Primal/Tactical SERE knife

[Stormcrow]

I was contacted by a flight engineer on an AC-130 gunship about a knife to carry with him. He's about to go do his SERE training and wanted a good knife to take, as well as just general usage. He gave me some general parameters of what he was looking for and a blade size, 7". I sent him a quick sketch:



He approved and I got busy. I started with 3/4" round 5160 and forged this:



I cleaned up the profile and it looked much more like the sketch, even though I didn't have to take off much steel. After cleanup grinding:



I soaked it in vinegar to eat the scale off the blade, filed the bevels, a triple hardened it in veggie oil:



After tempering three times and cleanup, I used a new style of cord wrap I've been working on. It uses an underlay and an overlay of contrasting parachute cord, the underlay intact to build up the size of the handle appropriately and the overlay stipped of its core cords to lay flatter. The inspiration for this style of wrap came from a Mongol saber I saw recently in a museum exhibit on Ghengis Khan. I looked at it closely and fixed in my mind how it looked, then played around with paracrod until I figured it out. Fairly simple, really. After each layer is wrapped, it is sealed in cyanoacrylate (superglue), which wicks down into the fibers and hardens, forming a solid composite material in place.
In this case, the underlay is olive drab and the overlay is desert tan. After that, a Kydex sheath with a pair of MOLLE clips, sharpening, and it's in the mail on its way to him.







The spine on this is 1/4" thick, yet because it's forged into one long bevel (essentially a full flat grind, though it's forged and not ground), it still has a bevel angle that cuts well.

I'm looking forward to hearing how this knife does with the SERE training. Several more in this basic style are in the works for some Marines. :)

[Grundsau]

Very nice!
I like the finish on the blade and how you wrapped the handle.
Did you also etch the blade or is that just the roughness from the anvil showing thru after the vinegar soak?
Allen

[Drewed]

So that is just a beat and grind job? No funky folding or welding? Way cool.

[Stormcrow]

Thank y'all!

Yep, the pattern is just forge finish. Not much by way of hammer marks (a good forge finish shows the smith's hammer control), most of that is just from the scale. I have at least one person at each gun show where I set up a table each month ask me if the blade is damascus, and usually someone will ask if it's old. Had one fellow who commented, "Ahhhh...fake damascus!" when I told him that he was mistaken about it being damascus and that it was actually the texture from forging the blade. I showed considerable restraint.

Drewed - The bevel is actually filed. I think that the file marks compliment the forge finish more than grinding lines, so that's how I go.

[Grundsau]

Thats the style of blade finish I wanted to shoot for.
A polished blade can look nice but yours looks like a junkyard dog ready to mix it up.
Is that a turks head style knot on the front of the handle?

[Stormcrow]

Grundsau - Yep, two strand Turk's head out of stripped paracord. Visially interesting, hides the end of the wrap, and makes a little bit of a guard to help with the hand sliding up.

[petere76]

Storm,

I am new to knife making and I am undertaking a similar project right now, although somewhat longer in dimension.

I can't see from the pics the start of the primary bevel. Does your blade have a "saber style" grind flat at the top or is the bevel continious from the top of the blade to the edge? Did you freehand forge the bevel or use a PH die set? I have made a few die sets for the PH that give me the 40deg edge bevel. Not sure exactly how to handle the primary bevel other than to do it by hand. Any input would be appreciated.

I like the chute cord wrap job on the handle and the turks head is a nice touch. I am sure the fellow going into the Survival Escape Evasion Reistance course will be pleased with your product. One of these facilities (USN) is located very close to where I live.

Peter

[Mainely,Bob]

Just two small points from a SERE school grad. File at least a small section of the top of the blade so it`ll cut in both directions and if you can find a way to wrap the handle with 550 cord and still allow it to be untied and removed the knife and the cord will be much more useful. For starters the knife can be lashed onto the end of a sapling with the cord to form a spear.
The cord by itself can be as useful as the knife. In some instances,even more so.
Nice knife,I`d carry it even without the mods I mentioned.

[Stormcrow]

Petere76 - The cross section of the blade is essentially a triangle. The spine is 1/4" thick and it tapers down from there to the edge. You can see how little of the bevel was filed; I forged it as closely as I could and just refined the primary bevel with a file afterwards.

I did the majority of the forging using my 100 lb. "Rusty"-style guided helve hammer named Gunnhilda with a pair of gently curved offset fuller dies. The spine side of the blade is on the side of the fuller with more clearance, the cutting edge side is on the side with less clearance. As the hammer hits, I move the blade so that the steel is pushed toward the edge, spreading it wider in profile and thinner in cross section. I reserve about a quarter of each heat to straightening and smoothing by hand. After getting it about 90% to final form, the final edge is hammered down by hand and everything smoothed up by hand.

Mainley, Bob - So you would prefer a portion of the blade double edged? I'm curious what tasks you have in mind where that comes in handy. It would up the ante on the weapon side of things, certainly. Is there another area I'm not thinking of where two edges helps out?

To me, the paracord moves around way too much if it isn't sealed. The sheath makes a handy spot to carry more paracord, wrapped around and tied through the grommets. It doesn't let the knife be lashed as a spear, but I consider a cord wrap to be a way of making a composite handle in place. I see what you're saying, but have a different thought about it.

I haven't been through SERE, but it seems to me like one is more likely to come across small game such as birds and rabbits in a survival situation than be able to get close to something big enough to warrant a big spear. I'd use the knife to make a couple of rabbit sticks and not risk its tip if it hits a rock, and maybe some sharpened-stick spears.

[petere76]

Storm,

Thanks for your information on the blade profile.

I read where the saber style profile is very strong, thats why I asked. I also noted when studying an old Japanese sword and a German Bayonet, they essentially both used a version of the same blade configuration; Different applications but both very strong designs because of the extra mass on the upper edge (spine) of the blade.

I am working on the handle end today. I like Bob's idea about the holes for lashing on an auxiliary shaft, makes good sense to have that option on a multi function tool.

Peter

[Robakyo]

Stormcrow, I wouldn't have minded having that knife along when I had SERE training. I have to say that this wrap material really fits. I think that your design sense is excellent, whether short or long blade, your work just looks cool.

I really do like your hemp wrapped handles, but this just kicks it up a notch. Where did you learn to do Turks head knots? That seems like an important skill to learn. I Googled it and came up with unsatisfactory results. Great knife!

Robert

[Stormcrow]

Thanks, Robert! I asked Tai Goo, who's the most influential knifemaker on my work, about how to do Turk's head knots and he sent me a link to this animation: http://www.ropeworks.biz/archive/Aturkhed.html

Knots are not my strong suit, so it took me a good while to get it down, but now I can tie one in around a minute. They look best in two or three strands. I started out tying a one strand and then feeding the end through the knot, following the path of the first strand. That was dumb! The smart way is to double over your cord and tape the ends together, then tie the knot. Then you just have to worry about the two (or three) strands twisting. Gotta make sure they stay lined up like they're supposed to.

This isn't a knot that you can just pull the ends and tighten it. You have to chase the slack all around the knot to get it out, sometimes two or three times. I find it easiest to pull the slack so that the loop that goes over the ends of the strand is pulled down tight first, so that they can't loosen, then chase it the rest of the way around. After it's tight, cut off the loose ends as closely as you can and seal it quickly before they pull out and you have to tie a new knot.

[Robakyo]

Stormcrow, Thanks for that link. I've seen it before, but kind of dismissed it when my eyes started glazing over. You are a patient man! I will study that animation again, and practice with real materials this time. I will also print out the response that you gave above to enhance the visual information provided in the animation.

I have seen Tai Goo's work, and the Turk's head knot is used on many of his knives. It really looks good on your handles as well.

Robert

[BlissStreet]

Storm, I have found plenty of info on the Turks head especially on YouTube. But what about the rest of your handle wrap? Any chance you'd share your process? I'd like to try a full tang knife soon and think an under wrap/over wrap would suit the idea in my head.

[Stormcrow]

Matthias - I'm not sure how to even describe how I do it. It's really simple, though. Hmmm...Start with the middle of the cord at the front of the handle (this part is hidden under the Turk's head). Then wrap each side of the cord around the handle. Lay the one in your left hand so that it goes across the handle on the flat and ends up beside the cord on the opposite side. Then take the one in the right hand and lay it so that it crosses over the other cord and ends up beside the cord on the left. You have a criss-cross pattern now. Flip the knife over and do the same thing in the same direction. Flip over and repeat until you reach the end of handle and anchor it. You need to shift the little diamonds around and adjust to get them even right before sealing them. They move easily and will not stay looking good for long if you don't seal it.

I'm not sure that gives you any idea of how it's done, but hopefully so.

[Stormcrow]

The airman who ordered this knife completed his SERE training. With his permission, here's what he told me about using it:

"Ok, so im back from SERE school and it was rough. Learned alot though. My wife sent me the knife and out of the box i thought it was awsome. Sheath is very cool and functional. knife stays well with tension. The clips work very well on a web belt as well as MOLLE attachments on my vest. The knife itself is very beefy. I was not able to take pictures because alot of the training is classified and i was not able to bring a camera. I can say that the knife worked like a dream. We had many tasks during the training that involved a good knife. They issued us all bolt knives but i chose to use yours even though i still had to lug around the bolt knife as well. cutting tree bows down was very easy. I probobly cut down about 150 bows for shelters and camo. We also cut down alot of tree bolts for fires. we used large branches to beat the knife through the the tree bolts to have smaller pieces and the knife went through like butter. finished way faster than the guys with the bolt knifes. probobly went through about 20 bolts of wood. the tip worked real well for breaking down wood too. I also used the kinfe to start fires with a metal match and cut down alot of brush while evading. The knife worked like a dream and i had alot of guys ask where i got it so your cards went to good homes. Im sure you will get a few calls. This knife is definately staying in my helmet bag when i fly. Great knife. email me with any specific questions you have. Im still telling alot of people about it. Oh and the knife is still as sharp as it was when i got it in the mail. Thanks again. "

I had to look up that a "bolt knife" is the USAF-issued survival knife, named that for it's bolt head-shaped pommel. I also hadn't heard the term "tree bolt", but he sent some pictures to show me.







Folks, I was surprised to see his comment about the blade being as sharp as when he got it after putting it through the kind of work he described. I was hoping it would serve him well, but this is by far the hardest use one of my little blades has seen and it performed better than I had expected. That's why I made that part bold. I'm pretty proud to have made a blade that would do that well.

I asked him about how the handle had been both in comfort and in durability. His response: "I really liked the handle wrap as well. It fit good in my hand even when i wore gloves. It was very cold so we wore nomex flight gloves as well as calf skin leather gloves. Very good grip. also the sheath worked very well and was very quiet with the knife in as well which was good because we had to do alot of evading."

A couple of pics he sent of it on his bag:





This is not the last primal/tactical knife I will be making. I have four in the works for active-duty military and hope to have more serving our armed forces in the future.

[Sonoran6]

Stormcrow, thanks for sharing! Him using your knife instead of the military issue is a huge compliment!! I have an ex SEAL friend who wants me to make him a knife, with your permission, I would like to use your sketch as a starting point. Again, really awesome work!

[Stormcrow]

Sonoran6 - Have at it! I recently noticed how similar the profile is to one of the Scrapyard Knife Works designs. I have a large folder on my computer full of blades that are inspiration to me, and it tickles me to be on the inspiring end of things.

Just post pictures when you're done.