Morakniv Carbon Steel Fixed-Blade Bushcraft Survival Knife with Sheath and Fire Starter, Black, 4.3 Inch

I own several Mora knives. They are superb values and work very well for the money. This is the TOUGHEST Mora yet. It has a relatively thick spine (thickest Mora spine), it throws excellent sparks with little effort thanks to the carbon steel. The handle ergos are superb and comfortable. The tips is strong (strongest Mora tip yet), it's sharp out of the box (though you can make it keener) and it's HIGHLY durable. I spent three days with this knife collecting pine resign for camp candles, batoning fire wood up to 3.5" thick and 4 feet long - yes 4 feet! (I found a good, dry piece of maple and wanted to see how it would do, it split it with little trouble.) I started fires, made feathersticks, opened packages, cleaned under my nails, notched, sharpened wood, made tent stakes, cut paracord, you name it!I'm a knife collector, user and reviewer and I put the knives I get through some heavier paces to see how they will hold up if the demand is every put on them. No sense carrying a knife deep into the wilderness if it's not going to do what you need it to. I'm a big fan of Bark River, Blind Horse, ESEE and Fallkniven knives. Typically, I'm hesitant to recommend Moras to friends who are really heavy users because they lack the toughness and lifespan of full tang knives. In my experience the Sandvik steal has also be a tad soft, esp. toward the tip of the blade. This knife has changed my view of what a Mora can do.For general camping - esp. car camping where everything is close by, etc. - any Mora is a great option and most other blades are a bit of overkill. The Mora I've most commonly recommended for general use in camp - opening packages, food prep, fish cleaning, rope cutting, etc. - is the Mora Bushcraft Force. The handle is comfortable and the knife is inexpensive and sharp. For those looking for a bit more strength, I've recommended other brands. [NOTE: Cody Lundin, a well-respective minimalist and survival expert has long used the Mora 1 and 2 as his knives of choice and has put them through some moderate tasks without little complaint.] I am certainly NOT saying a $15 Mora can't handle tougher tasks, but it's likelihood of failing in heavier use is higher than more robust and therefore, more expensive knives.Enter the Mora Black.This knife is what we all knew a Mora could be. It's basically the good ole Bushcraft Force, but with a thicker blade, tougher edge and in carbon steel. The knife is light enough to carry without noticing it, but heavy enough to usher in confidence. I put this knife through the ringer and it held its own very well. I happened to be testing it alongside a $160 and $225 knife and thought it wasn't a comparison, I couldn't help but admire how well the Mora did, esp. given the affordable price point. The short scandi grind makes for a tougher blade, but the zero edge allows it to be a wicked slicer.It doesn't baton wood quite as well as $200 BRKT or even a $100 ESEE, but then again, it's not in the same price or build class and for around $50 with the fire steel, it's superb at this chore. For me, it's a little easier to make feathersticks with a convex or asymmetrical edge (like those that come on many Barkies or those I add to my other knives), but this certainly does a marvelous job and the scandi grind is actually the grind of choice for many bushcrafters, survivalists and traditionalists - it's simply preference.The blade DOES, however, slice and notch as well or better than almost any knife I've used and that's saying something. It is a very strong blade for the price and it eats through all but the toughest tasks. It easily baton-chopped through a 4" tree for shelter prep, made kindling and tender with ease and threw sparks to get our warm fire going in about 20 seconds.The handle is great for even long use and it's comfortable in most holds - though the protrusion behind the index finger, while being great for slip prevention and general comfort, can become annoying in chest-lever style grips. The material becomes only slightly slippery compared to many other materials when wet or bloody and I've never been fearful of it slipping - thanks in large part to that locking style finger protrusion.The only complaints I really have with this knife are:1.) I'm not a fan of plastic sheaths. Yes, they dry out quickly and are really no-nonsense, but I've always preferred free-hanging leather danglers myself.2.) Full tang would be awesome.There's not much to dislike about this knife. It's a cheap, fairly robust, sharp, convenient, simplistic workhorse. It's an admirable batoning blade, an incredible slicer, a remarkable feathersticker, a superb spark-thrower, holds an edge pretty darn well and restores relatively easily on strops for all but the deepest chips (which aren't really common in my experience) and is surprisingly rust resistant thanks to the coating - which is nice. The entire package weights less than many "survival" blades alone and with a far more comfortable handle than many of those.Bottom line: Buy it. It's the best bang-for-dollar knife under $100 I've tested yet and in my Top 5 favorite knives overall. It does everything admirably and most things superbly. I wouldn't use it as a pry bar, but other than that, it's at home with virtually any task. If you want a sharpened pry bar and have $100+ to spend, look at the ESEE 4 and work your way up from there. If you're a Mora fan and have been curious, give it a go. It's not your traditional 1 or 2 design, but that superb Mora blade will bring a smile to your face and when you see what all it can do for the money, you might just laugh out load. I did.Is this my FIRST knife of choice for wilderness use? No. But can I make it work for me if it's the knife I have? Absolutely.I love this knife. There's simply no good reason not to.

Pros:Maintains a sharp edge well through use, and can be easily sharpened when it does lose some of it.The ferro rod throws a good amount of sparks, and the spine is indeed well shaped for doing so.Sheath seems durable and is comfortable to wear on a belt.Looks unassuming. To some that may be a con I suppose, but for those who want a utilitarian knife, this is great.cons:The knife doesn't have the positive feedback that it locks into the sheath. I still feel uncomfortable with it staying in the sheath sometimes, but it appears to be unfounded as I have been unable to shake the knife free from the sheath without really trying to. Just a personal thing I guess, I'd rather have it a little more firmly set in the sheath, but through normal use it has proved to hold in every situation I could think to put it through.My knife did not come being able to shave hairs with as some other reviewers claim. The blade should not be sharpened to such an angle to do that anyway, it would be not befit its use in bushcraft as the name implies. I spent some time stopping the edge just to make the factory edge finer and it does the standard paper cut test with ease. I also have not had any issue with the ferro rod coming loose, as a test I ever laced some cord through the handle of and suspended it by the cord, letting the weight of the knife drop against it a few times without it pulling free at all. This satisfied me.Update: After a 3 foot drop onto vynil floor, a couple of the clips holding the ferro rod snapped off. The rod is still secure and does not wiggle, but with a small drop like that I would expect it to survive without any noticeable damage. One and a half marks against the sheath when added to the lack of a positive feedback when knife is inserted into the sheath.

If you take nothing else from this review, let it be this: This is a fantastic knife. Period.The fit and finish are immaculate, the black coating on the blade has not blemished yet, the knife stays sharp, I just love this knife. Have no real need for the magnesium fire starter that I'm aware of, but it's there and the spine of the blade is ground sharp enough to make sparks without worrying about dulling the other business end of the blade.Have had no need for the diamond sharpener yet, the knife arrived very sharp from the factory, but it's nice to know it's there. I've been eating with it as my go-to knife for a couple weeks now. It will cut through a bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin by lightly pushing down on it, there is absolutely no sawing motion needed - this baby comes pretty doggone sharp!Never mind the cheap paper plate in my pictures, I just hate doing dishes. I'll skimp on my plates, but not on my knives! And you do need to be careful with a paper plate when using this knife - it will chop through it like it were butter.It appears that the tang extends up to about an inch away from the end of the handle, as evidenced by a neodymium magnet test. Certainly is well-made, not full-tang, but I doubt that it will ever fail you with normal or extreme use. (Better get a lawyer for that last comment)Sheath is pretty nice, it's a hard plastic, has a provision for the magnesium fire starter, which fits in snugly, and the diamond sharpener seems to be fixed securely in place. Comes with two belt attachments, one for a regular-sized belt, and another that looks to be made for the wider police/law enforcement-sized belts.I buy a lot of knives. Many of them are one-of-a-kind customs built to my specs, and cost many times what this knife is offered for. For me to get this excited about a factory-made production knife is kind of a big thing for me.It's stout, yet elegant.It's sleek, yet robust.It's relatively inexpensive, yet not cheap.You will love this knife. Trust me.If you don't like eating steaks, I'd probably trust this blade to be a real contender as a melee weapon for a zombie apocalypse.