There is a Knife Shop inside every Mast General Store location and a virtual store online at mastgeneralstore.com. Our knife experts will provide commentary as they unbox knives, perform knife reviews, compare knife models and introduce you to small volume producers that turn out some fantastic finished products.
Tools like this have their place. It does a lot of things pretty well. I think of the value it brings vs the space/weight it takes up. I love them for camping and hiking.
One thing I never understand with these kinds of videos is why they only demonstrate one grip. This is supposedly a bushcraft knife, but I still don't know if it's at all comfortable for chest lever / reverse grip. I see a curving section near the pommel and it has quite a pronounced finger guard too, so I really can't tell just from looking at it -- it might be fine, and it might be unusable. Such a basic thing to overlook, it makes me wonder if these sellers even use these knives at all.
Thank you for the feedback. You make a great point. We tend to focus more on specs. As for this knife, I think it performs just fine in a chest lever and the handle shape is comfortable in a reverse grip. As you point out, showing you vs. telling you would be better.
Bradford is my favourite knife brand. I have 2 guardian 4.5's in 3V, both of them nimbus finish and black and green micarta. If I had to sell all my knifes exept one, the 4.5 is the one I would keep, and Ive been looking for that particular one you got there, the natural micarta with natural stonewash finish. Damn its nice. Thanks for the upload, Sir
These are hand-made with quality materials in small production runs by a group of artisans right here in North Carolina. I can't speak for all $250-$300 knives, but this one is true "buy it for life" quality.
High quality in every aspect from the wood in the handle, steel in the blade and components of the sheath, made in small quantities in the USA under the guidance of a master bladesmith. It doesn't fit into the budget blade category.
I think there are two major factors that make this knife of equal quality as those produced in Italy. First, is the design. Jens Anso and Jesper Voxnaes design great knives. Secondly, the supplier, Reate is reputable manufacturer. You can find poorly designed and poorly manufactured products across the world. This is not one of them.
Awesome Knife ! My wife and I made a special trip from NY to stop at the Original Mast store a week ago . My first Naylor Forge and definitely not my last thanks to the help from Alex who was a wealth of knowledge and a great help . Can't wait to hit more Mast stores on our way through . Thanks again for the great products and friendly service !
That is an awesome knife! We are glad to hear you made Mast General Store a destination for your trip last week. I will let Alex know you complimented his service. We can't wait to see ya'll again and we greatly appreciate your business!
How much does that thing weigh? I mean I don't think my full size kukri from Tora Blades is as heavy as that monstrosity, and the price is just insane.
The steel in this blade (80crV2) is the same as the General. Very durable and easy to sharpen. The blade design is also comparable. This knife has a micarta handle so some may see that as a better option for durability. The General with the custom wood handle would be more desirable for collectors and those that don't mind trading some maintenance for traditional good looks of a wood handle. Also, the General is made exclusively for the Mast General Store and is not as available as the Primitive Woodsman. I think you can't go wrong with either. You will have more success finding the Primitive Woodsman in stock. It is a tough call and I will leave the final decision up to you.
Sometimes our guys are so excited to tell you about the product, they forget to mention the price. We include full specifications, including price, in the description for each video. The price of this blade at the time of the video is $249.99.
The Knife Steel Comparison Chart data is presented with permission from Dr. Larrin Thomas and was sourced from his book - Knife Engineering (c)2020. We cannot publicly distribute it but you can find it in his book.
These knives are currently only available for purchase in store. Be sure to give them a call [ www.mastgeneralstore.com/store-customer-service-hours-info ] before going to buy to make sure we have them in stock.
Nice. 3.5" is the sweet spot for me. Hunting, backpacking, camping, that's all I need in a blade. I have a kukri or tomahawk for any larger tasks and see little use in huge blades. I may have just purchased this one over some of Winkler's models today if it weren't out of stock.
