Friday, May 9, 2014

Guest Blog: Jet pilot knife comparison

My pal Field-expedient  from Bushcraftusa.com recently did a comparison between the new issue
Jet pilot's survival knife and the old style. I thought it was pretty interesting and well done so I asked
if he'd let me share it here. He said "sure", so here it is. Thanks again F.E.!
All pics and info belong to and originate from Field-expedient.


Here is my comparison between an old ontario bolt knife and the new version Ontario A.S.E.K. I had an old bolt knife when I was a kid and since recently getting another here on the trade blanket I thought it would be interesting to try out a new A.S.E.K. and compare it to the old version.




When looking into the A.S.E.K I couldnt find a whole lot of user feedback about it. BCUSA's own machine27 is the only guy I found to have any real experience with one and he told me I would like it. So I snatched a factory 2nd up off ebay for 50 bucks.

not going to list all the specs and stuff but the major changes are pretty obvious. rubber handle, serrations, more aggresive sawback, glass breaker pomel, sheaths, sharpeners, and the clip point is not sharpened.




I have no military experience or training or access to a plane to try and cut my way out of so I figured I would put these to work doing bushcraft and survivaly type stuff. I am much lazier than machine27 in his shootouts so a traded back and forth using each one, I wasnt about to do everything twice lol

The ASEK is new with the factory edge which has a flat gind by the way. The old bolt knife is, well old and I have reprofiled it quite a bit to a very good edge. I started out by batoning down a green shelter pole sized tree. I traded back and forth between the two. Both worked well, the asek a little better. It took deeper bites with the flat grind and the handle was much more comfortable.


after getting it cut down I carved some green wood. the asek worked better even though the serrations dont cut as smooth they were very sharp and the more comfortable handle made it much nicer to use. for notching I used the serrations in a sawing fashion it notched quickly with great control.

splitting wood- both knives worked fine and in spite of the stick tangs they dint break. Both knives having steel pomels made it easy to drive them in tip first on smaller pieces 


feather sticks- affter getting some split wood i made up some feather sticks. I know serrations are junk and you cant do anything "bushcrafty" with them. Sorry guys thats false serrations can make a mean featherstick. asek winner

sawbacks- yes i know they were not made to cut wood, both clogged quickly in green wood but both do work ok in dry wood to kinda notch and grind. The asek better and actually even saws a little. nothing like what i am used to though lol. Still I like having them even if they are not up to par with my homemade ones they have some usefull applications.

Fire- I think mag bars are issued in pilots kits so I used both knives to light the feather sticks with one. A technique i like to use that works well with these knives is to bury the tip into something and scrape the bar back and forth on the spine. It directs the shavings quickly into a nice pile. the bolt knife worked best for this because of its sharpened clip point. the asek done ok its clip is not sharpened but has enough of a square edge to do the job.



more fire- I used both knives to make a bow drill set
I used the glass breaker to beat in a divot to start the drill, It worked great. also note the drill the lines from carvng with serations really worked well the string gripped it like crazy and never slipped

notching the hearth was easier with the asek I sawed it out using the serrations it worked almost as good as a sak saw. I used the sawback on the bolt knife it worked ok on the soft wood then cleaned it up a little with the edge.


just for fun- both knives were pretty dull at this point except the serrated portion of the asek, I figured I would finish them off. Believe it or not I have had to cut a tire or two off a wheel with a knife.

this kind of cutting is when its nice to have grippy handles and guards. the old bolt knife was pretty dull and took some doing to get the tire cut.
the other side may as well of had a zipper the asek's thinner grind and serrations made short work of the tire
at this point the bolt knife was done no real edge left. the serrations on the asek still sharp.

dull knives- I like sharp knives but just to prove a dull knife is better than no knife I carved a few figure 4s. The serrations on the asek once again proved useful still being sharp it sawed the notches in quick and precise. The dull bolt knife still got it done though. 

just to see if these would still cut anything I cut up an old piece of webbing. The bolt knife was done I was able to cut a few pieces but it took lots of pressure and sawing. the asek sailed through it no problem making quick clean cuts on the webbing and even after all of this I think I could have turned around and started all over with the ASEK and it would have kept on cutting.
re-sharpen in field- both knives sharpened up quick with their on board sharpeners. the bolt knife a little quicker with the coarser stone. ASEK took a finer edge with the ceramic rod. Spent about 5 minutes on each and they would pop arm hair and cleanly cut paper.
conclusion- dont knock it until you try it. I am not a big fan or serrations and I know lots of guys hate them, but they have a place. they might not be the best for whittling spoons and what not but on a survival knife I think they may have an advantage this asek out cut the bolt knife in most of my tests and it was due to the serrations. Compared to a factory bolt knife it would have even more so.

This test also backed up another theroy I have been thinking on. serrations vs plain. A serrated blade will give a useable cutting edge much longer than a plain and in a situation when you may not have the time or gear to maintain everything like you would want those searrations will keep sawing and grinding away at things long after a plain edge is all used up and all but useless.

I really like the ASEK it has all kinds or teeth and edges and points and stuff to cut, poke, grind, saw, pound. some guys see that as being tacticool but I think it packs a lot of utillity in a small package

I think the ASEK has many advantages over the old one for the role these knives were designed for. The old bolt knife is a classic though and a fun knife to use thats brings back lots of memories. It has a rich history and is plenty capable enough to earn a spot in anyones collection. It has been getting it done all over the world for a hell of a long time.

thanks
Field-expedient








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