Knife Pass Around

Got a few more days before I fly out. Let me know.

 

Got the comparison pictures tonight. Got back earlier than I thought so I’m feeling pretty good

First up comparison with a Esee 4


And a comparison with my 6 hm.

I never realized the overall size was so close to the 6 and larger than the 4. No wonder it felt bigger in hand. I still stand by it doesn’t feel that big in hand during use. I guess that’s why I never did a side by side picture, I just figured the size and kept going.

 

How the heck I got invited in this I don’t know! This just showed up at my house with instructions to work like I owned it. To whom ever actually owns this…you have my sympathies.


this is Mythical Beast “Chupacabra” I was told. It’s a bit smaller than the other pass around…



it’s nicely executed and solid feeling.



I think I can have some fun with this.

Rather than clutter up y’alls original thread here, just pop over to my ongoing adventure thread in the hiking/backpacking section and we’ll play with it a little. See you there…

 

That was the canadian passaround from the first run. It went down south for the summer !

 

Sorry for the late reply, been off the forums for a bit attending to other things. I'm still interested if the offer is there.

 

Good timing just got back from the mainland. Pm your info and I can send it out to you

 

Please stay in touch with the thread and keep us updated until it's ready to move on to the next !

 

Just dropped the knife off for its journey across the country. Wish I could get the frequent flyer miles off this thing. I’d be upgrading to first class on many trips to come!

 

If it survives this pass around you'll know you made one helluva strong knife...

 

Just keep us updated

 

......

 

And the update is? That there is no update.

I got the knife on the 15th but I was going to be away that weekend so my plan was to go out on the 24th (I was heading to a knife show in Easton, PA on the 25th). On the 22nd I tested positive and come to find that Covid knocks you for a loop! Unfortunately I'm definitely not asymptomatic, I'm just starting to come around today. Needless to say I didn't get out this weekend. Looks like it will be the 1st.

Between getting the knife and getting sick I did put a nice edge on it though. I noticed it wouldn't cut phonebook paper and for me that's no bueno, it has to slice that clean before I head into the field. I used my DuoSharp diamond plates to get it slicing like a champ so now when I do hit the woods it's ready to go.

 

Glad your pulling through man!!!! Good to hear it arrived safe, usps can be sketchy at the best of times! Take your time , rest up and give it hell when your up to it

 

Oh man that’s a rough couple weeks. Glad you’re feeling better. Sorry you missed the knife show.

You’ve got much higher standards than me for sharpness. If it shaves my arm I’m happy. Glad you were able to get it to where you like it. Have fun with it and looking forward to seeing how you like the knife.

 

Update for myself:

I started doing what I could in my shop off and on depending on the day. Some days I’m stuck with my wife dragging me around the house or crawling. Others I’m using a walker or cane for short distances. My 1yr old has a better grip than I do at the moment. It’s been determined that it’s either from my C5 or L5. Both are ruptured and pushing on my spinal cord. Hopefully I’ll finally see the neurosurgeon Monday and find out my options. I was also told to be ready for a medboard soon.

My wife got a rolling chair so I can get around my shop though. I started messing around with tomahawks, a Rambo inspired knife, hunting scalpels and such. Pretty much just trying to stay busy.

 

That sounds awful about your situation Darren, sorry to hear that. I hope it all works out for you.

 

After a bunch of edits I'm finally going to post my review on the Chupacabra (sometimes I'm too anal even for myself). Note that I'm approaching it like I have with all the other knife reviews I've done in the past, a full blown article with pictures and a lot of narrative. It will include my own spin on everything so you might find that some of what I wrote differs from what you may have read from others. Different opinions don't mean one is wrong, they're just not the same. Hope you enjoy the read...

 

Pass around, if you're into on-line forums you know what that term means. Since you're reading this you probably understand the concept; someone is kind enough to take a product - be it something they bought or made - and send it to random strangers so they get an opportunity to try what they might not otherwise have the chance to. A kind gesture that to those outside the specific community might consider pure lunacy. I've been fortunate enough to have participated in 3 or 4 different pass arounds. That intro brings us to the point of this post, I was given a knife to try for such an event.

The item in question is the Chupacabra from Darren Armstrong, owner of Mythical Beast Forge (MBF). At first glance it appears to be similar to many other knives, but look closely and you can see Darren took a slightly different approach and made some subtle changes to differentiate his design. To start with look at the tip, is it a drop point or a clip point? Officially it's the latter but an argument could be made for either. Mash up those words to try and come up with something descriptive and you get a drip or clop point, neither of which sounds very appealing. Given those amalgamations are not at all flattering I'll leave naming up to you.

The Chupacabra has a finger choil, not common for a knife this size. I happen to like a choil but for me this one could have been a little larger and deeper. I wear XL gloves though so it's often the case that they're a bit smaller than I prefer. The spine rises ever so slightly just past the point where the handle transitions into the blade. You don't see that very often. Then there's the grind; saber, hollow and with a secondary bevel? Not sure I've ever described another knife using that combo of words. Clearly Darren was thinking outside the box while sketching out this knife.

Made from 8670 high carbon steel, the 3/16th's blade measures 5 1/4" (cutting edge approximately 4 3/4") and has an HRC of ~60. Did you say 8670 steel? Yup. I didn't know what that was either, I had to look it up. From what I can tell it's used primarily to make saw blades, with few using it for knives. Guess this constitutes thinking out of the box again.

The flats have a sanded/satin appearance, that and stonewashed are my preferred finish types so it was right up my alley. On the prototype I had the plunge lines out by the tip were slightly asymmetrical, not quite lining up. I suspect production models wouldn't have that concern.

Somewhere at about this point in a review I mention the out-of-box sharpness but in this case I'll refrain. I was the last in a long line of people who had their hands on this knife and it was clear it had been used rather extensive by the time I got it. Not a problem however as I'm pretty good when it comes to free hand sharpening so I broke out my diamond plates, a steel, a strop and then went to work. In less than 15 minutes I had an edge fine enough to cleanly slice phonebook paper, something I personally want before heading into the woods. That also gives me a known starting point for when I get back home as I test it again to see how the edge held up.

The handle scales are made from brown micarta. When looked at from above the handle has somewhat of the proverbial "coke bottle" shape, yet spin the knife 90° so you're looking at it from the side and you'll notice an interesting variation; the widest portion is not centered, instead it's offset toward the front. This was clearly done to help lock your index finger firmly in place. When you couple that with the guard formed by an extended ricasso you get a very secure grip. It's here when testing the handle that my XL mitts come back to haunt me.

The handle is nice and meaty - being both thick and tall enough - but the length was on the short side for me. My fingers felt pinched at times, especially when squeezing hard in a hammer grip. For me to be completely comfortable there would need to be about 1/2" more in that department. If your glove size is M or L I think you'll find the handle to be ideal.

The scales are held securely in place using 3 hollow tubes in the same silver as the blade finish, together they make a nice contrast to the dark brown micarta. Handle-to-tang integration was very good, with just a slight variation in one or two spots on the finger side of the handle. It's all smoothed over and rounded, even the tubes holding the scales in place were flush.

The sheath checks off a lot of the boxes for me; it's small, made from Kydex and pancake style. All wins in my book. The knife clicked in solidly with only minimal rattle. There's no drain hole however, which I would prefer. All the edges have been smoothed and rounded so you aren't going to get it snagged on anything, like the skin on your hand for example.

Continuing with the "think outside the box theme" there are dual rubber straps for belt loops. They appear to be pretty thick and feel sturdy. The straps are held in place by sizable snaps that can be unfastened making it easy to put the knife on or off your belt without removing it. It's a rather unique setup. There are 3 different mounting holes allowing you to adjust how high or low you want it to ride. All-in-all it's a novel approach to a mounting system.

The sheath has half a dozen mounting eyelets scattered around the edges. I say "scattered" as they don't use typical spacing or a clearly defined pattern. Because of that attachments like Tekloks, a ferro rod loop or a small pouch would be difficult to mount. It would be better if they were spaced using industry standards, that way if you wanted to add some kit you could.

The first order of business when I hit the woods is to stop by the only red cedar tree in this entire section of woods. I scrape bark to get some fuzz and use it as part of my tinder bundle when making a fire. This is one of my tests for spine sharpness and the Chupacabra did well.



I got a nice pile but it seemed to take a little more time and effort than some of my other knives. I experienced something similar with sparks from a ferro rod; it certainly can do it but not quite like a dedicated scrapper. I'm a fan of the LT Wright level of spine sharpness, something not everyone is. That can have drawbacks however as push cuts with your thumb can get painful after awhile so a spine at 90% certainly has benefits.

The second order of business for the day was unexpected, one of the legs from my firewood rack had rotted and the thing collapsed.



I made that rack 4 or 5 years ago so it wasn't terribly surprising to see it had reached the end. I'm actually glad it happened before the winter set in; my camp is in an area where there's a lot of hunting so I'm out of the woods for a couple of months (those fellas aren't too please when some bushcrafter is rummaging around making all kinds of noise while they are doing their thing, since they have guns I figure it's best to clear out until after the new year). I'd rather not have my cut wood laying on the ground for most of the winter so it's time to build a new one.

For this activity the Chupacabra was used for a few things. After felling a tree and cutting it into three 6 foot sections I took the knife and starting de-nibbing them. This motion entails me choking back on the knife and 'flicking' my wrist in a quick chopping fashion. I start at one end, rotating the trunk as I go down, swap the section around and then repeat going back the other way. To get the finish I was looking for on all 3 sections took about 10 minutes. The knife effortlessly lopped of those little bumps and growths, and it did so without causing any hand fatigue. I also used it to cut some notches and the tarred bank line which holds the whole thing together. After 90 or so minutes this is what I had...



Battoning is another test for me, a knifes ability to handle that without issue is key as I batton pretty much every time I go out. With a thick blade, hollow grind and flats almost an inch tall one would assume it might excel in that area. Your assumption would be correct. I didn't pound it through as much wood as I often do when field testing a knife but that had nothing to do with the Chupacabra, because I had to rebuild the firewood rack I just didn't have time that day. Here's an image of one of the piles I battoned.

 

PART TWO

I did try a feather stick, but with a twist. Typically I spend a few moment acclimating myself with the knife I'm testing and then I try in earnest. Not this time, what I did was give myself just 60 seconds to get used to the Chupacabra and make a feather stick. I spent about 15 seconds trying to get the angle right and then I went at it. Obviously there won't be many feathers in such a short time but I did get a lot of nice curls. With the hollow grind and sharp edge it took almost no time to be comfortable and get this...



Under the heading of TMI... I sweat a lot, more than most people unfortunately. While that comes under the "sucks to be you" category it does mean I can test a knifes grip more thoroughly than most others can. Why? Even if it's in the 70's my hand is wet, if a handle doesn't have a solid grip or has some part that creates a hot spot I'm definitely finding the problem. I found no such thing with the Chupacabra, despite a lot of use that day. Since the temperature never got out of the low 50's that day sweating wasn't an issue, even for me, but I did wet my hand in the stream to emulate what I usually have to deal with. Between the shape and texture of the scales my hand held firm.

Taking the knife in and out of the sheath about 20 times that day did highlight a consideration regarding the belt attachment; while distinctive it does lack a bit of rigidity. When inserting the knife I found myself reaching over with my off hand to steady the sheath, concerned that the amount of force necessary to click it into place was going to overwhelm the loops and possibly rip them free. Removal wasn't always a one handed operation either, I again found myself reaching over with my off hand to hold the sheath as I extracted the knife. A thumb ramp to use when pushing off might be a nice edition to mitigate that.

One thing I do when testing a knife that most others don't is use it when making and eating at least one meal. Unless I'm doing a writeup on something like a machete I feel a knife has to be capable of preparing food. I'd like to process a small mammal as well - in the field you have to catch something before you can cook it, right? - but I don't do many overnighters now so the opportunity to snare something is all but gone. I can use it to eat at least once though. "at least once" turned into a misnomer as the Chupacabra became my kitchen knife for 3 meals.

The first was breakfast the day I was going out, nothing fancy though just THC. No not that THC, I mean Taylor Ham and Cheese. Except for about an 18 month period I've lived in New Jersey my entire life, the Taylor Ham capital of the country (probably the world as I suspect other countries don't have a clue what this stuff is). In order to prevent it from curling up when heated you have to add a few relief cuts to the edges, generally at the 4, 7 and 12 o'clock positions (yup, there's a system to it). I stacked 3 pieces and the Chupacabra cleanly cut through them all. I also used it to slice the english muffin, and then once the sandwich was fully prepared it was used to cut it in half. Despite being nowhere near as light or thin as a steak knife - which I usually use for this task - it actually wasn't as cumbersome as I thought it might be. It certainly made short work of it.

Next up was dinner when I returned that same day; a chimichanga, the soft variety. In order to not make a mess out of this meal you need a very fine edge on a thin knife, otherwise it ends up looking like a crime scene on your plate. This is not a thin knife however so I suspected it would fail but I'm happy to report there was no yellow tape surrounding my dining room table that night. To my amazement the Chupacabra did every bit as good as my steak knives.

Last up is a favorite of mine, venison steaks I prepared the following evening. For those who've had them you know that a sharp knife is a must to get a clean cut through that lean meat. As with the chimichanga the Chupacabra was able to handle the task without problem. During meals it was clearly not as nimble as the knife one would normally use at home, but when it comes to the slicing part it could be considered there equal. The venison steak didn't stand a chance.


So what's the final verdict? This is a very nice knife, easily performing everything I typically use an outdoor knife for. If you have large paws the handle may not be long enough for extended use and the sheath might benefit from a few refinements, beyond that I really have no complaints. It executed all tasks very well, is comfortable to use and has enough unique design aspects to make it stand out. Game, set, match. I'm glad I had the opportunity to put it through the wringer, thank you MBF.

 

Anyone else in line?