BPS Knives BS1FT SSH - Full-Tang Fixed-Blade Knife - Sharp Stainless Steel Bushcraft Knife With Sheath - Survival Compact Knife - Tactical Outdoor Camp Knives

To get it out of the way: I don't know anything about the stainless version, because I just don't own one.It's a bit rough, but for the price point I wouldn't demand more; the actual build quality is perfectly good. In the case of the unfinished spine, I'd actually call it an advantage: it helps with striking sparks from ferrocerium.The general size, for my slightly larger than average hands, is good. It's not a palm-filling knife, but it's a good size for the overall size of the knife.The blade has a nice edge. The bevel edges aren't crisp like I think most would expect, and almost certainly ground on a belt, but that in no way effects function; the bevels are otherwise flat and true.The main "downside" is that the wood is fairly raw, and the blade's carbon steel. I don't mind the slight extra effort that entails, and conversely appreciate the benefits. The wood and blade will both stain and shouldn't be allowed to stay damp, but the fix is the same for both: food-grade paste wax. Smear some on, let it dry a few hours or overnight, and buff clean; maybe apply several times if you want. When you've used it for something (especially acidic), clean it off and dry, and apply then wipe off a thin layer of paste wax.Carbon steel also takes a fine edge, quickly, but dulls fast. Especially for a knife of this type that's not intended for heavy use like chopping branches or the like, just carry a small fine stone and give it a few swipes when needed. I have a folding diamond stone that goes in my pack, and makes quick work of reasonable dulling and edge damage.i've used it for light work, and a small kitchen knife (because the ones at work were awful, being sharp as a rack of ballpoint pens). Aside from the blade getting a bit stained by the lemons, it handled the kitchen work just dandily.This is not a do-it-all knife, but it's a great companion to heavier, less wieldy knives. Right now I carry it mostly when hiking or hunting, but this would be a great everyday belt knife where needed.

So, most of us know of Mora in the world of knives. They make cheap, fantastic and usually sub twenty dollar knives that punch way above their asking price. The problem is they are so, so shy to do full tang knives, and when they do, the knife is suddenly four times as much. But this isn't a review of a Mora knife.Enter BPS. They've basically made a full tang Mora-style knife for around the same twenty dollar price point, and they even throw in a nice looking leather sheath instead of Morakniv's polymer ones. Although I think the leather versus polymer debate is more preference than anything, and I think the polymer sheath is objectively more pragmatic and functional.My immediate first impressions of this BPS knife is it is slightly smaller than I expected. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I actually wanted a lightweight, smaller-but-still-robust knife to pair with a camp ax, instead of trying to do delicate knife stuff and wood ax processing with one way larger knife . It reminds me of way more robust paring knife, but this is pretty much what I wanted.It could shave some hair out of the box, but it wasn't, like, ridiculously hair-popping razor sharp. The knife came in a sheath in a box, and that's it as far as packing. No instructions or anything.After using the knife a little on random wood pieces, I noticed quite a bit of "scratches" on the blade. This led me to believe the metal might be quite soft, maybe even cautiously so. But since then I've used it on a bunch of wood pieces, even batoning a few sticks with it, and it seems to hold an edge well. It's still sharp enough to cut paper after using it quite extensively for a day, so the steel and heat-treat seems to be there.It says it's a carbon steel knife, but it is a little unusual. The carbon steel Moras I've used would oxidize (or worse, rust) if you looked at it wrong. This BPS knife seems to be a lot more corrosion resistant despite being made out of carbon steel. I'm not a metallurgist, and I'm sure there's a lot of types of carbon steel, but maybe something to be aware of if you want it to develop a sweet patina relatively quickly.In sum, it's a good knife, and especially so considering it price. And it has a nice rustic kind of wood and leather vibe going on that is pretty rare at this price point. It's a very nice alternative to a Mora.

Sharp out of the box. I love it. I have smaller hands, and this is the perfect size for me. It's sturdy. I'm sure I will get years a use out of it.

UPDATE: This is my new favorite blade. I've used it in place of a draw knife to scrape/shape the haft of a new axe handle before hanging, and it worked beautifully. It takes an edge like a dream, and I really like the smaller profile. It's quite an elegant knife for one so basic and at this price.ORIGINAL REVIEW: Okay so first off, I love this knife and I love supporting a Ukrainian company that seems to be thriving in spite of the war.This is a small but robust knife, reminiscent of an oyster knife in size and shape. The blade seems very strong for its size, with a slightly thicker build than you might expect. This may be too small to be your go-to bushcraft blade, but it's a great backup for smaller utility uses or EDC when a larger blade is just too much. It checks a lot of boxes for me, including the carbon steel blade, choil, wood scales, 90° spine, and the full tang. Nice and sharp right out of the box, but of course you know I'll work it on the strop to get it to perfection! The grip fits well in my medium-to-large sized hand. You'll want to treat the handle with a few coats of boiled linseed oil to help it last a lifetime or more. The sheath is decent too. Try some neatsfoot or mink oil to help keep the leather from drying out. The pictures show what appears to be a wet formed or wet molded sheath, but it doesn't come that way. You'll need to do that yourself if it's what you want. The sheath arrives flat and un-molded to the blade and handle. Wet form it BEFORE you oil it.