Svord Peasant

[Grathr]

I just got a new folder that I stumbled over on knifecenter.com. Its a Svord Peasant. Its a folder made in New Zealand and its made from a over 300 year old design (at least that what Svord say on the website). Its a very simple design that solves the blade colapsing over your fingers problem whithout any locking or spring mechanism.
 At first I have to admit that I was a little disapointed with it. It was not very sharp out of the box, and I had to adjust the screws quite a bit to make it open and close in a satisfactoy way. It was also quite a lot bigger than I thought (the 3" version) and with the tang sticking out over the top I can't carry it comfortably in my pocket.  (se picture next to victorinox pioneer) It is however very comfortable to use because of the big handle, and it cuts well after a little resharpening. Now I cant stop fondling with it. It just opens and closes in such a simple but effective way that I can't stop admiring its simplicity. 

 Do any of you guys have any experience with this knife?

Anyway, here are som pics of it. (sorry about the bad pic quality)

PS. They make make both a 3" and 2,5" version of this knife with wood, plastic, or metal handles.

[dks]

Peasant knives are nice, though not very practical.

I like the plastic handled ones the most.

[Sparky415]

Peasant knives are nice, though not very practical.
I like the plastic handled ones the most.

    Dks 

 

They are a great knife  I'm glad you have discovered them Grathr 

[jzmtl]

I have a wood one, thought they are kinda crappy to be honest. Nothing lines up, blade hitting spacer when closed, edge is awful etc.  I guess if you are into the rustic sort of things, kinda like higonokami.

[Sparky415]

They are like that to encourage you to start ‘Moding’ your knives 

[Grathr]

I have to agree that it is not the most practical folder, especially when you try to fit it in your pocket. And when the weather and humidity changes, you might need a SAK to loosen or tighten the screws to make it function perfectly.
 On the other hand it is a pretty good knife to use. I havent tried it on greenwood yet, but I think it will be a good bushcrafting folder. And it is very inexpensive. (I paid $14 for mine.) I also trust it a lot more than a linerlock knife for heavy work.
I guess the svord peasant is one of those love/hate knifes. Some loves it, other hates it.

[Sparky415]

There are a few peasant threads on here, some people (me    ) attack them with sandpaper and a little TLC

   

Svord make some really nice knives, if you are not familiar with them…
 
http://www.svord.com/SvordMainFrameset.htm

[Gareth]

Once they have been worked on a bit then they make good knives.  I agree about the size though, just not pocket friendly in my experience.

[dks]

Peasant knives are nice, though not very practical.
I like the plastic handled ones the most.

    Dks 

 

They are a great knife  I'm glad you have discovered them Grathr 

I do have about 10 of them....., irrespective of how bad they are..    Maybe I will carry one, one day.. I just find the blade unreasonably wide for the length. A CS Kudu has a blade as long but it is much smaller, width wise so I use it often.
I like the fact that they look cool, and mine have sharp edges, alas with uneven grinds.


I was talking to a Kiwi a few days back; he never heard of Svord, but promised to look into buying one soon. 

[magentus]

As Sparky says - they beg to be worked on and personalised - shape the scales to your hand and look around for mods people have carried out on theirs. I had one for ages which I used for food prep and small scale bushcrafting - I swapped it for a SAK only because at over 3 inches, the blade wasn't UK legal and I only like to carry legal blades. A beautifully simple and (despite first impressions) well made knife. The steel takes an excellent edge.

Use it and live with it a while and you may well come to look at it with renewed respect. BTW I think the wooden scaled one you have is the best!

Here's a pic of my old one with the scales sanded down and the edges rounded;

[Travis Autry]

We had a few Peasants in The Multitool.org Store awhile back.  The most popular colors were toxic green and orange as I recall.  I think the blue went pretty quickly too.  The plastic handle versions are mostly bright and easy to locate if dropped or  laid down during a task.

I kept and orange one.  It is a little rugged looking, but has a nice sharp blade.  It reminds me of a folding Scandi.  The edge grind is similar and like Mora, they are working knives that aren't expensive.

During the course of the popularity run here on the forums, I exchanged emails with the  maker, Bryan Baker.  He was very accommodating to my questions and if I had enough business for it was open to working with me as a dealer.  Shortly thereafter, Blue Ridge Knives expanded their Svord offerings into both the economy and better quality pieces, so I had an option closer to home.

[kitbeard]

I like Svord Peasant knives.  I've got a toxic green (lovely description for the colour) plastic handled one and I've also bought the wooden version as a Christmas present and gave away the all steel version because I just couldn't get on with it (just too thin).  All of them have been sharp out of the box (although I think I was a bit lucky there) but I agree they need some work to get the best out of them.  Mine has a spent a fair bit of time on sharpening stones and now has a properly sharp edge; I also forced a patina on the blade because it spends a lot of time in the garden and the blade took the patina really nicely.

The wooden handled knife's used by my brother in law who's a wet wood worker (bodger)and it's his go to knife for heavy duty cutting.  He wasn't initially too impressed with the finish on the wood but the Peasant knife's holding well up to a hard life in woods of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.

In the end, if you've got limited budget and want a lot of knife for money, then it's one to consider.  Obviously there's legal carry issues in the UK and other countries, it may also be a bit too big for some people and it's certainly on the crude side but if I'm cutting up thick cardboard or doing any other big cutting jobs, it's the knife I use.

Finally, I know that the manufacturers said that they were looking to produce a range of similar friction folders, which haven't materialised yet.  I'd really like to see a smaller version of the Peasant knife and perhaps other blade patterns as well, but for the moment, I'm very happy with my toxic green packaging shredder.

[Styerman]

I want to try a friction folder , but I think I'll try to get a better made piece .

Chris

[WiSAKfan]

there is just something about the looks of the svords that catch my attention but i can't put my finger on it...

I've never handled one, i have two concerns 1) the handle and blade never quite fitting perfectly with the temp and humidity fluctuations we experience here in WI  2) how pocket-able it is with the tang sticking out like that....

[jzmtl]

Once I reshaped the handle and treated it with oil/wax it seems to stay in shape fine. As for pocketability, well it's pretty much the same size folded or open, definitely not very EDC friendly.

[dks]

I've never handled one, i have two concerns 1) the handle and blade never quite fitting perfectly with the temp and humidity fluctuations we experience here in WI 

They also come with plastic and metal handles too, not just wooden ones