I could not leave alone the 90 degree spine comment. Why? When in reality a striker, (often included), weighs almost nothing and can be carried with a ferro rod. A tool incidentally often carried but rarely “needed” in favor of a Bic. I say this because I bought into the 90 degree spine idea until I got a Lionsteel fixed blade with a rounded spine, such a pleasure to use, my thumb appreciates it, and aesthetically speaking it’s a winner.
Yep a sharp spine is no good on a knife you will use in a variety of positions such as carving ,if you must square up an back id keep it near the tip area to save your thumb from blistering etc
I was kind of wondering about saying not having a squared off spine - which the original likely didn't have and which is a pretty major design element of the blade - is a 'screw up' then immediately saying that not sticking to pins instead of screws to be more like the original is also a 'screw up'. To me the fastening hardware used isn't nearly as integral part of the design as the blade design Oh, well, I've never understood why so many people act as if the Kephart design is all that big a deal, anyhow. To me it just looks like a variation on the Russell Green River Dadley knife that was around long before Kephart was even a twinkle in his mama"s eye and is still being made.
@@longrider42 Good point about the ferro rod. On the other hand, flint and steel often struck with the high carbon knife. I’m not a proponent of either as long as Bic lighters are available.
I bought a Kephart replica blank from Condor, made walnut scales, pinned with brass, and leathercrafted my own design sheath. It's one my "daily carry" knives in the rotation. I like it, a simple knife that isn't pretending to be fancy, just a basic good design. Thanks for the vid.
AFAIK since Ontario was bought out and closed up, there's not any new Old Hickory knives being made and sold. If it's something different I haven't heard about it
I love this knife as well and ended up changing the grip handles out to micarta - bought 'em from a great company called 7RattlesBushCraft. The proprietor, Kent Micuda, was excellent in his responsiveness and customer service.
One important fact left out of the “Kephart” designs is the original was convexed top to bottom of the blade. Meaning the original was fatter in the middle of the blade. This resulted in the blade slipping through meat (or skinning) efficiently.
Yep, because it was based on a Green River knife design, which came first. And are still made today in the USA, and a lot cheaper then the Kephart knife from Becker.
The knife that changed the world, was made from stone. Most likely Flint or Obsidian. And the Kephart knife, I have heard was inspired by the Green River Dadley knife, which you can still get, and it will cost you a lot less. I've been collecting knives since the Mid 80's. My first good sheath knives where and still are Green River knives, still made today, in the USA, out of 1095 steel.
I have this knife. It by far is my favorite. However, I have the original as well. You may know it already. It was made by Green River. And it's called,"the Daedly". I changed it from a flat grind to a convex. Witch is like the original. And it just flat out gets it done .
Sorry but $159 for 1095 and wood handles is a ripoff. I like 1095, but for that price you can get a lot more. Or you can get a couple of Moras, and a couple of folding saws, and probably a low end hatchet to boot.
Great to see a common sense reply on this comment section. As an old timer once told me . . ." The wood that you're cutting doesn't know how much you paid for your knife" . . .
I love mine I love how slim it is . The sheath is really good the spine thing is weak sauce but hey I carry lighters and Ferro rods and scrapers . Great review man.
Looks almost like a Dadley Knife, Dexter Russell Green River. which is still being made and only costs 30 dollars. Okay, you need to buy or make a sheath for it. I love Green River Knives, I have three.
I have wanted this knife every since Ethan introduced it. unfortunately it has not been in the budget, and every time I almost have enough saved something comes up. mostly medical crap. The custome one you held up looks to me to be the bastard child of a Kephart and a Nessmuk, with a bit of a dual grind there. very cool idea.
Why the fasteners? Easy, Ethan knows knives need to be thoroughly cleaned?...maybe?.... I would rather have that modernization than a factory sharpened spine, which as others have mentioned, can be very hard on the thumb. Other than that... Loved your video.
Interesting statement. I suppose that depends on what Lore you were raised on. I never subscribed to the Kephart Stuff. I was mentored by the great Jim Bowie and Danial Boone as a kid...lol. Oh, wait...I lied! It was actually John Wayne and Clint Eastwood...lol. All of which far outdates the term “Bushcraft”..Just Fun’n
Actually, that's a woodcraft knife. Bushcraft hadn't been invented yet. Kephart never practiced bushcraft (especially since there's no bush in America). So it's not an original bushcraft knife. No one ever practiced bushcraft in America. It's the original woodcraft knife. It's not even a survival knife because woodsmen don't do survival. They're woodsmen. They hunt, they fish, they trap, they can live in the woods indefinitely. Bushcraft wasn't imported into America until The Golden Age of Disco, the 1970's. Before that, nobody even knew about it and the author who wrote about it back then even distinguished the stark differences between the two practices. Bushcraft is for Australians in tropical regions. Woodcraft is for northwoodsmen who hunt (bushcrafters aren't allowed to hunt...it's against their rules).
Hmmm, there was the 1947 book “bush pilot” written by a Canadian guy named Campbell. There seems to be “bush” in Australia, but also in Scandinavian countries, Canada, Alaska, etc. In fact, the term “bush” simply means remote places, boreal forests to tropical or African jungles. It just gained popularity with Mors Kochanski when he wrote a book titles Northern Bushcraft in the early 70’s. Bush pilots, as they referred to themselves, arrived on the scene after WWI when surplus planes and pilots began flying in Canada and Alaska. The term just started with the Dutch word (or words) for bushwhacking a very long time ago. I agree with the over use of the word and that it has become too cliche’ for skills working with wood. Bushcraft is not survival skills. I get the idea you have about woodcraft, but remember the old time hunters and trappers used their knife for all around camp chores, meat processing and self defense. Also, when I was a kid in the mid to late 60’s we had to earn “woodcraft” badges in the Boy Scouts. Basically what we made with our scout knives. That was “woodcraft”.
@@bobinmontana777 In reference to regions, there is no bush in America. Even in Alaska, the word means a settlement that's difficult to arrive at by conventional means (not my definition, that's the objective definition). As far as the etymology of the word, I don't go by foreign country's standards that don't apply in America. I go by American standards. Whatever the French or the Dutch or the Canadians do or say, that's their affairs. I know that bushcraft is an Australian term coined by a Frenchman in South Africa back in the late-19th century. It NEVER existed in America since it's inception until the 1970's. In America, we've always practiced woodcraft because our region is overwhelmingly woodlands or the woods. It's the term used since the early-1300's which originated in England. In our literature & woodlore, it's always been called woodcraft and never bushcraft. Ever. It wasn't until social media after 9/11 that bushcraft became a term used to describe wilderness skills, but mostly for newcomer survivalists because woodsmen aren't survivalists. Woodsmen thrive in the woods. Woodcraft are the skills of a woodsmen. There are no bushmen in America. The bushmen are in Africa and Australia (where their region is the bush). Even the man who brought the term to America in the 1970's clearly defined bushcraft differently from woodcraft and he should know as he was considered the foremost expert and a legit Australian who wrote "The Ten Bushcraft Books". As for woodcraft being the practice of the Boy Scouts, absolutely. Boy Scout never practiced bushcraft. They learned woodcraft and that was their skillset. They still learn woodcraft because they go into the woods of America (not the bush of Australia or South Africa).
Regardless of the origin of the term, bushcraft most definitely exists in America now because the terms "bushcraft" and "woodscraft" have become synonymous here. At this point it's just semantics. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "bush" as: a large uncleared or sparsely settled area (as in Australia) usually scrub-covered or forested. It uses Australia as an example, but we have plenty of bush country in America, as well.
@@BoArmstrong No, they are not synonymous in America. Walk up to anyone anywhere and ask them if they know what buschraft means. The overwhelming majority of people won't. As for Merriam's dictionary, it defines bushcraft as the skill gained by or necessary for living in bush country (not in the woods). America has no bush country. America has woods. It's like saying swimming in the desert or hiking on the ocean. Also, you misused the word semantics (which is ironic). 😂 No one in America EVER says they're going to the bush when they're going to the woods. They say they're going to the woods. Don't get me wrong, if you want to pronoun your experiences differently than the rest of the 40 MILLION outdoorsmen who don't bushcraft as bushcraft, by all means, do you. If you want to self identify as a bushcrafter, in today's America, you're free to redefine yourself as who you feel you are (not necessarily who you were born to be) and I'm pretty sure you'd even be allowed to use woodcrafters' bathrooms too! But this isn't anything new. When you have thieves hijacking Dan Beard's "Wood-Lore" book written a century ago (an original woodcrafter who's grave I've made a pilgrimage to) and retitling it "Bushcraft", it's just more of that changing of American tradition that is leading to mass confusion. I for one will stick with American tradition & woodlore. The internetters can call themselves what they want. But what cannot be denied is that there is no bush in America. The Bush as defined by the planet exists only in Australia and in South Africa. For anyone who wants to be buschrafters, they could try Florida. It's very tropical there. They might like it there since they want to pronoun themselves as bushcrafters. LOL I don't swing with the times. I stick with American legacy and with our heritage.
The knife that changed the world 😂 must be one hell of a knife has to do something more than cut stuff 🤷♂️. Wait a second is this click bait 🤔. I’ll stick with my American made BRK Kephart in 3v steel razor sharp convex grind and spine curly maple handle’s with mosaic pins leather sheath with a firesteel loop and detachable dangler loop.
Yeah, I will stick with my Green River Knives, which predate the Kephart knife, and is some what cheaper :) Plus I suspect that Kephart was inspired by the Green River Dadley knife.
I could not leave alone the 90 degree spine comment. Why? When in reality a striker, (often included), weighs almost nothing and can be carried with a ferro rod. A tool incidentally often carried but rarely “needed” in favor of a Bic. I say this because I bought into the 90 degree spine idea until I got a Lionsteel fixed blade with a rounded spine, such a pleasure to use, my thumb appreciates it, and aesthetically speaking it’s a winner.
Yep a sharp spine is no good on a knife you will use in a variety of positions such as carving ,if you must square up an back id keep it near the tip area to save your thumb from blistering etc
Yep, my ferro rod came with a really good striker. Beside ferro rods did not exist in Kephart's time.
I was kind of wondering about saying not having a squared off spine - which the original likely didn't have and which is a pretty major design element of the blade - is a 'screw up' then immediately saying that not sticking to pins instead of screws to be more like the original is also a 'screw up'. To me the fastening hardware used isn't nearly as integral part of the design as the blade design
Oh, well, I've never understood why so many people act as if the Kephart design is all that big a deal, anyhow. To me it just looks like a variation on the Russell Green River Dadley knife that was around long before Kephart was even a twinkle in his mama"s eye and is still being made.
@@longrider42 Good point about the ferro rod. On the other hand, flint and steel often struck with the high carbon knife. I’m not a proponent of either as long as Bic lighters are available.
I bought a Kephart replica blank from Condor, made walnut scales, pinned with brass, and leathercrafted my own design sheath. It's one my "daily carry" knives in the rotation. I like it, a simple knife that isn't pretending to be fancy, just a basic good design.
Thanks for the vid.
If you looking for a good budget kepart, old hickory makes one for less then $35. It comes with brass pins instead of screws, check it out.
AFAIK since Ontario was bought out and closed up, there's not any new Old Hickory knives being made
and sold.
If it's something different I
haven't heard about it
I love this knife as well and ended up changing the grip handles out to micarta - bought 'em from a great company called 7RattlesBushCraft. The proprietor, Kent Micuda, was excellent in his responsiveness and customer service.
One important fact left out of the “Kephart” designs is the original was convexed top to bottom of the blade. Meaning the original was fatter in the middle of the blade. This resulted in the blade slipping through meat (or skinning) efficiently.
Yep, because it was based on a Green River knife design, which came first. And are still made today in the USA, and a lot cheaper then the Kephart knife from Becker.
The knife that changed the world, was made from stone. Most likely Flint or Obsidian. And the Kephart knife, I have heard was inspired by the Green River Dadley knife, which you can still get, and it will cost you a lot less. I've been collecting knives since the Mid 80's. My first good sheath knives where and still are Green River knives, still made today, in the USA, out of 1095 steel.
Nice. I have a PR4, shorter blade and contemporary handle material / scale texturing. My son will inherit this knife. Thank you HK and ESSE.
I really like the bk62 as well. Great knife, thanks for sharing.
Thanks glad you enjoyed it!
I have this knife. It by far is my favorite. However, I have the original as well. You may know it already. It was made by Green River. And it's called,"the Daedly". I changed it from a flat grind to a convex. Witch is like the original. And it just flat out gets it done .
Sorry but $159 for 1095 and wood handles is a ripoff. I like 1095, but for that price you can get a lot more. Or you can get a couple of Moras, and a couple of folding saws, and probably a low end hatchet to boot.
Great to see a common sense reply on this comment section.
As an old timer once told me . . ." The wood that you're cutting doesn't know how much you paid for your knife" . . .
Great knife. Agree with you on the scale pins.
I love mine I love how slim it is . The sheath is really good the spine thing is weak sauce but hey I carry lighters and Ferro rods and scrapers . Great review man.
Ever heard of the Green River Dadley?180 yo design
Looks almost like a Dadley Knife, Dexter Russell Green River. which is still being made and only costs 30 dollars. Okay, you need to buy or make a sheath for it. I love Green River Knives, I have three.
Are you from East TN since you referenced the Smokies?
Joker tramoero full flat grind !
I have wanted this knife every since Ethan introduced it. unfortunately it has not been in the budget, and every time I almost have enough saved something comes up. mostly medical crap. The custome one you held up looks to me to be the bastard child of a Kephart and a Nessmuk, with a bit of a dual grind there. very cool idea.
Why the fasteners? Easy, Ethan knows knives need to be thoroughly cleaned?...maybe?.... I would rather have that modernization than a factory sharpened spine, which as others have mentioned, can be very hard on the thumb. Other than that... Loved your video.
I think i'll stick to my trusty Morakniv classic#2 👀
Interesting statement. I suppose that depends on what Lore you were raised on. I never subscribed to the Kephart Stuff. I was mentored by the great Jim Bowie and Danial Boone as a kid...lol. Oh, wait...I lied! It was actually John Wayne and Clint Eastwood...lol. All of which far outdates the term “Bushcraft”..Just Fun’n
Do you think Horace had a fero rod , lol
It looks like an Outback Restaurant steak knife😂
Actually, that's a woodcraft knife. Bushcraft hadn't been invented yet. Kephart never practiced bushcraft (especially since there's no bush in America). So it's not an original bushcraft knife.
No one ever practiced bushcraft in America. It's the original woodcraft knife. It's not even a survival knife because woodsmen don't do survival. They're woodsmen. They hunt, they fish, they trap, they can live in the woods indefinitely.
Bushcraft wasn't imported into America until The Golden Age of Disco, the 1970's. Before that, nobody even knew about it and the author who wrote about it back then even distinguished the stark differences between the two practices. Bushcraft is for Australians in tropical regions. Woodcraft is for northwoodsmen who hunt (bushcrafters aren't allowed to hunt...it's against their rules).
Guess you have never been to Alaska. Lol
Hmmm, there was the 1947 book “bush pilot” written by a Canadian guy named Campbell. There seems to be “bush” in Australia, but also in Scandinavian countries, Canada, Alaska, etc. In fact, the term “bush” simply means remote places, boreal forests to tropical or African jungles. It just gained popularity with Mors Kochanski when he wrote a book titles Northern Bushcraft in the early 70’s. Bush pilots, as they referred to themselves, arrived on the scene after WWI when surplus planes and pilots began flying in Canada and Alaska. The term just started with the Dutch word (or words) for bushwhacking a very long time ago. I agree with the over use of the word and that it has become too cliche’ for skills working with wood. Bushcraft is not survival skills. I get the idea you have about woodcraft, but remember the old time hunters and trappers used their knife for all around camp chores, meat processing and self defense. Also, when I was a kid in the mid to late 60’s we had to earn “woodcraft” badges in the Boy Scouts. Basically what we made with our scout knives. That was “woodcraft”.
@@bobinmontana777
In reference to regions, there is no bush in America. Even in Alaska, the word means a settlement that's difficult to arrive at by conventional means (not my definition, that's the objective definition).
As far as the etymology of the word, I don't go by foreign country's standards that don't apply in America. I go by American standards. Whatever the French or the Dutch or the Canadians do or say, that's their affairs.
I know that bushcraft is an Australian term coined by a Frenchman in South Africa back in the late-19th century.
It NEVER existed in America since it's inception until the 1970's.
In America, we've always practiced woodcraft because our region is overwhelmingly woodlands or the woods. It's the term used since the early-1300's which originated in England.
In our literature & woodlore, it's always been called woodcraft and never bushcraft. Ever.
It wasn't until social media after 9/11 that bushcraft became a term used to describe wilderness skills, but mostly for newcomer survivalists because woodsmen aren't survivalists.
Woodsmen thrive in the woods.
Woodcraft are the skills of a woodsmen. There are no bushmen in America. The bushmen are in Africa and Australia (where their region is the bush).
Even the man who brought the term to America in the 1970's clearly defined bushcraft differently from woodcraft and he should know as he was considered the foremost expert and a legit Australian who wrote "The Ten Bushcraft Books".
As for woodcraft being the practice of the Boy Scouts, absolutely. Boy Scout never practiced bushcraft. They learned woodcraft and that was their skillset. They still learn woodcraft because they go into the woods of America (not the bush of Australia or South Africa).
Regardless of the origin of the term, bushcraft most definitely exists in America now because the terms "bushcraft" and "woodscraft" have become synonymous here. At this point it's just semantics. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "bush" as: a large uncleared or sparsely settled area (as in Australia) usually scrub-covered or forested. It uses Australia as an example, but we have plenty of bush country in America, as well.
@@BoArmstrong No, they are not synonymous in America. Walk up to anyone anywhere and ask them if they know what buschraft means. The overwhelming majority of people won't.
As for Merriam's dictionary, it defines bushcraft as the skill gained by or necessary for living in bush country (not in the woods).
America has no bush country. America has woods. It's like saying swimming in the desert or hiking on the ocean.
Also, you misused the word semantics (which is ironic). 😂
No one in America EVER says they're going to the bush when they're going to the woods. They say they're going to the woods.
Don't get me wrong, if you want to pronoun your experiences differently than the rest of the 40 MILLION outdoorsmen who don't bushcraft as bushcraft, by all means, do you.
If you want to self identify as a bushcrafter, in today's America, you're free to redefine yourself as who you feel you are (not necessarily who you were born to be) and I'm pretty sure you'd even be allowed to use woodcrafters' bathrooms too!
But this isn't anything new. When you have thieves hijacking Dan Beard's "Wood-Lore" book written a century ago (an original woodcrafter who's grave I've made a pilgrimage to) and retitling it "Bushcraft", it's just more of that changing of American tradition that is leading to mass confusion.
I for one will stick with American tradition & woodlore. The internetters can call themselves what they want.
But what cannot be denied is that there is no bush in America. The Bush as defined by the planet exists only in Australia and in South Africa.
For anyone who wants to be buschrafters, they could try Florida. It's very tropical there. They might like it there since they want to pronoun themselves as bushcrafters. LOL
I don't swing with the times.
I stick with American legacy and with our heritage.
The knife that changed the world 😂 must be one hell of a knife has to do something more than cut stuff 🤷♂️. Wait a second is this click bait 🤔. I’ll stick with my American made BRK Kephart in 3v steel razor sharp convex grind and spine curly maple handle’s with mosaic pins leather sheath with a firesteel loop and detachable dangler loop.
Yeah, I will stick with my Green River Knives, which predate the Kephart knife, and is some what cheaper :) Plus I suspect that Kephart was inspired by the Green River Dadley knife.
@@longrider42👍🏻
Shut up