Brian Goode - A short review of two knives

Geode

Geode

Joined
May 12, 2001
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Thanks to my buddy, Burnsy56, I was privileged to receive a couple of Brian Goode’s knives to briefly play with. Brian has posted some of his blades for sale in the maker's forum.

The companion set of Brian’s Trailsman and Sidekick arrived to me with the Piggy back sheath for two, and a separate sheath for the little fellah. Brian crafted the piggyback sheath so that it could be uncoupled if desired, leaving the Trailsman sheath solo. A very nice touch. The kydex sheaths were well-fitting and nicely made. A webbed nylon belt strap was attached to the sheath, but it could be removed for IWB or pocket carry of the knife(s). You’d need a good sized pocket for the Trailsman.

Steel O-1, Brian shoots for an Rc of about 58 for the edge as hardness that is a good balance between edge holding and ease of sharpening. Blades had a nice full flat grind with a convex edge. I stropped the edges some to bring the edge to a higher level of sharpness. Out of the box the blades would easily cut paper (a nice working edge) but I prefer my knives even sharper. Specs on the two knives:

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Trailsman

Blade Length: Approximately 5.75”, tip to handle
Blade Width: Just over 1 ¾” at the widest point
OAL: 11”
Weight: 9.6 oz.
Balance point: Middle of the index finger cut-out in the handle

Sidekick
Blade Length: 2 7/8”
OAL: 6 3/8”
Weight; 3.25 oz.
Balance point: Rear cusp of index finger cut- out in the handle

Piggy back sheath: 4.8 oz.

Sidekick. Started cutting tests with little guy, on some fairly sturdy cardboard. All cuts were made perpendicular or diagonal to the ‘grain’. I cut a pile of cardboard as pictured, until the blade started to drag some. It was pretty easy to bring the edge back to the sharpness before cutting with a few swipes on a fine Spyderco ceramic rod and some stropping on a piece of cardboard loaded with compound.

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Next, I proceeded to do some wood work with the Sidekick, making fuzz sticks from heavily resinated ‘fatwood’. The blade performed well, making curls of any size desired. After cleaning off the gummy resin from the fatwood, some well-aged Douglas Fir was attacked. The blade bit aggressively and carved off smooth curls. As you can see from the picture, the cuts are good and clean. By now, the little blade had dulled some. About half a minute stropping with cardboard loaded with compound brought the edge back to nice and sharp.

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In the kitchen, the Sidekick was a great little slicer, though a bit thick for real delicate cuts. Very nimble because of it's shorter handle.

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Trailsman. I began testing this larger blade on a decently thick cardboard box. My first impression was how nicely the handle filled the hand and how well the broad blade sliced through the cardboard. The handle was comfortable in the bare hand and worked great with a gloved hand too. I made a considerable number of cuts before the blade dulled to the point where it would no longer cut the cardboard cleanly. Bringing the edge back to keenness was done easily with the Spyderco ceramic stone and loaded strop.

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The Trailsman is not designed to be a chopper, but I just had to try it out. As might be expected the cuts were pretty shallow, but well defined. Next a baton was used to split some small pieces of kindling, and to notch out a piece of Doug Fir. No sign of chipping or edge deformation was seen on the blade which is evidence if a good heat treat and appropriate blade profile. The baton test is the notch on the left, and chopping is the notch on the right.

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The Trailsman is an excellent whittler, which was a pleasant surprise because of it's blade width. I was able to shave great curls or dig deeply for more substantial cuts into seasoned Douglas Fir.

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Just for fun, I executed a few snap cuts on some shrubbery and was easily able to shear off small branch tips, until my wife gave me ‘the look’. Okay, on to kitchen duty.

A few tough and fibrous outer leaves from an artichoke seemed like good stuff to cut, so I proceeded to julienne the leaves cross-wise into small strips. The knife cut well and seemed like it would be great as a camp kitchen knife. The Trailsman strikes me as an all-around camp knife that could do a multitude of tasks.

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In closing, these are fine knives. I especially like the size and ergonomics of the Trailsman. I had a chance to chat with Brian by phone and found him to be friendly and concerned about the quality of his products and happiness of his customers. He impressed me as a maker who strives to continually improve his craft and is receptive to what customers and other knife makers have to say.
 
There would be no doubt in my mind of how well a Goode knife performs. Brian makes some mighty fine blades. ;)
Scott
 
Razorback - Knives said:
There would be no doubt in my mind of how well a Goode knife performs. Brian makes some mighty fine blades. ;)
Scott
Click to expand...

True! Brian got his Companion model reviewed by Kim Breed in the latest issue of Blade Magazine.
 
I can't even see an edge bevel on those knives, is the edge that thin, ~0.10" or so? I don't like heavily indexed grips like that, too limiting as far as versatility, but those look like very solid working blade shapes. I would have concerns batoning the edge that thin into knotty woods however.

-Cliff
 
Cliff - the edge is convexed and not exactly what I would call thin. Don't have a way to measure it, but it seems that Brian ground the edge for a balance of of durability and cutting ability. The broad blade shape and flat grind are gradually tapered from the spine down to the edge to reduce the amount of mass behind the edge.
 
Nice review Geode, perfect timing to as I recent put an order in with Brian for one of his Companions, looking forward to getting it in my hands... :)
 
Hey, Nice geode. The edge isnt really thin. It is around .020 to .025. I'll have to measure a few. I am basically grinding to what I think will slice and still have enough meat to take the force from chopping or batoning.
I was worried to that a thin edge would chip so I ran through a few tests blades untill I found what works for me.

Thanks again for the review Geode :D
 
That is about exactly where I would put a wood working knife to take heavy batoning, I can go thinner for just chopping, and a lot thinner for clear wood, but for general work I'd leave it about there to have a broader scope of work. Nice blade shape, simple functional elegance.

-Cliff
 
Thanks Geode, that's a nice review.

Mr. Goode, congratulations for these fine knives!
 
Thanks again guys....I'll keep working hard to make em Goode ;)
 
Ha Ha!! I am working on a floor graphic for a Museum in Anderson Co. SC right now. My Day job..Damn it! :D
 
Thanks for the nice review. Those wide bladed knives just do something for me.

Looks like a BGoode is in the future for me. I REALLY like those designs!

Rob
 
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