View Full Version : Mora training knife from ray mears. How sharp?
Hello I just bought this knife and its on its way. Basically this may sound weird. I am wondering though. How easily could this knife chop through say a tomato? Or carv into wood?
Like normally with kitchen meat knives on a tomato they will squash it a bit before going through. So this is my sharpness test. How easy it goes through.
Squidders
22-05-2005, 02:17
The two are quite diferent tasks...
With wood you push the knife through it as there's no give but the tomato will give a little and may be a little squished. You will be cutting stuff like that by pulling the knife (or pushing) as a sawing motion.
It's the same as pressing a knife into the palm of your hand, it'll do nothing until you pull or push it (this is a poor test though as it would involve stitches!).
The knife will be able to do both easily though... they're very good. Just remember that although it may look sharp out of the box, it will need to be properly sharpened to be effective.
Joe
You can push cut tomatoes if they are firm. The Mora isn't very controled whilst doing this though when I was doing it the other day (I couldn't find my itchen knife and was making lunch).
The name Ray Mears has given to those neat little blades is annoying me a little. They're not mere "training knives"... Those are serious blades, strong enough to whitstand life long use and abuse. Their real names are #780 clippers, from Frost's, in Mora, Sweden. When I contacted Frost's to check if I could buy from them for my survival school, those knives were the ones they put forward as "tough enough". And they are.
As for sharpness, they are great cutters, especially good at woodworking, and meat cutting. Slicing hard things (like carrots for example) is not what they excel at. The blades are a little too thick and the scandi grind is not the best in slicing. But hey, if you want a slicer get yourself a paring knife ;)
They are great skinners, even though they lack a little belly for that matter. The grip is secure, even when soaked wet, or covered with blood and fat. The sheaths, even though they look cheap, are surprisingly tough (except for the belt loop part, which I don't use since I carry them handle down around my neck).
Edge retention is very good, and they DO get scary sharp when sharpened properly. I have shaved in the field with mine more than once.
Anything more than those knives for a general use field blade is purely esthetical (and commercial). For function alone, they stand their ground against ANY high end scandi blade I have tested.
Cheers,
David
BorderReiver
22-05-2005, 17:55
The two are quite diferent tasks...
It's the same as pressing a knife into the palm of your hand, it'll do nothing until you pull or push it (this is a poor test though as it would involve stitches!).
Joe
Not recommended with a convex ground blade :eek:
Well some great advice there thanks :) btw I think Ray mears calls them training knifes, simply because it's the knife issued on "his" training course.
Squidders
22-05-2005, 21:07
I would also call it an ideal training knife because if you kill it or lose, replacing it will only cost a few quid.
Who would want to train with a £200 custom knife? one failed attempt to sharpen it and oops - There goes £50! :eek:
Well some great advice there thanks :) btw I think Ray mears calls them training knifes, simply because it's the knife issued on "his" training course.
I'm sure that Mr. Mears has good intentions... I just wanted to highlight the fact that the "training knife" label could mislead some people to think that those blades are nothing more than cheap beginners knives... and I think they're worth much more than that.
Cheers ;)
David
I would also call it an ideal training knife because if you kill it or lose, replacing it will only cost a few quid.
Who would want to train with a £200 custom knife? one failed attempt to sharpen it and oops - There goes £50! :eek:
I personally wouldn't want to do ANYTHING with a 200 quids blade ;)
... especially not when a 10 bucks one will do the job just as well ! :D
But hey, I'm just a cheap, poor savage...
Cheers ;)
David
Squidders
22-05-2005, 21:14
I personally wouldn't want to do ANYTHING with a 200 quids blade ;)
... especially not when a 10 bucks one will do the job just as well ! :D
But hey, I'm just a cheap, poor savage...
Cheers ;)
David
Pah! you can't stare all doe eyed at a 10 quid knife the way you can with a custom one made the way you wanted it.
savage indeed ;)
TheViking
22-05-2005, 21:15
Not recommended with a convex ground blade :eek:
LOL, not recommended with any type of blade. :p
Yep, Moras are good. :)
Oh does anyone know a good method of sharpening these? Preferably cheap. I think the stones on ray mears were quite a price.
yes.. use the BCUK search function Keyword : 'hoodoo hone'
Biddlesby
23-05-2005, 17:41
About that weak belt loop. I've ordered one, and expect to be wearing it on my belt.
Any good ways I could strengthen the belt loop?
OldJimbo
23-05-2005, 18:38
The belt clips work Ok - but I prefer to have knife sheaths in front so I clip it on my shirt. You can cut off the clip and put the plastic sheath inside a simple leather sheath that's quickly made.
http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/images/moraneck.gif
And here's the plans:
sheath (http://www.primitiveways.com/pt-knifesheath.html)
Hmm So ive got this knife. Its vool and chops rather nicely :) Just one thing though. It says on the site the knife may require some filing to make it suitable for striking on your fire steel. God they werent joking. Ive rubbed the back of the knife gainst a stone and with a file but I still cant seem to get a good shower of sparks off it compared to using the small piece of metal that comes with it.
Anyone god any info on this?
mojofilter
26-05-2005, 04:43
You will need to get a really square sharp right angled corner on the back of your knife to strike a firesteel well!
OldJimbo
26-05-2005, 05:51
I usually grind mine on a belt grinder to make them look better, and then they'll work OK with a ferro rod. Normally though I prefer to use a short piece of high speed (M2 steel) hacksaw blade. I use a piece a few inches long and leave the teeth on for small jobs - but use the back for striking.
Normally I'll just use my Mora for scraping axe handles, but if a person has access to a belt grinder and puts a chisel grind on the back of a piece of HSS hacksaw blade - it makes for a fantastic scraper when held in a split stick.
OldJimbo
26-05-2005, 05:55
I should have said that the hacksaw blade type needed is HSS full hard. The bimetal ones are more flexible, but the back is soft metal.
I think a Frost's Mora is just perfect for an outdoors knife: they can be made as sharp as you like, are economically priced and very robust. They may not be glamorous but hey, I stare doe-eyed at mine :)
Lots of happiness for little money.
And also the application is a bit different as we do have a lot of knife-buffs on this forum (i'm one of them :). A well crafted blade, handle and sheathe is a work of art and something to be appreciated in it's own. A Mora is a work-knife, made to be 100% functional and not really "pretty".
Of course, you can go to the woods with both type of blade, but IF the accident is there and you loose your knife, the Mora is a whole lot easier to let go of :)
In the end, the Mora is a tool, your lovely handforged blade with the deerantler handle, filled with small carvings and the reindeer sheathe is a tool AND a work of art.
I keep my blades & swords at home and bring my Mora to the forest :P
MartiniDave
26-05-2005, 08:34
I've had a couple of the Mora's, one will spark a firesteel very nicely, the othe will barely cast a spark, regardless of how I file it. I can only assume the back of that particular blade is a little bit softer.
Otherwise yes, they are fine knives for the money. (Still love my Woodlore though!)
Dave
Mine is quite poor when it comes to striking a fero rod as well. I didn't know what I was missing till I saw my mates one.
like martidave ,ive got two moras-its baffling that one cant get a decent spark ,the other ,newer one is fine.my new normark(thanks rapid boy ) gets an excellent spark.
I filed (with a round file) a special serration on the back mine for the fire steel. Works very well.
Cheers,
David
Fenlander
27-05-2005, 21:28
Using the back of the tip of the blade, i can get a really good shower of sparks.:D But cannot get sparks from the back any other part of the blade. :confused:
Heh, do what I do, and have a SAK with a saw as well ;) Again, alot of knife for not very much money.
OldJimbo
28-05-2005, 18:36
A big issue with Moras is that a person might have the laminated steel variety. Those have soft steel sides and so won't spark a ferro rod very well. The rest will - as well as any knife, if you set them up right.
Tantalus
28-05-2005, 18:56
half a broken hacksaw blade tied to the firesteel works great and no need to worry about what kind of knife you are using :)
Tant
A big issue with Moras is that a person might have the laminated steel variety. Those have soft steel sides and so won't spark a ferro rod very well. The rest will - as well as any knife, if you set them up right.
true but this is about one knife in perticular that isn't laminated.
Odd that most people say the F1 will strike well even though it's a laminate (mine doesn't though)
Are the corners on the spine sharp?
yeh, just for some reason I used it on a fero rod and it messedd up the slab of 420j2
I don't really mind, it has stopped my from trying on my posh knife though
OldJimbo
29-05-2005, 19:56
Ouch - my Fallknivens - all non-laminated, strike sparks easily. I'm glad I have the old ones!
With the Moras of Frost or Eriksson - I've only ever seen one knife with softer steel - and that was sold under the Normark label. If you are only able to file the spine with some difficulty, then it's hard enough and you just need to get sharp edges on the spine. If it files easily then you have a collector's item and we'd sure like to hear about it!
I've even differentially tempered Moras by putting the spine of a carbon one on a piece of red hot metal and watching colors. Even that one would strike sparks - it just rounded fast.