Hi all,
After checking out a lot of glowing reviews (print & video), I bought an Ontario Blackbird SK-5. I've had it for over a year. During that time, I've given it a thorough evaluation (from fine carving, to batoning wood to chopping to fire starting). Like anything else, there's good & bad. But at the end of the day, I'm disappointed with the Blackbird.
As far as fit & finish, I have no complaints. It's a very well made knife.
Using the SK-5 with a ferro rod is very good. The spine is a perfect 90 degrees and it bites into the ferro rod without any problem.
When batoning wood, the knife performed adequately.
Carving and whittling...that's where the knife really shit the bed. The blade has a flat grind, and does not do a good job AT ALL at biting into the wood. In my entire collection, I don't have any knives which do a worse job. And it's not because the edge is dull. It came from the factory very sharp. I also use my Work Sharp sharpener as well as with my sharpening stones. But when it comes to carving wood, notching, etc..., this knife sucks. Now conversely, the knife which does the best job at this is my Mora Bushcraft Black (or any of my other Moras come to think of it). Perhaps the scandi grind lends itself well to those kinds of tasks... I don't know. On the other hand, my ESEE Izula 2 (which also has a flat grind) does a MUCH better job at carving, whittling, notching, etc..
The poor job this knife does with simple carving tasks just ruins my enthusiasm for the SK-5. It sits in a drawer because I just can't get along with it in the field. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this same thing or if it's just me.
Doc
After checking out a lot of glowing reviews (print & video), I bought an Ontario Blackbird SK-5. I've had it for over a year. During that time, I've given it a thorough evaluation (from fine carving, to batoning wood to chopping to fire starting). Like anything else, there's good & bad. But at the end of the day, I'm disappointed with the Blackbird.
As far as fit & finish, I have no complaints. It's a very well made knife.
Using the SK-5 with a ferro rod is very good. The spine is a perfect 90 degrees and it bites into the ferro rod without any problem.
When batoning wood, the knife performed adequately.
Carving and whittling...that's where the knife really shit the bed. The blade has a flat grind, and does not do a good job AT ALL at biting into the wood. In my entire collection, I don't have any knives which do a worse job. And it's not because the edge is dull. It came from the factory very sharp. I also use my Work Sharp sharpener as well as with my sharpening stones. But when it comes to carving wood, notching, etc..., this knife sucks. Now conversely, the knife which does the best job at this is my Mora Bushcraft Black (or any of my other Moras come to think of it). Perhaps the scandi grind lends itself well to those kinds of tasks... I don't know. On the other hand, my ESEE Izula 2 (which also has a flat grind) does a MUCH better job at carving, whittling, notching, etc..
The poor job this knife does with simple carving tasks just ruins my enthusiasm for the SK-5. It sits in a drawer because I just can't get along with it in the field. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this same thing or if it's just me.
Doc
