Did Someone Say, "Kephart?"

Matt at ML Knives has done it again. I sent him a drawing, asked him to make it like a Kephart Knife, and left him to his process.

What I received has had a strong impact on me. I've been unable to put this knife down for any significant amount of time since its arrival.

It is pictured with the Bark River Kephart and differs significantly from materials to construction to size and thickness. While the BRK&T Kephart is stainless 12C27 with a partial tang mortised inside two slabs of micarta, the ML Kephart is a full tang Carbon Steel blade measuring 3/16" thick and with a blade length of 5". The slabs are Walnut (maybe?) and are pinned to the tang giving the knife a great heft, a warm "natural" feel, and instilling me with a great deal of confidence in the design, materials, and construction.

Dan and Spen made a really nice primitive style sheath complete with sinew stitching last night. This is the gear I'll be taking with me for next week's Primitive Skills class at Briar Patch.

Clearly, a design that was good enough for Horace Kephart is good enough for me and I believe Matt may have executed the design more closely to my "ideal" vision than any I've seen before.

Watch for some updates after next week when I've had a chance to put this knife through the wringer for eight straight days. I should have a darned good feel at that point whether or not this is as far as I need to go in my quest for my "perfect" knife.

Thanks for reading,


B