I already mentioned in another thread about some knife action. Lets compare three knives and this time I even included some pics. The contenders, each in the corner of the log, are the well known Mutt, which needs no introduction. Against it we have rounded up a new favorite and cousin twice removed, the Mandu. And as a surprise guest the NWA, also known as BF Forumknife.

Having the day off and my kids complaining that they can't play Xbox sounds like the perfect excuse to do some knife testing. Two simple chores: starting a fire and batoning some logs should suffice to keep them busy and out of the house.

Lets have a look at them while they are still fresh (the knives not the kids):

After that both kids had to collect sticks, dry grass and leaves to be able to start a fire. The first attempts are a bit unsuccessful but slowly they warm up.




Finally we hit the jackpot:


After the fire we do the batoning (this is not very logical but hey it is my day off. The Mutt in its element, chewing through everything.


The NWA knife is great at batoning too:


And lets not forget the Mandu:



Feeling dirty but not tired at all:

Cool pics!

Nice pictures, bodhi. Looks like you had some good help there. So which of the three knives did you prefer for batoning? I am partial to the Ratmandu, with its full tang and rugged Busse constuction. You can beat on the handle without messing it up too much (if the whole blade gets stuck in something).

NEAT PICS

i defintely prefer the "after" pics the most.
it's great to see these knives being used as they were intended.

Great blade matchup.

Great pics too! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Looks like everybody had fun, those blades look happy... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The Mutt performed best, the handle looks a bit messed up after hammering it into the log. Surprisingly the NWA batoned better than the Mandu, the flat back is an advantage.

The coating from the Mutt is a dead giveaway. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I bet if I had done a batoning (splitting) test instead of a notching test yesterday, the Yard Keeper would have beat the other 4" knives. The more "wedge" shape, the better for splitting. Thanks for the review.

great pics & review.

nice job

Awesome thread. Good to see kids learning about outdoors (in between X-box).

Looks like some re-sharpening and edge repairations might be required though for at least the RMD and NWA (????):




Anyway.....

I know the DM and RMD are great. I have them.

I frequent Bladeforums all the time, but there are so many sub-forums I never heard about the forum knife. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sad.gif" alt="" />

I am sorry I missed. That looks like a pretty nice knife.

What more can you tell us about the NWA forum knife?

Apparently, it is O-1 differentially heated steal; 5" blade, 10" oal.

How does it feel, perform, etc.?

Great pix - thanks for sharing!