Last Updated: August 14, 2019Schrade 735RPB Mariner’s Knife I would land on my desk.
A Brief History of the Mariner’s Knife
The Mariner or “Sailor’s Knife” often refers to a [Read more…] about Schrade 735RPB Mariner’s Knife
Schrade Old Timer – 160OT Mountain Lion
I’ve been in a bit of a fixed blade mood lately so today I am taking a look at the Schrade 160OT Mountain Lion. This is small to medium sized skinning / hunting knife with a 4.3″ blade and an overall length of 9.3″. This knife has a weight of 6.9oz and comes with a thick leather sheath.
This knife is of full tang construction (meaning the knife is one continuous piece of steel with the handle bolted on to either side) so it is quite strong. The upswept blade shape lends itself to skinning. The 160OT has [Read more…] about Schrade Old Timer – 160OT Mountain Lion
Schrade XT2B: X-Timer Drop Point Knife 9 1/2″ Fixed Blade
Last Updated: August 30, 2019
Today I am taking a look at the Schrade X-Timer 9 1/2″ Fixed Blade Knife. This is my first review of a knife in the X-Timer Series and I am very excited about this line because I think they provide a lot of knife for the money.
Dimensions
The Schrade XT2B, is a large fixed blade hunting / camp knife. We are looking at a total length of 9 1/8″ with a 4.2″ long blade and a blade thickness of approximately .15″ (exactly 3.8mm according to my Croatian friend, Tihomir, who measured the knife for me, his thoughts on the XT2B can be found below). The knife weighs right around 10-11 ounces.
Blade and Steel
This knife is made of 440C stainless steel. 440C is is a good tool steel and appropriate for this knife, which is mainly designed for hunting and camping tasks. This is a full tang knife, so it is very simple and strong. The XT2B has a drop point blade finished with a black teflon coating. The knife has a hollow saber ground edge which came very sharp out of the box. This kind of knife favors slicing over chopping, for a more chopping focused knife I would consider the Schrade XT1B which is an excellent chopper with a similar look and feel to the XT2B.
Handle
My first thought about the handle was, “This handle is really comfortable.” It’s made of Taylor’s proprietary material: Sure Grip Thermoplastic Rubber (TPR) which is some kind of fancy engineered rubber. Whatever it is, it molds well to the hand. Its very ergonomic and makes for a solid grip both bare handed and with gloves. Both the finger choil and thumb ramp have extra ribbing for added slip resistance. For even more security there is a brass lined lanyard hole at the end of the butt.
Sheath
The sheath on this knife is honestly nothing special. It’s a simple cordura sheath with a fold over button snap. I like this style of sheath as it makes the knife very easy to draw. It has a lanyard hole at the tip, and belt loop. It does the job but as with most of these kinds of sheaths I’m not sure how well it will hold up. Luckily it’s easy to find a sheath for this kind of knife at a swap meet or surplus store.
Final Thoughts
For a medium sized fixed blade knife well below the $20 price point, the XT2B is a great buy. This is a great tool to carry while hiking, hunting or camping. Pluses to me are the incredibly solid full tang construction, the comfortable handle and the nice sharp edge. I think if the knife has a weakness it’s going to be in the sheath, but only time will tell.
Schrade SCHF51M Frontier 10.9in Steel Full Tang Fixed Blade Knife with 5.1in Drop Point Blade and Micarta Handle for Outdoor Survival, Camping and EDC
- DIMENSIONS: 10.9 inch (27.6 cm) overall length with a blade length of 5.1 inches (12.8 cm) and a weight of 14.6 ounces
- DURABLE: Blade is made of reliable 1095 High Carbon Steel with a micarta handle
- DEPENDABLE: Quick and easy access with the convenient black, polyester belt sheath making it ideal for everyday carry
- SECURE: Have confidence that the blade will not slip with the security of the finger guard
- BE PREPARED: Knife features a full tang design, ferro rod, sharpening stone and lanyard hole
Tihomir’s Review
I was contacted by Tihomir from Croatia a few weeks back about the XT2B. He had some questions, and ultimately between me and the guys at Taylor we were able to figure it out. He ended up ordering the knife and I invited him to give me his impressions when he got it. Here are his words:
Dear Dan,
Today I recived my Shrade X-Timer knife. This is a very nice knife. It has very nice ergonomicly shaped handle with very good grip,with or witouth gloves. The blade feels wery strong,and it is very sharp (exact thickness of the
blade is 3.4mm). Although the sheath is very simple and cheap it holds the knife very good. My conclusion is that this is a wery good knive for those people like me that need a good and reliable knive and dont need a fancy sheath that raises
the price of the knife.
cheers,
Tihomir
Thanks again for the nice review, Tihomir. As always if y’all have any questions or a review of your own feel free to contact me or post a comment. I always enjoy corresponding with fellow fans.
Schrade SMEDB/SMEDY California Issue Knife
The Schrade SMEDB California Issue is often referred to as a large version of the Schrade SCALY a very popular small folding knife that can be easily converted in to a “California Legal” automatic knife.
Model Name / Nomenclature
It took a little digging around before this really clicked for me but I am fairly certain that SCALY stands for Schrade California Legal, Yellow. SMEDB simply stands for Schrade Medium Black. SMEDY indicates that the handle scales are yellow.
Dimensions, Blade Steel and Specifications
The SMEDB has a 2.5 inch drop point blade with a 3.5 inch handle. At a mere 2.3 ounces, this is a nice every day carry (EDC) option. The knife is made of 440C, a go too steel for Schrade with good durability and edge retention. The SMEDB is a sized knife with a 440C drop point blade with a plain edge and a either a mirror polished finish or a black teflon coating depending on if you get the SMEDY or SMEDB. Schrade does a good job of putting an edge on this blade from the factory however I hit it with a few laps on my fine ceramic stone and a leather strop to get it hair popping sharp. It holds an edge very well.
Handle
The handle is made out of T6061 aluminum with a black or yellow delrin inserts. The handle is thick and slightly bowed giving it a nice feel in the hand. The pillar style construction of the handle makes it very easy to clean and I like the look of it a lot. A large aluminum push button is a prominent feature on the handle. You have to push the button to release the blade.
Automatic Capable
Ok so a lot of buzz around this knife is that it is an automatic. Well, its often advertised as an automatic, but when it gets to your door it probably won’t be an automatic. That’s due to the various legalities surrounding automatic knives in the US (assuming you are buying this in the States). Generally speaking, you will have to buy a spring for this knife to convert it into an automatic. Depending on where you live that could make the knife illegal so do some research before making the decision. The nice thing is, if you want to make this knife an automatic it is an extremely easy conversion. You can buy a coil spring on ebay (some online merchants carry them too) open up the knife, and the spring drops right in – everything is pre-drilled and ready to go.
Safety
An important feature of this knife (especially if you decide to do an auto conversion) is the safety on top of the handle. It’s a solid sliding lock safety that will keep the knife closed and prevent it from accidentally deploying. If you read my Schrade SCALY review you would know that this safety is a feature we may see disappearing from non-Benchmade automatic knives due to an ongoing lawsuit. If you are interested in this knife, I would buy it now rather than later so you get one with this important safety feature.
Limited Availability
In addition to the safety lock being in danger of disappearing it appears that the entire knife might be going the way of the dinosaur as well. I’ve heard rumors that Schrade is discontinuing these knives. If this is a knife you are interested in, get it while the getting is good.
[easyazon-block asin=”B00181R7KQ” align=”center”]
Schrade Extreme Survival Assisted OTF
I was at a gun show outside New Orleans when I first saw the Schrade Extreme Survival Assisted Out The Front (OTF). I think I said something like “Dang that is COOL” when I first shot the blade out the front of the knife. 5 minutes and $35 later the OTF was heading home with me.
I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I buy knives just because I plain think they are cool. Despite getting tons of “abuse” opening envelopes and the occasional cardboard box, this little assisted opening number by Schrade was definitely in the cool category. I never intended to use it hard, and I never have. You know what? That’s OK. In fact, I think it’s more than OK to buy a knife because it’s cool. A lot of enjoyment I get out of collecting knives is simply playing around with them. It’s safe to say I’ve had plenty of time to play with this one, and now it’s time to get to work and write a review.
Dimensions, Steel and Blades
This knife is actually a pretty good size for a EDC blade. It has a 3″ blade with a 4″ handle. At 4.8 ounces it might be a little on the heavy side, but this isn’t your typical folder and the weight seems justified.
The blade is made out of Krupp 4116 stainless steel. 4116 is a bit of a departure from what Scrhade uses for a lot of their knives (440C stainless steel). 4116 is fine grained German steel made by the TyssenKrupp Company. This kind of steel is often used as a surgical steel and is known for it’s corrosion resistance, hardness and edge retention. I’ve found it to be a better at edge retention than 440C and it is a very hard steel. This is a high quality steel more than adequate for the basic tasks I’ve thrown at the Schrade OTF.
This knife comes in a variety of blade shapes. I chose the plain tanto edge for mine, but I’ve noticed it carried in a drop point configuration as well as partially serrated options. The blade is nice and sharp and comes with a gun metal gray aluminum nitride coating which gives the knife a nice tactical look to it.
The Assisted Mechanism
The way this knife works, is that there is a thumbslide at the base of the handle that you push forward on. When you push it forward a little the spring engages and assists the knife open. I wouldn’t call this a “hair trigger” it does involve a little force to get it going. Once it does engage the knife snaps open very quickly. Keep in mind this knife is different from a full on automatic knife in that the assisted knife is legal to carry in many states. (The main functional difference between the 2 types of knives is that an assisted knife requires a little more work on your part to get it open, an automatic knife opens at the touch of the button and is illegal to carry in most states).
The spring mechanism on this knife is very nice. It shoots the blade out very quickly with a nice satisfying click and then it locks up tightly. With this kind of knife you will get a little blade play due to the nature of the design, but it’s really not bad with this Schrade. If you are anything like me, the assisted open will provide hours of entertainment during those long conference calls and times spent daydreaming at your desk.
Dual Safeties
One concern with a spring assisted knife is accidentally opening it. This is a really sharp knife so you do not want that to happen. Thankfully Schrade put some time into designing the two safeties on this knife. The first safety is located on the side of the handle and it locks the knife open or closed. The second safety is a thumb safety that will lock the blade open. You definitely want to take advantage of the safety features of this knife.
Aluminum Handle
The handle on this knife is made of 1061 machined aircraft aluminum anodized a matte black. It’s got a light texturing on the sides and a little bit of light jimping on the base and thumb ramp. It’s an angular shaped handle, not particularly comfortable, but solid and reassuring. Schrade did carve out something of a finger groove to make the handle a little more ergonomic. All in all it’s a solidly made handle.
Glass Breaker and Pocket Clip
A black glass breaker is set into the butt of this knife. It’s actually a pretty good sized breaker for a smaller knife(as you can see in the picture above). In a pinch this would have no problem breaking glass although ideally I would have something bigger.
There is a pocket clip on this knife. It’s made of steel with a semi-glossy black finish. It rides pretty low in the pocket which is good for concealment. This clip only works for tip down carry, which in this case makes sense due to the way you would draw it. All in all I would say this is a nice clip with good placement.
Schrade Extreme Survival Assisted OTF Review – Bottom Line
This is a fun knife that I like to keep around the house and take out with me occasionally. For an EDC blade I would go with something a little more practical; a more conventional liner, lockback or frame lock knife depending on what I feel like carrying that day. Also, I wouldn’t recommend this knife for self defense. I know a lot of people like the idea of using it for that purpose because it is an assisted knife. Really, I would much rather have a bigger knife in that kind of situation. The bottom line is that this is a very well made knife that has been a lot of fun owning.
The best place for more reviews from people who have owned the knife is on Amazon. Click here see what the reviewers on Amazon have to say about the Schrade OTF.
Schrade SCHF9 Extreme Survival Knife
Last Updated: July 31, 2019
I’ve always been into big survival knives. I especially like a large, “do it all,” survival knife because it can substitute the need to carry an axe and a smaller knife. One such knife that has been getting a lot of attention lately is the SCHF9 Extreme Survival Knife. I really liked the design of this knife so I knew I had to get one in for a review. Below are my impressions of the knife.
Buy the Schrade SCHF9 Extreme Survival Knife at BladeHQ
General Dimensions and Blade Details
This is a medium-large knife with an overall length of 12″, a blade length of 6.4″ and a weight of 15.9 ounces. There are three features that I find especially important with the blade. SCHF9 has a blunted tip, a deep full flat grind and a plain edge.
I prefer a blunted tip over a pointed one with a survival knife because it makes for a much stronger tip that is less likely to break. Tip strength is very important when you don’t have the luxury of a garage full of tools. Despite having a blunter tip than say, the Schrade SCHF1, the knife can still be very effective as a defensive or tactical tool and will perform thrust cuts well. I find my main use with a large survival knife is chopping and slicing, not stabbing – therefore a strong tip is important to me.
The full flat grind is also a very important blade characteristic that I like to see in a large survival knife. The full flat grind (vs. a saber or hollow grind) makes for a much tougher edge. Not only does this avoid blade chipping but it is excellent for chopping. The steel on the SCHF9 is a good 6mm thick at its widest point and the blade comes with a deep full flat grind. The thick steel and deep full flat makes the knife very hatchet like. This knife excels at splitting wood and other chopping and slicing tasks.
A final blade characteristic that I really like about the Schrade SCHF9 is that it’s a plain edge. Specifically, I’m happy it’s not a partially serrated knife. Serrations have their place and I own several serrated knives, however, I feel that for a survival knife combo edges have disadvantages. Partially serrated blades are A) difficult to sharpen (especially in the field) and B) provide neither the advantage of a full serrated knife nor the advantage of a full plain edge. What you get is a poor compromise. The last thing you need in the woods is a tool that can “kinda” work. You want a couple quality tools that will get you home safe. A big plain edge lets you use the full leverage of the knife for chopping tasks and allows you to to also work in close with the edge for detail tasks. I carry a lightweight pocket chainsaw for when I require serrations.
The combination of the blunt tip, deep full flat grind and plain edge is an absolute winner. I think it’s an ideal combination for a large survival knife, especially paired with a pocket chain or wire saw.
Blade Steel
The SCHF9 is made from a single solid piece of 1095 High Carbon steel. 1095 is a very popular knife and tool steel and is an excellent choice for a survival blade. A high carbon steel is generally harder and will hold an edge longer than a stainless steel. This is very important if you do find yourself in a survival situation. The 1095 will take a beating and hold it’s edge very well. However, because it is a high carbon steel (instead of a stainless) it will be more prone to rust. Keep in mind that all knives, even stainless steel knives, can and will rust without proper maintenance. Rust is easily avoided by keeping the blade dry, storing it outside of the sheath, and oiling occasionally (I like gun oil but WD-40 works in a pinch). Schrade also applied a tough teflon coat to the blade to help minimize the chance of rust.
Handle
A lot of attention went into designing the handle of the SCHF9. Schrade selected Kraton scales for the handle material. Kraton is a hard rubber that provides excellent grip, wet or dry. The handle is lightly textured and my experiences with the knife have found it to be very grippy.
The ergonomics of the SCHF9 were well thought out. The handle on the SCHF9 has 3 finger choils and a large palm swell making the handle very easy to hold with or without gloves. Additionally, the combination of the handle shape and tough rubber scales make this a very comfortable knife to use. I find that the Kraton absorbs a lot of the shock when chopping hard wood. Speaking of chopping, the blade’s weight and balance make it ideal for chopping and splitting while the well-designed handle keeps the knife in your hand.
The finger choils on the handle and the the un-sharpened portion of the blade give you a variety of gripping options. I’ve found that this larger knife will allow for detail work of a smaller knife (a such as making feather sticks to start a fire) because of the great handle design.
Sheath
The sheath on the SCHF9 is very good for such a large and inexpensive survival knife. Now a bad sheath can sometimes be a deal-breaker for me so I understand the importance of a good sheath. Fortunately, the SCHF9’s cordura sheath is well made and has a heavy duty plastic insert with an adjustable retention strap for right or left hand carry.
The sheath has the option of attaching with a strong snap on strap or a more permanent threaded belt loop. Velcro and eyelets for para-cord provide additional mounting choices. So what this means is that you can strap this sheath to your belt, leg, vest, pack, whatever you want. I like options in a sheath, and this one has plenty. Here is a shot of the back side of the sheath:
The sheath also has a large pocket on the outside for extra storage. What I like about this particular pocket is that it is removable – so, if you only want to carry the knife, you can. Additionally, the pocket has a belt loop so it can be strapped to you or your gear separately from the sheath. It’s not a bad little system and depending on what I am doing that day, I will sometimes use the pocket. For a relatively simple cordura sheath, Schrade has really put the time and effort into making the most of it.
Final Thoughts
For a “do it all” survival knife this blade really impressed me. You can tell a lot of thought went into getting the most out of a single tool. I can see this knife replacing a secondary small knife and a hatchet in those instances where you want to travel light. If you combine this with a survival saw and a fire steel you can accomplish most common survival tasks.
Schrade Delta Class Reckon Tini Fixed Blade with 1095 High Carbon Steel Blade, 6.4in Fixed Blade for Buschcrafting, EDC
- DIMENSIONS: Blade length: 6.4in (16.3cm), overall length: 12.1in (30.7cm), weight: 15.7oz
- DURABLE: Constructed out of durable 1095 Steel
- SECURE: Have confidence that the blade will not slip with the security of the finger choil
- BE PREPARED: Knife features a leather lanyard for added security when in use
- Includes: Knife, sheath, and lanyard
$47.49
Buy on Amazon
I recommend purchasing the SCHF-9 at Amazon or BladeHQ. Please consider that purchasing anything through any of the links on this website helps support BladeReviews.com, and keeps the site going. As always, any and all support is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.