Hunter by Andy Roy of Fiddleback Forge

Mistwalker

Mistwalker

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2007
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About four months ago I got another knife from Andy Roy of Fiddleback forge, it’s a hunter model. These are some early shots of the knife.

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The specs are:

Over-all length...............9-1/2"
Blade length..................4-3/4"
Blade Thickness.............5/32"
Blade width..................1-3/8" at widest point
Grind...........................High Saber convex
Steel...........................Spalted O1 Tool Steel

Handle materials are:

Natural canvas micarta scales with black canvas micarta bolsters and liners




Andy does some really nice grinds, his handle ergos have so far all been sublime with this one being no exception, and his fits and finishes have always been fantastic.

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As usual it came with a nice edge.

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I did a forced patina to go ahead and give the blade some protection here in a very high humidity environment.

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As I said, the knife came with a nice edge and whittling fuzz sticks with it is a pleasure.

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I love the fullness of the handle on this knife, it’s really easy to control and really comfortable when whittle and carving. I made a new pot hanger.

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The knife has been used during more than one fire starting experiment, and has helped me start more than a few fires since the cooler months finally came back around. This was from the discussion on using flint and steel with char-cloth to ignite wood shavings.

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This was just from me lighting a warming fire on a cool damp evening. I used a burled pine limb as a baton to bust up a pine knot for tinder and kindling to burn some wet wood after a couple of days of rain. I often find pine knot pieces easier to split from the middle than from the end so I have gently struck the pommel end of the knife with a baton a few times with no ill effects so far.

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Oh, and by the way, the pot hanger worked out pretty well :)

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Man, Andy makes some beautiful knives. Awesome photos and review as always, Mist. Looks like a good day in the woods.
 
Good stuff, B. great pics as usual. If you get sick of that knife, send to me for disposal! Hehehe
 
hawaiianhawk said:
Man, Andy makes some beautiful knives. Awesome photos and review as always, Mist. Looks like a good day in the woods.
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Andy does make some reeeaally nice knives. Thanks man, glad you enjoyed the post, and most days in the woods are good days :)




Rockywolf said:
Good stuff, B. great pics as usual. If you get sick of that knife, send to me for disposal! Hehehe
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Thanks Rocky, glad you liked it. Ha, I don't see this one going anywhere any time soon :) I'm still looking forward to checking out a Woodsman too though.
 
I vote Mistwalker..Best Blade Reviewer of ALL TIME!!!! Sorry..I'm a little inibriated at the moment. But in all seriousness, your reviews are always fun to read, have indepth info, and excellent photography. Always a pleasure to read.

I will own some of Andy's work...someday...
 
That's a nice knife. Andy certainly does make some good steel. One day I too will own some Fiddleback magic.

Great review as usual Mist, you're an inspiration!

Claudiasboris
 
Dave Behrens said:
I vote Mistwalker..Best Blade Reviewer of ALL TIME!!!! Sorry..I'm a little inibriated at the moment. But in all seriousness, your reviews are always fun to read, have indepth info, and excellent photography. Always a pleasure to read.

I will own some of Andy's work...someday...
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Lol, thanks man, I'm really glad you enjoy the reviews! This is my fifth Fiddleback and I have been extremely happy with all of them.


scruffuk said:
Great pics & review as ever sir, thanks.

I really like the handle combo.
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Thanks Scruff. This is my favorite handle combination by Andy. I love his bolsters and I love how the natural canvas turns over time and looks a lot like wood.


Claudiasboris said:
That's a nice knife. Andy certainly does make some good steel. One day I too will own some Fiddleback magic.

Great review as usual Mist, you're an inspiration!

Claudiasboris
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Thanks Claudias, glad you enjoy them! Andy does some really nice knives that work well and really are a pleasure to use.
 
Great great pictures and review. About all you could ask for in a camp knife review! I think I'll need to pick me up a Fiddleback pretty soon...his shop is only about 20 minutes from my house.
 
n2wilderness said:
Great great pictures and review. About all you could ask for in a camp knife review! I think I'll need to pick me up a Fiddleback pretty soon...his shop is only about 20 minutes from my house.
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Thanks man, glad you enjoyed it. If you live that close you really should check out his knives in person.

I probably should have added this to the review but left it out because I couldn't share the photos. This knife has also been used to fashion a couple of complete bow drill sets from scratch from sections of a downed tree. The knife did great with batoning the pieces into the shapes I needed, it was a pleasure to use while whittling the parts, the tip handled all the boring very well, and the high saber grind did an awesome job at batoning in the notch. It's a damn fine woods knife.
 
I love the handles on most of his blades, they look good, and comfy. Can't beat having a great looking handle that is just as comfortable to use as it is nice to look at.

Great review. :thumbup:
 
TheGame said:
I love the handles on most of his blades, they look good, and comfy. Can't beat having a great looking handle that is just as comfortable to use as it is nice to look at.

Great review. :thumbup:
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Yeah, all of Andy's handles that I have checked out have been extremely comfortable. Really a plus for long term whittling and carving projects.
 
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Patina looks great. What method did you use?


Thanks for the review... you deserve the beer. :)
 
This was a really nice review of a gorgeous knife. :cool: Is that a textured finish along the spine, or just the finish color? :)
-Bruce
 
sar5 said:
Wow, one of the best reviews I have seen in a long time, job well done!
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Thank you, glad you liked the post!


kdstrick said:
Patina looks great. What method did you use?


Thanks for the review... you deserve the beer. :)
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Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. I wanted a patina that would complement the spalting so I went with a few treatments using blotches of mustard on a really thin layer of mustard for a mottled effect.
 
Ballenxj said:
This was a really nice review of a gorgeous knife. :cool: Is that a textured finish along the spine, or just the finish color? :)
-Bruce
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Thanks Bruce, that is a 3D textured finish Andy calls spalted steel that he has been doing a good bit of lately. I like the look of it and it adds to the grip when holding the blade in a pinch grip.
 
Those two-tone handles are my favs...so great looking.

Great photos and write up as always! :thumbup:
 
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