CYPRESS CREEK KNIVES ROCK! 2 KNIFE REVIEW

[amikee]

Greetings all knife addicts, enthusiasts, collectors and users.

I am here to present you my 0.02 on a special brand that showed up on BushcraftUSA fairly recently that you may be very much interested in.

Cypress Creek Knives (CCK), very cool name btw, owned and operated by Jared is an awesome small company that produces outdoor knives and it is my true pleasure to introduce you to 2 of them.

By all means this will not be a comprehensive review nor it will be the ultimate advice on choosing the knife for you but more of a personal insight about some CCK models that I had (and have) pleasure of using.

Also please keep in mind that my hand size is M-L and any comments in regards to comfort I base on how it feels in my hand.

Enjoy!

Model: Fife

Blade lenght: 3 3/8" (measured from the center of the ricasso)

Handle lenght: 4 1/2"

Thickness: 1/8"

Steel: Nitro-V

Hardness: 59/60, cryogenically treated

Gring: flat with V secondary

Finish: tumbled, etched

Sheath: kydex

Packaging: wooden box

Extras: certificate, stickers, knife bag

Designation: EDC, companion, lightweight backpacking knife, bushcraft knife

Initial impression: 10

Feel in hand: 10

Blade lenght: 10

Blade shape: 10

Blade thickness: 10

Edge geometry: 10

Handle lenght: 9

Handle shape: 9

Sheath: 9

Carrying comfort: 10

Use: moderate

Nimble factor: 8


Model: Backpacker

Blade lenght: 3 1/16" (measured from the center of the ricasso)

Handle lenght: 4 1/8"

Thickness: 1/8"

Steel: S35VN

Hardness: 59/60, cryogenically treated

Gring: flat with V secondary

Finish: tumbled, etched

Sheath: kydex

Packaging: wooden box

Extras: certificate, stickers, knife bag

Designation: EDC, companion, lightweight backpacking knife, small bushcraft knife

Initial impression: 10

Feel in hand: 10

Blade lenght: 10

Blade shape: 10

Blade thickness: 10

Edge geometry: 10

Handle lenght: 10

Handle shape: 10

Sheath: 10

Carrying comfort: 10

Use: light to moderate

Nimble factor: 10

Both knives are in smaller size category and that is what makes these very handy. Blades from 3-4" are usually the most used by variety of people due to comfortable lenght, especially when size and weight are to be considered.

Few photos from CCK shop.

I enjoy knives without scales and specifically asked for Fife to be without scales on. Jared kindly granted me this privilege. Backpacker model was a love at first sight due to its compactness (not that Fife is a large knife) and handle lenght (due to my hand size) felt better in this model; however, I feel that Fife had an advantage in comfort when feathersticking.

Another beautiful thing Jared did that I respect sincerely is small etch of CCK at the tangs which does not take away from the knife itself like some of those giant logos, stamps, names, etc. on some of the knives we all have seen.

Both knives come with kydex sheaths and even though Jared says he;s not that good with kydex, those sheaths are well made and will do the job done. Backpacker's sheath is black kydex with black hardware. Fife's sheath is OD and orange kydex with brass hardware. Both hold the knives securely and I did not feel they are unsafe at any point.

 

[amikee]

Initial impression: I like Backpacker better due to my hand size. It just felt right although Fife feels more robust for more serious work.

Thicknesses are the same and comfortably stout at 1/8" but Backpacker feels thinner because all edges are rounded. Very unobtrusive feel.

Both steels are excellent and really it is user preference. At the hardness of 59/60 both hold their edges great and after over a week of extensive cutting both slice paper without a hiccup. Jared may be offering these in steels like O1 to bring the cost down even more to support bushcraft community.

 

[amikee]

Those sheaths rock!

 

[amikee]

Edge geometry just shines in both of these. Jared definitely paid attention to how the knife should cut. Both primary grinds are fairly thin (but not paper thin), they have enough steel to support very very very sharp secondary V grinds. I felt that neither needed additional stropping, touch up of any sort, etc., and both were going thru materials with ease.

I love sandwiches and to me, the primary function of any knife of this size would be food prep. Let me tell you and show you how these bad boys did during this test!

 

[amikee]

Fresh baked goods that are soft and usually difficut to slice? No problem for either one of these knives!



Finish is one of my favorite characteristics of these knives and both have hand tumbled and etched finish, giving the steel flat, almost tool like feel to them. So far it is holding up fine.

This particular finish is smooth and not in a way when going thru the wood. I have not batoned those knives but they will both split smaller pieces with ease for sure. I think we all can see this after handling several knives by now. Some designs and knife features just work.

Those knives are so sharp there is no need for sandpaper!

 

[amikee]

Fife would make a great bushcraft or edc knife. Backpacker as the name implies would be an awesome all around knife for people who take weight into consideration. I'd say Backpacker would also make a spectacular edc blade.

Unfortunately the weather was not good for past several days and combined with my work schedule, made it impossible to test more on carving, batoning and fire. But I will add those when opportunity comes.
Btw did you pm Jared already? Why not?

Fife has a square spine and scrapes ferrocerium rod with ease and that's the advantage it has over Backpacker. In the fiture models Jared said he will incorporate a flat area on the spine on Backpacker so it too can participate in fire making.

 

[amikee]

I am very happy with these knives. These are very well made, no nonsense toys that plainly work and look great doing it.

Just can not recommend them high enough and at the price point around 85-135 or so depending on the steel it is a steal

Thank you Jared for the opportunity to test these some. I am looking forward to other models that will be coming out of your shop.

Thank you all for reading and let me tell you this one last thing.

I got my Cypress Creek knife- get yours!

The End

 

[MVF]

Thanks, great review!