1 Attachment(s)
Svord Golok British Army Pattern 11 inch
So with a bit of time on my hands, and no chance of getting out I decided to review my equipment and lighten things up a bit, one of the things I usually take with me if I am going out for any real length of time is a good axe, my current axe is a Wetterlings Scandinavian Forest Axe #121, which is a fantastic piece of Swedish kit, and is kept razor sharp, but with its sheath and a wrapped handle weighs in at almost 1.5 kg (1460 gms to be exact).
As well as an axe I always carry a knifes, usually a fixed one and a folding one like a leatherman wave.
I decided there must be a lighter way to obtain my wood gathering/shelter building needs - and one thing that I had always wanted, but never got around to obtain was a machete. Now machetes come in many different configurations, ranging from gurkha style Kukris, to South American bolos to the Indonesian Golok, it is a widespread tool used in Americas, Africa, Polynesia and Micronesia and in many asian countries, perhaps its tremendous popularity makes it a little hard to define, its used to chop brush, undergrowth, prepare food, gather firewood, defend people, it has a myriad of uses, perhaps a misconceived characteristic is that they are all long and thin - typically an 18 inch or longer blade with 2 or 3 mm thick blade made of cheap carbon steel, while a great many are the Golok is not.
For me I wanted something that would replace the axe and the fixed blade I carried, if possible, it needed to chop wood, clear brush, do some yard work around the house, but also when in the bush prepare food, even butcher game if I managed to get lucky...
A Golok is a small stout machete - some are infact long but most have blades that are between 25 cm to 40 cm long and are fairly stout, but are made from springy steel and the temper is fairly low to make them easier to sharpen in the field.
Well the Svord Golok has some of those characteristics - it comes in a fine leather sheath, and the total length when sheathed is 48.5 cm long (my axe is 65 cm for comparison), out of the sheath its total length is 42.8 cm, with the blade being a respectable 28 cm tip to where the full tang blade disappears under the micarta slab handle, the handle is 14.8 cm long and has red spacers sandwiched between a dark green/brown micarta handle which has two holes for a wrist thong and is riveted to the handle with three brass and copper rivets.
The blade is 4 mm thick L6 Swedish carbon tool steel which tapers slightly to 3 mm at the tip, the blade has been tempered by Svord and is very strong with a convex edge which comes sharp but can be made very sharp with a little time and effort. The temper is clearly evident in the L6 steel as a deep blue/ black scale that deepens when you run the blade under hot water, where the edge has been put on its spright silver, and being carbon steel will rust or patina over time and is best kept oiled or waxed to avoid this - or just go with it, your choice!
Attachment 28068
The wight of the blade, sans sheath, is 600 gm exactly, with the sheath it comes in at about 820, I say about because I have since modified my sheath by adding a frog to hold my Svord EDC Hiker on the front, some paracord on the back and a firestarter tied to the belt loop as well, a complete system if you like, add a wrist thong and the total weight is 992 gms, so I have saved a good half kilo off the axe - but does it perform?
In a word, yes. It strikes sparks off a fire steel no problem, it shaves feathersticks well, it batons like its going out of style just splitting kindling better than the axe, it delimbs branches faster than the axe could, it chops well - not as well as the axe but very well and with no hand shock either. It slices and dices onions, chops meat into fine slithers, makes nice thin salami slices, and even, probably because of its length, slices bread! If it does have a weak pint, its that the blade shape does not have a tip, its a modified wharncliff or she eps foot type shape, but I have solved this problem by attaching the smaller Svord EDC to the front, that does have a tip that will let you pry splitters out of your fingers!
It did not come perfect though, the sheath is a tad rough with the makers mark being crooked and the domes not centred exactly, also the spacers under the micarta stuck out a little and was creating a hot spot on my palm, five minutes with some sandpaper completely eliminate that and now I can chop all day without a problem. And the chopping is not just a hack but because of the shape of the blade ends up being a push cut through wood, which makes for a nice smooth slice and effortless cutting. The blade is also stout enough to hammer in a nail into wood as well...
The Svord Golok British Army Pattern 11 inch is slightly different from the current british army version that is made by Martindale steel but actually ground in Thailand, theres has a 13 inch blade, a smaller handle made out of wood, the steel is carbon but not as good and has a good material sheath with a file - but is actually hard to get with the proper (or any sheath), the blade on the Martindale has a double choil which makes it a bit narrower than the Svord, which has no choil.
All in all I am very happy with my Svord - except for two things, one its big, smaller than the axe but still a big tool so is a has sell to carry, secondly its not cheap, which makes me reluctant to use it around the yard where I know there is bits of concrete and steel buried in the bush, happily I have solved the second problem - I just bought a Martindale Golok, which is as cheap as chips, for use around the yard - I will review that next.
Cheers
Shelley
