Fieldcrafter UK Knife

If you are looking for a massively strong but not too large belt knife, then a Fieldcrafter-UK knife from Matt Simmons could be just what you are looking for.

Heavy Duty Blade

Made from 01 steel, the Fieldcrafter-UK knives have a 10cm blade and a 12cm full-tang handle with black linen micarta scales held in place with 2 ton rated epoxy plus 4 X 4mm brass pins and an 8mm brass lanyard tube.  Nothing unusual there you might think… but the blade is made from 5.8mm thick 01 tool steel, making this one tough knife!

The blade is 10cm long with a 9.75cm cutting edge and a small ricasso and is 23mm from edge to spine, while the shape is a drop point.  The steel is hardened to RHC 57-59.

Rather than having a “bushcrafty” Scandi grind, Matt has chosen to go for a deeper “sabre” grind with a micro bevel.  The fit of all the parts on the test is great and the finish is “raw steel” (rolled plate that is bead blasted) and nothing is over polished, giving a great “working knife” that you are not scared to use in case it gets scratched.

Sheath

The sheath is a friction fit model of dyed through 3.5mm leather, hand-stitched with 4 stranded pre-waxed nylon thread and has a riveted belt loop.  The black waxed leather looks great and with normal care should last as long as the knife.

All Rounder

At first glance I was a bit sceptical, thinking that a knife of these dimensions was going to be clumsy and heavy, but I was wrong!

The knife does have an impressive, but not excessive heft, but it is far from clumsy.  The point of balance is about 4cm back from the ricasso, making the blade “nimble” while the blade geometry makes it a superb all rounder for field work.

The tests I put it though included: batoning and cross batoning seasoned hawthorn, cutting hide, meat and veggies, carving spoons and ‘wood spirits’, whittling, de-barking, cutting snare pegs, cordage and green vegetation etc.

The blade stayed really sharp for an incredibly long time and showed no sign of chipping (even when I dropped it on a concrete floor!) and the back of the blade strikes big fat sparks off a firesteel with minimal effort.

The handle may seem a bit slim for some tastes, but it suited me fine, giving great comfort in all grips and no hot spots, even during multi-hour extended use.  The scales gave good grip, even in the “slime test” where I slather the handle with washing up detergent to mimic the worst “blood, guts, slime and mud” conditions.

All in all, I am having difficulty putting the Fieldcrafter-UK knife down as I enjoy using it so much!

The Company

Fieldcrafter-UK is a new venture by Matt Simmons, who has a background in fieldsports, as a mason and a butcher, as well as having a long interest in knife-making.  Making and selling top quality custom knives funded the building of his knife-making workshop.  He started out with no more than an old BBQ as a forge and old files for the basis of knives and although he has the Fieldcrafter-UK knives professionally laser cut, heat treated, bead blasted and laser engraved, Matt does all the rest of the work himself so every knife is subtly different and unique.

The only minor niggles I have with the test sample (a standard stock item) is that the plunge lines are not quite even and I would prefer a sewn rather than riveted belt loop on the sheath.  Very minor points – but I have to find something negative to say in a review!  Top plus points are the ease of use of the blade, while the edge retention was phenomenal.  After batoning and cross batoning, seasoned carving and shaving hardwoods, the edge was still more than razor sharp and capable of slicing ink off newspaper!

Matt reckons that the Fieldcrafter-UK knives should last about 11 years of daily hard usage.  Personally I think your grandchildren will look forward to inheriting and using the one you buy.

The Fieldcrafter-UK knife is in my opinion, a very reasonable price at £120, inc Royal Mail UK first class recorded delivery. Matt Simmons has yet to set up a website up but can be reached at 07553 338066 or e-mail him on [email protected].