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Pros: Weight, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Blade Material, Materials, Finish, Blade Sharpness
Cons: Sheath/Scabbard
Great Value Hunting/Survival Knife
For the price, this packs a lot of bang for the buck. The nice long grind will make for good slicing mechanics/field dressing/meat processing. Nice edge on blade, too. Drop point blade provides a nice strong point for penetration. I’m not Paul Bunyun, but, I have large hands (size 11 gloves), and I find the grip comfortable and secure, despite what some folks have reviewed. >>>>>>>>> The 14C28N stainless is comparable to 8Cr13Mov in carbon content, but has added nitrogen and phosphorus, which improves hardness (edge retention). Good chromium content (14%) should make this nicely corrosion resistant. This would make a nice hunting knife for wet and snowy environments, like Midwestern deer camps, Alaska, and Canadian/Pacific N.W. hunting trips, where your tool steels can quickly sprout a rust bloom. Diskin Hunter would make a good minimalist survival/camping /backpacking knife. Although, it may not be suited to chopping, and making a, ‘white-man’s fire,’ it could certainly handle batoning small branches for a cooking fire, and other med/light bush crafting duties. Specs are unavailable for the hardness achieved by Kershaw on the 14C28N stainless, but I suspect they didn’t take it to the extreme. I imagine it is about mid-range (HRC 57-59), keeping it, “field sharpen-able,” with a pocket stone, V-sharpener, or field expedient means (flat rock, leather belt, sand over a flattened log, etc.), which is another plus in my book. A nice fixed blade for your bug-home bag in the truck, where you may forget to oil it for a while, and don’t know what kind of weather you may face. >>>>>>> The sheath provided won’t cut it. I’ve had blades slice through too many of these un-reinforced leather sheaths with vigorous outdoor activity (once slicing my leg open). I may try a do-it-yourself Kydex sheath (available at KnifeCenter.com). They’re easy to make with a heat gun/hair dryer, and a great gateway into sheath making. >>>>>>>>>> This would make a nice hunting fixed blade for a young deer hunter. If they lose it, you’re not out a lot of dough. Give them some cut resistant gloves (available at KnifeCenter.com) and some supervision, and they’ll do just fine with this big blade. They have the rest of their life to discover what size/style hunting knives they prefer. You can be sure a teenage boy would be mighty impressed with this sleek hunter (I know the teenage boy in me is ; )
