I'm glad to see that Karesuandokniven is starting to expand their nice product catalog with exiting new projects. At this moment the all through Swedish company Karesuandokniven proudly offers up to 100 different knife models. My first Karesuando knives (The Moose Special and The Willow Grouse) I bought back in the early 90's and they have meet up to my expectations regarding price worthy practicality and classical design. In my latest bushcraft knife field test i compare 15 different robust forest knives to each other. One of the test knives were the Survival Knife article number 3587. This is a kit designed for us bushcraft romantics. The kit consists of a slightly modified version of the knife Bore Exclusive article number 3507, a ferro rod, a diamond sharpener and a leather sheath holding all the above. Karesuandokniven also offer the product Survival Knife article number 3586; the same as above but no sharpener included. The Survival Knife 3587 ended up in a impessive second place in my field test. You can see the test by clicking HERE.
The Knife
The Bore Exclusive is a medium size fixed blade knife equipped with a drop point blade made of stainless Sandvik steel 12C27 hardened to HRC 57. This is what I'd call a Forest Knife; a nice allround knife that can stand some inspiring bushcrafting. The thickness of the blade is 3,2 mm, the blade length 99 mm and the blade width is 23,8 mm. The blade has a long tang although some people claim that a survival knife needs the stronger full tang to cope. Personally I think a long tang works just fine even in extreme situations, as long as you user your knife with common sense. A long tang also has it's advantages during cold conditions when a full tang can cause frostbite to any naked skin. And as far as durability; Karesuandokniven offer a 10 year guarantee on their knives. The Bore use a scandi grind edge that comes very sharp out of he box. The difference between a regular Boar Exclusive and this "Survival Bore" is the partly flat grinded spine. A small area of the blade spine just in front of the finger guard is prepped for throwing sparks of the ferro rod. This feature can easily be added to any soft edged knife spine using a sharpener. I like to keep the tip spine of the blade rounder to spare my carving thumb. I wish more bushcraft knife manufacturers would leave the blade tip spine soft edged. The Bore Exclusive handle starts off with a nice 2,5 mm thick brass guard. Then follows a 13 mm long piece if rein deer antler. The rest of the handle is made of oiled curly birch. The total length of the handle is 113 mm and I like how nicely it fits into my hand giving the appropriate grip. So the total length of the knife is 212 mm and the modest knife weight of 99 g makes this blade a nice one to carry on your belt.
The Ferro Rod
The fire stick has a total length of 100 mm, a steel diameter of 9 mm and a 34 mm long handle made of oiled curly birch. The small handle is equipped with a leather lanyard to enhance the grip. The theoretical length of the steel is 66 mm and according to the manufacturer the stick will last for at least 1000 strokes. The weight of the fire steel is 40 g and I think it works very well.
The Diamond Sharpener
The flat little sharpener's two sides offers two different structures. A good thing with diamond sharpeners is that they can handle most of the blade materials out there on the market. The structured areas on the sharpener is 55 mm long, the oiled curly birch handle is 50 mm long and the total length of the sharpener is 114 mm. Just like the ferro rod's handle the sharpener's handle is equipped with a leather lanyard. The metal part of the sharpener is 5 mm wide and 2 mm thick and the total weight of the diamond sharpener is 30 g. This little sharpener works OK out in the field, but usually though I sharpen my blades back home in the tool shed using a larger stone. Read more about sharpening by clicking HERE.
The Sheath
The sheath holding it all together is made of a 2 mm thick cowhide in a nice brown nuance. The 30 mm wide belt loop fits up to about 50 mm wide belts. The loop is secured by two rivets on the back of the sheath but other than that the sheath is kept together by seems. There's no extra safety lock holding the knife in place, just the well fitted plastic inlays and leather neck. While fixed in the sheath the knife handle is sticking up from the leather by about 40 mm. The 245 mm long and 65 mm wide sheath weighs 84 g. The rod and sharpener fits nicely on the edge side of the sheath with the ferro rod on the outside.
The total weight of the Survival Knife including fire rod and sharpener is just 261 g which is welcomed for us carrying long and often. The Survival Knife from Karesuandokniven is a really nice all rounder I enjoy carrying during my bushcraft adventures. You can also get this knife i damaskus steel from Damasteel in Söderfors. The the knife goes under the name Northern Lights Damask 3580.
Specs
Manufacturer: Karesuandokniven AB, made in Sweden
Model: Survival Knife 3587
Blade material: Stainless Sandvik steel 12C27 with HRC 57
Blade length: 99 mm
Blade thickness: 3,2 mm
Blade width: 23,8 mm
Edge profile: Scandi grind with a 20° angle
Knife length: 212 mm
Handle material: Curly birch, rein deer antler and brass
Handle thickness: 18,6 mm
Sheath: Dark colored cowhide
Knife weight: 99 g
Total weight (knife, sheath and gear): 261 g
Price: 2400 SEK (Sweden 2016)
Welcome to Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter, we offer classes in Bushcraft - Survival - Jägarexamen and Motorsågskörkort.
