Knife Reviews

Let me just say that the best thing about this crazy ride I’ve been on is that a lot of people ask me to field test their knives. I, being a huge knife guy, am perfectly willing to accept knives for testing. Hey, knife manufacturers, did you catch that?

Today, I’m going to go over knives by two makers. First, we’ll discuss knives by our friends at Shield Knife and Tool, a unit of Shield Arms, alongside Mountain Partisan. Second, we’ll cover some handmade knives by one of the Twitter blade masters, Salty Medic (@MedicNamedHope).

But first, let me remind you of some Tactical Wisdom from the King of Kings:

He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.

Luke 22:36

Yes, go and buy a knife.

The Bob – Shield Knife and Tool

The Bob is named after the Bob Marshall Wilderness, which is located here in Montana, just down the road from Shield. Camp Ponderosa, my base, is adjacent to it.

The knife has a very good guard, so that when you’re hard at work on some camp task, you won’t slip down onto the blade. It was a 6 inch blade with a drop point. This knife is very good for general camp tasks and is a good all-purpose knife.

I’ve given it a good stress test, and it has held a solid edge. I keep it now permanently attached to my Get Home Bag as my GHB Fixed Blade knife. It’s alway in the car.

The only complaint I have about it is an easy fix. The belt attachment on the sheath is just a web loop, and it holds the knife too far away from my body for my comfort. I like the knife right against my hip so that I know it’s there. The sheath itself is fantastic. It took me all of 5 minutes to switch the belt attachment to something more secure.

Click the picture of the knife to learn more.

The Partisan Field Knife – Shield Knife and Tool

Brandon, the CEO of Shield, let NC Scout and I see the prototype of this knife late last year. From the moment I saw it, I wanted it. It’s incredibly ergonomic and the grip feels like it’s custom made to fit your hand. The slight curve and the countouring makes for a great grip.

The profile on this knife makes it a great field knife. While it can function as a general purpose field knife with camp tasks, skinning, or preparing food, it’s also a great knife for self defense. It’s weight and balance, along with the great grip, make the Partisan Field Knife a very good fighting knife, should you need it to be. If you were going into the field as a partisan on a 5 day patrol, this is the knife you’d want to take.

Again, I had the same issue with the belt attachment, but I swapped that out in under 5 minutes. The sheath itself is great, I just don’t like web loops for belt attachment as they are too unstable. In fact, I’m wearing the PFK today and have been all week (since I bought it on Monday).

The CPM-3V steel holds an edge well and won’t break when you’re doing something you’re not supposed to with your knife (we’ve all done it, come on), like using it as a pry bar. I got mine with the acid wash finish because for a field knife I don’t want a bright, shiny finish.

Click the picture to learn more.

I toured the Sheild facility where they finish and put an adge on these knives and it’s impressive. Solid kit.

For the record, I carry my fixed blades knives on the weak hand side, blade facing forward, as I mention in TW-01, Baseline Training Manual. This way, I can draw it with either hand in a defensive situation, and cut immediately as the blade comes out of the sheath. That extra half-second can save your life.

Salty Medic Knives

I’m not including pictures, because they don’t do the knives justice. Salty Medic made mine in a hurry because I was going to be out in the field for a few weeks and he wanted them in my hands as quick as possible for testing. They don’t have a perfect “from the factory” finish, but I really don’t care about that.

The first knife is the middle-sized blade he sent me, sort of an all-around fixed blade knife. It’s a great EDC fixed blade as it’s not too long. It’s very strong with a good edge and very good grip. I think of this one as a field knife. It’s a good size for everyday tasks, including self defense. The back edge profile is nice and wide, making it great for use with a ferro rod. I carried this knife daily for a couple of months, until I got the Partisan Field Knife (sorry, brother, the PFK is SWEET).

The second knife is a longer bladed knife that to me seems like an infantry knife or Bowie-style. It’s a got a nice long balde and a sturdy handle, with an absolutely amazing sheath that can be attached multiple ways. This one also has a fairly thick profile. The wood handles on this are not only highly functional, but they’re gorgeous to look at.

It has a very nice section of metal exposed at the end of the full tang, which is good for what we call a “punyo” strike in knife fighting. Hitting somebody with a wood or bone handle is one thing, but pounding on them with a thick chunk of metal is another. Well done.

This knife is a little big for EDC, so this one is attached to the outside of my assault pack, with the handle facing down, so that I can reach back and draw it by pulling sharply down on the knife.

The third knife he sent was a kitchen knife. This one truly excels. It’s become the favorite in our kitchen. Now, this one doesn’t have sheath because that would just be silly (or WOULD it…), but it is well crafted with good balance for a kitchen knife. I was going to test the balance by throwing it, but Mrs TW won’t allow me to throw this one. It’s a large and heavy duty kitchen knife that is still great for delicate tasks.

The TLDR is that Salty Medic knows how to make knives. Once he gets a website squared away, I’ll guide you to it. For now, just harass him in his DM’s for a knife and offer him good money.

A side note on knife cost. I’ve had a lot of guys compalin that all the knives I recommend are expensive. Yes, good things cost money. Most of the knives I own are handmade. All my knives by Tepfer Armory are knives Kyle spent the time himself to design and build (I have 5 Tepfer knives). Knives that are mass produced are cheap, and they function like cheap knives. Knives made craftsmen are a little pricier, but they hold up better. For the record, Kyle made me a st of Asian style fighting knives that I absolutely love, and so he made one with a slimmer profile for concealed carry in a suit. This is the value of a good knife-maker; you can tell him your unique need and he builds you the knife around it, instead of you trying to make an imperfect knife fit your need. It’s worth a few extra rubles for that.

You spend a lot of money on pistols and rifles. You can take a knife more places than a gun (post office for example) and you may very well be trusting your life to that knife. Don’t skimp on quality baldes.

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