Bernie Garland Woodsman B&T

[Celt_Ginger]

We (The NIBA) were VERY fortunate to be on the receiving end of a most generous gift from Barnie Garland and Scruff. We received matching Woodsman B&T knives from Bernie and fine leather sheaths from Scruff. Below are some pictures and a review of them.
Please note. Bernie nor Scruff have asked any of the NIBA for a review of their products, nor payment nor any form of endorsement what so ever. I do not wish for any backlash of this review by anyone who dislikes Bernie and who thinks I'm dishonestly "bigging him up" because he has given me a gift.


Here are 3 of the knives (4 were made)


And again



Details of the blades, which were engraved with our user names.



Handles were of stunning stabilised Box Elder burr. the blade is 3mm 01 tool steel. Blade length is 105mm, with the handle an additional 110mm


Some more handle detail.



It was a VERY wet day here (though not nearly as bad as in some areas of the UK) so I undertook a short review of the knife in my workshop.

First up was a spot of light battening, which the knife had no problems with



The knife has quite a high grind (9mm), which leaves the tip quite fine. I had a little bit of concern about how this would cope with battening and of course, making a hole in some wood. It was fine at this, though to coin a phrase,"I wouldn't go opening a tin of paint with it"
I did discover, to my cost, that bernie's knives come VERY sharp. I choked up on the blade to carve the hole, placed my thumb against the sharp edge, and simple pressure, not a slicing action, was enough to open my thumb up and release the red stuff.



15 minutes later and with a bandaged thumb, I made some feather sticks. With the finer blade of 3mm and a good sharp edge, these were easy to do.



A power cut through thumb thick green willow was easily achieved.



I carved a pot hanger from the willow branch. The fine tip made tasks like this very easy to do.




After a bit of carving, I went back to battening again, this time a long piece of wood.




I referred earlier to the fine tip on this knife, so I decided to see what it was good for. Apart from the obvious fact that this knife will make an excellent food prep knife, eg. skinning and gutting, I wanted to see if the fine tip was useful for carving.
I made some curves.....



Then had a go at cutting a circle. Easily done with a fine sharp tip.



Every knife needs a home, and where better to keep it than some fine leather work by Scruff.




Detail of the belt attachment.



And after all that work, I gave the knife a few strokes on a sharpening steel and it was razor sharp again. It was able to slice paper with little effort.



Overall impressions? I think it's a very good knife. It is a shape that I have liked for a long time and the handle suits my hand extremely well. I personally prefer the 3mm blade that this knife has over the thicker 4mm blades that seem to be the Bushcraft norm. I believe that this makes a much more versatile blade with only the smallest compromise on strength. very few us us will ever brake a knife of this thickness and if we do, then it wasn't the right tool for the job anyway.
Highly recommended.
__________________

[Shewie]

Good review again Gary

Sweet looking knives, hats off to Bernie again.

[Siberianfury]

Nice one mate,
The woodsman B&T is an amazing knife, ive used all sorts from moras to woodlores and this design in my opinion worked better for bushcraft tasks than any of them, its a very very good design that i will continue to use and carry.
The sheaths are awsome too, you lads have some knives to be cherished and used for life there.

[Cap'n Badger]

Wow.....they are VERY nice!.....Good review CG.......Top Job Mr B.

[Barn Owl]

Great review.

Lovely knives you got there.

This design is superb although I opted for Bernies bushy design after having the normal woody clone he makes.

The B&T will be next.

[HillBill]

Good review. Looks a really useful knife. great sheath too.

I saw the pics of them before bernie sent them out, love the mosaic pins.

[addo]

I like this knife and Scruff makes a mean sheath.

3mm blades are great for bushy crafts and make many of them easyer than chunkyer knifes. The blade shape is spot on, and that handle looks the biz.

Nice review, Cheers.

[gsfgaz]

Excellent review mate, Bernie is a top class knife maker his stuff is amazing , The sheath's are awesome really beautiful work ... well done

[Tony]

Good review.

In the future though just do a review don't do the politics as well

[MartinK9]

Thanks for the review.

[Mikey P]

V nice! They look a little like the Skookum Bush Tool (but without the metal end cap), and certainly seem to have the same practical capabilities - lovely work.

[Dingo]

nice review, you have some skills of your own to take the knife through its paces, well done to you and the maker.

Adam.