- Joined
- Sep 29, 2014
- Messages
- 1,132
About 3 months ago I received my new GSO 5.1 from Survive! Knives in CPM-3V. I am sure that many of you know about the changes from the old 5.1 but one of the biggest change is the new heat treat and the handle was recontoured. I was curious to see how the new knife does against the old GSO 5.1 as well as it's natural natural competitor the Ratmandu in INFI. Over the last few months I've been working these three knives over on a 42" long pine hand rail that I bought at The Home Deopt. It's treated pine that is surprisingly tough on knife edges. I also used a small, but very hard, oak dowel.
Before I get to the actual shoot out I took some pictures of these knives in hand. Just for the record I wear XL gloves, my hand circumference is 9.5", but I have size L glove sized fingers.
Feel:
All three knives fit my hand and are comfortable. Initially I thought the old 5.1 handle was a little on the short side but after many many hours of work I find that the handle fits and is very comfortable to work with. After handling the RMD for the first time I remembered loving the handle. After a year + with it I still like the handle but I wish it had more bolstering like the SOB. My first impression with the new 5.1 handles is that it feels very comfortable but not considerably more comfortable than the old 5.1. It also felt noticeably larger than the old 5.1. When compared to the RMD the new 5.1 grips feel more substantial in my hand and more comfortable.
After about 2 to 3 hours of work with each knife on the above mentioned treated hand rail and an oak dowel I have found the following:
When working for less than 10 or 15 minutes there is not much difference in feel between the old and new 5.1. However when hard working the knives for more than 15 minutes I find the new 5.1 is more comfortable than the old 5.1. Not by a huge margin but it is noticeable. Especially if you using the choil.
When comparing the new 5.1 to the RMD I find that the RMD feels too thin in my hand especially when my hand becomes fatigued . I can also use the new 5.1 longer than I could with the RMD. For short tasks the RMD is comfortable but not as comfortable as the new 5.1.
Cutting, carving and steel:
My RMD has always cut pretty well but it didn't cut as well as my old 5.1. So I reached out to a buddy and asked him to put the same edge as my 5.1s. Now the RMD is a beautiful slicer and cutter just like my 5.1s. All three knives did VERY well cutting, carving and slicing the treated lumber. The old 5.1 was the first to show micro folds. So far the new 5.1 and RMD are just as sharp as when I started this exercise weeks ago. I am very impressed! The new heat treat CPM-3V is a real improvement over the old CPM 3V, which is really saying something because the old 3V holds an edge for a long time.
My conclusions:
This was not meant to be an INFI vs 3V or a Busse vs S!K shoot out. I just wanted to see how these knives would perform on the hand rail and oak dowel in the pictures above. All three got equal cutting time and all three did well. But if I had to choose one I would choose the new 5.1 because it simply feels the best in my hand when I pick it up and use it for short or long periods of time. The new contouring really takes the knife to the next level especially if you use it for long periods of time. All three slice, carve, chop. baton, etc. very well however the new 5.1 just feels better. I also like that it's a little heavier than the RMD and has a little more weight forward of the handle, making it a better chopper. Additionally I love that I can change out the scales on the 5.1. Comparing the new 5.1 to the old 5.1 I prefer the longer and more contoured handle and the new heat treat 3V steel is better than the old 5.1 for edge retention. It seems that the new heat treat might be as tough as INFI, at least in edge retention. We'll see how well they both sharpen at a later date....
Plz forgive spelling and grammatical errors!!! I am sure I'll be editing this for the next day or two....
Before I get to the actual shoot out I took some pictures of these knives in hand. Just for the record I wear XL gloves, my hand circumference is 9.5", but I have size L glove sized fingers.
Feel:
All three knives fit my hand and are comfortable. Initially I thought the old 5.1 handle was a little on the short side but after many many hours of work I find that the handle fits and is very comfortable to work with. After handling the RMD for the first time I remembered loving the handle. After a year + with it I still like the handle but I wish it had more bolstering like the SOB. My first impression with the new 5.1 handles is that it feels very comfortable but not considerably more comfortable than the old 5.1. It also felt noticeably larger than the old 5.1. When compared to the RMD the new 5.1 grips feel more substantial in my hand and more comfortable.
After about 2 to 3 hours of work with each knife on the above mentioned treated hand rail and an oak dowel I have found the following:
When working for less than 10 or 15 minutes there is not much difference in feel between the old and new 5.1. However when hard working the knives for more than 15 minutes I find the new 5.1 is more comfortable than the old 5.1. Not by a huge margin but it is noticeable. Especially if you using the choil.
When comparing the new 5.1 to the RMD I find that the RMD feels too thin in my hand especially when my hand becomes fatigued . I can also use the new 5.1 longer than I could with the RMD. For short tasks the RMD is comfortable but not as comfortable as the new 5.1.
Cutting, carving and steel:
My RMD has always cut pretty well but it didn't cut as well as my old 5.1. So I reached out to a buddy and asked him to put the same edge as my 5.1s. Now the RMD is a beautiful slicer and cutter just like my 5.1s. All three knives did VERY well cutting, carving and slicing the treated lumber. The old 5.1 was the first to show micro folds. So far the new 5.1 and RMD are just as sharp as when I started this exercise weeks ago. I am very impressed! The new heat treat CPM-3V is a real improvement over the old CPM 3V, which is really saying something because the old 3V holds an edge for a long time.
My conclusions:
This was not meant to be an INFI vs 3V or a Busse vs S!K shoot out. I just wanted to see how these knives would perform on the hand rail and oak dowel in the pictures above. All three got equal cutting time and all three did well. But if I had to choose one I would choose the new 5.1 because it simply feels the best in my hand when I pick it up and use it for short or long periods of time. The new contouring really takes the knife to the next level especially if you use it for long periods of time. All three slice, carve, chop. baton, etc. very well however the new 5.1 just feels better. I also like that it's a little heavier than the RMD and has a little more weight forward of the handle, making it a better chopper. Additionally I love that I can change out the scales on the 5.1. Comparing the new 5.1 to the old 5.1 I prefer the longer and more contoured handle and the new heat treat 3V steel is better than the old 5.1 for edge retention. It seems that the new heat treat might be as tough as INFI, at least in edge retention. We'll see how well they both sharpen at a later date....
Plz forgive spelling and grammatical errors!!! I am sure I'll be editing this for the next day or two....
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