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Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Knife Review: Mora Bushcraft Black vs. Mora Pathfinder
This post has been a long time coming. If you have followed this blog since the beginning you will note that in nearly every post my Mora Bushcraft Black Survival Edition knife has been with me as it has been one of my go-to and favorite fixed blade knives to take into the woods. I have quite literally beat the crap out of the Bushcraft Black with a stick or with flint for the last two or so years and when the Pathfinder came out I knew I needed to get my favorite knifes big brother. So here is a video review of of both knives to get you started (I demonstrate notching, batoning, spoke shave use, scraping a ferro rod, use as flint/steel and fine carving). I will go into much more detail below but I thought this video was the best mean through which to compare the two knives side-by-side.
So lets get this little house keeping item out of the way, BOTH the Mora Bushcraft Black and the Mora Bushcraft Pathfinder meet all 10 of my criteria for a survival knife selection. I know several people out there hate the saying that these are great knives for the money... so I will just say this these Mora's are a sound financial investment as their cost to benefit ratio is off the charts!
Mora Bushcraft Black Survival Edition:
1) Fits Hand Comfortably In All Positions- This is where both knives truly shine in my opinion. The grip on these knives is so ergonomic and it fits my hand perfectly in every single hand hold. The grip is also great even when wet as it to me gets a little tackier whenever it is wet. The only time the grip has been hard to hold onto was during a hunting trip when it was on my hip for a rain storm for several hours and the temperature dropped creating a layer of ice on the handle. Even covered in mud I have been able to have precise control of this blade... I can't say enough about this the comfort of this knife, its amazing!
2) Manageable Blade Length Between 4.3" and 6.75"- This knife comes in at 4.3" and for me is the perfect blade length for general camp tasks and is still quite manageable for heavy splitting. I have made hundreds of split wood fires over the last few years with this knife and it works great for this function as well as fine carving for making traps and tools used around camp.
3) Solid/Flat Pommel- If you take a look at my Bushcraft Black's pommel you will notice it is very beat up. I have used this knife to drive stakes for tarp shelters, hammered on the pommel during split wood fires, tapped on the pommel when gorging out a spoon and much more.
4) One Cutting Edge With No Serrations- The Mora Bushcraft Black has a 4.3 contentious blade made from 1095 high carbon steel with a scandi grind. The video above was filmed after nearly two months of continued use and should be a good bench mark to let you know just how amazing this knife is at holding an edge with continuous use (this knife is often my EDC knife or my backup knife)
5) 90 Degree Edge On Spine- There is a great factory 90 degree edge on the spine of this knife. If you watched the video you will notice the Pathfinder has a much better 90 degree on it at this point in time than the Bushcraft Black as I have used the for a good bit of flint/steel and also for split wood fires (I make many a week and when you beat on the spine for two years it tends to round out the edge a little). While the spine's sharpness has decreased over time it is still excellent at removing material from a ferro rod and using it as a spokes shave!
6) High Carbon Steel- A high carbon steel knife is essentially back up to a ferro rod, lighter or other combustion device as you can grab a piece of flint from the river and you are throwing a shower of sparks into a pile of charred material. 1095 and 01 seem to be ideal for this task and all of the knives I have tested have worked well as an improvised flint/steel medium. As you can see pictured above this knife works well with a piece of flint from my pocket fire kit.
7) Sharp/Spear Point- Spear points are essential for using the knife as a makeshift drill, driving it into the wood to act as a gouge, using it as a hand-to-hand defense weapon or strapping it to a stick to act as an improvised spear.
8) Heavy Duty Sheath w/Ferro Rod Loop- The Mora Bushcraft Black comes with what I believe is one of the best stock sheaths available on the market for a survival knife. the knife is extremely secure in the molded sheath which also packs the punch of having a very secure ferro rod holder and a sharpening stone. Cordage can be attached using a whipping technique from the top of the knife sheath to the ferro rod loop giving you three to the 10 C's in one location.
9) 1/8" to 3/16" Blade Thickness- This knife is 1/8" thick and is plenty durable for "heavy-duty" use as a one tool option within the woods. This knife has been used to split wood, make
traps, carve, pry notches into wood, and so much more over the last couple
years. As long as you are simply not trying to just break this knife out of
spite you shouldn't have any issues with its durability.
10) Full Tang or Nearly Full Tang w/ 1+ Year Of Abuse Testing- While
this knife is only 3/4 tang it has sustained much more than 1 year of abuse
just being in my presence (I'm a little hard on gear). The knife has without a
doubt been more than durable for everyday use in the woods as your go to knife
for self reliance. I would not flinch at trusting my life with this knife long
term!
Some Other Knives You May Be Interested In:
Mora Bushcraft Pathfinder:
11) Fits Hand Comfortably In All Positions- This
is where both knives truly shine in my opinion. The grip on these knives is so
ergonomic and it fits my hand perfectly in every single hand hold. The grip is
also great even when wet as it to me gets a little tackier whenever it is wet.
The only time the grip has been hard to hold onto was during a hunting trip
when it was on my hip for a rain storm for several hours and the temperature
dropped creating a layer of ice on the handle. Even covered in mud I have been
able to have precise control of this blade... I can't say enough about this the
comfort of this knife, it’s amazing!
12) Manageable Blade Length Between 4.3" and 6.75"- This
knife has a 6.75" blade length and is at the top of my usable blade length
scale. Honestly these two knives are actually what I used to come up with the
usable blade length. While the 6"+ length is on the long side for
usability for fine carving the handle on this knife makes it much easier to
handle. The longer length allows for you to have a ton of blade to be used in
the woods without worry of dulling your entire knife.
13) Solid/Flat Pommel- I
have used this knife to drive stakes for tarp shelters, hammered on the pommel
during split wood fires, tapped on the pommel when gorging out a spoon and much
more.
14) One Cutting Edge With No Serrations- The
Mora Bushcraft Pathfinder has a 6.75 contentious blade made from 1095 high
carbon steel with a scandi grind. The video above was filmed after nearly two
months of continued use and should be a good bench mark to let you know just
how amazing this knife is at holding an edge with continuous use.
15) 90 Degree Edge On Spine- There
is a great factory 90 degree edge on the spine of this knife. If you watched
the video you will notice the Pathfinder has a much better 90 degree on it at
this point in time than the Bushcraft Black as I have used the for a good bit
of flint/steel and also for split wood fires (I make many a week and when you
beat on the spine for two years it tends to round out the edge a little). This
knife is excellent at removing material from a ferro rod and using it as a
spoke shave!
16) High Carbon Steel- A
high carbon steel knife is essentially back up to a ferro rod, lighter or other
combustion device as you can grab a piece of flint from the river and you are
throwing a shower of sparks into a pile of charred material. 1095 and 01 seem
to be ideal for this task and all of the knives I have tested have worked well
as an improvised flint/steel medium. As you can see pictured above this knife
works well with a piece of flint from my pocket fire kit. The more you use this
knife for flint/steel the better it performs for this function (notice how the
bushcraft black showers more sparks than the pathfinder- this is because the
pathfinder has been used much less for this function).
17) Sharp/Spear Point- Spear points are essential for using
the knife as a makeshift drill, driving it into the wood to act as a gouge,
using it as a hand-to-hand defense weapon or strapping it to a stick to act as
an improvised spear. This knife has a very sharp spear point to use as a tool
or a spear but I personally wouldn't use it for a defensive fighting weapon as
the length is a bit problematic for me for several knife techniques that I have
been trained to perform.
18) Heavy Duty Sheath w/Ferro Rod Loop- This
is where the Pathfinder is lacking. I don't have many issues with this knife
but deviating from a traditional sheath like the bushcraft black was a mistake
in my opinion. The molle sheath is able to integrate with other systems so
strapping it on a pack and being secure is a little of a question mark in my
opinion. An easy fix to this problem is to simply pick up a k-bar knife sheath
and use it as a replacement. If this knife will live in your pack and not on
your hip you will be able to manage with this sheath.
19) 1/8" to 3/16" Blade Thickness- This
knife is 1/8" thick and is plenty durable for "heavy-duty" use
as a one tool option within the woods. This knife has been used to split
wood,make traps, carve, pry notches into wood, and so much more over the last
couple years. As long as you are simply not trying to just break this knife out
of spite you shouldn't have any issues with its durability.
20) Full Tang or Nearly Full Tang w/ 1+ Year Of Abuse Testing- This
knife was built to the same hardness and technical specifications as the Mora
Bushcraft Black and I have abused that knife for around two years. This knife
has been put through the paces for a little over seven months now and has held
up extremely well. I also would not balk at putting my life in the hands of
this knife but would always grab for my bushcraft black if I could only pick
one as it is more suited in my opinion to every task I perform. This
big-brother style knife is however the perfect companion to the bushcraft black
for long-term self reliance.
Conclusions:
The Mora Bushcraft Black Survival
and the Mora Bushcraft Pathfinder are two work horses within my knife
collection. The bushcraft black is the "starter knife" I always
recommend for anyone starting out in their path to discovery of wilderness self
reliance. The reason for this is it meets all of my requirements, costs right
around $50.00 and is the one non-custom knife that I consistently use at this
point in my self-reliance journey. The pathfinder with a higher price point is
a good companion if you want a backup knife that is more capable of performing
split wood fires on larger logs. While I know some will opt for a hatchet, axe,
tomahawk, machete or some other cutting tool (as I usually carry an axe of some
kind for long trips) but a backup knife is always a great thing to have if you
can justify the weight to benefit ration for your particular needs. BOTH of
these great self reliance knives will serve you well in the woods and I believe
either of these would serve you well...... So the choice is yours; do you want
a smaller knife with survival sheath or the longer knife with molle sheath?
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