Schrade SCHF42 Frontier 10in Steel Full Tang Fixed Blade Knife with 3.6in Drop Point and Grivory Handle for Outdoor Survival, Camping and Bushcraft

When I say "all around", I mean that this blade does almost everything and does it well.For those who don't like a recurve blade, I can understand when it comes to sharpening on a stone. But just spend a little time using the edge of the stone and the edge finishes nice and clean. I've seen Prepared Mind 101's test of this blade and as far as I can tell, the praise is well deserved. Watch the You Tube reviews... They will show you what this knife is. The proof is in the cutting, boys and girls.The sharpness is paper-slicing right out of the box.Although I don't think I will be using this to baton, (I save that kind of work for the "big brother" SCHF9), it's nice to know that I can when I need to. The "Grivory" handle is very comfy and fits my large palm very well. I can see where it might be a bit "slippy" which is why I like the Kraton scales on my SCHF9, but the grip holds even when I got blood on it. No pinching or biting as far as I can tell. The jimping could stand to be about 1/8" back so your thumb is not too far forward, but that's being picky. There is a small choil behind the guard. The jimping makes feathersticking a breeze but you should wear gloves. I will be taking a small round file to make my jimping less aggressive, but you do what's best for you.The sheath is a very nice and thick leather that with a generous belt loop that will easily fit onto a military load-bearing or gun belt. I kind of wish it came with the same nylon style sheath my SCHF9 has, with her attached pocket for the ferro rod, sharpening stone and fire tinder that I like to keep with all of my knives. Having each knife in a little rig with fire making tools saves me from having spend too much time choosing which rig I should take on what outing. It's just nice to know that as long as I have a knife, I will also have fire. But the leather sheath is thick enough to attach a ferro rod holder using a piece of scrap leather and a leather needle and twine, or maybe even a ranger band which I will probably do later. I will add to this review if anything comes up. I expect the price to drop a bit if Schrader/Taylor changes to a less expensive nylon sheath, but I like the fact that I got a leather sheath with this early run. Also, I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on something that might get lost, so you won't see any reviews from me about anything other than what an average working guy like me can afford. But I honestly think Schrader has hit the target with this Brian Griffin-designed beauty. Thank you for designing this and my other favorite, the SCHF9, Mr. Griffin! Us Po' boys deserve a knife that looks and behaves like it cost $200, even if we can't afford one!Both the SCHF42 and SCHF9 are made in Taiwan and as long as the ROC stays free, they will always be fine with me. Much better than giving my hard-earned $ to the Commies! In fact, I think I will be getting rid of the few Chi-Com blades that I do have now that I've found such great products from the Republic of China.This knife is the perfect smaller, lighter companion.... not "companion", more of a mid-size "COMPLIMENT" in that the large SCHF42 is every inch a "lead" knife that compliments my SCHF9 and will serve me well for decades to come. I don't like to have to depend on any knife other than one that can "lead" if I happen to do something stupid, like lose my larger "lead" knife. Besides,it just FEELS right and it just ACTS right. There is nothing NOT to like about this blade and so far, I don't think I need to look any further for the "best" combination of survival knives. But that doesn't mean I won't stop trying!***UPDATE 7/19/15***After a quite a bit of use, I am even more stoked about this knife than ever. It has done everything I've asked from chopping to carving trap triggers and other bushcraft tasks and it always comes back asking for more. Only had to resharpen a couple of times and she holds an edge like a knife costing three times as much... I would recommend getting some tennis racket grip tape for the handle, especially for hot weather. But this is normal for almost all of my tools, hammers, axes and even my SCHBOLO for hot weather work. The only blades I haven't had to wrap are the SCHF9 and my brand new SCHF45 that just arrived, but I might wrap them anyway just for extra grip. It never hurts. I will be reviewing the SCHF45 "Doom Bringer" as soon as it's available on Amazon so look out for it. It's a BEAST!All in all, the SCHF42 Frontier is still best all around value for a bushcraft/survival knife and SCHRADE should be proud! Do yourself a favor and go to www.yellowhawkcustomkydex.com and invest in a custom sheath with a ferro rod attachment. Yes, it will cost more than the SCHF42, but it will keep you and your knife alive for a long, long time. Worth every penny!

First I'd like to point out that I am actually a bit of a Schrade fan. Having said that, I make no delusions about the fact that they are budget knives. However, just because they are budget, does NOT mean they are junk. There are models that I would never take into the woods for sure and they have so many models that there are a fair amount I don't care for at all. This knife however, is a FANTASTIC woods tool.It came stupid sharp out of the box as the bald spot on my arm can attest to. A lot of Schrade handles seem a little better suited for medium to slightly under largeish sized hands, these however are perfect. Some people have complained about the handle material and one reviewer commented on need to replace them, but I find this unnecessary myself. I am going to replace them, but mostly for aesthetics. I found the scales extremely comfortable. The fit and finish on the scales is decent, but let's remember what you're paying for the knife. They aren't perfect, but they are very good. The knife itself was perfectly straight and symmetrical, but please note these are production knives and you may receive slight variations in that. I've gotten some jacked up knives from Schrade before but they've been good about replacing them.The steel is 1095 with what so far is seeming to be a very very good heat treat. It has an extremely sharp 90 degree spine and the jimping is fairly aggressive as well. That, some people will definitely not like. It doesn't bother me because I have a hammer grip about half the time I'm doing cutting tasks and for whatever reason even aggressive jimping doesn't bother my hand. Unless it's on the handle of the knife and especially if it's on the bottom, then that's terrible. For me the jimping is a non issue and gives great purchase when I'm using it. There is a coating on the blade that is, so far at least, holding up very nicely and is super smooth so I haven't gotten any noticeable drag when doing things like batoning. All coating will produce some drag though cuz physics. I like the look of the coating too actually. If you have an SCHF9, it is the same titanium coating used on that. The tang has an exposed pommel with some finer aggressive jimping on it which has been useful for creating tinder or tenderizing meat.This knife also comes with a nice leather sheath. Retension is fantastic and there is no rattle whatsoever. The sheath has a snap closure which is always nice. It's nothing fancy by any stretch, but it's very functional. For those who don't care for leather sheaths, there are quite a few guys making fantastic kydex sheaths you can get for this.Ultimately this comes down to what you want. The knife as is, is great. Not only for the price, but even when put up against other knives for significantly more money. It may not have all the bells and whistles of SOME of those knives, but for so much cheaper who cares. If you're looking for a fantastic knife and are on a budget, go for it. If you want to trick it out and customize it you can do that too. If you want to save up and get a new sheath, then save up and get some custom handle scales, then save up and get...etc. you'll wind up with a very nice personalized knife that if you take care of should last you a very long time.I would recommend this to anyone, not just to those on a budget, but to everyone looking for a good knife.One final note, it you don't care for recurves but are thinking about this knife, wait on it. They are going to be releasing a straight edged model in a couple months (September I think?) so you can get it without a recurve if that's what you want.

I found this knife to be great at handling everything while tent camping in campgrounds, and the perfect size to go across the handles on a cast iron pot (to pick up one side from over the fire).However it seemed heavy, thick, and half an inch to long for me at handling high dexterity tasks for me at work.

Produit correct et conforme à la description.Qualité pas vraiment au top, quelques imperfections, niveau de finition moyenne.Il s'agit d'un article intéressant avec un bon rapport qualité prix mais sans plus.Il fait son job, acier 1095 made in Taiwan de qualité standard, dureté standard.

(Scrivo questa recensione poco dopo acer rucevuto il coltello.)Arriva con un bel fodero il pelle che però va "sistemato" la pelle è secchissima e una bella mano di grasso le ridà tono ed elasticità, inoltre il coltello è trattenuto da un piccolo laccietto con bottone, purtroppo inserendo ed estraendo il coltello si rischia di tagliarlo,, io ho messo del duc tape e sebra proteggierlo abbastanza bene.Il coltello ha le misure riportate:25cm in totale12.7 cm di lama5mm di spessoreLa lama è ricurva e viene utilizzato un acciaio al carbonio (1095), l'impignatura è molto ergonomica con le guancette in plastica però, che non sono il massimo ma fanno il loro dovere.Appena fuori dalla scatola è molto affilato, questo tipo di acciaio non è particolarmente duro ma si affila molto facilmente.Consiglio di guardare online le recensioni del coltello per farsi un'idea migliore.4 stello solo perchè devo ancora testarlo per bene anche se, fidandomi delle altre recensioni, se ne meriterebbe 5.

Das Messer hat meines Erachtens die richtige Größe, ist robust (Klingenrücken 5 mm), liegt gut in der Hand und kann sowohl etwas gröbere als auch etwas feinere Aufgaben meistern. Wer einen ordentlichen Allrounder möchte, ohne 120 Euro und mehr für die bekannten "Outdoor-Stars" auszugeben, trifft mit dem SCHF42 die richtige Entscheidung.Lediglich das Chopping ist etwas mühsamer als mit einem Beast wie dem SCHF51. Dafür kann man mit diesem Messer auch jede Menge Feinarbeit unproblematisch erledigen, ohne eben ein zweites Messer dazu kaufen zu müssen.By the way: Schrade bietet das gleiche Messer in mit herkömmlicher Klingenform (also, nicht recurve). Das Modell heißt SCHF42D.

Arrived earlier than expected. Comes in a nice gift box and user/maintenance manual. The knife comes sharp with its own leather sheath. It doesn't get any better than this piece for both quality and price.