Post by thelefthand on Feb 9, 2024 14:25:10 GMT -5
A few weeks ago I picked up a new fixed blade knife. It's a Bradford Guardian 3.5 3D in M390 steel. I bought it as and EDC tool, but I think the profile will also make it a good skinner. IMHO, it's a little tall and could be a little longer for a field dressing knife, but it would certainly work in a pinch. I'll probably try using it next year just to see how it does. I generally like blades that are 1/8" or thinner because I use a knife as a cutting tool and not a hammer, hatchet, prybar, or screwdriver (except for my leatherman of course). The Guardian 3 series is around 0.15" thick. I was willing to compromise on the thickness because it does make for a stronger EDC tool. I went with a full flat grind in order to get the most acute angle I could in hopes of offsetting the additional cutting resistance that comes with the thicker blade. So far, I'm extremely happy with the knife itself. The handle of the 3.5 model forms a nice deep guard which I like. I read a lot of review on the various Guardian 3 series, and everyone seemed to think that the 3.5 3D was the most comfortable in the hand, and I would tend to agree. I went with a black finish and black Micarta 3D scales. The pics on the website make the 3D micara scales on this model look like it has a LOT of light gray in it, while other models were a lot darker. I'm happy to say that my scales are also pretty dark which is what I was hoping for.
The leather sheath that comes with the knife is crap IMHO. It looks nice, but that's about it. Retention isn't very good, it won't fit on any of my belts, and I don't car for horizontal carry anyway. If Bradford would offer this knife with no sheath for $5 less, I'd buy it without the sheath. I did order their taco kydex sheath for it. The taco sheath isn't fanastic, but its MUCH better than the included leather sheath. Ideally, for my purposes, I was hoping to carry the blade IWB at a slight angle on my support side. The kydex sheath is way too wide to facilitate that, but it DOES work well for carrying the knife in my front pocket. The sheath forms a 90deg radiused corner which does a good job of finding its way to the bottom of my front pocket (Walmart Wrangler jeans), and keeping the knife in a consistent vertical orientation which is surprisingly more comfortable than I anticipated. I did modify the sheath to form a hook that can catch on the lip of my pocket should I want to deploy it quickly. In making that modification, I also removed enough material to allow my index finger to get up near the guard where it belongs. Unfortunately, in hind sight I removed about 1/8" too much material. If I do use the new "hook" to deploy the blade quickly, it CAN make a very shallow slice into the top edge of my pants pocket. If I had left that last 1/8", I could have still gotten my finger up where I wanted it and not had the risk of cutting any denim. I'll likely spend the money to get another sheath at some point and make the correct modification on it. In normal daily use, I take the sheath out of my pocket before removing it so its not an issue. Even if I wanted to leave the sheath in my pocket, it's easy to deploy the blade without cutting anything else. It can only cut the denim when I pivot it horizontal while in the pocket, and then yank the blade out. I can see myself doing this if I'm under significant stress, but in that situation, I'm fine with the compromise. It would also be very easy to attach the knife and kydex sheath to a backpack.
All in all, I'm very happy with the knife for an EDC blade. I will try it on a deer next year as well. I have doubts how much I'll like it for field dressing, but I suspect that it will be a great skinner.
The leather sheath that comes with the knife is crap IMHO. It looks nice, but that's about it. Retention isn't very good, it won't fit on any of my belts, and I don't car for horizontal carry anyway. If Bradford would offer this knife with no sheath for $5 less, I'd buy it without the sheath. I did order their taco kydex sheath for it. The taco sheath isn't fanastic, but its MUCH better than the included leather sheath. Ideally, for my purposes, I was hoping to carry the blade IWB at a slight angle on my support side. The kydex sheath is way too wide to facilitate that, but it DOES work well for carrying the knife in my front pocket. The sheath forms a 90deg radiused corner which does a good job of finding its way to the bottom of my front pocket (Walmart Wrangler jeans), and keeping the knife in a consistent vertical orientation which is surprisingly more comfortable than I anticipated. I did modify the sheath to form a hook that can catch on the lip of my pocket should I want to deploy it quickly. In making that modification, I also removed enough material to allow my index finger to get up near the guard where it belongs. Unfortunately, in hind sight I removed about 1/8" too much material. If I do use the new "hook" to deploy the blade quickly, it CAN make a very shallow slice into the top edge of my pants pocket. If I had left that last 1/8", I could have still gotten my finger up where I wanted it and not had the risk of cutting any denim. I'll likely spend the money to get another sheath at some point and make the correct modification on it. In normal daily use, I take the sheath out of my pocket before removing it so its not an issue. Even if I wanted to leave the sheath in my pocket, it's easy to deploy the blade without cutting anything else. It can only cut the denim when I pivot it horizontal while in the pocket, and then yank the blade out. I can see myself doing this if I'm under significant stress, but in that situation, I'm fine with the compromise. It would also be very easy to attach the knife and kydex sheath to a backpack.
All in all, I'm very happy with the knife for an EDC blade. I will try it on a deer next year as well. I have doubts how much I'll like it for field dressing, but I suspect that it will be a great skinner.