02/17/2022
I’m ready to part with my Slysteel Kukri and I’m not the least bit sad. I picked this up less than a year ago on a Slysteel pre-order because it looked to be a unique, interesting, and potentially useful blade. I did a table top review video, but otherwise it is unused for not even so much as a feather stick. I did cut some paper in the review to show the factory edge, so the edge has seen a piece of computer paper.
For those obsessed with knives, you’ll get where I’m coming from. Somehow you always come across some new knife and then envision yourself in your familiar bushcraft/wilderness setting using it with aspirations that it will grow into a new “favorite.” But ultimately, it ends up collecting dust on a shelf, or sitting in a bag of blades to rarely see the light of day, existing only to be recycled and sold for the purpose of picking up some other new knife, which most likely will eventually just take its place in “the bag” alongside several “cool” Condor machetes.
This knife would make a great tool for the right owner or reality TV “survivalist,” but it’s just not right for me; a knife chooses its master like the wand chooses its wizard. As much as I wanted to really love and use this knife, it’s just 100% not me (which I really knew when I bought it, but hey, that’s what a knife addiction does to cripple oneself ). I’ve just never felt inclined to pass up and part with my trusty go-to knives that I love and connect with to give space to this modern kukri/recurve. In fact, this knife tells me constantly that it wants a new owner.
Over all the years of adding knives to “the bag,”when it comes to field time, you just can’t beat simple, traditional, and practical IMO. I guess this Slysteel Kukri would feel more at home and in the hands of someone more inclined to reach for the TOPS Tom Brown Tracker, or Skullcrusher SBX.
I will say that this tool is well made, shaving sharp, and the fit and finish is excellent. The knife is 1095, clear cerakote finish, micarta handles, kydex sheath, and made by TOPS in Idaho; the quality is exceptional—no dispute there. You can check out all the specs and details on Slysteel’s site if you also desire to also get bombarded with silly Jeff Zausch propaganda (had I known about Slysteel’s connection with survival “reality” TV concerning this particular knife, I would have saved my money, combated my knife addiction, hid my wallet, and fed my Mtn Dew addiction instead).
Maybe one of you obsessed with knives would like this sitting in the bottom of your blade bag for the next year until we see it surface again in an ad for a knife looking for a good home. 😆 For a couple Benjamins, this coconut-slaying beauty can be yours. PM me for details.
