Hand Forged Bushcraft Knife with Fire Steel Loop, Green Micarta

Rain does not wait for you to finish a job. You still have to cut cordage and pare shavings off a stick with cold water running down your wrist. This is a 4 inch blade in 1095 high carbon steel with green canvas micarta scales, built for the hours when everything you pick up is already wet. Steel does not mind that. Handles do.

Specification

The blade

The steel is 1095 high carbon. We leave the spine dark the way it came off the fire and take the bevel up bright. The grind is a scandi, one wide flat bevel running from the edge up the lower part of the blade with no second bevel on top of it. The shape is a tall drop point, deep under the spine for pushing through wood and still fine enough at the tip for small work. Carbon steel goes grey with use and it will spot if you put it away wet. That is normal, not a fault.

The handle

Green canvas micarta is layers of cloth soaked in resin and cured hard. It does not swell in the wet and it does not shrink in a hot truck. The texture gets a little grippier as it wets, which is the opposite of what smooth wood does. The tang runs full to the butt with three brass pins through it and a brass lined lanyard hole at the back. Handle length is 4.75 inches against a 4 inch blade, and that near even split is what makes a knife read as a woods tool instead of a hunting knife.

The leather sheath

The sheath is vegetable tanned leather cut to this blade's own outline, so it seats with some friction instead of rattling. The face is stamped. A welt is sewn into the edge to keep the stitching off the steel, and every stitch goes in by hand. On the front is a loop sized for a fire steel. The ferrocerium rod is not included, so carry the one you already trust.

Who it suits

Most people who go looking for a micarta handle have a reason. Usually a wooden one that turned greasy at the wrong moment.

• Anyone out in rain, snow or river work
• People who want a handle they never have to oil
• Buyers who like a scandi grind and a stone
• Anyone who has slipped on a wet handle once already

What comes in the box

• The hand forged bushcraft knife
• The stamped leather sheath with its fire steel loop
• A care card
• A free engraving proof on request

Every piece is different

Every knife here is forged, ground and finished by hand in small runs, so nothing leaves as a copy of the last one. The line where the dark spine meets the bright bevel sits differently on each blade. Micarta shifts in shade from sheet to sheet, so your green may read lighter or darker than the one photographed.

Looking after it

Wipe it dry when you are done, even after a job that was only rope. Give the blade a light film of oil before it goes away. The handle wants nothing, which is half the reason people pick it. Sharpen by laying that wide bevel flat on a stone, then strop it. If the steel goes grey on you, leave it alone. There is more on our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade and you add it on this page. Around 30 characters fits, so a name or a date reads better than a sentence. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days to the build. Free on orders of 10 or more. The rest is on the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

Does micarta get slippery when it is wet? Less than wood does. The texture bites back a little once your hand is damp.

Does the handle need oiling? No. Dry the steel and leave the scales alone.

What is the squared spine for? A sharp square corner scrapes a ferrocerium rod for sparks and shaves dry tinder. A rounded spine will not.

Will this steel rust? It can if you leave it wet. Dry it and keep a thin coat of oil on the blade.

How long does shipping take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

Is a scandi grind hard to sharpen? No. You lay the whole bevel on the stone and it finds its own angle.

If you would rather hold wood, the same knife with a walnut handle. For a slimmer blade that carries in a pouch, look at the puukko knife in curly birch. Everything else lives in bushcraft knives, in 1095 high carbon steel, and in everyday carry knives.