- Joined
- Feb 25, 2001
- Messages
- 6,675
I got in a couple of German Bulldog slip joints last weekend, so I thought Id give you all my initial impressions.
Both Bulldogs I received have stag handles. The stag handles on both knives are very appealing and match the opposing side. This has been a big deal to me since I purchased a Hen & Rooster a month or two back. The Hen & Rooster had stag handles, but greatly differing sides. One side was dark and heavily jigged; while the other was light colored and barely jigged whatsoever. Lets just say that that the aesthetics of the Hen & Rooster were less than exemplary. Im happy to say that my Bulldogs are simply gorgeous, with the greatest attention to detail. The stag slabs are beautifully jigged with nice dark grooves to contrast the lighter areas.
My new Bulldogs have carbon steel blades. Some people may not like carbon steel blades because of corrosion issues, but its hard to beat the ease of sharpening and edge holding of a good carbon steel. The Bulldogs, just like my Schrade Old Timers, did not come especially sharp. Actually, they were pretty darned dull. This is a pet peeve of mine when it comes to slip joints, but its something that I can live with. I had to profile the blades with the diamond hones of my Lansky, and then put on a final polished edge with my SharpMaker 204. Since the two knives have a total of five blades, this was a bit time consuming. Once I had gotten I final edge on them, they were extremely sharp. This level of sharpness was exactly what I expected from a carbon steel pocketknife, much again the same as my Schrade Old Timer.
I am very impressed by the walk and talk of the Bulldogs. The blades open and close easily, but have a good amount of snap. They close as forcefully as my large Old Timers, but maybe not as forcefully when opening. Either way, they are exceptionally smooth and easy to use. I should also note that the Bulldogs have a somewhat unusual nail nick. The top of the nick is a straight line, but the bottom of nick is a serrated pattern. Seeing that the top of the nick is what really does the work, the serrated pattern is just an artful way of decorating an otherwise ugly part of the blade. This just goes to show the attention to detail and beautiful styling that goes into a Bulldog knife. All in all, the finish of these knives is superb.
My favorite of the two models is the canoe pattern. This may be just because Im new to canoe style pocketknives, but the looks and functionality are wonderful. The Bulldog canoe has large rounded bolsters and that great canoe shape. The shape of the bolster actually serves as a small finger recess for my forefinger, providing that little bit of extra grip when using the main blade. Because the main blade has a bit of a ricasso near the handle, you can actually grip the knife behind the bolster and have the ricasso hit your forefinger if the knife accidentally closes on you. I really like this feature as I do a lot of whittling with my slip joints. Ive never had a slip joint close on me accidentally, but I hope Im using this canoe if it ever does happen.
Im not quite used to the fat spear point shape of the main blade, but Im growing to like it. It acts much like a sheepsfoot, having a long flat edge, but with a somewhat pointy curved tip. This is an all-around good blade shape, and exceptionally useful for whittling. When Im normally whittling, Im always wishing I had a full sized sheepsfoot to take down flat strips of wood. The canoes spear point blade does just that, but leaves a wide tip for other useful cuts. The secondary blade is well thought out pen blade. I call this a pen blade because of its small size, but its actually pretty much the same shape of the main blade. The smaller blade is not as straight at the edge as the spear point, but has a tiny bit of belly to give it some extra cutting power. The secondary blade actually looks larger than is found on many canoe patterns, which I really like. I often find that many slip joints have blades that are too small for their handles, making it hard to control them. The small blade of the Bulldog canoe is small enough to be uniquely useful from the main blade, but large enough to provide control over my cuts. It seems like this knife was actually designed by someone who uses knives for a living.
Another thing I like about this canoe pattern is the way the blades close in parallel. I really dont like the approach taken on most slip joints, with blades bent to fit into the handle. Bent blades always end up scratching the blades adjacent to them, and are a hassle to sharpen smoothly. Buck is the only company I know of that actual makes three blade slip joints with parallel blades. The Bulldog canoe only has two blades, but Im willing to sacrifice a blade to get all of the other great features associated with my new canoe.
As I said before, this is my first canoe, so Im not quite sure how other ones are made. The Bulldog utilizes a single back spring for both blades, which has some nice advantages. First off, its a simple design with less points of failure. Secondly, the design allows for wider overall blades with a minimum total width. My pockets sure appreciate this, with the canoe leaving less of an imprint than my larger stockmans. The only disadvantage that is readily noticeable to me is the fact that the designer must make a tradeoff in spring strength needed for both a large and small blade. It is true that Id ultimately prefer a stronger spring on the main blade, and a less aggressive spring on the smaller blade, but Im just nit picking. Both blades open and close well, with just a little too much tightness on the smaller blade. As far as Im concerned, Id rather have too strong a spring than too weak a one.
As for the second Bulldog knife, its a medium stockman. I cant comment much on how well it works as my wife made off with it about five minutes after I opened the box. I guess that action speaks for itself. All I can say is that my cursory glance showed it to be as well crafted as the canoe. Maybe Ill get some feedback from the wife once she gets to using it a little.
From start to finish, I have to say that the Bulldog canoe is a masterpiece. And at an Ebay price of $25.00, its a complete steal. The design grows more exciting the more I use it, especially as I begin to notice all of little things that add up to great knife. The attention to detail as far as aesthetics is quite refreshing after using many American made slip joints. Ill make sure to add more comments after a couple weeks of extended use. Ill be heading out this weekend for week of camping in the Adirondacks; so I bet this knife will get plenty of challenges thrown at it.
Both Bulldogs I received have stag handles. The stag handles on both knives are very appealing and match the opposing side. This has been a big deal to me since I purchased a Hen & Rooster a month or two back. The Hen & Rooster had stag handles, but greatly differing sides. One side was dark and heavily jigged; while the other was light colored and barely jigged whatsoever. Lets just say that that the aesthetics of the Hen & Rooster were less than exemplary. Im happy to say that my Bulldogs are simply gorgeous, with the greatest attention to detail. The stag slabs are beautifully jigged with nice dark grooves to contrast the lighter areas.
My new Bulldogs have carbon steel blades. Some people may not like carbon steel blades because of corrosion issues, but its hard to beat the ease of sharpening and edge holding of a good carbon steel. The Bulldogs, just like my Schrade Old Timers, did not come especially sharp. Actually, they were pretty darned dull. This is a pet peeve of mine when it comes to slip joints, but its something that I can live with. I had to profile the blades with the diamond hones of my Lansky, and then put on a final polished edge with my SharpMaker 204. Since the two knives have a total of five blades, this was a bit time consuming. Once I had gotten I final edge on them, they were extremely sharp. This level of sharpness was exactly what I expected from a carbon steel pocketknife, much again the same as my Schrade Old Timer.
I am very impressed by the walk and talk of the Bulldogs. The blades open and close easily, but have a good amount of snap. They close as forcefully as my large Old Timers, but maybe not as forcefully when opening. Either way, they are exceptionally smooth and easy to use. I should also note that the Bulldogs have a somewhat unusual nail nick. The top of the nick is a straight line, but the bottom of nick is a serrated pattern. Seeing that the top of the nick is what really does the work, the serrated pattern is just an artful way of decorating an otherwise ugly part of the blade. This just goes to show the attention to detail and beautiful styling that goes into a Bulldog knife. All in all, the finish of these knives is superb.
My favorite of the two models is the canoe pattern. This may be just because Im new to canoe style pocketknives, but the looks and functionality are wonderful. The Bulldog canoe has large rounded bolsters and that great canoe shape. The shape of the bolster actually serves as a small finger recess for my forefinger, providing that little bit of extra grip when using the main blade. Because the main blade has a bit of a ricasso near the handle, you can actually grip the knife behind the bolster and have the ricasso hit your forefinger if the knife accidentally closes on you. I really like this feature as I do a lot of whittling with my slip joints. Ive never had a slip joint close on me accidentally, but I hope Im using this canoe if it ever does happen.
Im not quite used to the fat spear point shape of the main blade, but Im growing to like it. It acts much like a sheepsfoot, having a long flat edge, but with a somewhat pointy curved tip. This is an all-around good blade shape, and exceptionally useful for whittling. When Im normally whittling, Im always wishing I had a full sized sheepsfoot to take down flat strips of wood. The canoes spear point blade does just that, but leaves a wide tip for other useful cuts. The secondary blade is well thought out pen blade. I call this a pen blade because of its small size, but its actually pretty much the same shape of the main blade. The smaller blade is not as straight at the edge as the spear point, but has a tiny bit of belly to give it some extra cutting power. The secondary blade actually looks larger than is found on many canoe patterns, which I really like. I often find that many slip joints have blades that are too small for their handles, making it hard to control them. The small blade of the Bulldog canoe is small enough to be uniquely useful from the main blade, but large enough to provide control over my cuts. It seems like this knife was actually designed by someone who uses knives for a living.
Another thing I like about this canoe pattern is the way the blades close in parallel. I really dont like the approach taken on most slip joints, with blades bent to fit into the handle. Bent blades always end up scratching the blades adjacent to them, and are a hassle to sharpen smoothly. Buck is the only company I know of that actual makes three blade slip joints with parallel blades. The Bulldog canoe only has two blades, but Im willing to sacrifice a blade to get all of the other great features associated with my new canoe.
As I said before, this is my first canoe, so Im not quite sure how other ones are made. The Bulldog utilizes a single back spring for both blades, which has some nice advantages. First off, its a simple design with less points of failure. Secondly, the design allows for wider overall blades with a minimum total width. My pockets sure appreciate this, with the canoe leaving less of an imprint than my larger stockmans. The only disadvantage that is readily noticeable to me is the fact that the designer must make a tradeoff in spring strength needed for both a large and small blade. It is true that Id ultimately prefer a stronger spring on the main blade, and a less aggressive spring on the smaller blade, but Im just nit picking. Both blades open and close well, with just a little too much tightness on the smaller blade. As far as Im concerned, Id rather have too strong a spring than too weak a one.
As for the second Bulldog knife, its a medium stockman. I cant comment much on how well it works as my wife made off with it about five minutes after I opened the box. I guess that action speaks for itself. All I can say is that my cursory glance showed it to be as well crafted as the canoe. Maybe Ill get some feedback from the wife once she gets to using it a little.
From start to finish, I have to say that the Bulldog canoe is a masterpiece. And at an Ebay price of $25.00, its a complete steal. The design grows more exciting the more I use it, especially as I begin to notice all of little things that add up to great knife. The attention to detail as far as aesthetics is quite refreshing after using many American made slip joints. Ill make sure to add more comments after a couple weeks of extended use. Ill be heading out this weekend for week of camping in the Adirondacks; so I bet this knife will get plenty of challenges thrown at it.
) all in red bone;
