Review Mora Garberg

O

old4570

Banned By Request
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
803
IMGP1441.jpg


I really maybe should not have bought one ! I just had this feeling it would disappoint :
Yes , I know . This knife has it's FanBoys .. And sure , that's fine . What's maybe not fine is opinionating this knife into the stratosphere !
HRC Files : the side of the blade near the Logo .. My 50 HRC file bit the blade ..
The scandi edge was harder / smoother (?) my 55HRC file bit it and the 50HRC file skated !
Mora's do tend to be on the softer side ( the ones I have ) . Value index to date is on the wrong side of $1 per slice ... ( I will try and improve on that )
But this knife was Micro FUBAR from the factory .. ( Thanks Morakniv ) Micro fractures + a micro tear on the apex of the edge and I didn't have to pay extra for any of it ! ( Another post )
If this was a $50 knife , ( Australian ) , I could understand . But it's selling for up to $300 Australian bananas ... I paid almost half that and I think I over paid quite a bit . ( Over priced & underperforming comes to mind )
I should have listened to that little voice in my head that was yelling at me to pass on this one .. I guess after half a decade I got tired of that voice . ( Shame on me - Listen to that 6th sense )

So far : Just going to start editing the video I have ..


Ok , lets break down the video ..
Factory edge - Was micro FUBAR .. Slice paper ... Not!
So I had to strop it to get it to slice paper = 100 slice fail . looks like a roll . ( Scandi Roll )
Re sharpened - 150 slice , looks like a roll ( Scandi Roll )
Stropped Back - 150 slice , looks like a roll ( Chiko Roll ) sorry ... Scandi Roll .

I got me some diamond plates last year , so I put the knife to the 1000 grit diamond plate and sharpened like you would on a wet stone till I got me a very small BURR ...
Then spent the next 30 minutes or so trying to micro convex the burr away .. Yeah , my Mora 2000 was like ..... Over an hour trying to micro convex .. Came out alright , but still .
Getting too old to spend that much time trying to perfect an edge .. Especially with arthritis in my hands .. ( Getting old hurts )

Those micro fractures were present all the time ... ? How they affected things ? But a roll is a roll .
After sharpening on the diamond plate , the edge slices paper much better , hopefully removed or smoothed out the micro fractures ..
Will see what it takes to get more than a 150 Roll out of the much vaunted Garberg ...
 
Last edited:
old4570 said:
Exactly ! ( That's the entire point of it - eliminate the grey areas ) ......... Edge retention .
Click to expand...
Edge retention is not the only thing in life.
Also, why test inexpensive knives with steels that don't excel at edge retention, if that is all you care about? You're bound to be disappointed every time.
 
This is not an inexpensive knife. I've been disappointed in the edge this knife has from the factory, and I'll be interested to see what further testing tells you.
 
sodak said:
This is not an inexpensive knife. I've been disappointed in the edge this knife has from the factory, and I'll be interested to see what further testing tells you.
Click to expand...
It's not dirt cheap, like a 511, but by BF standards, I'd say anything under $100 US is an inexpensive knife.
 
dogstar said:
It's not dirt cheap, like a 511, but by BF standards, I'd say anything under $100 US is an inexpensive knife.
Click to expand...
Yes , the USA ..
But we pay about double down under .. .. And sometimes more .. So that affordable knife in the USA becomes a little more pricy in Oz ..
Sure , we can also buy from the USA but then you need to factor in 10% GST and shipping , which is still often cheaper than local ..
Butt & it's a huge butt ! Not everyone ships to the Oz and some postage scalp ... Sooooo ?
It's a snapping turtle .
 
old4570 said:
Yes , the USA ..
But we pay about double down under .. .. And sometimes more .. So that affordable knife in the USA becomes a little more pricy in Oz ..
Sure , we can also buy from the USA but then you need to factor in 10% GST and shipping , which is still often cheaper than local ..
Butt & it's a huge butt ! Not everyone ships to the Oz and some postage scalp ... Sooooo ?
It's a snapping turtle .
Click to expand...
LOL, I appreciate you, Sir.
 
I'm not sure a filing test reveals much practical information about the steel. Simply using a knife for a variety of tasks would be more valuable IMHO.
 
Alberta Ed said:
I'm not sure a filing test reveals much practical information about the steel. Simply using a knife for a variety of tasks would be more valuable IMHO.
Click to expand...
HRC ... Well ......... That might be information people want to know ?

If I had to chose between say 45HRC and 55HRC .................... Yeah , id go with the 55HRC ..
And if 60HRC was on the table , id snap up the 60HRC .. But that's just me ..
And there are already many many reviewers out there not telling you anything about edge retention , or Hardness .
I mean , Utube is full of knife reviews that are set up like TV adds . So why ?
There must be space in the world for some relevant facts , surely ? Or is everyone adjusted to the Covid years of BS ?
Im not here to disparage how Nice a knife can be , how it feels ( usually ) ok sometimes ill poo poo how a knife feels , or how it looks , ...
Those things are subjective ( Mostly ) , Im doing , what most people wont do .. Most people wont touch edge retention with a barge pole ( for some reason ) .
And because of that , I will ! I will poke and probe till my arthritis hurts .. ( Or slice rope in this case )

If another 1000 people jumped on the slice rope bandwagon ? Imagine the data we could gather ...

If anyone thinks that edge retention does not matter ? Oh dear ! That means that all knives are good ! And that's some sort of delusional fantasy !
Cos everyone knows , not all knives are good ! Edge retention testing is one way to separate the good , the bad and the ugly ! ( Borrowed from a movie tittle ) .
If I'm upsetting fanboys = To Bad ! Surely everyone knows about scandi roll by now !

I have talked about the virtues of scandi and ..... This testing is about edge retention !
 
aaaargh !

Just spent almost 2 hours trying to micro convex the Garberg !
The edge just kept thinning ... ( Hardness issue ? )
Scandi roll = Too thin an edge ..
Yes , ... / it's sharp / easy to restore / but ... weak ! ( Why it rolls )
I am so / so stropped out ..
I had to resort to the Mora 2000 method , which is time consuming .. tedious .. soo tedious !
Yeah , rolled another 150 this morning after trying power stropping ... ( wet stone grinder has a stropping wheel ) .
Conventional methods just seem to thin the edge .. So after that , I resorted to the painful / time consuming / tedious / Mora 2000 method .
I'm all Mora'd out , it's hot out there .. So another day .

150 Roll :
I went for the Diamond plates I purchased a while ago .. Long time no hand sharpen in a traditional way !
Things went really well .. I got a really nice edge ( thin ) from those plate ( 1000 grit / 2000 grit )
Then I hand stropped ( Cardboard / leather ) and also used a bit of 5000 grit oil stone to try and micro convex ..
The edge seemed too sharp ..
So I power stropped the edge ..
And the result was a 150 Roll ...
Everything conventional I try seems to thin the edge ..
Hence I had to go the Mora 2000 route .. If it works ? ill go into more detail .
Because it is time consuming and tedious ..
 
Micro Convex ...
Ok , finally got a micro convex going !
Was it worth the effort = Hell No !
Resulting edge faded away after 100 slices ..
I would rather go the 150 Roller ..

This is not a cheap / budget knife in Oz ..
To pay almost $130 more for a full tang over say a Robust and a crisp spine is ............... Just a little on the NOSE ! ( Actually a lot )
Lets upset the fanboys ..
The knife is underperforming and seriously over priced for what you get . ( The one I have )
I have budget knives that will kick the Garberg to the curb and stomp on it !
In fact , the Garberg is one of the worst performing knives I own ( edge retention ) .
To get something this bad , you usually have to buy cheap Chinese or Pakistani .... Not joking !
Did I get FUBAR by chance ? ( seems like )
The only way this knife impresses , is how poorly it's performing .
If you seek poor edge retention , look at the Mora Garberg ... That little voice in the back of my head was right .. It was telling me not to buy one .
All this is related to my sample , the one I paid for , here in Oz & put to the rope !

Ps/ This is the Carbon Version ... The SS might be a different animal !
I was some what disillusioned and gave up on editing the video : ill do that today ..
I dont usually complain ( to manufacturers ) , but ill see Morakniv has to say .. Cos this knife simply bites . ( ill have to apologize to my inner voice )
 
Last edited:
So ...... Where are we ?
It looks like scandi is ............................... bad ju ju !
So , there is still one option left ..

yeah , a 2nd bevel .. Micro bevel / mini bevel or 2nd bevel ...
So this looks like the only path left to take if I wish to extract edge retention from the "Garberg"
Summer has suddenly turned into winter , kind of cold and wet .. So that gives me plenty of time to
A) Wait for a reply from Morakniv ( HELP my Garberg sux's ) Yes I emailed them !
B) Slap on a 2nd bevel and hope for the best .
 
Since I was sharpening knives ........ The Garberg got a 20 degree micro bevel ..
Lets see if we can crack 150 ?
 
I love my stainless Garberg. But I broke the tip very first day, from very light wood prying (not abusing the knife). But very small chunk (1mm), so I resharpened it on Work Sharp blade grinder to a convex and now it is even better. Dosnt hold an edge for very long (like my 3v or magnacut knives) but it is fine for the price.
 
Garberg.jpg


Mora Garberg :

A) Not a cheap knife in Oz
B) I will not make excuses for poor edge retention
C) I will not shy away from calling rubbish / well / rubbish !
D) Is Garberg Swedish for Garbage ? ( seems like )

Ok , I have seriously dreaded this last rope slice test :
I put a 20 degree micro bevel on the knife in the hopes that a NORMAL edge might / might / might / might / give me ( us ) , some actual value for money !
And we are still on the wrong side of $1 per slice . Check out the Gerber test I posted .. Gerber scandi does 550 ..
Or how about the Spyderco Mule test .. One Thousand One Hundred & Fifty slices for a fail for the Mule with a 60 grit grind ..
And you can buy a Mule for less money than a over rated Garberg .
That's right , I am calling out the Garberg for it's pp edge retention .
When much cheaper knives outperform the Garberg , how can the Garberg be held in high regard ? , especially ( my sample - that I own - payed for ) performs so poorly .
The Garberg can't even outcut a Morakniv Basic .. ( $10 knife ) , I actually have a $9.99 knife that kicks the garberg to the curb .
Honestly , I can only recommend not buying a over priced / underperforming knife ! ( Well , that's what my garberg is - Carbon garbage )

Oh , and I did contact Morakniv ... & They apparently are not that interested .. ( Yeah .......... What a shocker )
Sorry , yes ! It failed again at 150 slices with a 20 degree micro bevel .
Video soon ! ( I was just outside cutting rope - so had to get this crap off my chest ) .


Video to be posted here ASAP : = Language Warning ! I let slip a BAD word ....
 
Last edited:
I'm not saying that there is nothing wrong with your garberg, but it always irritates me when knife bros take an electron microscope to scrutinize their latest purchase. The only thing that irritates me more is the guy who can't freehand sharpen to save his life because he does all of his sharpening by using some fancy contraption that's too big and impractical to field carry.

I love moras. I own several. They make fantastic light weight stainless steel knives which are cheap so you can stash it somewhere in a kit and forget about it unless and until you need it. I don't bother with their carbon steel versions. Moras are cheap, reliable, and easy to sharpen with nothing but a simple pocket stone and no training. Edge retention and having a perfect edge are not as important with a mora as having something that works when you need it to with little no skill required on your part. That's what a mora is for. It's your easy reliable basic budget fallback.

The garberg was always an outlier. It's still somewhat cheap in its class, but it's not as cheap as a normal mora. It's thicker than a normal mora, it's heavier, and it has a full tang. It's like the garberg has an identity crisis. It's a mora that's trying to not be a mora while still being a mora.

I own a garberg and I apprreciate it for what it is. It's a mora that's built more like the bushcraft/survival knives that are popular with the youtube crowd, but don't be fooled by that. The garberg is not for knife bros. It's still just a mora and it should be treated as such. YMMV
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top