Camp Knife on FB

Fancier

Fancier

Joined
Jul 1, 2012
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Chris, I really like the looks of that camp knife that you posted on "social media".
Very classic lines, and it looks like it would do well in the home kitchen as well.
The alternate location for the maker's stamp is a nice detail.
Whenever I show somebody one of your knives they twist their head to the side to read the mark.
Keep up the good work! :thumbup:
 
You also posted a knife with Z Wear, and that looks pretty interesting as well. I wonder how it compares to 4V?
 
For those that do not know what Camp Knife Fancier is referring to here it is

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I find that I have the hardest time designing knives in the Camp Knife genre. There have been so many great makers before me that it is really hard to come up with something new.
This one I did draw a little inspiration from some knives made by Adam DesRosiers. There are a couple improvements that I already want to make to future versions that I think will make them more comfortable and enjoyable to use. I moved my makers mark on this one because I wanted to be able to get the scales as close as I could to the plunge and cutting edge.
This knife really did hit a home run with the versatility that it possesses.
I made this one from 52100 with the intention to use a lot and hard to test heat treat and edge geometry.
I heat treated this one to 60-61 and ground the edge to .020". I then convexed the last 3/8" to almost zero. After sharpening the edge thickness was .013", very thin for a camp knife.
It was looking so wicked and slicey that I used it for food prep for the rest of the day. Here is the patina that it formed.

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After the food was cooked I took it out and did some chopping, nothing heavy or crazy yet but I did get some good feedback.
It will bite very deep into soft and green wood, but does not posses the mass needed for chopping hard dry wood.
I hope to do a couple camping trips over the winter and do some wood processing from larger pieces.
So far I am really liking the design and I am also liking 52100.

I would like to hear your thoughts or comments.
 
Fancier said:
You also posted a knife with Z Wear, and that looks pretty interesting as well. I wonder how it compares to 4V?
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Here are some pics of the Z Wear knife I just finished.
This knife has been very slow in the making since I ground and heat treated this blade around the first of the year.

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I have been wanting a new EDC knife for some time now. I have been wanting something with some color that would really stand out, I think I made it.

As for how it compares to 4V, IMO it does not.
Z Wear will not replace 3V or 4V for me. It is a good steel with good properties but I personally much prefer the performance characteristics of 3V and 4V.

Again, all thoughts and comments are welcome.
 
Are either of these for sale? Want, but know I can't afford at the moment... tapered tangs, do more!
 
I love this design and I'm interested how this knife is going to work out. I was wondering if you think this knife would benefit from a lanyard hole especially if a persons going to use it chop any wood with it. I personally like a forward lanyard hole over a rear one or even having the option of having both on a knife that I might use to chop wood with.

Tony
 
How does Z-wear fall short in your experience?

Looking at the dats sheets it should be very similar to 3v and 4V... at least in chemical composition... It looks much like 3v with tungsten...

I have seen it run very hard, much like M4 to optimize its properties. Rc 63 or so... not 60 ish like 3V

I love the handle on the green Z-wear knife. Its as close to perfect as I could imagine, aesthetic and functional.
 
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Really like that camp knife Chris. What are the blade dimensions? You are right, hard to re-imagine a tool like that, but I think your design looks very functional, but unique. I'm sure the handle is very comfortable and secure in use, cuz that is how you make them :) As far as chopping duties... I carry a hatchet for that. If you are going to carry the weight of a heavy thick chopping blade, might as well carry a hatchet if your aim is chopping/splitting fire wood ;)
 
On the steels - I like 52100 or its variants in the knives I have tried it in (Busse SR101 for example), but I was wondering about your reaction to ZWear too. That seems to get mentioned in the same cluster as PD-1 and Cruwear. I have never had a blade in PD1 or ZWear, but I have a spyderco military in Cruwear that I like a lot. Not as much as M4 or 3V with a good HT, but holds an edge very well and is supposed to be pretty tough. I have not had your 4V modded wolverine long enough to get a good feel for that steel, but have been curious about PD1/Zwear/Cruwear and how they compare. So interested in additional experiences and comparisons.

Thanks for posting these and for continuing to try new things. And please make more of the camp knives :)
 
dogrunner, The Camp Knife is made from .210" 52100 and I heat treated it to 60-61 Rc without a sub-zero quench, 14.05" OAL, with 8.7" Blade. I think future versions I will stretch to a full 9" blade as I am thinking about making a 7" and 8" version also.
So far I am very happy with the edge holding and toughness of the thinner edge I have on it.
I did not get to use it at all over the weekend but did bring some logs home with me to baton, chop and process.
It does still bite fairly deep for the lack of forward weight.
The handle is contoured nicely but was originally a little short height wise for me so I had to wrap it some thin cord and it feels very nice now. This will also be remedied in future variations.
The testing of this knife will be ongoing through the winter and possible spring with, hopefully, a couple more outings where I can spend more time knifing and less time working.
 
Rapt_up and dogrunner,
About the Z Wear. I have received this question about Z Wear a lot in the last week across social media about what I think of Z Wear.
It is a very nice fine grained steel that can take and hold a thin edge at high hardness. It will not replace 3V or 4V for me though. The composition is very similar to PD 1 and CruWear. The only other one of these steels I have used is PD 1 in a large camp knife I made. I was blown away by the performance in that knife.
With Z Wear being fine grained it is both a blessing and a curse IMO. The fine grain gives increased edge holding and toughness which are definite pluses, but at the same time it does not have the aggressive cutting action that I so much enjoy from 3V and 4V. This Z Wear knife will be my EDC for several months. I heat treated it to 63 Rc with sub-zero treatments and hollow ground it with my 36" Radius platen. I ground it rather thin as well at .010" behind the edge. I have used it so far for a little food prep and a lot of cardboard cutting. There is still a lot of use I want to put this knife through.
 
Thanks for the report! I'm looking forward to seeing how the camp knife evolves. PD1 sounds like an interesting steel from all I have heard. Maybe you can add that to the comparison whenever you have time and the inclination to say more.
 
Thank you for the feedback on the Z-wear, U have a newish knife in this steel also at Rc 63-64 that I am just starting to use. So I was curious about your thoughts. Interesting on the aggressiveness of the cutting action, I wasn't thinking about that side of it so much when I compared the steels, but its a valid part of the equation for sure. BTW still really loving that fusion of green burl and layered G10... Its really "sharp" :)
 
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