UK legal Svord

[kirk13]

http://www.heinnie.com/Peasant-Mini/p--9631/

My trigger finger twitched,in a toxic green way

[Zed]

Thanks john another knife I want now     

[kirk13]

Thanks john another knife I want now     

 :DPleasure Paul

[Gareth]

Interesting.  I like the standard peasant svord, but I do find it's a bit to big for my pockets.  Anyone bought one yet?  Or do I actually have to buy one of my own to do a size comparison? 

[kirk13]

Well mines on its way

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Just waiting for pays day : D

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Sparky415]

Interesting.  I like the standard peasant svord, but I do find it's a bit to big for my pockets.  Anyone bought one yet?  Or do I actually have to buy one of my own to do a size comparison? 

  do it

 

Thanks Kirk they do look good   

[AimlessWanderer]

Hmmm ... I'm semi-tempted, but not sure I'd actually use it 
I'm looking forward to your (and Gareth's  ) reviews on it 

[kitbeard]

I received a blue handled version in the post this morning.  I've not had much of a chance to play with it yet but first impressions are pretty good.  The mini came with a decent edge on it and there's nothing sloppy about its grinds.  Obviously the mini has a smaller tang on it, and I don't think it 'locks' as well as the larger version of the peasant knife as a consequence - even with a five finger grip on the knife.

To me the mini is slightly better finished than the bigger version of the peasant knife and it seems designed to rival the medium sized Opinels, having a fairly thin blade that's good for slicing but one that I think could also cope with a little bit of heavy duty work if there's nothing else to hand.  Svord also have a wooden handled verison of the mini on its website  (http://www.svord.com/).  I expect Heinnies and others will have this version in stock fairlty soon.

[kirk13]

Cheers Kitbeard,thats just really weed my appatite

[WiSAKfan]

this is a general svord question, applicable to this smaller one:

would people consider the peasant knife "stronger" then a slip joint or even a lockback due there being a partial tang or do liners or handles in effect act like a tang?

[MultiMat]

Is the whole knife smaller or just the blade, compared to the standard/larger Peasant 

[dks]

this is a general svord question, applicable to this smaller one:

would people consider the peasant knife "stronger" then a slip joint or even a lockback due there being a partial tang or do liners or handles in effect act like a tang?

The lock is as strong as your grip.

[kitbeard]

The big peasant knife has a very strong lock up because of its fairly long tang, which is covered by your hand.  It won't close on your fingers  but the blade could be pushed down a bit if someone was being stupid with the knife.  In fact, the lock up is good enough for batoning and Colin Outdoors has a video in which he does this.  By contrast, the shorter tang and smaller handle on the mini version means that you tend to hold the knife like a Higo No Kami knife, with your thumb providing the pressure to hold the tang in place.  I can't say that either knife is generally stronger or weaker than locking folders or slipjoints but my big peasant knife is the one I nearly always use for heavier jobs and it has never once felt in any way unsafe.  By contrast, the mini doesn't lock up as strongly as an Arthur Wright slipjoint I used earlier today, which I think has had its back spring laced with steroids, but it's in no way unsafe.

The mini's handle is scaled down in proportion to its smaller blade, and it looks like being around the four inch/10 cm mark in length.  The mini actually looks better proportioned and a lot more appealing than the big version; it feels good in hand, and I think it's going to be a popular knife. 

[WiSAKfan]

thank you for going in depth like you did kitbeard.

my line of thought was that the peasant knife looked kinda like a mora knife with partial tang on a pivot point with a moving handle.

I would think with most other folding knifes there would be weakpoints at certain stress angles...not just talking about being pressed down which the lock prevents.

funny you should mention the Higo No Nami's, I've asked santa for one this xmas.

do you have any experience with the really thin svords peasants?

[WiSAKfan]

here's a good size comparison



http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/SVOPKMWENGE/Svord-PKM-Peasant-Mini-Folding-Knife-Wenge-Wood

[kirk13]

Well,my Mini arrived today.Been home for about 30min,and been playing with it for 25min

Initial impressions were a bit...blah.Yes I know its a cheapy,but the package is a bit minimalist,and the toxic green handles are a bit like those on a cheap pound shop pairing knife,with small ingate marks on the in side of the scales.

The blade was stiffer than I expected(yeh,I know they're adjustable),but its a mini work of art.There apears to be a patena covering the tang and about 80% of the blade.

The looks are a bit marmite-y,but in the hand it makes sense,lovely natural feel.It feels more solid in the hand than an Oppie,and more comfortable than a SAK.

On the down side,I dont think this is a knife for pocket carry,that tang is just gonna be very uncomfortable.It would need either a neck sheath or a belt sheath/pocket clip.

I'm hoping Heinies will be carrying the wooden scaled mini Peasant.I reckon the wood scales will suit better.

In short,I really like it,but its more of an outdoorsy knife than an urban/workplace EDC,and it would be nice if it came complete with a sheath of some sort.

[kitbeard]

WiSAKfan, thanks, I get what you mean now about strength, which I do tend to think of terms of lock up - probably too much so.  Niether version of the peasant knife has anything like the way some of the small Buck slipjoints blades (like that on the Lancer) become very narrow between the main part of the blade and the ricasso.  I don't think any half way sensible person would look to use a Buck Lancer for heavy duty cutting tasks but I am aware that the Lancer has a potential stress point that other small slippies don't have.
 
I can't see any obvious design flaws or weak points in the peasant knife design and the best recommendation for it I can give is that my brother in law uses one that I got a couple of Christmases back in his work, and it's used hard without any issues.  He's a wet wood worker and does forestry/land management and this means he works by himself in parts of Wales where you can easily be up to thirty odd miles from the nearest hospital or ambulance station, so he won't use anything that could close or break on him as he's a long way from any help if something goes wrong.

I've also owned and given away one of the thin, all metal peasant knives.  They do look good (for design conscious peasants?) but it was just too thin and uncomfortable for me, and just reminded me how much I liked my toxic green version of the knife.  I gave it to a blind knife collector I know and he absolutely loved it, preferring it to a Fallkniven I also gave him.  I think there's a subjective element here obviously but I'd still go with wood or plastic handles over all metal.  But I'd still be tempted if or when Svord bring out the mini with metal handles because I think they would work better with a lighter use tool.

Finally, I have two higo knives and I'm very impressed with both of them.  My preference is for the true Higo No Kami model, made by the surviving guild members, with the scalloped brass handles.  They're a bit roughly finished but they have real character and are the sharpest thing I've ever used straight out of the box. 

[Zed]

Nice review john  I've wanted a peasant for a while so I think I'll wait too see if HH get the wood version 

[WiSAKfan]

WiSAKfan, thanks, I get what you mean now about strength, which I do tend to think of terms of lock up - probably too much so.  Niether version of the peasant knife has anything like the way some of the small Buck slipjoints blades (like that on the Lancer) become very narrow between the main part of the blade and the ricasso.  I don't think any half way sensible person would look to use a Buck Lancer for heavy duty cutting tasks but I am aware that the Lancer has a potential stress point that other small slippies don't have.
 
I can't see any obvious design flaws or weak points in the peasant knife design and the best recommendation for it I can give is that my brother in law uses one that I got a couple of Christmases back in his work, and it's used hard without any issues.  He's a wet wood worker and does forestry/land management and this means he works by himself in parts of Wales where you can easily be up to thirty odd miles from the nearest hospital or ambulance station, so he won't use anything that could close or break on him as he's a long way from any help if something goes wrong.

I've also owned and given away one of the thin, all metal peasant knives.  They do look good (for design conscious peasants?) but it was just too thin and uncomfortable for me, and just reminded me how much I liked my toxic green version of the knife.  I gave it to a blind knife collector I know and he absolutely loved it, preferring it to a Fallkniven I also gave him.  I think there's a subjective element here obviously but I'd still go with wood or plastic handles over all metal.  But I'd still be tempted if or when Svord bring out the mini with metal handles because I think they would work better with a lighter use tool.

Finally, I have two higo knives and I'm very impressed with both of them.  My preference is for the true Higo No Kami model, made by the surviving guild members, with the scalloped brass handles.  They're a bit roughly finished but they have real character and are the sharpest thing I've ever used straight out of the box.

sounds like your brother in law has a fun job!  I would imagine his work puts him in some beautiful places.

thanks for the additional info.

Did you but a convex grind on your peasant like it seems popular to do?

"""design conscious peasants"""   

I'm going to have to pick one of these up, the full size.  Thankfully we don't have blade length laws in my area 

 

[kitbeard]

WiSAkfan - thanks.  I haven't convexed the blade on my toxic green peasant, partly because I don't think the knife needed it, and, more importantly, I know my limits when it comes to sharpening skills and didn't want to mess up the blade.

[WiSAKfan]

couldn't resist and got an orange handled regular sized one on the way!

[kitbeard]

WiSAKfan -

Good idea.  Hope you enjoy using the peasant knife, and think you will.

Just one last thing  - if you live a wet or humid area, you might want to think about forcing a patina on the blade. I forced a patina on my large peasant knife; it looks good and I'm not as concerned if I do my trick of leaving it outside for hours in the garden, which I only seem to do on wet days,

[WiSAKfan]

thanks for the advice.  we have high humidity summers and low humidity winters.  got a blizzard coming wednesday night.

did you get fancy with your patina with mustard design etc?  what did you use?

[kirk13]

As the saying goes,this thread is useless without pictures!

[WiSAKfan]

can you take one of the other side?

are the grinds more even on the little ones?

[dks]

are the grinds more even on the little ones?

Blasphemy!   

[WiSAKfan]

are the grinds more even on the little ones?

Blasphemy!   

 

didn't mean that in a negative way, i was just surprised that they look different then the bigger model

[kitbeard]

WiSAkfan - apologies for not replying to your last post sooner but Christmas and my birthday on the 24th diverted me.  When I forced a patina on my large peasant knife, I just used vinegar and didn't attempt any sort of patterning but I think the result looks okay, although you'll lose the black coating on the upper part of the blade as a result. 
I haven't forced a patina on the peasant mini yet but probably will do at some point.

Finally, I hope the blizzard you were facing on Wednesday wasn't too bad.

[WiSAKfan]

that's ok my friend, hope you had a nice xmas and birthday and you got plenty of knives.

thanks for the info on the patina.  I'm thinking i'll mess around on my opinel first and then try the svord.

we got 19 inches and 35-40mph winds.  heavy snow too, made for some fun snow blowing!

thankfully we had plenty of warning and people for the most part stayed off the roads.  outside of town there were reports of 10 ft drifts!