The new one arrived. Break this?! Hah!

Dreadnaught-Class....wheee! let's go stab a Tiger tank to death! and then SKIN it!!!





In all seriousness, a "scandinavian" flat grind to edge, with more precise secondary edge applied at same angle, so the small secondary comes and goes as required....a serious chopper/splitter/scraper/notcher...

It has a little dip in spine just ahead of NATO NSN, but come to think of it, the other one might, too (it is in another region just now), and might be a "fix" for a knife a wee bit tall for the standard sheath. I will not need a 4th one, so will leave to others to discover if true or just milspec slop as common today.

Do you know the meaning of the inscription on the blade?

Listed a page back, NATO/NSN, date of contract/NOT date of manufacture, maker name/mark, and Ministry Of Defense "broad arrow" aka "crowsfoot" acceptance mark....for SURE any knife without these marks on blade or handle is a knockoff and probably Chinese....these come direct from Sheffield, black one is PN SHE004.

The front view of knife only needs a conning tower and front dive planes to make a dandy hunter/killer sub.

The actual measured thickness is approx. 0.245" in back, tapering to 0.240" up front, aside from primary edge grind areas. I have no idea if they started with 1/4" thick plate or 6.5 mm plate on these newer versions. Both would be slightly reduced by rough surface finishing and then built back up somewhat by parkerize.

PS- gotta maybe crawfish on assertion these newer knives not hotworked at all....at least, on THIS contract.....the blade does do above measured taper, and this blade does also gain in depth out front. It may have been hot forged/rolled to do that. Maybe even to point it needed the above post mentioned possible trim to spine to fit the issue sheath, trimming back edge not near as easy an option. (i love trying to figure out how and why somebody did something)

As for sharpness, the high flat grind has a less obtuse angle than any American issue fighting/utility/survival knife, and it has a thinner edge lacking any substantive secondary edge. Which means despite massive blade, it can be laid over further than such knives as the Jet Pilot/Marine Combat without the edge lifting up, and capable of finer angled cuts such as shaving bark or wood. It also means deeper bite in chopping, not even counting increased mass driving the edge. For a slab of soft steel, it is a good slab. The lower hardness also translates to easier field sharpening, and no chipping, much less, actual breaking. The hardness approximates that of the American JPK survival knife, but lacks the reduced tang of same and more like 1/4" thick rather than 3/16ths" thick....tough.

Will go ahead and list differences I have noted in between the 1984, 1999, and 2001 contracts, all made by same J Adams...

1984 has much better finish in every respect, seems blade profile and primary edge done while metal hot, perhaps with rollers, more obtuse edge, rugged, but not the knife of later versions, but better wood wedge...have seen some 84 dated knives not near so nice, this one probably last of the breed of nicer ones, and finished more as earliest three versions (MOD 1-3) which were smaller, prettier, more hot-worked appearing knives.

1999 quite crude and pre-scratched, deeper flat grind, appears distal taper and depth of blade done while hot. Better chopper with deeper bite.

2001 shows no sign of hot work (to recollection), no distal taper or depth increase, less deep grind out front at tip (perhaps govt spec complaints or someone managed to damage a tip on the 1999, somehow).

Guards sharper edged on latter ones.

Even the blountest edged (but touched up) eldest knife still trims tough stringy small oak limbs with ease not found on far more expensive large knives, somehow, for some reason. I still scratch my head over that one.

All three work, the black dyed phenolic/micarta handle more comfy to my hand, as despite rougher slab cutting in spots, radii are better polished than wood. A very comfortable large, long handle on any of them, able to be held with only two fingers at hook for increased chopping power.

That about does it.