Another balanced and intelligent assessment. Even though companies send you their equipment, you are willing to be honest with pros and cons. Much appreciated.
Hi Mark, 2016 i bought this knife. And i love it. Now i have three Bushcraft Plus knives. I want to add that this knife has a secret pocket in the handle. I youse it for money and tinder. Thank you for showing. Sven
Glad to see you back. At the moment I have a bitter taste in my mouth for Chines knives . I am leaning toward the Spanish makers Muela and Joker I have not found abad blade yet and the sheaths are leather and made well. Happy Trails
I have the same knife in D2 with a leather sheath Superb knife Excellent sheath Highly recommended Costs over half the price D2 to the Sanvik Certainly not worth the double cost You can also get the D2 with a kydex sheath
Fantastic video, thank you, I've just got this knife, and I'm looking forward to putting it through its paces,, I'm probably going to heavily modify the sheath,, and maybe round off the scales, and maybe epoxy in permanent place, Thanks again,, all the best from across the pond,,
Glad you enjoyed the video. I did end up rounding over the edge of the scales and it made a huge difference and I found a leather sheath in my collection that fit perfectly. I can see myself carrying this one a lot. Thanks for commenting
Nice review, Mark! Agree on the sheath - I've got "survival" knives that came with smaller sheaths. And I'm really starting to try to move away from Velcro closures - after a while the Velcro seems to wear out and they won't stay closed all that well, especially if you put any stress on them. Maybe that's just cheap hook-and-loop closures, but I tend to prefer snaps or buckles these days. Otherwise the knife looks nice. I've got small hands, so the handle would probably fit me fine. Totally agree about the hidden compartment - especially since you'd have to carry the Allen wrench to access it. Easier to just carry whatever you would have put in it separately. I don't think I've ever had a knife with a convex grind, so that would be interesting to play with, but not at the moment.
I think Reel Steel tried to hard to jam as many features into this knife as they could and ended up missing the point of a bushcraft knife which, to me, is simplicity. Thanks for commenting
I do not recommend their Scandi version . The edge is way too thin for the height of the grind. I used mine to make a basic feather stick, and it was ruined within five minutes of owning it. It couldnt handle a pine branch and removal of basic branches to clean the stick for feathering. ...VERY odd. Fortunately, I was able to return mine, and I exchanged it for the full flat . In the end, I think it possibly had a bad heat treatment, but still, that edge is just too thin. Maybe if you added a scandi vex it would hold up but not the zero degree it comes with. The full flat was excellent, they are very nice knives but I too did not like the sheath nor the handle thickness. I ended up trading mine to another youtuber for an Ontario SK5 Blackbird. To be honest, I have considered getting the convex version now, but i have too many knives in this range and style. Your review is spot on 👍 I would recommend the full flat and convex , they are very good knives .
I have heard of issues with the D2 versions but maybe I have been fortunate with this 14C28N. It has stood up well for me. Coincidentally, I bought an SK5 second hand a few years ago. I put a convex secondary on it. I really enjoy using that knife. I just need to get it out more. Thanks for commenting
@MarkYoungBushcraft Yes the D2 scandis do chip , they also need to be scandiVexed. I think the convex versions of their bushcraft blades are the best option in both steels. I do like 14C28N it's an excellent steel and is very easy to sharpen and reprofile. Yeah that Ontario Sk5 Blackbird is one of my favorite knives, it's a simple design and very comfortable in hand. The new ones are in S30V, I haven't had issues with the 154cm other than its a bit tough to sharpen for newbies.
Great review Mark, definitely agree the sheath is way to big and bulky. The liner looks ok, I would probably only use that if the retention was deeper. The knife looks ok and durable. Cheers my friend.
Regarding the knife, I'd personally take that liner out and shove it in a leather sheath like the BPS sheath, making a basic leather sheath into a perfectly fitting one. Did the same to a Mora classic into a cheapo Chinese leather generic sheath, cutting the bottom off the plastic sheath to fit better, but keeping the solid retention from the top half. Shouldn't need to do that for a knife this size though, which is disappointing
Hello there. Thanks for the video. I already own this knife for 6 years now. I won it in a raffle in a Outdoor Store and carried a few times, 2 times i took it with me to Sweden and Finland. I really don't like this knife, even if i want to. But edge retention is mediocre and the steel is NOT stainless. I got big dots of rust, not this light flash rust! Real rust. Even with Nevr-Dull i couldn't remove all of it, i had to use fine Sandpaper. And last but not least...the sheath...utter nonsense. The inner Kydey part hasn't enough retention to be trustworthy (and is to long) and the outer part is just ridiculously big for the knife size. It doesn't feels comfortable on the belt while hiking with a backpack. If i had to give it a school grade it would be between a C and a D in the US.
@@MarkYoungBushcraft No Problem, thanks for your videos. I think that they messed up the steel, maybe with the heat treatment or it wasn't homogeneous enough. But the rust dots went really deep, not only on the surface. The knife is now in some tool box in my garage...I've no clue how it looks now.
@@papaaaaaaa2625 14C28N can put up with very salty water, are you sure it's not the D2 version? Messed up heat treatment can definitely affect corrosion resistance but not to that extent...
I wonder how the slightly shorter version made of D2 steel compares to the Sandvik. Especially when it comes to sharpening. Currently, these knives, or at least the d2 versions, have riveted handle covers and leather sheaths that do not hold the knife very well. Nevertheless, I want this model because I have never had a knife with a convex cut and I would like to try it. If the Sandvik 14C27 used in this knife actually rusts, it means it is not a real Sandvik, but maybe something like 8cr13mov or 9cr13mov. Not good.
Glad to see they came out with a different version in a different steel. I bought one of their knives several years ago. It came with Kydex sheath with a bolt on belt/strap loop. My sheath has excellent retention though and is sized proportionately and appropriately. Hmmmm... I wonder if this knife would fit in that sheath? The blade profile and dimensions look to be quite similar. The blade is D2 and Scandi ground with a micro bevel. All in all not a bad knife. I've not had good luck with D2 steel on Scandi grinds (chipping issues), but maybe that micro bevel helps as I haven't chipped the blade yet, but the knife hasn't seen a lot of use yet either. This knife with the convex grind looks like something I'd prefer to own and use, so thanks for reviewing it. Like you, looking at that sheath and then hearing about the void in the handle left me scratching my head. I only have one other convex grind knife, a Falkniven F1. I use sanding blocks with a thick rubberized material pad to sharpen that knife. I can change out the sandpaper for progressively finer grits to sharpen and polish the edge. Just have to use a stropping motion to do so, but works reasonably well imho.
I prefer the N690 over D2. I have a few knives in D2, a couple are a Chinese version of the steel and the others a German version. I feel the German version is much better at edge holding and not being brittle.
Oh dear, more deer flies..😢 I don't like velcro, I prefer a button snap. You could use a longer lanyard cord with some type of hook on the kydex sheath to help keep the knife secured. Overall, a decent design. I could see custom handles being made for the knife. Have a great weekend, Mark. ✌️🇨🇦🤝🇺🇸✌️
G'day Mark, essentially not a bad design IMO and I do like a good convex, (though yep real easy to end up with a micro bevel whether you want one or not). I've had their Metamorph G5 for years and the 14C on that little fella has been great, so no reason to think this one would be any different. Good point on the height/width handle ratio and I reckon this one's probably too svelte for me. Looks like they've gone for a do everything sheath on the cheap and it's come out a mess; I wonder if its from another model and they've just made the insert to suit. Cheers Duke.
Hi Duke. I expect with a little more stropping I may blend the secondary bevel into the primary. I found a leather sheath in my collection that fit perfectly. I can see myself carrying this one a lot. Thanks for commenting
Thanks for sharing about this Real Steel Bushcraft Plus knife, overall I like the design and 14C28N with a convex grind is a beautiful thing. 👍I agree with you about the silly compartment hidden in the handles scales; doesn't really make much sense for a knife such as that. Also the sheath is kinda a mismatch for the type of knife, which I also agree with. Excellent review and assessment! Take good care and Cheers!
For those who is about to buy this one: 1 it can rust 2 it's not for batoning. I own this knife, guys. Geometry and the size is just perfect. But this particular Chinese Sandvik can corrode, yep. But the main thing I wanna warn you is this isn't for hard use. My has broken during that...
Strange, 14C28N is one of the most stainless steels out there, unless you have the D2 version which is far less stainless. The break would also suggest D2 since 14C28N is probably the toughest stainless you can get along with 420HC.
Great review, as always. 👍 However, you lost me at "Chinese." But if you wouldn't have said it was Chinese, you'd have lost me at velcro. Noisy, useless stuff in the bush and not a long term option, IMHO.
