“The Badlands Fieldcraft Knife Heads North” by The Bearded Ginger

The following was sent to me from a friend of mine who is a hunting guide every fall up in Alaska. He’s also very accomplished and experienced in primitive living and survival skills and is at home in the outdoors as most people are in their living rooms. I’ve had the pleasure to have him at both of my Fieldcraft classes this year and he’s been a great addition to the classes both times. A trip like the one described below, where you are completely isolated and on your own, with nothing to rely on except your knowledge and your equipment, is exactly the kind of adventure I had in mind when designing this knife and I’m happy to hear it worked as intended. – Badlands Rifleman

On a recent trip to Alaska I was fortunate enough to receive a knife from Badlands Fieldcraft, a small knife maker in the Badlands of Eastern Montana. The package arrived just in time for the trip, was hastily opened and stowed away in a rifle case, as I was leaving in two days. After my arrival in Anchorage and a two day drive to Coldfoot, AK we sorted gear in preparation for our bush plane flights into the John River where we would set up base camp for the next two months.

Upon our arrival to the brush choked river banks of the John, our first order of business was to clear a site for our camp. Utilizing the fieldcraft knife to baton through standing willow, alder, and cotton wood brush along with small hand saws we cleared a sufficient area to set up our temporary home. As well as tents I set up a tarp shelter as quick cover to make some dry space to stow gear and aviation fuel bags. The fieldcraft knife made quick work of creating willow poles with sharpened ends to protrude through the grommets in the front of the tarp and subsequently tied off at the tops, guyed out, and staked firmly to the ground with rocks placed on top the stakes for protection from the “gentle” winds that tend to show up in the Artic Circle.

In the following days and weeks I utilized that knife for everything from food prep to fire building. In one instance after being flown down river and dropped for ten days, hiking several miles up drainages, and then over the tops of a few no name mountains, it was getting close to our extraction day. The four days leading up to our pick up day we had been completely socked in with rain, fog, and snow so our hike to the extraction point was a wet one. After an eight mile hike down a drainage in the rain through jungle thick brush, and with the three of us completely soaked through while temps hovered in the 40’s and with night approaching fast, we found our extraction site flooded due to all the rain. There would be no pick up, and no wood fired stove at main camp tonight.

I set about selecting an overnight site that was sheltered from the winds and with plenty of spruce near by in order to get a fire going quickly. Collecting arm loads of small dead spruce boughs while my other two team mates set up tents I laid a bed of them on the soaked ground, scraped shavings off a block of fatwood until I had a pile the size of a ping pong ball and utilizing the unique U shaped notch built into the spine of the knife struck a shower of sparks from the 1/2×6 inch ferro rod from my fire kit. The fatwood lit up nicely with hot flames and the tell tale dark smoke from the pitch saturated shavings, more spruce was piled on and in short order we had a much needed warming fire. Smiles, warm tea and a much needed moral boost for all ensued.

The Knife:
Steel: 01 Tool Steel
Blade length 5 inches.
Blade Thickness 5/32 of an inch.
Handle length 5 inches.
Overall length 10 inches.
Handle Material: G10
Special Features: The U Notch

One of the first things I noticed when I received the knife is it’s heft, I would call it a good working weight, useable, comfortable. The slight belly in the knife blade gives it an ease of use in the tasks of carving and slicing. Edge retention has been superb. The unique 1/2 inch wide and 1/4 inch deep U shaped notch in the spine accommodates a 1/2 inch by 6 inch ferro rod nicely and aids in directing your shower of sparks into a focused point in your fire making efforts rather than a scattered shower.

For those of you into the primitive side of things that notch works well for scraping and smoothing arrow shafts and atlatl darts. The handle provides sufficient grip and comfort, although for me I would like to see the handle have a bit more girth to it and I believe this is in the works on future models. Initially I harbored concerns in regards to the type of steel used and high moisture environments, those concerns have proven to be unwarranted with just the slightest spots of surface rust after weeks of being rained on.

The Sheath:
Kydex and 2” Webbing
Special Features: Ferro Rod Slot Adjustable Locking Bar and cordage storage

The sheath has been well thought out and assembled. The attention to detail in setting the rivets and getting the kydex seams at the edges to be almost seamless is a true sign of craftsmanship. The built in thumb shelf enables a one handed draw by indexing the thumb on the shelf and simultaneously gripping the handle applying pressure downwards with the thumb and up with the hand.

Knife retention within the sheath is very firm and the scalloped edges of the sheath allow an X wrap for cordage so you will never be without. With the adjustable locking bar I was able to slide the sheath to it’s lowest point on the 2 inch webbing which makes it extremely comfortable to wear all day every day while carrying 60 to 80 pound loads. Within the webbing there is a slot that accepts a ferro rod for fire making convenience. When wearing rain gear from head to toe I was able to attach the knife to my pack hip belt in order to maintain easy access.

In summary I have found this knife to be well thought out and designed using ideas influenced by history, military experience, survivals skills and bush craft knowledge. I look forward to the continued use of this knife as the seasons change and the years drift past. With a slightly larger handle diameter this may be the last knife I need.

– The Bearded Ginger