Review: Schrade SCHF9 Survival Knife

[Sparkyprep]

1048

I will start out by saying that, in order to keep the this review from getting long and boring, I will skip the obvious technical details that you can find online, such as blade length, handle length, and exact weight. Google is your friend on these details.

Ok, now for the meat- this knife is a BEAST! The thickness of the blade is astounding. I have never had a knife with a blade this thick and heavy. This is an excellent feature in a survival knife, as it makes the blade nearly indestructible. You could chop up a car with this blade. It can be used for digging, prying, chopping, and it is an excellent wood splitter. After an hour of batoning there was absolutely no sign of wear on the spine of the blade. I really can't say enough about how thick this blade is to do it justice.

Now, this thickness does have a single drawback. This knife is heavy. Very heavy, as knives go. It will add a considerable amount of weight to your pack.

This knife has a full tang design, which adds to the durability factor. The handle is a bit wide for my palm, and it takes some getting used to. I like the non-slip stippling on the semi-soft grip, as it provides excellent traction, even when wet.

The blade has a curved shape, as seen in the above photo. It has a deep belly in it, to provide an excellent chopping edge, and this allows the knife to be used as a compact machete. I have always found the shaped blades to be difficult to sharpen, due to their lack of a flat area, but I guess I just need to hone my skills on this. (Pun intended.). The blade comes out of the box NOT very sharp in my opinion, but I am a bit of a snob in this department. If you can't shave with it, it is not sharp enough for me.

In conclusion, this is a tank of a survival knife, which, in my opinion, is exactly what I need in a survival knife. It is not for the weak-armed, as it's weight will tire out the small, frail type quickly. You would be hard pressed to break this knife, even under the most abusive use. You could a lot worse for $50. I wish it were "Made in the USA". For this reason, it gets four out of five stars.

[DerBiermeister]

In terms of heavy-duty survival work such as chopping etc., -- how do you think this knife of yours compares to say a good brand Kabar or even an Ontario OKC3S bayo? (8" super sharp blade with serrated section -- talk about digging, prying, and chopping -- not to mention good old fashioned killing!)

[Sparkyprep]

Well, I'll say that this is not a fighting knife. It is too heavy. The KaBar gets the nod in that department. The Schrade has no serration on the blade, which I like. In digging, chopping and prying, the Schrade would win, at half the price.

[Jeep]

Looks ok to me

[Sockpuppet]

This knife is made of 1095 High Carbon Steel. Such steel is engineered for hard use, but will rust and stain if not properly cleaned and lubricated.

TUF-GLIDE or TUF-CLOTH (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=tuf+glide&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=31423850085&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3920718364116945072&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_2a7dax5sr4_e) are good products....or at least coat with a few drops of Hoppes or other machine oil occasionally.

[Slippy]

Thanks Spark.

[Sparkyprep]

This knife is made of 1095 High Carbon Steel. Such steel is engineered for hard use, but will rust and stain if not properly cleaned and lubricated.

TUF-GLIDE or TUF-CLOTH (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=tuf+glide&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=31423850085&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3920718364116945072&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_2a7dax5sr4_e) are good products....or at least coat with a few drops of Hoppes or other machine oil occasionally.
Thanks Sock. I rubbed it down with gun oil, but I'm going to look into the Tuf-Glide

[Infidel]

Thanks for the review and I'm glad to hear that the Schrade name is still producing decent knives. I will never own a new Schrade again as long as they don't say Made in USA on them. I have always been a Schrade guy but when they were bought out and shut down the plant in Ellenville, NY it damn near crippled that town. I know several people that worked there at one point and saw the end coming but many didn't. Ellenville, NY is now a virtual ghost town as the remaining industry there closed shortly after the Schrade factory closed. I guess maybe I'm a bit bitter about the whole thing but I have a severe hatred for anything new that says Schrade on it. Excellent job on the review though Sparky.

-Infidel

[RWalls]

Good review, thanks.

[Sarge7402]

Schrade also makes a very nice pocket folder 5UH

[DerBiermeister]

Schrade also makes a very nice pocket folder 5UH


Used to be known for their switchblades ....

[Sarge7402]

That I didn't know> tks

[DerBiermeister]

That I didn't know> tks

Yeah -- let me see if I can find something.


here ...........


In 1906-07, Schrade patented the Safety Pushbutton Knives, an improved series of switchblade knives with side-mounted operating button and a sliding safety switch. Later developed in slightly modified form as the Presto series, the Schrade switchblade would come to dominate the automatic knife market in the United States for the next fifty-five years. In the 1920s, Schrade bought the defunct Walden Cutlery Company in order to obtain their stocks of handle material for his knives.

From 1911-1916, George Schrade resided in the knifemaking center of Solingen, Germany, where he ran a small workshop. There Schrade developed a new type of switchblade knife, which he titled the Sprenger. However, in 1916 the German government seized all of Schrade's assets in Germany to assist its war production. Schrade returned to the United States, though his Springer switchblade would live on; now unprotected by patent, the type was manufactured by several Solingen shops for many years thereafter.
In 1917, Schrade licensed a flylock switchblade design to the Challenge Cutlery Company, which he then joined. Schrade pursued his knifemaking interests at both Challenge and at Schrade, where his brother George now managed one of the company's factories. In the 1920s, Schrade bought the defunct Walden Cutlery Company in order to obtain their stocks of handle material for his knives.

In 1928, the Challenge Cutlery Co. closed after the death of its owner, Charles F. Wiebusch. Schrade formed a new company, the Geo. Schrade Knife Co. in Bridgeport, acquiring knifemaking machinery from the old Challenge Cutlery assets. At the new company Schrade made Presto switchblades as well as Wire Jack jackknives, and other low-end pocket knives. George Schrade died in 1940, and the Geo. Schrade Knife Co. was sold by his sons in 1956 to Boker Knife Co. of Newark, New Jersey, but the company closed operations in 1958 after Congress passed a law banning the sale of switchblades across state lines. Schrade's other company, the Schade Cutlery Co., was sold in 1946 to the Imperial Knife Associated Companies, becoming the Schrade-Walden Cutlery Co., Inc.