Secondary Knife Review: Blind Horse Knives Short Trail

This is the first of several articles on secondary/back-up/utility knives and I thought it was fitting that the first knife reviewed would be the Blind Horse Knives Short Trail Limited Edition. This knife has been used to light nearly every fire that you see on this blog and is on my person nearly 24/7.This is one of the 100 limited edition versions made and is one of a kind as it has green micarta scales instead of the natural micarta scales from the original batch.

Lets get this started with a breakdown of the knifes specifications:

$80.00 Purchase Price w/ Sheath

Overall Length: 5 inches 
Sharpened edge:2 inches 
Handle: 5 ¼ inches
1/8 inch O1 tool steel
Full flat grind 

Green micarta scales

So what do I look for in a secondary/back-up/utility knives?

Essentially the above video says everything I'm essentially looking for but here is a recap: 1) Meets Mission Specific Needs: Does it need to be stainless for a water or ocean based trip a filet knife or machete for jungle based trip; 2) Extremely sharp and easy to sharpen in the field; 3) Easy to carry so that you will not leave it behind; 4) Able to make fire if your primary survival knife is taken out of commission (i.e. 90 degree spine and high carbon steel); 5) Able to process small game; and 6) Fit your hand well for each task you wish to perform.

Need A Neck Knife, Try One Of These

 

What Can the BHK Short Trail Do? Watch My Review Below

I simply can't say enough good things about this little knife. While you will not be splitting any fire wood with it's 2" sharpened edge you are able to do just about every other camp task with this knife. I use it for about everything other than to baton fire wood just because it has the best edge retention of all of my knives and takes a shaving sharp edge with just a few minutes using a river rock, sand paper (see how I sharpen with this method- HERE) or a Lanskey sharpener. The Ninety degree spine on this knife is by far the sharpest of any knife I own and removes material from a ferro rod like no other! The same ninety degree spine makes easy work of tinder preparation, scraping a hide and many other uses. This knife has processes hundreds of fish, one deer and a ton of squirrels and does so with ease. The spear point has been use to make many of the starter holes for bow drill fires.

So what stands out about this knife? It is hair popping sharp and easy to maintain in the woods. This knife is always sharp enough to shave with and can make razor thin shavings for fire prep.

The knife just looks great! I got this knife from Bear Holdren over at BHK (shoot me a message and I can connect you with him if you want a custom knife) with the subdued green micarta handle scales to match my PLSK1. As you can see the knife comes with leather neck sheath with ferro rod slot on the reverse side. Everything fits together perfectly with this combo and you can hardly notice it around your neck. In the winter when I wear it over my Lester River Boreal Jacket I can't even feel the knife or its weight but it is always right there ready to work!

The most aggressive ninety degree spine of any knife I own is of course on my BHK Short Trail. Just a quick look at the picture above is enough to see that a simple scraping leaves you with some razor thin fire starting material.

Fire lay prep and fine carving isn't even a challenge for this knife. I have made several try-sticks with this knife and thousands feather sticks without issue. If you have any experience with a try-stick it is basically a way to practice most of the knife skills you will need to effect most wilderness knife tasks.

Fire Making: This knife obviously excels in this area as I have used it to achieve fire in countless weather conditions with a wide variety of tinder material. The 01 tool steel makes it work well as a flint striker, the 90 degree spine works well to remove ferro rod materials and the spear point helps you prepare friction fire sets. 

Conclusions:

The Blind Horse Knives Short Trail is without a doubt my favorite secondary/back-up/utility knife, which I guess is an obvious statement as it is in nearly every post related to fire on this blog. I have used this knife nearly daily for close to two years now and it has handled every task I put before it with ease. The knife is comfortable in your hand in every single position in which you use the knife and the micarta scales get even comfortable once the material is wet. This knife is built with the highest quality materials, come razor sharp and are worth every penny that you pay for them. At $80.00 USD this knife was a steal and will last well beyond my lifetime, it is truly an heirloom quality knife!

Be sure to join us each Tuesday night at 9pm Eastern Time on American Preppers Network's: Prepper Broadcasting Network for the 7 P's Survival Radio Show (http://prepperbroadcasting.com/the-7-ps-of-survival/). If you have a suggestion for a show topic or know someone who would like to be a guest then please feel free to contact me by email (joshsemailfilter-7psblog@yahoo.com). 

This coming Tuesday  (07/07/2015) we will have Josh "Hey Bear" Chavez on the show talking about his experiences on History's hit new survival show ALONE! Josh is a graduate of several Pathfinder classes, a first responder, outdoorsman and much more so needless to say we have a good bit in common. I'm looking forward to asking Josh all about his experiences, reasoning behind his 10 piece kit, run ins with predators and much more. If you have a question you would like us to address please feel free to call into the show tomorrow night by calling (347)202-0228 or join us in the live chat room by logging into the show page: http://prepperbroadcasting.com/the-7-ps-of-survival/. I hope to talk to each of you tomorrow!

 

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