Casstrom No 10 Swedish Forest Knife

Those Scandinavians really know a thing or two about making practical, yet good-looking knives, and the Casstrom No 10 Swedish Forest Knife is a good example of this.

This knife is made with a 10cm long drop point (almost spear point) flat Scandi ground blade of 3.5mm thick German O2 high carbon tool steel (Bohler K720 steel-C 0.9% Si 0.25% Mn 1.0% Cf.35% V 0.1%) and a full tang constructed handle with a mild finger choil and guard with lightly contoured scales.

The scales are fixed to the tang with two pins and a lanyard tube, and are available in Green Canvas Micarta, Oak or Bubinga; the wooden versions having black liners and a traditional linseed oil finish.

The sheath provided is a welt construction vegetable tanned full grain leather (approx 2mm) model with a Cognac Brown finish and black welt edge.  It also has a belt loop, tan stitching and an eyelet near the tip; a good, friction fit, secure sheath.

The “fit and finish” on the No 10 Swedish Forest Knife and sheath is a very good standard and it has proved comfortable and efficient to use across a wide range of tasks from working wood; battoning, cross-battoning, slicing, feather stick carving etc. on both seasoned and green wood, both hard and soft; through to basic food preparation, meat and hide work.

At first I thought that the handle was not to my taste (I tend not to go for shaped grips) and a little short for my wide palm, but after using the knife continuously, carving all sorts of tools, building shelters and preparing food, I found no trace of blisters, hot spots or any discomfort at all and the handle had been used in almost every conceivable grip.

All in all I found this knife a great ‘all-rounder’, strong, tough, comfortable, useful for everything from lever splitting to fine carving, with great edge retention and ease of sharpening, and reasonably priced too!  Casstrom’s No 10 Swedish Forest Knife costs around £69.95 in the finished form, or £29.95 for a blank to make the handle and sheath yourself.

For more information visit www.casstrom.co.uk or call them on tel. 01628 330330