When camping or hunting, I use knives for various tasks, like preparing a meal, skinning and butchering an animal, or even whitling by the campfire. I prefer knives that have blade lengths from 3 inches up to 5 inches. Knives with blades between 3-4 inches are mainly used for detail field work where control cuts are necessary, like woodworking or game processing. That doesn’t mean that I am carrying only one knife. Even if carrying a 5-inch blade, it will be paired with another cutting tool.
One of my favorite knives is the LTWK Maverick Scout model. Not long ago, I had the chance to get one in scandi grind. The knife’s overall length is 8 inches( approximately 20cm). The blade length is 3,54 inches (9 cm) and the handles are 4,3 inches( 11 cm). The handles are made from burlap micarta over hunter’s green g10 liners. The handles are very comfortable and don’t leave hot spots. The knife is made from A2 tool steel and its thickness is 1/8 inches. The blade’s style is a drop point, and the knife’s back has a 90-degree spine. That feature is handy for striking ferro-rods, and scraping bark, or fatwood. The knife comes with a brown leather hip sheath from JRE Industries. The sheath is well made and features a fire steel loop that accepts a 3/8 ferrocerium rod.
Testing the knife
A knife with scandi grind excels at woodworking, so the first test of this knife was to make a try-stick. That was accomplished easily; the grind bites so well into the wood.
The second carving test was to make tent stakes. I made a pair using dried olive wood, of different sizes, which is hard to carve in such a condition. Alas, after patience and persistence, the outcome was rewarded.
Then it was time to make a one-stick fire. For this test, I used the knife to button a piece of wood around 3 inches in diameter and made a couple of feather sticks. Then I strike my ferro rod with the back of the knife to start my fire. All this time A2 steel proved its superb edge-holding ability. I stropped the knife after the final testing five times on each side and it went back to laser sharp!
Just like any knife that comes out of the LTWK shop, the attention to all production stages is obvious at first glance. You can’t go wrong owning an LTWK knife, so do yourself a favor and grab one. You will definitely, not regret it for sure!