I got myself my very first Barry Dawson blade in a auction that is online the maker’s web site back about 2003. I’d been a blade nut all my entire life, and also this ended up being my extremely very first custom. We paid $180 for this (a take), so when We unboxed it I became in awe associated with the precise, elaborate grinds, and razor razor-sharp advantage.
When you look at the years since We acquired my very first Dawson, Barry’s studio has exploded a lot and it is now a family that is full-blown with numerous Dawsons making knives under Barry’s specialist tutelage. A few old designs, like my aforementioned Japanese-style success knife, have now been discontinued, but Dawson has introduced lots of completely new models, included in this the Scout.
The Scout is an all-purpose, full-tang tactical/field blade that is lightweight, compact, and super tough. This isn’t a Busse-style chopper or perhaps a “Rambo” knife. Instead, it is a knife” that is“survival the practical, real-world sense of the expression, meaning it is a functional tool escort sites Fargo ND that’s intended for woodcraft, shelter building, forcible entry/demolition, game processing, and (should it arrive at it) self defense purposes.
We reached out to the store and additionally they kindly delivered along a Scout for T&E. For myself and it’s a loaner, I beat on it even more than I normally would, slightly crossing the line into what I consider to be knife abuse since I didn’t buy it. Continue reading to learn just just how it organized.
Features
Here you will find the stats that are basic the Scout:
There’s a container opener constructed into the back for the blade, that we guess is just a good touch, although not one I’d ever actually make use of.
The pommel is such as a demolotion tool for prying and scraping, or you can press it into service as a flathead screwdriver in a pinch that you can use it.
Among the Scout’s most useful features is its compact size. This has a 9.5″ general length, therefore it’s a full-sized fixed blade, but it surely does feel lightweight. If it had been half an inch smaller, it could be concealable in a front side pocket. Since it is, it is just a little long for pocket carry, however the profile is slim enough so it can nevertheless be fairly effortlessly hidden on your own individual.
Therefore using the Scout, you can get a do-it-all fixed blade in a package that is compact sufficient for concealability in a pinch.
My fingers are big, so that the handle had been very nearly too little for me personally. Simply almost, though. It did fit comfortably within my hand, while the canvas micarta provides a grip that is great which explains why it is the best handle product. I didn’t experience any hot spots in making use of the blade, but i am going to state that due to the size I experienced to be mindful not to ever flake out my hold. There have been a few times once I was attention that is n’t paying nearly destroyed it while working away at a difficult little bit of timber.
The Kydex sheath is attractive and is sold with a Tek-Lok belt accessory that may be reconfigured for vertical carry. The knife locks firmly to the sheath with no rattle. Nevertheless, the Tek-Lok accessory brings me personally to my nitpick that is first about blade. As the Scout is really so compact, that accessory adds a lot of bulk to your overall package. In reality, it a lot more than doubles the width regarding the entire thing. I’d like to see a far more belt that is compact choice for this sheath therefore I could really do pocket or inside-the-waistband carry along with it.
Are you aware that blade itself, Dawson’s store now makes its knives away from 80CrV2 metal, which can be significantly tougher compared to the 440C that Barry utilized straight back into the time. 80CrV2 is really a high-carbon metal just like L-2, also it’s known for the extreme toughness.
Before going to German 80CrV2, Barry Dawson had obtained a reputation that is legendary their power to wring amazing toughness and edge-holding cap cap ability away from 440C, a metal that has been, also then, a pretty run-of-the-mill stainless. This arrived right down to Dawson’s famous and heat that is proprietary, which their customers swear by. My own Dawson is a 440c blade, and We haven’t had any issues with toughness or side retention; it simply would go to show that despite the knife community’s obsession with super-steels, an effective heat treatment means in excess of a steel’s datasheet.
Provided the miracles that Dawson can work with the usual 440C, I went into this review expecting big things from their 80CrV2. I happened to be maybe not disappointed.