Survivors: other knives you like

Very interesting that you posted this because I started digging around last night on YouTube looking for field usages and reviews. Since this model and other Lionsteel products are European, you will find many, many reviews in other languages such as German, Swedish and Russian which are hard to understand for me other than viewing the action and also reading some of the user comments made in English. I am going to digress a little bit in here and say as to how much I really appreciate living in the U.S. (I'm an English speaking Euro transplant something that many do not know!) because we are so spoiled by having easier access to fine makers such as Nathan and Survive! so that we can choose to be more picky and "snooty" about our knives rather than "settling" for say 1095 steels and so forth... Like I said, I digressed!

Anyway lo and behold I came across this video by a Russian guy which had English subtitles and this guy apparently has been doing very, very hard "use" (let's say abuse) reviews of many knife models. If you have watched some of Guy's past videos and some of Nathan's videos, you get an idea as to what I am referring to! So at one point toward the end of the review of the Knife Research Legion model, this reviewer is furiously banging on the stock with a hammer (metal on metal) while batoning into a securely clamped 2 x 4 treated wood. All of a sudden, the steel fatigues, started to shed shards and then boom! it cracks and splits from atop the fuller where he was banging backwards through to where the handle guard was. Done for! After reading the English viewer comments, I came to the consensus that the blame was more directed at the inferior HT (purportedly less than 60 HRC, say 58-59ish although the official retailer stats show as supposedly 60 HRC) plus the erroneous location of the fuller groove. The reviewer was going to send the knife back to Lionsteel for some research and determination but I was spent and did not follow any more to find out if there was anything else on this matter.

Summary: I will not be pursuing the Legion model, although I can never fathom such hard usage by yours truly! That said, although I aesthetically like a fuller groove, after reading Nathan's comments and opinion over there on the CPK sub forum regarding as to how a properly implemented fuller groove not only saves some weight but also actually strengthens the structural integrity of a blade, I will henceforth put my full trust in what and how Nathan does it on his version of the CPK camp / survival knife. I did not come across any questioning or doubt about the Sleipner steel so in my conclusion if someone is interested in the Lionsteel's iteration of a 6.5" or so camp / hiking knife, the M7 which effectively was a Legion update, upgrade and replacement (Knife Research also has Enki models which are similar) would seemingly be a better option. At this point, I'm out and I will just wait and try my luck / take my chances with landing the future CPK and/or Survive! 7/7 :)
Isn't it funny how one bad review or one failure can leave such a long lasting impression on us!? Even though most of us will never even come close to the stress put on these blades it is still disheartening
 
^^^ Absolutely. But like I had stated, we are sooo lucky to be sooo picky and choosy ;)
 
I'm a little​ lost about what exactly is being discussed in the last couple pages, so I'm useless as usual. I've had my eyes on an Adventure Sworn Mountaineer for a couple years, with a great amount of trepidation. An AS is as close as I've ever come to a grail knife to me. Showed up today, I love how it feels but it's going to have to really step up to be worth its gravitas.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
^^^ for the capricious one occupying the bleacher section: the convo started with the Lionsteel's Molletta design camp knife AKA the M7 which some of our forum buds own and one which I was interested in about a year ago. Then I started going at a tangent and brought up its "other brother by the same father" the Legion model by Knife Research which I think is a Lionsteel subsidiary, offshoot, whatevs! Both knives use the Uddeholm Industries Sleipner steel. The discussion was about the feasibility of the M7 as an alternative camp knife to those who are big fans of CPKs and GSOs.

Now back to the regularly scheduled programming :)
 
How about Hultafors knives?
 
^^^ Hi friend, just for full disclosure I did not mean to insinuate that our European brethren did not make good / great knives, but was merely trying to convey that we here in the U.S. are indeed blessed with many options with easier access than those in other parts of the World. Because we buy in our own currency and also do not have to endure much in terms of shipping costs (in many cases retail vendors ship for free) and any import taxes, that onto itself gives us tremendous value with our own domestic makers / suppliers. I never meant to disparage any European maker!

All that said, the Europeans and the Japanese plus some Chinese (where the plants are owned by Americans / Europeans) make very good and competitive products and last but not least, many knives are designed to merit usage in their own immediate indigenous environments. I can think of reasons as to why Fallkeniven would merit usage over many other makes up there in the Swedish wilderness as opposed to the jungles of South America!
 
Just popping in quick to again clarify for folks, Knife Research was a company founded by Molletta's friend to produce Molletta's knife designs for the general public. Lion Steel picked up Molletta's designs and Knife Research closed down. They are all Molletta-designed knives, just transferred from one company to another (indeed, I once read that LionSteel was the actual manufacturer of the Knife Research models, but could not find evidence to corroborate that and can no longer find the site where I read it).

Molletta is occasionally active on BF, you can find his posts and profile via the search function and can even ask him about any updates such as which designs Lion Steel may next be producing for him.
 
Thank you for that input Chiral.

Molletta seems to be most active on the Lionsteel sub forum and from what I have gathered he's a super friendly person by informatively (despite the language barrier at times) answering questions addressed at him regarding his designs. Once a while, I have also noticed that he posts some of his knives in the WTS section of the Exchanges. Regarding the video on YT which I had mentioned which lead to the demise of the Legion under some extreme use, he may very well have his own conclusions to refute or even to rebuke the use under those circumstances and questioning of the properly applied HT (by some commenters).

I was just trying to keep this place warm and lively by being the typical troublemaker that I am :p
 
Just popping in quick to again clarify for folks, Knife Research was a company founded by Molletta's friend to produce Molletta's knife designs for the general public. Lion Steel picked up Molletta's designs and Knife Research closed down. They are all Molletta-designed knives, just transferred from one company to another (indeed, I once read that LionSteel was the actual manufacturer of the Knife Research models, but could not find evidence to corroborate that and can no longer find the site where I read it).



Molletta is occasionally active on BF, you can find his posts and profile via the search function and can even ask him about any updates such as which designs Lion Steel may next be producing for him.

I project knives for my experimental use and for Lionsteel. Years a go KR wanted produce knives from Lionsteel and I project some knives for KR.
KR was not a sub Lionsteel or my firm. Was an indipendent firm now out of busines.

Legion was produced also without fuller.

Here a post from that version from a user.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...GION-pics-from-a-2-week-camping-trip-in-Italy
 
Man they make a pretty knife!

Having not read Grog's entire post before, at first glance I thought that he added yet another Fiddleback Forge knife to his armor! But yes, it sure is very purdy plus seems like it will slice through the leather Grog's working on.
 
I project knives for my experimental use and for Lionsteel. Years a go KR wanted produce knives from Lionsteel and I project some knives for KR.
KR was not a sub Lionsteel or my firm. Was an indipendent firm now out of busines.

Legion was produced also without fuller.

Here a post from that version from a user.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...GION-pics-from-a-2-week-camping-trip-in-Italy

Thank you, sir, for the clarification! :thumbup: You design excellent knives.
 
I project knives for my experimental use and for Lionsteel. Years a go KR wanted produce knives from Lionsteel and I project some knives for KR.
KR was not a sub Lionsteel or my firm. Was an indipendent firm now out of busines.

Legion was produced also without fuller.

Here a post from that version from a user.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...GION-pics-from-a-2-week-camping-trip-in-Italy

One of my favorite aspects of Bladeforums is getting to interact directly with celebrities of the knife industry. Thank you for the information!
 
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