The Materials Used
The blade is Sandvik 12 C 27. This steel was settled on after much arguing because of its perfect balance of properties.
The Swedish steel is hard enough to take and hold a good edge, but has sufficient carbon to resharpen easily. 3mm thick, the blade is rigid and very strong.
It is stainless enough to resist the corrosive elements of blood, and puts up with going through the dishwasher repeatedly. It is very expensive however – but good things are worth paying for.
The handle is made from G10, a woven fibreglass style compound that is resistant to almost everything you can throw at it. The shotgun style checkering and vertical grooves give amazing grip, even when skinning a fatty Wild Boar.
The slim Brass bolster is aesthetically pleasing and helps you find the knife if you put it down in the grass or on the ground.
The signature cartridge in the Butt of the knife is a .303 British made right here in the US, by Hornady. This great calibre is an important part of Mike’s heritage and of course is a rimmed round, so it grips the tab of the sheath to secure the knife. It also opens bottles!
The Sheath
With the knife, you get an American made sheath, constructed using premium US sourced cowhide, carefully designed to be pleasing and functional.
The signature tab grips over the .303 British cartridge to hold the knife securely.
The Knife In Use
The Field Knife No.1 (GP) is expressly designed to facilitate the neat, clean dressing of your kills. The first element of dressing any animal is always the Bleed.
The drop pointed, sharp tip cleanly penetrates the skin and will effortlessly slide in to reach the aorta and major blood vessels.
On a big animal, the tapered guard will allow you to push the knife in as far as necessary to reach the blood vessels.
Next step is cutting out the reproductive organs and cutting around the anal sphincter.
This the knife does with ease, the ergonomic handle indexes the blade – indeed a veterinary friend of Mike’s told him that it was like using a scalpel!
Next the gutting stroke with a reversed blade. The drop point and lack of guard allows very precise cutting so no guts are punctured.
If no saw is available the blade is thin and strong enough to cut through a sternum with some effort and skill!
Removal of legs and head is easy – the curve of the blade nearest the guard keys into the joints and does the job really well.
Lastly the curved shape of the front of the blade makes for an amazing skinning tool.
You can buy the Field Knife No.1 (GP) by Mike Robinson from our online shop.