The "Ask Nathan a question" thread

What does NASK stand for? Thanks!
Got 1 coming & curious.

Not A Survival Knife. This came about because the powers-that-be were originally mulling over the designation of CPK Survival Knife, but because of issues with a similarly named knife Co and some collaborative work between Nathan and that Co in the past, it was decided to scarp that name and hence the Not A ... was facetiously put in front of that moniker ;)
 
Not A Survival Knife. This came about because the powers-that-be were originally mulling over the designation of CPK Survival Knife, but because of issues with a similarly named knife Co and some collaborative work between Nathan and that Co in the past, it was decided to scarp that name and hence the Not A ... was facetiously put in front of that moniker ;)
Thank you Sir, I should have known that...
 
1B98E7CE-C104-4491-BEF3-65FF567940B5.jpeg Does all the Natural Micarta HDFK come with the lettering like in this photo? Looks nice!
 
View attachment 939667 Does all the Natural Micarta HDFK come with the lettering like in this photo? Looks nice!

If you mean the gold color inlay, the answer is NOT always but IIRC Jo tends to pair those up mostly with the natural colored micarta handles. FYI, some of the blades have the Carothers, D3V and LA on the other side in the silver colors.
 
If you mean the gold color inlay, the answer is NOT always but IIRC Jo tends to pair those up mostly with the natural colored micarta handles. FYI, some of the blades have the Carothers, D3V and LA on the other side in the silver colors.
Thank you!
 
View attachment 939667 Does all the Natural Micarta HDFK come with the lettering like in this photo? Looks nice!

No, we only leave it on there when it turns out clean like that, it's usually chemically removed.

Jo tries to pair it with scales she thinks it looks good with.
 
1. Nathan, would it be possible to get g10 handles for the HDFK?
2. Will there be a 90 degree spine on the FK2?

Thank you.
 
Last edited:
What does NASK stand for? Thanks!
Got 1 coming & curious.

The original concept for the HDFK was a survival knife. But that begs the question what is a survival knife. At the end of the day a survival knife is whatever knife you have when you need one, not something specific. So we made a heavy duty field knife that could handle larger chores and had a bigger margin for error built in so if you needed a single practical knife that you could rely on with minimal chance of failure this was it.

I like to name our knives so the name of the knife makes sense and you could pick it out on a table based on it's name. Most of our knives are identifiable by their name. This knife is a heavy duty field knife so that's what we called it. It took me too long to name it and I knew I didn't want to call it "survival knife" so we were calling it a "not a survival knife" or N.A.S.K. for a while and it stuck.
 
1. Nathan, would it be possible to get g10 handles for the HDFK?
2. Will there be a 90 degree spine on the FK2?

Thank you.

1. possibly

I'm curious, why? It's a large scale so the additional weight from G10 would be substantial, and it has less grip than micarta. It also abrades in a gritty environment worse. I agree the aesthetics on G10 are nice but I don't usually use it on larger knives and big work knives due to functional reasons. Is there something that I'm missing? I'm always open to suggestions.


2. not from me, but there's nothing stopping you from grinding a 90 degree spine on one.

The only part of my knives designed to cut is the edge, every other surface will be rounded or chamfered and safe for the hand. I know some people like a sharp spine, and people can grind their spine sharp if they want, but I press on the spine hard sometimes (just yesterday in fact) and I don't want my knives to have a burr on the spine.
 
1. possibly
I'm curious, why?

It's a thought that has come up in the past. Blood. My wife who is a certified Food Safety Manager here in CA, told me that legally,wooden cutting boards used for raw meat have to be sterilized in between uses. That cutting board can also never be used to cut vegetables because the wood can harbor and actually grow bacteria. Micarta isn't as porous as wood, but they do still change colors and absorb oils and things.
 
Nathan,

Have you seen the microtexturing that's gaining popularity on other maker's micarta handles? It adds both a pleasant and useful grip when handling the knife barehanded.

Have you given any consideration to adding this to your handles?
 
I’ll just toss in .02 cents about g10 :) I can’t use every HDFK so one with g10 can look really pretty on display matching it’s CPK siblings in same g10 :) :)
Toxic green/ black and blaze orange / black :) I like the multi colors from a collecting side. User side I’ve grown to really like canvas and linen micarta. Now also solid blaze orange is nice and easy to see when dropped in woods :)

How about g10 on plastic liners ? Would that lighten the g10 some ?
 
I personally prefer the look of micarta > G10. But the fact that G10 doesn't absorb liquid and will be easier to clean, makes me pick it over micarta everytime where optional.
 
Back
Top