It is still a virgin, I hope to change that soon. I'm in love with this knife, it is made for the woods more than any other I've had. Perfect combination between size, strength and cutting ability + the awesome HM handles. Now I need a 6 HM to finish this trio.
Thank you. I can't take too much credit though, The grind came perfect from the factory so I just touch it up on a ceramic rod and strop here and there.
Most probably I will do some stripes with the file like on the 3. Or some rough sandpaper treatment once they get full of oils, shiny and slippery. No matter what I do, the canvas micarta always gets slippery over time, so some texture is needed.
The leather sheath of the 4HM very quickly became very loose. Too bad as the craftsmanship and materials are good, it is just not properly fitted for the knife. Same story as with the 3HM, just this one was tighter at the beginning. Anyone has wet formed theirs?
This is my 4, there are many like it, but this one is mine I am absolutely in love with that knife! Yes, the 3 cuts better and the 6 is more powerful, but the 4 is such an awesome combination between size and capability. Heavy enough to chop a small branch and at the same time relatively small so whittling is not an issue. I used it to prepare some sticks, to put empty beer cans on, and have fun with the airgun, worked awesome. HM all the way!
Sorry it took a while. I haven't batonned with it yet. I did sharpen it to restore hair-shaving sharpness after some work. It was quick and easy, but it wasn't very dull either. I plan to make it into a convex and replace the scales with ebony so I might have more info then. As to carrying: everything's great. The only change I've done so far are rubber washers between the sheath and the clip plate. They weren't included with the knife and they were becoming loose several times while carrying so it was necessary.
My first attempt at wet forming a sheath. I dried it in the oven and I think I burned the leather a bit in 2 spots. As long as the sewing thread is as strong as before, I'm OK with that. I dried it for around an hour in the oven on 75 C. The burned spots made direct contact with the plate underneath the sheath. Next time I would try longer period of time but with lower temp. I treated it with a bit of Balistol to make the leather smoother and hydrated The retention - for now - is like kydex.