Gear

recently purchased one of these (viewable on the ray mears website - www.raymears.com) and was just interested if anyone had any feedback on this knife! I have used it a lot, and am very impressed - my only concern is the potential proble mof rust.

Cheers

Is it the Mora or the woodlore knife you have?

Thats the problem with carbon steel!!! just try to keep it as dry as possible when out and about, clean it when you use it and never leave it in your sheath when not in use, i always give my knife a coat of olive oil when storing it.

This is a good site for all things sharp and pointy www.britishblades.com

its the woodlore knife, not the mora. its a really good knife, really worth getting - i've found nothing it wont do!

good idea, olive oil, i havnt had any rust yet, but take good care of it. Cheers!

I've just taken delivery of one of these myself, but the Swedish Army standard issue version- see here:http://www.airsoftadventure.co.uk/ishop/1066/shopscr498.html

but I actually ordered it from bushgear.co.uk as the postage was a lot cheaper.

Congrats on a top knife!
Have you been on www.bladeforums.com they would like to hear about it on there!

How long did you have to wait for it? I belive that the lead time is quite long. I have a knife that is very similair it was made by a friend.Try and keep it well oiled. The oil will also work into the leather of the scabbard. and help keep the blade in good condition.

I had a look on Mr Mears site, does that knife really cost £235?

£235!!! Flippin' heck Tucker!

This may sound like a dumb question - but what would you use one of these for in the UK? I've never needed anything more than a three-inch steel blade. Then again, in the places where I wild camp, there's nothing but rocks and grass.

It's only a 10 or 11cm blade, it does look sharp though. For that money I would want some sort of light sabre attachment as well.

£235 is an awful lot!!

As I recall there used to be a Ray Mears Survival knife made by Wilkinson Sword? Here it is, it's very rare I believe:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v174/diabolik/wilkinson.jpg

You'd have to be rich AND off your head to buy a knife at that price. What on earth can it do that a top of the range Gerber, Colonial Knives, Nieto (excellent budget knives), Buck, Colt or a Wright and Sons' knife can't do?

RM can buy a LOT of pies with the profits from selling just one of these - it's no wonder he's always grinning when he's on the telly. This truly is the best knife for fleecing, er, well, whoever has bought one, really!

:-)

It'll be bloody heavy to carry too, according to the sales blurb:

The sharpening stones we use are Japanese Water Stones grade 800 coarse,1200 medium and 6000 fine. (In the field carry a combination 1200/6000 stone swan in half.)

Obviously meant for the glass display cabinet, only to be brought out when you want to commit hari kiri!

The original Ray Mears Woodlore Knives made by Alan Wood (he is the maker who Mears developed this knife with) are collectors items. Alan Wood is one of the top european custom knife makers, and has been for some time. Before this particular knife was available any Alan Wood knife would set you back at least a hundred pounds, more often two or three hundred

The Ray Mears Woodlore that is common on E-bay these days is often the version produced by wilkinson sword which was sold new at half the price of an Alan wood made bushcrafter. Both knives had the same shape and blade steel. What the WS Woodlore does not have is the touch of a genuine master. with an Alan Wood original you can be sure that you are getting the finest workmanship based on years of knowledge and experience.

Ok, heres my take on what this really means...someone who uses such a knife for it's intended purpose with skill will appreciate just how good it is, and will be able to exploit it's full potential. It will last them a life time, and give them immense pleasure and satisfaction (as do all good tool's in the possesion of the right person). Such a person will not be able to do anything with the knife that they couldn't do with a cheaper similar model (perhaps a bit easier with a woodlore, but nothing else).

The real shame is that the majority of Woodlores will be in collections held by knife nuts who rarely, if ever, use them.

I hope you get a lot of use out of your Woodlore Shay, and I hope you are still appreciating that use in 20 years time.

<fx: reads thread, blushes a bit and surreptitiously slides tiny Swiss Army Knife under a bit of paper on the desk...>

Ah! But does it have a gadget for removing stones from a horses hoof :)?

Only kidding. Collector's item aside, I have an American mate who does a lot of long-distance walks and is constantly going on at me about the importance of having a good knife.

Ah! But does it have a gadget for removing stones from a horses hoof :)?

It's too small, but it does have the cunning little device for removing a pebble from a piglet's crubeen :)

I understandnow why the price is so high. If it's made by a world class recognised craftsman. I've a mate who buys guitars, having recently bought some sort of new strat that was made by some bloke in a secret strat cave in America. He paid a four figure sum for it, I was dubious, he then showed me strats of a similar ilk on specialist web sites that were going for twice what he paid for it.

An objects value is as much as someone's willing to pay for it.

I bet I could cut my finger off by mistake with either the original or WS woodlore knife and not be able to tell the difference. The only knife I carry is one that's in my Swiss card gadget thing. Should I go onto one of those knife nut websites and ask for their opinion?