Bk2 or Garberg?

I want to second the Mora Robust but I'd also suggest the Companion or Companion Heavy Duty. They are all a fraction of the cost of the Garberg. They don't have the Garberg's full tang but unless you are an absolute hard knotty wood baton junky you won't ever break a Mora short of the skinny little Mora Basics. The Basics will do pretty much anything but baton. The Robust is only available in carbon steel but the Companions I'm pretty sure are available in either stainless or carbon steel.

If you want a good laugh at a healthy dose clown jokes along with some interesting testing, look up DBK on YouTube to witness the torture they have dished out on Mora knives. Their humor isn't for everyone, but you can't deny their testing results.

Side note, they later found the Jaakaripuukko 85 to be the superior option through more torture testing. Yes I had to look up, copy, and paste how you spell that.
 
I have the Bk2 and have kept it for very specific and very unlikely survival situations.
If a wall collapses and I have to cut though it. If it floods and I have to cut through to my roof. If I had to make a shelter out of corrugated iron.

That sort of nonsense.

And then tend more towards the skrama which chops better.

For basically any sort of natural materials, opening packets, cutting rope, making food. I use a much lighter knife.
 
Superjock said:
Anyone want to talk me out of, or into selling my BK2 and getting a Mora Garberg instead? Not even entirely sure how to sell knives locally. I did try kijiji (Iā€™m in Newfoundland Canada).
I donā€™t do any intense bushcrafting but I do have a great interest in it and hope to get into it more some day. I was thinking the BK2 is just a little overkill, even though itā€™s a great hunk of metal. Also thinking the Garberg would be nicer to carry because itā€™s lighter.
Opinions?
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Maybe try a cheaper mora variant and see what you think of the style, scandi grind and plastic handles?

The mora kansbol has the same handle, fwiw.

I like moras for the price, sometimes even not including the price. But scandi grinds just aren't my favorite. However, and it may be different in your area, once you get to the price for the garberg, I think there are better options. Now, also take into account my bias against scandi grinds. One such knife would be the BK16 or BK18. Gerber strongarm would probably be in there as well.

I do see the garberg's on sale occasionally, but I prefer the kansbol myself, since it still has the thinner ground tip for better food slicing.

I have several friends that love their garbergs and I know they're good knives. For me, it's just that at the price of the garberg, things are much more competitive than at the $25 USD or under for many of their other options.

I've yet to try the mora bushcraft, but I've heard that's one of the better models from mora, taking price and performance into account. Seems the handle is well-liked.
 
Drop bear said:
They do a camp version which I am kind of interested in.
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Yeah. Itā€™s pretty good.
Though the ā€œstandardā€ Strongarm does everything I need it to do, and offers a (seemingly) more robust design plus a longer blade.

Iā€™m a huge fan of Moras, too, but the Garberg is horrible value. You can get a Robust for a fraction of the cost or a Companion Robust if you want stainless, for a fraction of the cost of a Garberg. Heck, you can get both Moras and still have cash left in the pocket, instead of getting the Garberg
 
Superjock said:
Is there a better all around grind? Convex maybe?
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Simply put ... if you want an all around knife ... yes other grinds will purely cut much better than a scandi gound blade. The edge on the scandi grind can be as sharp as any other, but a scandi grind "splits' many things rather than cutting them.

Don't get to hung up on grinds or brands, especially if your budget is limited. Most Moras would do at a much lower cost ... Garberg is a full tang where the kansbol or companions aren't. But you could buy several companions for the price of a Garberg.

Focus on the bushcraft skills over knife selling gimmicks.

Here is a link to a past Mora discussion that may interest you.
L

Thread 'Morakniv Pro Robust vs. Companion HD'

Hello:

I am about to get my first Morakniv and I am stuck between the Pro Robust and the Companion HD. I mostly want to use it for hunting and hiking. I don't plan on ever batoning, and I am not into bush craft...I like to day hike, I like to hunt. There are plus and minus to both. I would use this knife to cut small limbs out of a deer stand, field dress deer, and breast out turkeys . Both appear to be very strong (same width I believe), but while the robust has a 3.5 in blade, the companion had a 4.1 in blade, on the other hand, the Robust has a more sweeping blade profile. Also, 3.5 in...
 
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Maximumbob54 said:
I want to second the Mora Robust but I'd also suggest the Companion or Companion Heavy Duty. They are all a fraction of the cost of the Garberg. They don't have the Garberg's full tang but unless you are an absolute hard knotty wood baton junky you won't ever break a Mora short of the skinny little Mora Basics. The Basics will do pretty much anything but baton. The Robust is only available in carbon steel but the Companions I'm pretty sure are available in either stainless or carbon steel.

If you want a good laugh at a healthy dose clown jokes along with some interesting testing, look up DBK on YouTube to witness the torture they have dished out on Mora knives. Their humor isn't for everyone, but you can't deny their testing results.

Side note, they later found the Jaakaripuukko 85 to be the superior option through more torture testing. Yes I had to look up, copy, and paste how you spell that.
Click to expand...
I love those guys. I think they are really funny and they seek to know their stuff!
 
Just an update. I went and bought a stainless Mora Companion at a local outfitters store.
Blown away by how light this thing is. Also itā€™s razor sharp. Obviously I havenā€™t really used it for anything yet.
Probably would do all the things the bk2 isnā€™t good at. But at the same time itā€™s kinda making me want another Mora! Haha
 
Drop bear said:
They do a camp version which I am kind of interested in.
Click to expand...
M

Thread 'Gerber Strongarm Camp: Solid "Meh"'

After a few years of debating buying a Gerber Strongarm, they come out with a more Bushcarafty version. Ok, I'm in and top my shekels and wait expectantly. It comes in and boy was I disappointed. The camp is not nearly as robust as its predecessor and kind of over priced compared to to other knives on the market. I made a video about it and would like to share it. Cheers.
  • Like
 
Can't stand it. Bit my tongue a few times. Chanted, 'If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all" and I still have to be THAT GUY...

Gerber's 420HC is too soft!!!!!!!

I all but worshiped at the alter of Gerber for years when I was younger. I thought they had the greatest designs, always had a Gator and/or a multi tool on my belt, and still have most of them. But their 420HC went dull by just looking at it. And it would rust in my pocket like I'm the corrosive man.

Fast forward to years later I break down knowing better and bought the Strongarm. I wanted the indestructible prybar with an edge...

First of all, calling what it came with an "edge" is like saying the sharp edge of the tile in the kitchen not set quite right is a sharp edge. Forget shaving sharp or slicing through paper. It looked like an 80 or 90 degree square edge with flat here and there down the "edge". Okay, I was going to put a convex edge on it anyways so lets fire up the Worksharp with a bucket of water to keep cooling the blade. Holy cow it was like wearing down the edge of drywall. I had to super pay attention or I kept starting to get a wavy line edge. I very quickly swapped out from the most course belt to the next one as soon as that square edge was gone.

And then the handle... grip... thing you hold... I've seen people complain about "flat slabs" and gush about "coke bottle palm swells" but Gerber straight up said HOLD MY BEER and gave you concave gaps where your hand grasps the rubber coated (area???) of the knife. Just holding it feels awkward. The rubber texture of course feels grippy but there's no way this thing wouldn't be hot spot central without a glove.

Full confession, I've never even used this thing. I have zero doubt what it would be like the same way I can say last week's Chinese leftovers would taste like crap despite never having chewed a turd.

Photographic evidence should anyone think I'm talking out my behind:

5VPEkMK.jpg


"Awww, how can you say such foul things when you never even gave it a chance????"

Easy, I have about thirty years of use with Gerber 420HC:

LYUjhnF.jpg


And those are just some of the "survivors" that weren't tossed due to being sharpened into oblivion or just given away because they were too frustrating. I'm sure I have s few more hiding.

"Ooooo, yuck, so many partially serrated edges"

Yeah, because being a Storekeeper I would slice open a plastic packing envelope, cut the packing tape on a cardboard box, repeat a dozen times or so and that evening I would notice my knife is dull again when I went to cut some twine to tie something down. I had to be able to rely on the serrated edge to at least force my way through some things when the Play-Doh edge gave out yet again.

And it was super fun going to use the multi tools when you would find a C-clip on the side had popped off or like the one in the pic above is mysteriously missing a side deployment button for who knows why and you're in the middle of the Atlantic so it's not like you can call anyone for a warranty or go buy a replacement and why did I keep buying them I claim temporary insanity why did I keep giving them my money?????????????????????????????

Man. I feel so much better. I had no idea I had been bottling all that up for decades now.

I've seen they at some point offered the Strongarm in BD1 or something so maybe find one of those if you love the idea of concave hand filling in the hole grasping zone knife.

I cannot imagine trying camp chores with that 420HC (steel?)
 
MolokaiRider said:
Garberg is so-so.

I don't like the choil and the Scandinavian grind is sorta too obtuse to cut well.

Heck of a lot lighter than a BK-2 though.
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I might as well throw in my compromise between the BK 2 and the Garberg.

Which would be the Demco freereign.

Bigger than the Mora, stainless, high saber grind. And not as chunky as the BK2.
 
If the garberg was a bit thinner, say .08 or .09 and they reworked the plastic tube sheath it would be 100x better
 
I prefer the Forest Knife, which is a Kansbol with a nice comfy oval-ish cross-section shaped handle. The handle is MUCH better for my hands.

On scandi grinds as said they don't slice well. I hate them for cleaning deer. The edge wants to bite into everything, and sometimes you want the edge to slide along something. Scandis carve well and that's really where they shine.

You would definitely enjoy a Mora. Keep the BK if possible, but a Mora is a better all-around field knife.
 
If you want a Mora Companion, but think the blade is too thick, try the Bahco Carpenter. From four feet away it looks just like an orange Companion, but has a thinner blade and costs about six bucks.

When I first came on this site several years ago, I didnā€™t know anything about Moras, but I learned pretty fast. There was a lot of discussion about guys bringing Moras as backup knives to whatever high-buck camp or bushcraft knives they favored, and then using the Moras to do the heavy lifting.

There is a saying: ā€œMora and Opinel. All else is vanity.ā€ I have a bunch of Moras and Opinels, but I have indulged my vanity, too.
 
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The Garberg is a nice knife. I honestly donā€™t possess the skills to get the most out of a Scandi grind, itā€™s fun to carve with though. The knife on the right is a Terrava 110 ( Iā€™d butcher the full name ) - I find it much more useful for my ā€œneedsā€ ( utility ), about 1/2 the price of a Garberg as well. Neither of the pictured sheaths came with the knives - had to be custom ordered. If down the line you decide on a Garberg - try to get the leather sheath rig, the plastic tube is not trustworthy with regard to retention imo. The companion is definitely something anyone from a kid to seasoned bushcrafter can find potential / value / usefulness in.. there are many reasons the Mora companion is used all over the world.

* BK2 compared to a Mora - opposite ends of the spectrum ( they would pair perfectly though ). Keep the BK2.
 
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