Hi Everyone, this is my first attempt at a review, so I'll give it my best shot, but apologies in advance if I leave something out..
This knife is the new GSO 5.1 model and I was lucky enough to get one of the few preorders that were made with a convex grind by Bark River (the GSO is usually going to be offered with a flat grind, probably most people's preference due to ease of sharpening). Now I am NOT trying to start a debate about the advantages and disadvantages of different grinds, this has been done to death already and my feeling is that they each have their pros and cons, I am simply writing a little about my experience with this particular knife, for whatever it is worth..
The 5.1 model is a general utility knife, and so that is how I tested it. I did NOT do any destruction type testing, since that is not how I use a knife, I just used it for ordinary knife tasks, on some outdoor trips and at home. The knife arrived super shaving sharp, with an excellent kydex sheath. The overall design is clean and simple, and fairly lightweight for a 5 3/4 in blade knife. Handle is very comfortable, although little thinner than ideal for me (the production model will have removable scales, so you could easily customize handle thickness). The micarta scales are nicely finished, and the choil allows for a variety of grips. I used it for at least an hour at a time without any grip discomfort, and for a total of about 4 hours, without any sharpening or touchups. Here's what I did...
First task on a camping trip was to trim some pine branches at my campsite, this was extremely easy to do, the knife cuts through green wood effortlessly.
Small branches could be cut through in one chop, bigger ones in just 3 or 4 chops. Splitting was easy also. But this wood was too green to burn so it was time to get some dry wood. Using a baton, it was easy to prepare firewood.
Although I confess I usually use matches, this time I used a firesteel, just to be a real bushcrafter! It worked!
I used the choil to strike the sparks, although I could have used the spine, or even the butt. (Actually I usually use the scraper that comes with the firesteel
)
Cutting and splitting small wood was really not a challenge at all, even chopping through a 2" thick hardwood branch to make a baton went quickly, although not as fast as using a saw! I was very impressed, for a fairly lightweight knife this one is very heavy duty. I do not normally split thick pieces of wood while camping unless I have an ax, I just don't see the point, however I did want to know that I could if need be, so I tried it at home. I'm not sure what kind of wood this is, but it is seasoned, and very hard to split, even with an ax.
It took a couple of minutes of batoning, but I managed to split off a large chunk. Then I decided to do some cross-grain batoning on a 1.50 in thick piece of seasoned white oak, VERY hard tough wood. Again, not something I would normally do (a saw is easier!) but it is nice to know that I could do it if need be and it is a very good test of edge holding.
I did this 4 times, with no edge damage at all..
Then I decided to try some kitchen tasks, since I had not done much outdoor food prep with it. The sharp edge slices veggies beautifully, even after hacking up all that wood!
OK one more test, everyone always slices up cardboard on knife tests, so I'll try it too.. no problem!
So after all this, is it still sharp?
Yes! Not quite as smooth a shave as before, but still shaves! The steel and the heat treat on this knife is exceptional, I can't imagine ever needing anything better. And, with a few passes on a strop it was back to being as sharp as new. Overall I am very impressed with this knife, I think it is a real winner. Thank you Guy at Survive Knives for making a fine product!
This knife is the new GSO 5.1 model and I was lucky enough to get one of the few preorders that were made with a convex grind by Bark River (the GSO is usually going to be offered with a flat grind, probably most people's preference due to ease of sharpening). Now I am NOT trying to start a debate about the advantages and disadvantages of different grinds, this has been done to death already and my feeling is that they each have their pros and cons, I am simply writing a little about my experience with this particular knife, for whatever it is worth..
The 5.1 model is a general utility knife, and so that is how I tested it. I did NOT do any destruction type testing, since that is not how I use a knife, I just used it for ordinary knife tasks, on some outdoor trips and at home. The knife arrived super shaving sharp, with an excellent kydex sheath. The overall design is clean and simple, and fairly lightweight for a 5 3/4 in blade knife. Handle is very comfortable, although little thinner than ideal for me (the production model will have removable scales, so you could easily customize handle thickness). The micarta scales are nicely finished, and the choil allows for a variety of grips. I used it for at least an hour at a time without any grip discomfort, and for a total of about 4 hours, without any sharpening or touchups. Here's what I did...
First task on a camping trip was to trim some pine branches at my campsite, this was extremely easy to do, the knife cuts through green wood effortlessly.
Small branches could be cut through in one chop, bigger ones in just 3 or 4 chops. Splitting was easy also. But this wood was too green to burn so it was time to get some dry wood. Using a baton, it was easy to prepare firewood.
Although I confess I usually use matches, this time I used a firesteel, just to be a real bushcrafter! It worked!
I used the choil to strike the sparks, although I could have used the spine, or even the butt. (Actually I usually use the scraper that comes with the firesteel
)
Cutting and splitting small wood was really not a challenge at all, even chopping through a 2" thick hardwood branch to make a baton went quickly, although not as fast as using a saw! I was very impressed, for a fairly lightweight knife this one is very heavy duty. I do not normally split thick pieces of wood while camping unless I have an ax, I just don't see the point, however I did want to know that I could if need be, so I tried it at home. I'm not sure what kind of wood this is, but it is seasoned, and very hard to split, even with an ax.
It took a couple of minutes of batoning, but I managed to split off a large chunk. Then I decided to do some cross-grain batoning on a 1.50 in thick piece of seasoned white oak, VERY hard tough wood. Again, not something I would normally do (a saw is easier!) but it is nice to know that I could do it if need be and it is a very good test of edge holding.
I did this 4 times, with no edge damage at all..
Then I decided to try some kitchen tasks, since I had not done much outdoor food prep with it. The sharp edge slices veggies beautifully, even after hacking up all that wood!
OK one more test, everyone always slices up cardboard on knife tests, so I'll try it too.. no problem!
So after all this, is it still sharp?
Yes! Not quite as smooth a shave as before, but still shaves! The steel and the heat treat on this knife is exceptional, I can't imagine ever needing anything better. And, with a few passes on a strop it was back to being as sharp as new. Overall I am very impressed with this knife, I think it is a real winner. Thank you Guy at Survive Knives for making a fine product!
Last edited:
I also will make a review about my camping trip in Sweden!
