May 2017 - TACTICAL REVIEWS

Knife Review: Morakniv Kansbol with Multi-Mount

30 May, 2017

Released along with Morakniv’s Garberg and Eldris models, this knife is actually an update of their classic and very popular ‘2000’ Hunting knife. Headlined as Morakniv’s “Primary All Round Knife” – meet Kansbol.

The Blade and Handle Geometry:

Most knife specifications have a basic description of the blade geometry, but in this section I will be taking a more detailed look at geometry and balance.

Using a set of gauges and precision measuring equipment including a Vernier protractor, callipers, fixed radius gauges and the unique Arc Master adjustable radius gauge (the one that looks like a crossbow).

These measurements have been tabulated and are presented along with a few reference blades (8″ Chef’s Knife, 5.5″ Santoku and the popular Fällkniven F1).

Key aspects such as the primary bevel angle, grind type, blade depth, blade thickness, length, weight are detailed, along with balance information.

The ‘Balance relative to the front of the handle’ tells you if the knife will feel front heavy, or if the weight is in your hand (a positive value means the weight is forward of the front of the handle). The ‘Balance relative to the centre of the handle’ indicates how close to a ‘neutral balance’ the knife has in the hand.

In the case of full convex grinds the approximate centre of the grind is used for the primary bevel angle estimate.

The blade is made from 2.5mm Swedish stainless steel 12C27.

Explained by the Maker:

The reasons for certain design choices may not be clear when simply looking at an object, so this section is intended to give an insight into the thinking behind a design by speaking to the designer themselves.

Unfortunately I can’t always get time with the designer so will use this section to include relevant information about the knife and its designer.

This is an interview by Tactical Reviews with ‘Head of Production’ at Morakniv, Thomas Eriksson, from IWA 2017.
The discussion includes how the factory edge is created, maintained and also includes micro-bevels and zero-grinds. It is 16 minutes long, so you might want to come back to this after reading the rest of the review.

Video Edited with – Cyberlink Director Suite 5 (PowerDirector 15 and AudioDirector 7)
Camera – Panasonic HC-V770 Microphone – Tonor TN120308BL and/or Takstar SGC-598

A few more details:

As with the recently reviewed Garberg the Kansbol has a standard , and Multi-Mount version. As before, the standard version shows the knife on the front of the box, and the Mulit-Mount version, the knife in its sheath and mount.

Starting with the standard version, out of the box, the belt loop is not locked into place.

You can see the proudly displayed ‘1891’ (the date when it all started for Morakniv).

The belt loop can easily be removed if you would like to use the click-lock sheath on its own. (Click-lock is a system where lugs in the sheath click into corresponding depressions in the middle of the handle to securely hold the knife in the sheath, even when worn round the neck.)

For normal belt mounting, just push the belt loop all the way to the top until it clicks into place. Once fitted to your belt, you can pop the sheath out of the belt-loop ring leaving the belt loop on your belt so you can stow the knife elsewhere.

Immediately distinctive, even within the Morakniv range, the dual-grind all-round blade of the Kansbol.

The spine has been ground to have sharp corners for striking sparks from ferrocerium rods.

With its Scandi-grind, thanks to the additional profiling that thins the front section of blade, it gives the blade a very different appearance to the standard Scandi-grind blade we are used to.

Much like the Garberg, the Kansbol has the symmetrical handle that allows for forward or reverse grips, but the Kansbol also has a TPE (a rubbery polymer) coating over the polypropylene handle core.

Next up is the Multi-Mount version. In the box, all the components are slotted together.

Included are the plastic holster, a belt loop, a locking strap, three hook and loop straps and the multi-mount itself.

The simplest configuration you can use the Multi-Mount, is to have the bare sheath held in the mount with a hook and loop strap. The click-lock of the sheath keeps the knife in place.

For total security, the locking strap can be added.

Turning the Multi-Mount over, you can see how the locking strap is fed through the mount and will keep everything in place even if the hook and loop strap failed.

What it is like to use?

Morakniv are extremely good at making comfortable knives, and though the Kansbol’s handle is not shaped in the way the Companion and Bushcraft models are, you can work with it for hours on end. The handle is a size that will work well for almost anyone (I take XL size gloves), and in line with many of the other Morakniv knives, the blade length is easy to wield for all those every day tasks.

As you would expect, the Scandi-grind of the Kansbol takes all things wood related in its stride. What is not shown here is the fact that the additional profiling of the forward section of the blade makes it well suited to many tasks a standard Scandi-grind blade is not. This includes food preparation, and game preparation where the slimmer blade cuts deeply much more easily.

Before jumping to the Multi-Mount, something to mention about the belt loop, is that thanks to its click-fit to the sheath, you can easily remove the sheath from the loop, and stow the knife in you pack, leaving just the loop on your belt.
In the Garberg review, I showed the Multi-Mount fitted to the back of the rear seats of my car. As the Multi-Mount is so versatile and opens up so many options, there are far too many to show, but to illustrate just one, in this case I’ve used the hook and loop straps to fit it to a walking stick.

I’ve been appreciating how useful it is to have the knife to hand like this, but in the UK this is really only suitable in more rural areas where the sight of a working tool does not cause distress to anyone.

Although the Kansbol will work hard, I’d not choose to be batoning with it too much. Given its proper place as a general purpose knife, it does this job fantastically well. Hopefully by re-launching this knife blade (from the ‘2000’ model), Morakniv will bring the benefits of the profiled blade more into the limelight.

Tactical Reviews – Review Summary

The views expressed in this summary table are from the point of view of the reviewer’s personal use. I am not a member of the armed forces and cannot comment on its use beyond a cutting tool or field/hunting knife.

Something that might be a ‘pro’ for one user can be a ‘con’ for another, so the comments are categorised based on my requirements. You should consider all points and if they could be beneficial to you.

_______________________________________________	_______________________________________________
Things I like	What doesn’t work so well for me
_______________________________________________	_______________________________________________
Additional blade profiling makes this an excellent all-rounder.	Considering the high value for money of this knife, adding anything in this column would be simply for the sake of it. In true terms there really isn’t anything to knock this down on.
Tough and lightweight.
Flexible mounting options.
Ambidextrous.
Comfortable for extended use.

Discussing the Review:

The ideal place to discuss this reviews is on a forum. If you started reading the shorter forum version of the review, but followed the link this full exclusive review, please return to that forum to discuss the review there.
If you read the review entirely on Tactical Reviews, please consider one of the following to join in any discussion.

EdgeMatters – Sponsored Reviews (UK based Forum for Knife Makers and Collectors)

BladeForums – Knife Reviews (US based Forum for Knife Discussion)

CandlePowerForums – Knife Reviews Section (Largest and Friendliest Flashlight Community Forum)

Gear Review: Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker (Sharpener)

15 May, 2017

Spyderco’s Tri-Angle Sharpmaker is a surprisingly versatile sharpening system (based on the V-sharpener concept), designed to be simple to use, and make it easy to maintain a consistent sharpening angle.

The details:

Let’s dive into the details and talk about it more in the next section.

The Tri-Angle Sharpmaker arrives in a combined cardboard/blister pack.

Included with the Sharpmaker is a set of instructions and an instructional DVD.

Breaking out all the parts, we have a lid to keep all the components in place, a base plate with various shaped holes, four high alumina ceramic stones/rods (a pair of brown/grey medium grit, and a pair of white fine grit) and very importantly two brass safety guard rods.

The FIRST thing you should do is to fit the guard rods (for whichever angle you are working to). Notice how the lid fits over the base at a halfway point to act as a handle.

These guard rods angle back over the user’s hand to prevent stray sharpening strokes testing the edge on your hand. This is all the more important for experienced users as they tend to work faster and with less care.

Just in case you forget – ‘USE SAFETY GUARDS’.

The two types of stone included with the Sharpmaker (shown here in perfectly clean and unused condition).

So why are those holes the shape they are? It’s all very clever actually. The Tri-Angle Sharpmaker, comes with …. yes, tri-angular stones. The stones also have a groove in them for hooks and other pointed objects.
This means we have three different working surfaces on the stones, the flat side, a pointed corner, and the groove. Here we have the stone fitted into the base so that we use the flat surface.

Now, taking the stone out and rotating it, it can be fitted back into the base with the corner as the working surface.

Lastly the grooved flat surface is presented for working with. All with one hole that holds the stone at the correct angle.

Here we are, fully assembled with ‘stage one’ sharpening (the coarsest arrangement) and on the 40 degree inclusive angle.

What it is like to use?

Some of my most used sharpening stones are a set of Spyderco pocket stones, so I know how well the Spyderco ceramic stones perform. However, once you start using diamond stones they can seem a little slow, especially on some of the super-steels.

Though not strictly a guided system, I’m going to consider it one to mention the very specific benefit of these systems, which even people with considerable sharpening experience should not dismiss. Quite simply, guided systems help reduce the amount of steel you need to remove to restore an edge. This means that as well as making the sharpening process easier for everyone, it also makes it more efficient. You only remove as much steel as is needed which prolongs the life of the blade and makes sharpening quicker.

With the triangular stones, this is one of the few systems that can sharpen serrations, and is also happy working on hawksbill and recurve blades. To understand fully why, we need only look at the four ‘grades’ of sharpening that are achieved from the two stones.

In order, from most coarse to finest, we have these configurations of the stones:

1. Brown/Grey stone Corners – Coarse edge reshaping
2. Brown/Grey stone Flats – Producing a utility edge (how Spyderco say that most new knives come)
3. White stone Corners – To achieve ‘butcher’ sharp.
4. White stone Flats – for the finest razor edge.

The Sharpmaker base also has two sets of holes which give an inclusive angle of 30 degrees or 40 degrees. In the design of the Sharpmaker, the 30 degree angle is primarily intended to be used for creating a ‘back bevel’ (to thin out the edge). Though some knives might be sharpened to this 30 degree angle, the 40 degree angle is considered by Spyderco to be the best compromise for most blades.

Serrations can be sharpened thanks to the corners of the stones, meaning steps 1 and 3 can be used. Spyderco recommend that only the step three (white stone corners) is used, as step one is a bit too aggressive. Serrations need a slightly different technique, as generally they are formed with a single bevel (chisel) grind. In this case you work only on one side for three or four strokes, then use a single stroke on the other side to remove the burr that forms.

For flexible blades, you only use the corners (steps 1 and 3) as it is difficult to keep the edge sitting on the flat surfaces.

Having covered some of the theory, let’s get back to looking at the way you use the Sharpmaker. Here is a knife in mid-stroke having started at the plunge/ricasso and being draw down and backwards towards the tip, to run the entire edge over the stone on one side.

Looking directly from behind the knife, this is the critical aspect for the Sharpmaker – you keep the blade held vertically at all times, the stone angle is then determined by the Sharpmaker. Visually, keeping the blade vertical is the easiest position to judge, much easier than any other angle.

Having given one side of the blade a stroke, swap to the other side. Then just keep alternating sides for each stroke. Once you have given each side 20 strokes, you can move to the next stone configuration, refining the edge each time.

MAKE SURE YOU USE THE SAFETY GUARDS – Can’t stress this enough. I’ve hit them several times during the testing for this review, and would have cut my hand if I had not fitted them.

In one end of the Sharpmaker is another hole for a stone, this time using only one stone at a much lower angle. With a single stone mounted in this position you can sharpen scissors in the same way as you sharpen a knife. Keeping the scissors vertical and stroking the blade across the stone. To take off the burr on scissors you need to use the other stone like a file and lay it onto the blade flat. Doing this will give you a better burr removal than just closing the scissors.

Also included in the design are two bench-stone options. Using the top channels in the base gives you a wide stone surface for large blades.

Flipping the base over and it has two grooves that are close together for sharpening smaller tools like chisels.

I’ve already mentioned a couple of characteristics of the Sharpmaker that become quite relevant to start with. Especially compared to diamond, the ceramic stones are not the fastest cutters, and add to this a design that helps keep the overall removal of metal to a minimum by maintaining the angle, and you get a sharpener that can be hard work if you need to reprofile a steep edge angle.

(NOTE: When new, the brown/grey stones have a slight glaze that initially slows the cutting down. This glaze will wear through after a few sharpening sessions, but you can rub the two new stones together to speed this up and improve the cutting performance sooner.)

When starting to use the Sharpmaker, your bevel might not be at 40 degrees, so you can use the marker pen test to see if your bevel angle matches the Sharpmaker. If your initial bevel angle is less than 40 degrees, then you can just touch up the very edge and you don’t need to fully reprofile. Here the remnants of the marker pen are visible where the stones have taken off the ink from the full edge bevel itself. If you find the 40 degree stone angle is only working on the back bevel you are going to need to reprofile.

This knife which had a badly damaged edge (from being thrown in with the rest of the washing up) has been restored by running through all four stages and then tested with some thermal receipt paper which simply fell apart on the edge.

As mentioned above, most sharpening systems actually improve with use, and it was during this session of sharpening a set of sewing scissors that the stones of the Sharpmaker really developed some bite. The difference is significant and you can feel the stones cutting much more aggressively than when new. Perhaps more so than with knives, the process of keeping the blade vertical and drawing it across the stone makes it so easy to sharpen scissors. It only took around 20 minutes in total to get all of these scissors cutting beautifully.

Not only is the Sharpmaker simple to use, it is simple to transport and set up. The ceramic stones are used dry so there is no oil/water mess while working, and you use normal kitchen/bathroom cleaning products to clean the stones when clogged. I take it with me to friends and family and into the office kitchen to touch up the edged casualties and give them new life.

The Tri-Angle Sharpmaker is NOT just a knife sharpener and I recommend you watch the Spyderco videos that show just how versatile this sharpener is.

Spyderco Sharpmaker – Introduction (1 of 4)

Spyderco Sharpmaker – Part 2 of 4

Spyderco Sharpmaker – Part 3 of 4

Spyderco Sharpmaker – Part 4 of 4

Review Summary

_______________________________________________	_______________________________________________
Things I like	What doesn’t work so well for me
_______________________________________________	_______________________________________________
Very easy to use – just keep the knife blade vertical.	Can be a bit slow, especially on harder steels.
Extremely Portable.	Initially requires reprofiling the edge to 40 degrees.
Hugely versatile sharpener for almost any cutting tool.	Only two bevel angles available.
Ceramic stones need no oil or water in use and are easy to clean.
Minimum metal removal lengthens blade life.

Discussing the Review:

The ideal place to discuss this reviews is on a forum. If you started reading the shorter forum version of the review, but followed the link this full exclusive review, please return to that forum to discuss the review there.
If you read the review entirely on Tactical Reviews, please consider one of the following to join in any discussion.

EdgeMatters – Sponsored Reviews (UK based Forum for Knife Makers and Collectors)

BladeForums – Knife Reviews (US based Forum for Knife Discussion)

CandlePowerForums – Knife Reviews Section (Largest and Friendliest Flashlight Community Forum)

Knife Review: Morakniv Garberg with Leather Sheath and Multi-Mount

5 May, 2017

Morakniv have released their first (long awaited) full tang knife, the Garberg. Dedicated Morakniv users have been asking for a full tang knife, as they want a hard-use version of the much loved Companion.

The Blade and Handle Geometry:

Most knife specifications have a basic description of the blade geometry, but in this section I will be taking a more detailed look at geometry and balance.

These measurements have been tabulated and are presented along with a few reference blades (8″ Chef’s Knife, 5.5″ Santoku and the popular Fällkniven F1).

Key aspects such as the primary bevel angle, grind type, blade depth, blade thickness, length, weight are detailed, along with balance information.

In the case of full convex grinds the approximate centre of the grind is used for the primary bevel angle estimate.

The blade is made from Swedish Stainless Steel (14C28N) steel.

Explained by the Maker:

Unfortunately I can’t always get time with the designer so will use this section to include relevant information about the knife and its designer.

This is an interview with ‘Head of Production’ at Morakniv, Thomas Eriksson, from IWA 2017.
The discussion includes how the factory edge is created, maintained and also includes micro-bevels and zero-grinds. It is 16 minutes long, so you might want to come back to this after reading the rest of the review.

Video Edited with – Cyberlink Director Suite 5 (PowerDirector 15 and AudioDirector 7)
Camera – Panasonic HC-V770 Microphone – Tonor TN120308BL and/or Takstar SGC-598

A few more details:

Morakniv did not stop at just making the Garberg full-tang. There are two versions of the Garberg available; one with a full flap leather sheath, and the other with Morakniv’s Mulit-Mount sheath system. The first to arrive at Tactical Reviews was the leather sheath.
The image on the front of the box for the leather sheath version just shows the knife. The Multi-Mount’s box shows the sheathed knife.

Straight out of the box the knife is hidden by the premium quality leather flap sheath. It is obvious straight away this is a very good quality sheath.

A close-up look at the press stud shows the attention to detail with the Morakniv logo embossed around the edges.

The stitching uses a heavy duty 1mm thread, cleanly punched though the 3mm leather and the welt.

On the back, the belt loop is made of the same thick leather as the rest of the sheath.

The top of the belt loop is fixed with two rivets, and the bottom with a single rivet.

Lifting the flap shows that the main sheath is a deep/full sheath.

At the top of the sheath opening, the stitching is complemented with a rivet to prevent the stitching at the top from being cut and unravelling the sheath.

And here we are, the Garberg.

Moving in close to the tip you can see the Scandi-grind and the polished cutting edge’s micro-bevel (see the video with Thomas Eriksson, from IWA 2017).

Unlike most of the Morakniv knives, the Garberg has a ricasso, and a nicely radiused Scandi-plunge-line.

With the Garberg being intended as a hard-use knife, the handle material is not just any plastic, it is a specially chosen extra-rugged Polyamide.

The full tang is exposed at the butt allowing for maximum strength and hammering without damaging the handle.

To make it ideal for use with ferrocerium rods, the spine has been ground to have sharp corners. The logo is laser engraved onto one of the blade flats.

This sharp edged spine extends the entire length to the tip.

Not long after, the multi-mount version arrived. Note the picture on the box shows the knife sheathed in the multi-mount instead of the knife on its own.

This time there are many more parts in the box. Included are the plastic holster, a basic belt loop, a locking strap, three hook and loop straps and the multi-mount itself.

Taking the most basic components, the knife and plastic sheath.

Your first mounting option is the belt loop. This loop is fixed to a plastic ring that slides up the sheath and clicks into place.

Next up is the locking-strap used to ensure the Garberg can’t come out of the sheath whatever angle it is mounted. This strap can be used with the multi-mount for the highest security (but not with the belt loop).

The locking strap is made of leather for maximum performance and durability.

The multi-mount has many holes and slots to give you a great many fixing options, from screw holes to MOLLE/PALS.

A hook and loop strap is used to hold the sheath in the multi-mount. The locking strap also threads through part of the multi-mount so will keep the sheath securely in the multi-mount even if the hook and loop strap fails. You can also use cable ties in place of the hook and loop straps for a more permanent fixing.

What it is like to use?

To start to understand where the Garberg fits in, in terms of how it feels to use, let’s start by looking at in alongside the Companion and Bushcraft Black.

Immediately obvious is the Garberg’s symmetrical handle. This is not an accident, the Garberg’s handle has been specifically designed to allow it to be held in a forward or reverse grip for greater versatility. Overall it is no bigger than the Bushcraft model, but does feel much more solid. The extra weight of the full tang gives the knife a very different feel, even though the blade stock is the same at 3.2mm.
The line of the spine is very similar to the Bushcraft, but the blade of the Garberg has more belly which adds a little more forward weight and reduces the tip angle. We’ll get onto more of it ‘in use’ a little later.

Just looking at the two versions of the Garberg, how do you choose between them?

Clearly the knives are identical, so it all comes down to the way you want to carry it. For belt carry it has to be the leather sheath every time. This is a hard wearing and comfortable sheath and simply won’t let you down. Traditional materials that have proven themselves ideal for the task have been used, and Morakniv have not scrimped on this, using only premium 3mm thick leather.
The multi-mount covers just about any other carry option and even has a belt loop suitable for occasional use.

Following the huge success of the Companion and other Morakniv knives, the Garberg is an ideal all-round size. A comfortable size and weight which is up to as much work as you would ever really want to put a knife to. Any more blade length starts to bring you into chopping territory and reduced agility for finer tasks, any less and you start to lose wood processing ability.

Out into its natural habitat.

Batoning can be carried out with no concerns at all thanks to the full tang. The sharp edged blade spine gives good grip on the baton, but it does mean the baton gets chewed up faster. The only reason this strike did not go all the way through in one hit, is that I didn’t want to cut into the limb I was resting it on.

You would barely notice that I had been batoning away with this for nearly an hour, apart from a slight smear of sap there is not a mark on it.

Possible mounting locations for the Multi-Mount are so numerous, I’ll just leave you to think of a few yourself, but here is where the Multi-Mount Garberg is currently residing.
In this photo I’ve pushed the rear seats of my car forward slightly to make it easier to photograph. Amongst a few other bits of kit the Multi-Mount is held onto the seat back with the hook part of the large hook and loop straps. Make sure you leave room to lift the knife out of the sheath.

In this instance mounting it horizontally resulted in the mount gradually working its way downward due to bumps in the road slowly splitting the hook fastner away from the seat back. Mounted vertically this doesn’t happen. The main downside I see to the Multi-Mount is that it is mainly suited to permanent or semi-permanent mounting and may be slow to move to another location or bag.

Throughout the heavy workout I gave the Garberg, there was no evidence of edge chipping or rolling, so it looks like Morakniv have got the hardness and toughness just right. I’m happy to give this a hard time, much more so than the half tang models.

Review Summary

_______________________________________________	_______________________________________________
Things I like	What doesn’t work so well for me
_______________________________________________	_______________________________________________
Knife – Full tang making this the most robust Morakniv knife.	Knife – Thick blade less suited to fine work and food preparation.
Knife – 3.2mm blade stock gives very high strength.
Knife – Scandi grind well suited to wood processing.
Knife – Symmetrical handle allows for a variety of grip options.
Leather sheath – High quality construction.	Leather sheath – Flap can slow down re-sheathing.
Leather sheath – Hard wearing 3mm leather used throughout.
Multi-Mount – Incredibly versatile mounting solution.	Multi-Mount – Mainly suited to permanent mounting and can be slow to relocate.
Multi-Mount – The system also includes a standard belt hanger.

Discussing the Review:

The ideal place to discuss this reviews is on a forum. If you started reading the shorter forum version of the review, but followed the link this full exclusive review, please return to that forum to discuss the review there.
If you read the review entirely on Tactical Reviews, please consider one of the following to join in any discussion.

EdgeMatters – Sponsored Reviews (UK based Forum for Knife Makers and Collectors)

BladeForums – Knife Reviews (US based Forum for Knife Discussion)

CandlePowerForums – Knife Reviews Section (Largest and Friendliest Flashlight Community Forum)

Month: May 2017

Knife Review: Morakniv Kansbol with Multi-Mount

The Blade and Handle Geometry:

Explained by the Maker:

A few more details:

What it is like to use?

Tactical Reviews – Review Summary

Discussing the Review:

Gear Review: Spyderco Tri-Angle Sharpmaker (Sharpener)

The details:

What it is like to use?

Review Summary

Discussing the Review:

Knife Review: Morakniv Garberg with Leather Sheath and Multi-Mount

The Blade and Handle Geometry:

Explained by the Maker:

A few more details:

What it is like to use?

Review Summary

Discussing the Review:

tacticalreviews

tacticalreviews