EKA Swede 8 folding knife

[anditsgone]

I will be reviewing my EKA Swede 8 folding knife.
This is my first review so i might make a couple mistakes here and there but every pro was an beginner once.

I bought my EKA for several reasons.

I wanted a knife that was made in Europa
Had wooden handles because it is a natural product and i do think about the enviroment every now and then
Is serviceable with a multitool without needing extra bits torx bits etc..
I prefer the back lock over all the other locks because it is simple, strong and bullet proof.
I wanted a knife that had no design flaws that would limit its reliability. (like the small axis lock springs from benchmade)
It also has a nice lanyard hole that can be used to smash windows in case of emergency.
Wanted just a simpele knife that will outlive me.
50 euros was my budget and this was exactly 50 euros.

After i had made the decision between the Swede 8 and the larger Swede 10 i went with the Swede 8 because as it is my edc knife it can not be to big to fit uncomfortably in my pocket. After i recieved the knife i found out that it was the perfect size for my already large hands. It fits perfectly, not a milimeter too small or too big.
I think you have to look it at this way. The Swede 8 is a medium (edc) folding knife, and the Swede 10 is a big folding knife.

The blade steel is Sandvik 12c27. I can get the blade razor sharp with my lansky turnbox sharpening kit. It does a good job keeping a sharp edge. I would say it is comparable with my 154cm steel skeletool cx.

I like the blade shape for a working knife, it does a good job cutting old jerry cans and rubber hoses. Because of the large nail nick and the spine of the blade that portrudes out of the handle i can easily open the blade one handed. This may be a big plus for people who live in a country where one hand openable knifes are forbidden.
There is also a good amount of jimping on the spine of the blade where you put your thumb. This offers a lot of grip for making precise cuts with the knife.

The wooden grips felt tacky in the beginning but after one day of carrying the knife in my pocket this was gone.
Because of the shape and the thickness of the bubinga wooden handles this knife offers excellent grip for stabbing tasks. Even when wet the wood offers good grip.

The back lock locks with a nice snap and is extremely strong. I used this knife to batoon through 2 inch pieces of wood and it did an excellent job. It does have a very, very, very small amount of play sideways and up and down. The sideways play i can fix by tighting the screws but this would only make the washers etc.. wear out faster and make the knife harder to deploy.

The only problem i had was that there was an extremely small amount of play on one of the wooden handles. I unscrewed the flat head screws and put a little bit of glue between the handle and the stainles steel frame and i never had a problem again.
If the wooden handles ever got damaged i could easily make new ones out of a wooden plate with the correct thickness.

The knife also comes with a ten year warranty, a lanyard and a nice nylon sheath.

I have been carrying the knife for 3 months and i still like it very much. I have not discovered any weak spots or design flaws.

I will definitely be buying more EKA products and highly recommend them.

[shark_za]

Are they really Swedish ground? It looks to be more of a hollow grind with a thin edge bevel?

I like this a lot. Thanks.

[Smaug]

Looks nice, and a nice review too. 50 Euros seems kind of steep for a basic lock-back, but it does seem to be well-executed, and with quality materials too.

Thanks for the review, I was not even aware of this brand until I saw it.

[anditsgone]

Are they really Swedish ground? It looks to be more of a hollow grind with a thin edge bevel?

I like this a lot. Thanks.

It is not a scandi grind, the blade has a double bevel grind.

In Europe 50 euros for this kind of knife is not a bad price. A buck 110 for example costs 63 euros.
When i had disassembled the knife could see various marks that the knife is (partially) hand made. Like the marks where the pins where grinded flat, the back of the handle and the finger grooves have been worked on a belt grinder. The knife was also sharped by hand.

Some people hate this and bash the manufacturer for making poor products. I see this more as an unique knife that was assembled and finished by a working Swedish man that can feed his family and pay his taxes.

[Corwyn]

Had wooden handles because it is a natural product and i do think about the enviroment every now and then

You do know it's like saying "I wear fur because I like animals", right? 

[anditsgone]

Had wooden handles because it is a natural product and i do think about the enviroment every now and then

You do know it's like saying "I wear fur because I like animals", right? 

  if you say it that way it does sound kind of funny.
I see it more as: wood grows naturally, filters the air as it grows, spend 50 years functioning as my knife handle and then rots away or can be used to start a camp fire.

No oil drilling, refinery, supertankers and plastic waste in the ocean needed.

Wood also offers great capabilities for handle material. It never feels cold, offers good grip when dry and wet (even with motor oil), becomes better looking as it gets older.
It is also not really effected by age. I have a 60 year old fixed blade and the plastic handle has become so brittle. If i drop it it wil probably break in a 1000 pieces because it is already cracked from it self over the years. Wood doesn't have this when treated well.

I have had an aluminium handled knife before but didn't really like it. My sweaty hands made it slippery. And if it got wet it was extremely slippery. So slippery that it was dangerous to use.

[shark_za]

Some people focus on the recycling aspect and some on the death of trees to start.


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[Luna Knife]

They have made great knives for years.  I like that they can be disassembled with a coin.

[SolomonKane79]

First of all thank you very much for the review. I always wanted to buy a Eka but never had the chance, let's put it this way. They are very nice looking, solid and "natural". I have read somewhere that special forces like the SAS or similar use Ekas a lot, mainly the "big swede" if i recall. They prefer them for they are easy to sharpen and to dismantle and clean  while on the field, as someone here said you can do that with a coin! I'll get one sooner or later.

[anditsgone]

First of all thank you very much for the review. I always wanted to buy a Eka but never had the chance, let's put it this way. They are very nice looking, solid and "natural". I have read somewhere that special forces like the SAS or similar use Ekas a lot, mainly the "big swede" if i recall. They prefer them for they are easy to sharpen and to dismantle and clean  while on the field, as someone here said you can do that with a coin! I'll get one sooner or later.

Yep, also one of the main reasons i bought it over other brands that used torx etc...
I am always a big fan of products that i can repair/ clean my by my self. Also a little bit because of my prep mindset. I just hate the feeling being dependent on someone else or some special tool that is needed.

[Steinar]

I always felt the Swede 92 was ugly as sin, but I bought one on a whim. Became utterly convinced of its utility after handling it, now I have several EKA knives, including a Swede 8.