Review of a Casström Woodsman

Last summer I had ordered a Casström Woodsman bushcraft knife. It being a design by Roger Harrington I had been sneaking around that knife for ages now. I had handled the old version,  which was made from O2 steel, almost a decade ago. Fact is,  I loved it then,  but also did not quite understand the concept. 

When Casström announced that they had launched a new version in Uddeholm Sleipner steel,  I decided to give it another try.  Now Sleipner is quite an interesting steel. http://localhost/en/products/uddeholm-sleipner/ is the spec sheet. More than 50% better resistance to abrasive wear than D2(1.2379), not that I would be too fond of D2,  but still. Also a finer edge possible,  and a lot more positive aspects. The steel is an allen of Iron, Manganese,  Molybdenum,  Silicium,  a wee bit of Chromium and so forth. Technically it is relatively stain resistant,  albeit no stainless steel. 

The blade is 88mm long and offers a rather thick spine at 3,9 mm, with a low slightly convex Scandi bevel. It is therefore possible to do food prep or slicey tasks,  but it is of course not optimal. The edge had a really microscopic microbevel and was able to split a fine hair out of the box. It was possible to shave your beard with it out of the box. The blade also offers a  90° really sharp spine. It is possible to use it for debarking branches or create fine resinwood shavings for fire starting. After almost a year of really hard work all it has needed was a leather strop. 

Rather thick spine,  you see... but it actually does the job of food prepping,  too,  if you cut at an angle. Batoning is obviously a cinch with it. 

The long handle also allows for more leverage when using it for mild chopping tasks. It is made from stabilized birch burr and really beautiful. It comes with a small,  but sturdy lanyard included. 

The sheath is absolutely stunning. When new,  retention was so high it was neigh on impossible to draw the knife,  which is a good thing. The seams are made with sturdy yellow twine,  the welt is good and thick. Even after half a year of wearing,  it still has some crisp to it. 

The belt loop accomodates standard common jeans belts,  but also military issue belts and is stitched and riveted in place. 

 All in all,  the knife does do most tasks exceedingly well. Edge retention is almost otherworldly,  and it gets really frightening sharp.  It really excels at most woodworking tasks involved in bushcraft,  and is also suitable for delicate carving in the woods. 

A classic bushcraft design with mythical edge retention and sharpness. As of today,  it is not exactly cheap. You pay up to 199,00 € , if you want a Firesteel. In my opinion, and you know I do not say that lightly,  I could have saved a lot of money had I bought it earlier. 

Btw,  also available in British bog oak... 😜If you can afford it,  buy one.  

But wait until you read my review on the SFK 10 Forester,  which is coming up soon...😜