Blackbird SK-5 Review

The Blackbird SK-5, Voted the Best of the Best Hunting Gear of 2011 by Field and Stream. If your from the country like where I reside you know Field and Stream is the gospel.

I've been wanting to get around to reviewing the Blackbird SK-5, well its finally here. If you Google search the Blackbird SK-5, you will be bombarded by a ton of reviews. But I just wanted to give a stamp of approval for you guys out there that are in the market for a blade and tell you what I like about the SK-5.

The SK-5 was developed by a gentleman named Paul Scheiter and is being produced by Ontario Knife Company. Paul is also the owner Hedgehog Leatherworks, creating pretty awesome sheaths for a few different knives currently on the market. He also has some instructional videos on the web worth checking out. Check out our review of the newly re-designed Hedgehog Leatherworks Blackbird SK-5 Sheath.

On to the knife. Just by looking at it and once having it in your hands you realize its a no-nonsense hard use knife. The aesthetics are not like many of the other blades of this nature on the market. It doesn't have a blackened blade and cool skull logo on it, but I honestly like the look of the SK-5. Its has a simplistic design and looks as though it should be used as a tool. Knives are tools right?

 The 5" blade is made of 154CM stainless steel. 154CM is used widely in the tactical folder realm, I've seen it used by some custom knife makers. But this was the first time I've seen it used in a production knife. A few strokes of the blade across a sharpening steel and the SK-5 was shaving sharp (I actually thought of filming a video shaving my beard off with the SK-5, but better judgement prevailed). It also went through Oak easier than my D2 Steel blades.

It features a flat grind blade, which I find is easier in batoning wood.

The 1/8" spine of the blade features an edge designed to be used as a striker for a fire steel. This is my preferred technique, and many knives feature a coating that impedes this. It does spit amazing sparks when used with a fire steel.

From the picture to your right you will notice the center lined spear point tip. This accomplishes a few things: 1. makes the tip of the knife super strong; because its has more beef behind it. 2. Makes it possible to drill a hole into wood. This is beneficial in making fire boards for the bow/drill or hand drill method of fire craft. 3. It helps with finer cutting task. I filmed a video of constructing a spring snare and carving the sockets demonstrating this. Notice from the above picture that the knife is reflective and can be used as a improvised signaling device.

One attribute I like about the SK-5 is the 5 inch handle. I have large hands and it feels like I have control of the knife. This also allows the user to choke up and down to accomplish fine cutting task as well as chopping. I really dig the smooth Canvas Micarta handles that have no abrupt angles like many other knives. I used this knife all day with no discomfort. The handle also has a flat pommel to use for hammering as well as a large lanyard hole. I like this feature, making it easy to slip the lanyard on and off.

The knife is accompinied by a Coyote brown nylon sheath. I've read some negative comments on the sheath but I personally think its better than many other sheaths that are included with other knives on the market (Becker owners know what I'm talking about). I'm not a fan of Kydex or plastic injected sheaths, they are super noisy. Which leads me to another feature about this sheath. It has a felt lined plastic insert to reduce the sound of sliding the knife in and out.  There are also MOLLE webbing on the front to attach an accessory pouch or multi-tool pouch.

Another plus is the attachment options. Belt loop is standard, as well as MOLLE/PALS attachment for my brothers in arms. Perfect size to attach to your TAC vest.

New Hedgehog Sheath for the SK-5

I'm super impressed by the SK-5. The SK-5 feels indestructible and very functional being an understatement. Simplistic design that gets the job done. I've got some videos coming up using the SK-5, so you can see it in action.

Price ranges on the web from $105-150

Click here to read the Hedgehog Leatherworks Blackbird SK-5 Sheath Review

Check out Pauls sheaths at http://www.hedgehogleatherworks.com/default.asp