Pathfinder Trade Knife

I got a chance to take out the new Pathfinder trade knife from Habilis Bush Tools designed by Dave Canterbury. The knife is made from 1095 high carbon steel. The blade length is 5 inches long for an overall length of 9 1/2 inches. It features a 1/8″ thick blade. The handle scales are tiger orange G-10 with holes for making a spear and a bow drill divot. The blade come with a con-vexed scandi grind. The knife come with a handmade leather sheath. Its 100% made is the U.S.A. All that for a $99 price tag!

I’m a big supporter of Dave Canterbury. I love his YouTube videos, Dual Survival and his generosity in the community. Last in 2011 for his spring gathering he offered the weekend for free! No one does that. I was off and decided to drive to Ohio and get some great training and meet Dave. It was an amazing experience. Any chance I can support Dave I try to and when I heard Dave was going to produce a “Common man” knife at the crazy price of $99 I bought one as soon as I could. As a side note the shipping was amazingly fast.

This past weekend I had a chance to get out and get some pictures of the knife in action. The first thing I did was test the 90 degree spine on its ability to throw sparks from a ferro rod. Wow. I can honestly say that it throws more sparks than any other knife I’ve ever tested. It takes such a deep bit into the rod that you need to be careful not to apply as much force as you usually would. After a few strikes I had flattened the rod. I’m very impressed by it.

After making fire we had to put that flame to use so we grilled some steaks. The trade knife and Snow Peak Ti Spork make a great combo. The scandi grind makes cutting meat an easy chore. I didn’t have to use much pressure at all it sliced right through it. I didn’t have a chance but I’m sure it would perform well in a skinning application.

The wood I was batoning was both hard and green. Not the best test to use. I need to get back out and find something more suitable. With that said I was not impressed  with the batoning capabilities of this knife. I did test it with not optimal wood but it was a test. It performed OK at taking small bites of the edges. Going through the center was not successful. It would only make it about half way through. The shape of the blades belly made the knife want to back out the log. By the time I made it to the middle there was not enough of the tip sticking out to baton. I think it would perform well if it was dry wood of a smaller diameter. I’ll test it soon and get back.

The last test was the carving ability. After batoning I wanted to see how well it would still carve.

Let me preface this by saying that the art of making feather sticks is a skill I still need to master but this is my attempt at it. The knife preformed very well. Maybe previous knives inability was more to blame than my skill with a blade. I found it carved into the wood with very little problems. I carved this in about a minute or so. So batoning had very little impact on edge retention,

I tried a reverse grip for carving and the knife felt very comfortable. I was able to quickly and comfortably remove large chunks of wood. It does a great job of carving and cutting. The edge did not feel very sharp out of the box but performs very well. You don’t have to be able to shave to make a feather stick is the lesson learned here.

The pro’s for this knife are as follows

• Price! for $99 you need to get one. The quality of this knife far exceed that price.
• Scandi grind can carve like no other. It’s also the only grind I can hand sharpen.
• It’s handmade here in the U.S.A!
• It excels at most camp chores. Carving, food processing and throwing sparks.

The cons are:

• It does not baton very well. The shape makes it want to push out the wood.

• The leather sheath. It fits a little too snugly. It’s hard to get in and out. Also if you’re not careful you will cut the retention strap.

In conclusion the Trade knife excels in the role of a companion blade. In the position of supporting a larger knife. Which was exactly what i needed. I nest it with my Buck Hoodlum to make a complete system. The Hoodlum is too big for the task where the Trade knife excels. Which is the intended purpose of the knife. Dave did not intend for the trade knife to be a one knife solution. Combined with a system though and it does great. If you’re looking for a companion knife that a big step up from a Mora then check out the Pathfinder trade knife.