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$CashMoney$
03-20-12, 20:56
For those of you that are interested I will post my progress on my custom knife order from Gingrich Tactical Innovations, inspired from another thread, here: https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=88365

After looking at several of the knives that were recommended, most of which are extremely capable knives, I determined that in order to get EXACTLY what I was looking for, I had to go custom.

After a little research, I decided to go with Justin Gingrich because of his reputation as a quality knife builder, his experience with the style of knife that I wanted, and because he's a fellow Ranger. Actually, Justin and I were in the same unit in a previous life and we worked together on a couple of occasions, so he may have had a bit of an advantage.

After contacting Justin through email, I decided on two knives (one for me and one for the wife). I told him that the knives would be used for general bushcraft from chopping to firesteel. The characteristics of the knives would be as follows:

Knife 1:
4" Drop Point Blade, 5160 steel, 3/16" Spine, Black or dark grey finish, G10 5.5" handle, tan

Knife 2:
3.75" Drop Point Blade, 5160 steel, 3/16" Spine, Black or dark grey finish, G10 4.5" handle, tan

Communication with Justin has been great; he's emailed me daily with updates. So far he's sent a sketch of the larger knife:

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/r495/BillTomlin/william0001.jpg

I asked him to hold off on the smaller knife until I confirm the dimensions. I'll post more as the order progresses.

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SeriousStudent
03-20-12, 22:46
Thanks for starting this thread. I do like a nice straight-forward bushcraft knife.

Do you mind if I ask a question? Why do you gents pick that particular steel? To work with a flint you might find, or a ferrocerrium rod for firestarting?

A fair number of folks use 1095 for those reasons. I'm not familiar with 5160, and am interested in it's advantages.

And thank you both for your service to our country.

$CashMoney$
03-20-12, 23:04
If it were possible, I guess we'd need to have the same knives, built, ground, heat treated exactly the same, but one with 1095 and one with 5160 in order to test them fairly. However, if I were to guess, I would say that the 5160 should be a little more durable (battoning and chopping) and should resist corrosion a little better than 1095, while 1095 should hold a better edge (slicing) and should throw a bit of a better spark.

I'm pretty sure that most people can get a good enough spark from 5160, assuming they use proper technique. I've started plenty of fires with 5160 knives. I also carry a medium stone with me in the woods all the time, so hasty stoning is no big problem.

Since I plan on these being my last serious knife purchases ever, I decided to go with the more durable steel. However, all of Justin's knives are lifetime guaranteed, no questions asked, so as long as it wasn't in a pinch breaking it wouldn't be too much of a problem.

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SeriousStudent
03-21-12, 20:21
Thanks for the information, I appreciate it.

That does make a lot of sense to me. Turning or chipping an edge is frankly much more difficult to fix in the wild, than just a dull knife. I have found smooth river stones, and used them to sharpen a old Kabar before. But if you have to work a major chip out of a blade, that would be much harder.

Lots of options for your sheath as well. I've a always liked moodex, but will probably buy a Kydex sheath next time around.

Stay safe.

$CashMoney$
03-22-12, 15:50
Final arrangements for the knives were made last night. They should be done around the end of next week.