Sam Cade
Member
For several years Kershaw Knives/KAI offered a medium sized chopping knife the model 1079 Outcast.
Made of D2 steel (a controversial choice for a chopper) and possessed of a spindly skeletonized tang, the Outcast was plagued by numerous catastrophic failures (I broke 2) and edge maintenance issues throughout its production life.
Recently Kershaw introduced the 1077 "Camp 10" to replace the Outcast in their catalog. Company literature would have us believe that the Camp 10 is, in effect, a product improved Outcast.
The D2 steel is gone, replaced by 65mn. The intarwebs tell that that 65mn is the Chinese equivalent of SAE 1065 a middle of the road, tough carbon steel. I can't see that as anything but an improvement given the poor performance the Outcast displayed.
For a Chinese built knife handled in rubber and plastic the Camp 10 is fairly handsome.
It is large knife, with a big belly, but don't mistake it for a khukuri. If I had to drop it into a typology of choppers I'd call this thing a short bolo.
Blade thickness is a nominal 1/5th of an inch.
It is a very weight forward knife, but it is NOT a particularly heavy knife despite the broad blade and substantial spine thickness. The high saber grind removes quite a bit of blade stock and I am very interested to see what is concealed under the grip since tang failures killed both of my Outcasts.
Made of D2 steel (a controversial choice for a chopper) and possessed of a spindly skeletonized tang, the Outcast was plagued by numerous catastrophic failures (I broke 2) and edge maintenance issues throughout its production life.
Recently Kershaw introduced the 1077 "Camp 10" to replace the Outcast in their catalog. Company literature would have us believe that the Camp 10 is, in effect, a product improved Outcast.
The D2 steel is gone, replaced by 65mn. The intarwebs tell that that 65mn is the Chinese equivalent of SAE 1065 a middle of the road, tough carbon steel. I can't see that as anything but an improvement given the poor performance the Outcast displayed.
For a Chinese built knife handled in rubber and plastic the Camp 10 is fairly handsome.
It is large knife, with a big belly, but don't mistake it for a khukuri. If I had to drop it into a typology of choppers I'd call this thing a short bolo.
Blade thickness is a nominal 1/5th of an inch.
It is a very weight forward knife, but it is NOT a particularly heavy knife despite the broad blade and substantial spine thickness. The high saber grind removes quite a bit of blade stock and I am very interested to see what is concealed under the grip since tang failures killed both of my Outcasts.