvise a water filter that way, not a good or efficient one, but at least some kind of it.  

I usually use a tool kit for carving stuff like that, a drill wrench, several carving knives, spoon knives and an adze or axe. But of course it is really unrealistic that you have such a tool kit on you all the time.  

Enter the Mora Robust. Developed as a heavy duty work knife for carpenters and construction workers, it also has gained sort of a legendary status amongst bushcraft people and survivalists.  The shorter blade (around 85x3.2mm) offers a Scandinavian grind with the tiniest of micro bevels and a stick tang.  "A STICK TANG?!1!!1!!???", I hear you cry? Yes, a stick tang, but one that reaches nearly to the end of the handle. The culprit is that it consists of a glass- fibre reinforced plastic that is injection molded around the metal and offers almost the same tensile strength as mild steel. Of course I do have issues with plastic.  It simply should not exist, period.  But it does, and better a sustainable product that can be repaired and recycled than some flimsy shit from the webs.  Look here for an extreme test of the knife that can only be called mad:

https://youtu.be/fKlcBpKbAvM?si=rlKoqCWFK1HufZjW

This knife is designed to stand extreme abuse. I do not think it is pretty, but having worked as a construction worker, roof tiler, carpenter and landscaper myself I can safely say that pretty knives need an almost obscene amount of maintenance in such a setting. And, to get that right also, most of the most extreme abuse you can throw at a knife in "survival" (and you know my stance on this) is but children's play compared to what you do on a construction site. Cutting tar paper, construction bricks and interior plaster boards, opening cement bags, prying,, splitting wood, probing rotten beams, and opening bottles 😉 every day for seven to twelve hours is nothing you would do in a survival situation. The knife also has (sort of) a legal reason built in. It is designed as a work knife. If you wear work pants and boots which are well suited for the woods, and you forgot to lock the knife into a bag which locks into a bag which locks into a bag, reinforce it with spells and magical sorcery runes and put it into another lockable bag that locks into a biogazard container (because it is obviously the object that is dangerous, not individuals with criminal intent), chance is, your legal reason (i.e. your claim of innocence towards criminal intent) might even be accepted by the almighty authorities. Or maybe not, because workers and craftsmen tend to be on the poorer side of wealthy, and the law is possibly only enforced on the poorer people in Germany.  (Information-based opinion according to Art. 1 GG). If it would be confiscated, you also only lost 12-18€, and it isn't rare, so you could grumble to yourself and buy another. 

So, chance is, this knife might be a knife you have on your person somehow.  I suggest you keep it in your backpack and as inaccessible as possible, together with an obviously half-finished funny carving like a smiling wood spirit, some heart pendants or something like that. Yes, you got my meaning right.  And I do not tell you to be cheating.  I trust that no reader dropping by has any criminal intent at all, and that you are here for the special atmosphere of this Blog. There are other sites for the tactical crowd alright, and I think a lot of people are here because that is what you do with a knife anyway, namely carving stuff, being creative and prepping food.  It is not your fault one must suspect some sort of hysteria or even villainous intent in people, fellow human beings or politicians.  

That is how that challenge came to be. I honestly cheated a bit by using the saw on my Victorinox Farmer X Alox to cut a piece of birchwood. But the Vic is even more realistic to have on you in a situation where you need to improvise.  The Robust is faster in carving such a container, though, because you can use it like a chisel, too, which I would not recommend with any Slipjoint knife. 

Starting at the centre of the branch, I worked a recession into it. As I said, I also used the knife as a chisel. Fact is, with a different knife than this, you should not use a drilling motion or chiselling motion, but always a cutting movement, because both can damage the tip. Do not apply too much pressure, too.  You can easily hurt yourself or ruin your piece. Patience is key. 

Be it as it may, after about half an hour, I was able to have a #cuppatree from the branch.  You can also char the inside a bit to make it more durable. 

The knife is not the next big thing. It isn't exceptionally pretty or full of prestige.  But it is extremely sharp and durable and does everything you can possibly expect from a knife. It is also pretty cheap, but sustainably and responsibly made in Sweden. 

Actually there is no reason at all not to buy it.  It is also really great for every toolbox at home or at work, around the house and garden and even for harder kitchen tasks like splitting bone.  

Buy it, but do not forget those magical sorcery spells and runes and the biohazard vault to always lock it away.  Remember, knives kill people, not people kill people. 😜

Anyway, do have fun carving and making stuff, take care of yourself and your fellow human beings. It is possibly a culture war against everything non-profit we are faced with. Those are the death throes of the Terror Squid. 

They want to take the innocence from innocent people.  Things like love, care and resourcecefulness are the antithesis to their idea of society.  So they have to remove the assumption of innocence and spread discord. Do not let that happen. Do not even lose yourself in hatred against them. Lose yourself in good things.  In work in the garden, in carving good things and foraging and cooking healthy, hearty meals. 

Because this is human society, not some paper dragon brave new world. 

 

Looking for a bushcraft knife? - A brief review shootout

 Bushcraft knives have seen quite some development in the last years, and it seems a whole new species of knives is born. Believe me, it is not. A knife has to cut. Period. In some limited cases normally referred to as abusive use of a knife it also has to dig, chop, baton, and pry. Bushcraft knives tend to be constructed to do all that, and sometimes it seems they are more designed towards the abusive side of the work than the actual cutting. For instance, the famed Ray Mears design has a very low scandi grind bevel resulting in a cutting geometry that is more of a wedge, perfectly suited for batoning and surface whittling such as required in carving a spoon and such and also suited for skinning and prying apart animal pelvises, nothing wrong with this, but try delicate work with it and it will not work as well as a knife designed to cut.

One of my favourites, however, is this Hubertus prototype, a bit strangely tauted "revolutionary skinning knife". It has a blade out of 440C with a cryogenic heat treatment at a claimed 60 HRC, beautiful red liners under Micarta scales. It has a high flat grind, very slicey, and comes with a simple leather sheath for belt carry only.

 The blade´s not too thick at some 3,2 mm and the serrations and ergonomic handle contour make for a very comfy and secure grip. It measures at a sensible 85 mm EDC length. It has a lanyard hole for the obligatory pimping lanyard beads;-) we all love...

 Word: Not a knife for prying, and the handle could be a bit longer, but it cuts like a monster. It is a perfect little task knife for occasions when a larger knife simply isn´t necessary. Out of the box it came hair-splittingly sharp, and the edge retention is very well and I guess the claim of 60 HRC is well there. It is flexible enough, though, to take some abuse, too. It comes in at some 120,00€ if it ever sees production.

The next combo I have taken just for comparison purposes into the evaluation, and to do some myth busting. It´s one of the best ever combos for ´crafting, i.e. the Fällkniven F 1 with a laminate 420J2/VG10 blade, the WM - 1 with a solid VG-10 blade and the Victorinox Swiss Tool, famed for being the only tool with which you can drive nails into a solid concrete wall;-) (a separate review will follow). Those three are a combination not leaving want for anything. BUT! Nowadays those two Fällkniven knives alone sell for roundabout 250-300€. Both are razor sharp and dead reliable and closing the gap between prybar and cutter with an acceptable compromise, but the prize is, as we will see, a bummer.

 The Boker Colubris I have reviewed some time ago already. It cuts well, nothing to be ashamed of for sure, albeit not so very slicey, and, due to its heft, can even double for a small chopper. The wide blade makes it suitable for digging for roots also, and it can take quite a beating due to the stonewash finish which makes minor scratches practically invisible. The blade is 440C with a standard tempering at about 58-59 HRC. The g-10 handle can be used to drive nails into a wooden wall;-), it´s that durable. The thick blade 6mm x 109mm inspires confidence. It sells at 69,00€.

 The Colubris sheath fits well, but has one minor flaw. Kydex is a thermoplastic material which looses fit over time when carried in a warm environment. The belt lock in a horizontal position (scout carry mode) allows the handle to point slightly downwards, which makes it slightly easier to draw. When the Kydex loses fit, however, it COULD be possible that you lose the blade. Also, the heft of the blade does not make for a comfortable carry when using thinner belts. A 50 mm belt is close to mandatory, but, hey, this knife´s not made to be carried when wearing a suit and tie;-). It certainly is a knife for the big boys out there...;-).

Last but in no way least is the prize-breaker combo of this review. A Mora craftline High Q Carbon Robust and a Mora laminate carving knife. The big ´un measures in at a healthy 115mm x 3 mm with a good Kraton handle over a hard plastic inlay, which is that hard you can easily crack nuts with it. The sheath is very interesting in that another sheath can be attached to the button in front. The hole in the sheath of the little carver fits into it. The carving knife has a high carbon steel blade, 59 x 2,3 mm long and thick, with a stainless steel ferrule and a birch handle. The tang goes all the way through the handle and is fixed with a rustic but time - proven clamp in the handle. This duo is an eye opener, in that the big knife costs 11,49€ and the small one 17 €. I use those two very much. Both can stand up to day- in day- out abuse for years. They cut extremely well, and the big one prys and batons and begs for more. Both come hairpoppingly sharp out of the box.

All in all I can say that from a merely functional point of view alone there is no reason to spend more than 12€ for a serviceable bushcraft knife. The Fällkniven, Hubertus and Boker knives are good and even great knives, but their performance is easily matched by the Moras. Of course, they lack image and ambiente, and it is not always all about function, so if you want a bit more fascination, just go ahead and buy those other knives. I did, and I do not even regret it.

But if we are honest, what is it that we need? Indigenous cultures do not entertain this attitude. They love their tools and lovingly repair them when they are damaged. We rant on survival and whatnot when all we might be doing is a nice stroll around the local woods practicing some skills to our leisure. It is a hobby. In, say central Amazonas, Papua, Africa or Siberia those skills are not just a hobby you practice at your leisure, but a necessity to if not survive, then at least live better. The individuals relying on knives over there would chose the Moras, if they would at all buy anything. More realistic is they´d make their own from saw blades or even traffic signs.

Now this post is not about spoiling anyone´s joy at collecting knives or leisurely practicing some rewilding. This is maybe even more crucial than the everyday routine of some indigenous backlwoodsman or -woman, for we have to change, and the bushcraft hobby shows us a path we can enjoy, and thusly, love, and thusly use to change our individual life to hopefully get a new perspective on our Western society. But do not be sad if you cannot afford those "blingbling" knives everyone raves about in the forums. Buy a Mora, as accomplished backwoodsmen and boy scouts do for ages, or browse the garage sales and flea markets, or, better yet, roll your own.