Nick Allen Stinger

Nick told me yesterday that the smaller of the pair of new knives is named the Stinger. I've had several chances to put the Stinger to work for me in the past 24 hours and I'm duly impressed with the ability of this big knife in a small package. I think this may have replaced the Bark River Mini Canadian as my favorite small knife. Both have thinner blades (but not too thin) and about 3/4 sized handles but the Stinger edges the MiniCan with greater blade length, better handle ergonomics, and stunning good looks.

They're in the same ballpark price wise too.

Nick's got this thing plenty sharp for my use. I'll sharpen it when it needs it (a departure for me from the usual new knife routine) and let the original sharpening do the work for now. I'm curious to see how Nick's O1 holds up and how quickly the patina replaces that beautiful hamon line. That'll be a bittersweet day for me because I'll have worn off the newness but also lost that great bit of finish.

So far it's been mundane tasks like breaking down boxes, opening mail, and the old standby--nail trimming. It's been easy to hold on to the knife with the contoured handle and the sharp blade has made very short work of the tasks put in front of it.

It's raining today and about 40° but I'm going to head out to the trail for a bit of a hike and I'll take the Stinger with me in case I can find something to cut while I'm out.

And for those of you who aren't fans of the choil, Nick mentioned that he does this same design without the choil for the same price. I'm not sure yet whether or not I like/need the choil as designed but it does make the design continuity flow from the Stinger all the way up to the big Camp Knife. Once I get the Camp Knife back I'll put them all together and you'll easily see Nick's style.

Thanks for reading,


B