Oh man. Lot of surprises there for me, both good AND bad. I think this was a very good evaluation of the capabilities and SAFETY issues for the knives.

Overall I would rate your testing WINNER!

And with that we're off to Mingo.

I have a Bravo 1 in A2 steel and I love the handle ergonomics and it is one of my go too hunting knives
The steel does rust if you glance at it with even a hint of a tear in your eyes

My favorite yard hunting knife is my Yardkeeper, but like all yard knives I find the handle too small


BTW I generally don't like choils on a knife

[censored] those Swedes!

My poor, beloved GSO...kicked to the curb!

On a more serious note- is the handle on the 511 the same size as the 311?

I wonder if the ESEE's would have fared better with those bigger handles from The Knife Connection.

Also, I too love me some sr101. Gary knows I've been enjoying the Survive! knife, but when I had my Howling Rat out for a sharpening last week, I was reminded why I chose it as my go-to smaller blade.

Thanks for putting in all the time Gary.

edit- I've been censored? I knew a fix was in!!! lol!!

Rich, the handles are the same. I think the birds beak by the lanyard hole could be shaved down some so it won't feel so cramped.

Nice review. Thanks for doing this.

Rich,
I DREADED having to post such a negative review of your GSO. I had incredibly high hopes for it, and as you know ... tried to trade you out of it before the evaluation. It LOOKS like what I thought a BC knife should be. I simply couldn't get it to perform as well as the other knives.

Everyone said they wanted me to be blatantly honest, and I was perhaps overly brutal with regards to the Survive. I think my review is harsh, because I expected so much more from her.

With regards to everyone who loaned me a knife: please don't be offended by my post. I feel it only benefits the Yard to see the blatant and honest truth (as I perceived them).

I had a YK, and think it would have made an interesting addition to the evaluation. I couldn't locate one for this test though. It would have been nice to have included a SR77 blade.

I for one loved the brutal honesty of the review. Now let me go track down my son and get him to trade that 511 back to me.

Thanks.

Make sure its a 511MO with FFG

Get the Swamps custom shop to make you a RMD drop point and full flat grind! It will be nice.

MM

Also, whats the difference between the 511 MO and the one that's in the store?

Thanks
MM

For myself the criteria is a little different
Most of my outdoor knives are hunting knives first then camp knives
The only true bushcraft knife that I own is a Rossarms Companion 2
I don't know if it would have made your initial cut as its blade is only 3 3/8 with an ol of 7 3/4