Jdee
12-05-2007, 08:30
Time to eat humble pie. In the past I have said the Canadian Special was not the Knife for me as I didn’t like its blade shape nor finger grooves. On a whim I bought a CS with a Natural Canvas Micarta handle due to its Arcadian like features attracting me.
http://barkriverknives.com/albums/album214/Can_Spec_Nat_Canvas_S.sized.jpg
Out of the box the CS was nice and sharp and the first thing to strike me was the point – good strong but fine sharp point.
The 4-3/8” A-2 steel blade at 58hrc is 11/64” thick which starts to taper 1-1/8” from the tip and is 1/32” thick 1/8” from the end of the spine. The blade is 1-1/16” at its widest and is a leaf shaped “Bow Back Skinner” with a 4-3/16” cutting edge although I would rate the first ¼” unusable.
The blade is convex ground and .02” thick 1/8” from the edge and .09” thick ½” from the edge and the grind starts ¼” from the spine – the geometry should make it an excellent slicer.
The handle is 4-3/16” long from the bottom of the ricasso and is 13/16” at its thickest and 1” at its widest. The OAL is 8-9/16”. The hand on my Knife was uneven by about 1/16” at the ricasso – if I was anal I might be upset but since I’m not it doesn’t matter to me as it doesn’t affect the hold at all.
Handle Holds
Press Cut – with the thumb resting just in front of the ricasso it performed well.
Basic Hold – for opening cuts I found by choking up just in front of where the handle meets the blade the most comfortable and useable position.
Finger Hold – given the “Bow Back” shape the whole of the finger does not rest on the spine but enough of the finger does to be most useable.
Thumb Press – a very comfortable position for “fiddling”.
At first the finger grooves feel unusual but once you find the most comfortable position and practise with it there are no problems with the light work I have done with the Knife no hot spots arose.
Blade Shape
Despite my misgivings I find the blade quite useful – plenty of width and strength for slicing. I can see this Knife being very useful for cleaning up skins and also for skinning – in some ways the blade reminds me of a straight “sheep skinner” and esp., the front 2 to 3”. One would need a little more care then the curved sheep skinner when using it but one could become very proficient with the CS very quickly.
With limited experience with the CS blade shape I can see that the Knife is versatile, manoeuvrable and handle well. The blade sees to go wherever it is pushed and has no negative or positive lead characteristics I don’t believe it would bite or slip out while skinning. And, IMO the CS is about the optimum size for this type of blade for the tasks mentioned.
I mentioned before the CS’s Arcadian qualities. Its shape (leaf-shaped) is nothing new and like other Knife shapes is common in nature. Early flint Knives were so shaped as were spearheads and later daggers and swords. As I’ve said before Mother Nature does not like straight lines and Knife shapes such as the CS and the Big Mountain Skinner are all curves.
What is the CS Good For?
I have already mentioned Skinning but in some ways the CS reminds me of the “Bushman’s Friend” – able to be used for fishing, camping, hunting or whittling and it will handle these tasks well. “General Purpose” comes to mind it will skin, it will be effective in camp for slicing food, as has been shown it can be batoned and carry out a plethora of bushcraft tasks.
For me it will be my new “camp Knife” – as you should know by now I have a rather simple definition of a camp Knife “it is one you take camping” and the CS will replace my North Star. IMO the CS is much better suited to camping tasks then the North Star.
The CS may well prove to be a good large EDC – its ability in the kitchen will give you a good excuse to carry it and I am sure it would prove its worth when there is a Goat Kid or Lamb on the spit.
Given its Arcadian looks the CS would certainly fill the role of a General Purpose “Folk” Knife – that is one that could be used like a small Scramasax for food and daily tasks, be at home in the camp or hunt and be available for any emergency that may arise.
The sheath is well made and due to the belt loop arrangement will ride high on the belt. It has the necessary attachment points for a smaller Knife to be carried piggy back. My sheath has 1 problem and that is the firesteel loop has been made too small or too thicker a leather has been used and I can’t fit the army sized firesteel into it – maybe I’ll have to get the small “scout”size?
In conclusion there are better hunting and skinning Knives available and better general purpose and camp Knives then the Canadian Special but if you are attracted to it my recommendation is buy it as it won’t let you down.
http://barkriverknives.com/albums/album214/Can_Spec_Nat_Canvas_S.sized.jpg
Out of the box the CS was nice and sharp and the first thing to strike me was the point – good strong but fine sharp point.
The 4-3/8” A-2 steel blade at 58hrc is 11/64” thick which starts to taper 1-1/8” from the tip and is 1/32” thick 1/8” from the end of the spine. The blade is 1-1/16” at its widest and is a leaf shaped “Bow Back Skinner” with a 4-3/16” cutting edge although I would rate the first ¼” unusable.
The blade is convex ground and .02” thick 1/8” from the edge and .09” thick ½” from the edge and the grind starts ¼” from the spine – the geometry should make it an excellent slicer.
The handle is 4-3/16” long from the bottom of the ricasso and is 13/16” at its thickest and 1” at its widest. The OAL is 8-9/16”. The hand on my Knife was uneven by about 1/16” at the ricasso – if I was anal I might be upset but since I’m not it doesn’t matter to me as it doesn’t affect the hold at all.
Handle Holds
Press Cut – with the thumb resting just in front of the ricasso it performed well.
Basic Hold – for opening cuts I found by choking up just in front of where the handle meets the blade the most comfortable and useable position.
Finger Hold – given the “Bow Back” shape the whole of the finger does not rest on the spine but enough of the finger does to be most useable.
Thumb Press – a very comfortable position for “fiddling”.
At first the finger grooves feel unusual but once you find the most comfortable position and practise with it there are no problems with the light work I have done with the Knife no hot spots arose.
Blade Shape
Despite my misgivings I find the blade quite useful – plenty of width and strength for slicing. I can see this Knife being very useful for cleaning up skins and also for skinning – in some ways the blade reminds me of a straight “sheep skinner” and esp., the front 2 to 3”. One would need a little more care then the curved sheep skinner when using it but one could become very proficient with the CS very quickly.
With limited experience with the CS blade shape I can see that the Knife is versatile, manoeuvrable and handle well. The blade sees to go wherever it is pushed and has no negative or positive lead characteristics I don’t believe it would bite or slip out while skinning. And, IMO the CS is about the optimum size for this type of blade for the tasks mentioned.
I mentioned before the CS’s Arcadian qualities. Its shape (leaf-shaped) is nothing new and like other Knife shapes is common in nature. Early flint Knives were so shaped as were spearheads and later daggers and swords. As I’ve said before Mother Nature does not like straight lines and Knife shapes such as the CS and the Big Mountain Skinner are all curves.
What is the CS Good For?
I have already mentioned Skinning but in some ways the CS reminds me of the “Bushman’s Friend” – able to be used for fishing, camping, hunting or whittling and it will handle these tasks well. “General Purpose” comes to mind it will skin, it will be effective in camp for slicing food, as has been shown it can be batoned and carry out a plethora of bushcraft tasks.
For me it will be my new “camp Knife” – as you should know by now I have a rather simple definition of a camp Knife “it is one you take camping” and the CS will replace my North Star. IMO the CS is much better suited to camping tasks then the North Star.
The CS may well prove to be a good large EDC – its ability in the kitchen will give you a good excuse to carry it and I am sure it would prove its worth when there is a Goat Kid or Lamb on the spit.
Given its Arcadian looks the CS would certainly fill the role of a General Purpose “Folk” Knife – that is one that could be used like a small Scramasax for food and daily tasks, be at home in the camp or hunt and be available for any emergency that may arise.
The sheath is well made and due to the belt loop arrangement will ride high on the belt. It has the necessary attachment points for a smaller Knife to be carried piggy back. My sheath has 1 problem and that is the firesteel loop has been made too small or too thicker a leather has been used and I can’t fit the army sized firesteel into it – maybe I’ll have to get the small “scout”size?
In conclusion there are better hunting and skinning Knives available and better general purpose and camp Knives then the Canadian Special but if you are attracted to it my recommendation is buy it as it won’t let you down.