- Joined
- Feb 25, 2001
- Messages
- 6,675
My Moore Maker 3103LB large locking sodbuster finally arrived on Friday. I had originally ordered it weeks ago, but the knife was put on backorder by Moore Maker. I did get a call from David Moore at one point, promising to send me the pick of the littler when the next shipment arrived. With a promise like that, I was compelled to wait and see what was to be had from Moore Maker. What did arrive was not a knife to jump for joy about, but neither was it a disappointment.
The finish of the knife is pretty bad. There are gouge marks on the liners and spine of the blade. The spot where the lock bar meets the back spacer looks like it was ground by Sponge Bob Squarepants. Where the tang meets the lock bar looks pretty bad. The sharpening job was what I'd become accustomed to in the world of slipjoints; read that as awful, which I've since fixed with a DMT diamond bench stone and a Sharpmaker. The knife came packed with gripe and abrasive from the manufacturing process, but is now squeaky clean after a long session with a toothbrush, cotton swabs, dishwashing detergent and WD-40.
Yet while the knife kind of looks like hell, you can't help but admire it. The design is simply wonderful. The handle offers a nice full grip that is refreshingly comfortable. There's lots of blade packed inside. And for such a large knife, the bolster-less design is quite light in weight. What you get is a good sized traditional lockback, with a fantastic weight to strength ratio. The walk and talk isn't quite what I'm used to in a knife of this size, but I guess it doesn't need to be. The spring is strong enough to hold the blade closed, and with the locking mechanism, the spring doesn't need to hold the blade open.
The fit is actually not half bad. There's no horizontal play in the blade, and the vertical play is nearly imperceptible. When in both the open and closed positions, I can see no daylight between the liners and lock bar. The blade is nicely centered in the handle. There are no sharp corners on the knife. The pins are nice and smooth and flush with the pale yellow Delrin handle scales.
The blade is advertised as being 1095 carbon steel, with an RC of approximately 56. That's a bit softer than I prefer, but you don't ever get an RC of 60 or 61 unless you go custom. The 3 1/2 blade has a dropped point, which is perfect for my needs, and with a slight recurve. I'd prefer not to have any recurve whatsoever, to make sharpening easier, but there isn't enough recurve to really put me off. The length of the cutting edge is 3 1/4. My vision of the perfect woods walking blade has a blade thickness of .015 to .019 behind the cutting edge. This knife measures out at .025, which is a pretty good start. After I convex the blade a bit, it should be pretty close to my ideal.
From what I understand, this knife is made by Bear & Son for Moore Maker. I originally thought about just ordering a Bear & Son version at one-third the price, but hoped that the Moore Maker labeled version would possess a greater attention to detail. The evidence in my hands tells me that this is not so. The only advantage I see to ordering the Moore Maker branded version is maybe a nicer cardboard box, and the included leather sheath. I should talk about the sheath a bit, because it is a nice sheath. It's not custom quality or anything, but it is a very functional design. It rides well on the belt, without digging into my gut. Friction holds the knife in place very securely, while allowing the knife to be drawn easily enough. I love the sheath.
In the end, I have gotten what I needed. I was looking to replace my current woods walking folder with something of the locking variety. I wanted an American-made traditional knife with a blade that was easy to touch up in the field. The handle needed to be tough, and of a color that was easy to spot if dropped on the ground. I didn't need another small knife. I needed something large enough to compliment a Victorinox Farmer, but without weighing me down too much. I needed an efficient cutting knife, not a tactical pocket prybar. The locking sodbuster easily meets all of these demands.
Would I recommend this knife to others? Yes, but only conditionally. I'd definitely purchase the Bear & Son version if you can hand pick the knife. The Moore Maker version may be worth it to you if you really want the leather sheath, and don't mind exchanging the knife if it doesn't live up to your expectations. This assumes that you need a highly functional knife. If you're a collector, look elsewhere. Unless Bear & Son starts putting more effort into the aesthetics of their sodbusters, these aren't anything you'll want to display next to your Case and GEC's.
The Moore Maker large locking Sodbuster is definitely not my grail of woods walking folders. To be my grail, it would have to have a thinner edge thickness, higher RC, orange G-10 scales, a lanyard hole, and slightly heavier spring tension. Chances are that I'll never own that perfect vision of mine, but the journey will be a whole lot more comfortable with the Moore Maker at my hip.
The finish of the knife is pretty bad. There are gouge marks on the liners and spine of the blade. The spot where the lock bar meets the back spacer looks like it was ground by Sponge Bob Squarepants. Where the tang meets the lock bar looks pretty bad. The sharpening job was what I'd become accustomed to in the world of slipjoints; read that as awful, which I've since fixed with a DMT diamond bench stone and a Sharpmaker. The knife came packed with gripe and abrasive from the manufacturing process, but is now squeaky clean after a long session with a toothbrush, cotton swabs, dishwashing detergent and WD-40.
Yet while the knife kind of looks like hell, you can't help but admire it. The design is simply wonderful. The handle offers a nice full grip that is refreshingly comfortable. There's lots of blade packed inside. And for such a large knife, the bolster-less design is quite light in weight. What you get is a good sized traditional lockback, with a fantastic weight to strength ratio. The walk and talk isn't quite what I'm used to in a knife of this size, but I guess it doesn't need to be. The spring is strong enough to hold the blade closed, and with the locking mechanism, the spring doesn't need to hold the blade open.
The fit is actually not half bad. There's no horizontal play in the blade, and the vertical play is nearly imperceptible. When in both the open and closed positions, I can see no daylight between the liners and lock bar. The blade is nicely centered in the handle. There are no sharp corners on the knife. The pins are nice and smooth and flush with the pale yellow Delrin handle scales.
The blade is advertised as being 1095 carbon steel, with an RC of approximately 56. That's a bit softer than I prefer, but you don't ever get an RC of 60 or 61 unless you go custom. The 3 1/2 blade has a dropped point, which is perfect for my needs, and with a slight recurve. I'd prefer not to have any recurve whatsoever, to make sharpening easier, but there isn't enough recurve to really put me off. The length of the cutting edge is 3 1/4. My vision of the perfect woods walking blade has a blade thickness of .015 to .019 behind the cutting edge. This knife measures out at .025, which is a pretty good start. After I convex the blade a bit, it should be pretty close to my ideal.
From what I understand, this knife is made by Bear & Son for Moore Maker. I originally thought about just ordering a Bear & Son version at one-third the price, but hoped that the Moore Maker labeled version would possess a greater attention to detail. The evidence in my hands tells me that this is not so. The only advantage I see to ordering the Moore Maker branded version is maybe a nicer cardboard box, and the included leather sheath. I should talk about the sheath a bit, because it is a nice sheath. It's not custom quality or anything, but it is a very functional design. It rides well on the belt, without digging into my gut. Friction holds the knife in place very securely, while allowing the knife to be drawn easily enough. I love the sheath.
In the end, I have gotten what I needed. I was looking to replace my current woods walking folder with something of the locking variety. I wanted an American-made traditional knife with a blade that was easy to touch up in the field. The handle needed to be tough, and of a color that was easy to spot if dropped on the ground. I didn't need another small knife. I needed something large enough to compliment a Victorinox Farmer, but without weighing me down too much. I needed an efficient cutting knife, not a tactical pocket prybar. The locking sodbuster easily meets all of these demands.
Would I recommend this knife to others? Yes, but only conditionally. I'd definitely purchase the Bear & Son version if you can hand pick the knife. The Moore Maker version may be worth it to you if you really want the leather sheath, and don't mind exchanging the knife if it doesn't live up to your expectations. This assumes that you need a highly functional knife. If you're a collector, look elsewhere. Unless Bear & Son starts putting more effort into the aesthetics of their sodbusters, these aren't anything you'll want to display next to your Case and GEC's.
The Moore Maker large locking Sodbuster is definitely not my grail of woods walking folders. To be my grail, it would have to have a thinner edge thickness, higher RC, orange G-10 scales, a lanyard hole, and slightly heavier spring tension. Chances are that I'll never own that perfect vision of mine, but the journey will be a whole lot more comfortable with the Moore Maker at my hip.
