Last Update 02-12-2024
This review is about the Casström Knives Woodsman in Bog Oak and Sleipner Steel.
I was lucky enough to find a FACTORY SECOND in stock with 50% discount!
The knife was designed by the renowned english knife maker and designer Roger Harrington from Bison Bushcraft and is based on his Woodsman model.
Roger is an experienced outdoorsman who has taught Bushcraft and Survival to civil and military clients for the last twenty years, along making his own knives and is the organizer of the Wilderness Gathering Festival of Bushcraft (credit: official website)
Before buying the Casström Knives Woodsman, I was looking for another small knife to carry for bushcraft and firemaking, as a lightweight backup or spare knife and after reviewing the Lars Fält knife and lurking the website, I sent an email to the customer service to know if they had one with firesteel.
My Lars Fält Knife has no firesteel so i wanted one with it.
I got a speedy response they had a Factory Second in Bog Oak with a matching firesteel, the steel being Sleipner like the Lars Falt.
I have been a really huge fan of Sleipner Steel for many years but it is unfortunately not a common knife Steel, the idea of the smallest knife in Sleipner I could find intrigued me and so I sent them the confirmation to buy it.
Sleipner Steel was actually used first by an italian knifemaker, that I can call a friend, Denis Mura in 2008 after some chatting with Michele “molletta” Pensato and other members of the MCKF Forum.
He did the first known test on the heat treat and the performance of this steel and 2 of the first knives in Sleipner.
After the MCKF forum tests, Tommy from the (sadly gone) KR – Knife Research Brand did the first commercial Knife in Sleipner, the KR LEGION built by LionSTEEL Knives in Maniago Italy.
The Casström Knives Sweden Woodsman is equipped with a 87mm or 3,45″ blade (edge lenght) made in the above mentioned Sleipner Carbon steel, cryogenically heat treated and 3,90mm or 0.15″ thick (4mm declared).
The blade has a Scandinavian Grind that is a flat stock with horizontal grind lines and a V shaped grind at about 1/4 height. It is a very common grind in Scandinavian Knives.
The grind arrives up to 3mm approx before the handle, there is no choil to ease resharpening like on the Lars Falt.
The Handles on mine are made with a semi-fossil 5.000 years old Bog Oak from England.
Bog Oak is a material from trees that have been buried in peat bogs and preserved from decay for thousands of years by its acidic and anaerobic conditions. The dark color comes from tannins that are dissolved in the acidic water and stains its fibers. Bog-wood represents the early stages of fossilization, hence “semi-fossil”, further stages form lignite and coal over millions of years.
Mine has a small crack, visible in the pictures, that has been fixed/glued and made this a Factory Second, being a very hard and strong wood it’s as good as the other ones.
The Woodsman hosts a full-tang constriction with 2x brass pins and a brass lanyard pin, backed by black G-10 liners to protect the tang from moisture.
On index finger height there is a very light guard protruding the finger groove, making it safe to choke it near the blade’s choil.
The provided sheath is made according to Casström with ethically sourced Veg-Tanned Leather, in a Cognac brown color, with a belt loop and logo on the back. The sheath’s origin is unknown, it’s said to be European made, no idea where, I tried to search it but nothing came out.
I have used the knife on an autumnal evening to light a fire before the darkness, I had approx. 1hr to gather driftwood, baton some kindling, do some feather-sticks and light the fire with the included firesteel.
The driftwood I usually find can be pine, spruce, fir or even marine plywood for boats, with often screws and nails that can damage the blade.
I have used it extensively, not caring that for the size, the use was a bit on the edge for some people, but Sleipner is Sleipner and it doesn’t know its on a 3,5″ knife.
It performed exellently well, Sleipner is very chip resistant and pretty tough at 60hrc, the blade was still near shaving sharpness with some light reflections, that went away with a simple strop.
No need to actually sharpen it yet.
Mine is a Factory second so it came with just the box.
Enough talking, here are the specs and the pictures:
Casström Lars Fält knife Specs:
- Knife type: Survival & Bushcraft
- Blade shape: spear point
- Steel: Sleipner Carbon Steel at 59-61hrc, keep in mind it’s NON stainless so it will stain, mine hasn’t yet.
- 3.45″ 87mm long blade, 25mm 1″ wide, 3,90mm 0,15″ thick
- Skandi or Scandi Grind at 1/3 approx of height, NO microbevel.
- 157gr weight, Sheath is 76gr, firesteel is 42gr altogether it’s 277gr with the 2 lanyards pictured
- 5.000 years old english Bog Oak handles
- G-10 liners
- brass hardware
- veg tanned leather sheath, with loop, dangler available as extra
Casström Knives Woodsman knife
Traditional scandi design with a modern touch and modern materials
The provided sheath is made according to Casström with ethically sourced Veg-Tanned Leather, in a Cognac brown color, with a belt loop and logo on the back. The sheath’s origin is unknown, it’s said to be European made.
This one has the added firesteel loop, it covers the whole length of the firesteel, the shock cord does not hold any protruding part though.
The included firesteel is the same one i reviewed a few days ago , only with a Bog Oak handle, the wood is coarser than on the handles where it has been smoothed out.
This Firesteel has a 9.5mm thick and 10cm/3″ long rod made of Austrian Treibacher Auermetall® (most likely, according to my research).
The material of firesteels is often referred to as Ferrocerium (also known in Europe as Auermetall) which is a synthetic pyrophoric alloy of mischmetal (cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, other trace lanthanides and some iron – about 95% lanthanides and 5% iron) hardened by blending in oxides of iron and/or magnesium. When struck with a harder material, friction produces hot fragments that oxidize rapidly when exposed to the oxygen in the air, producing sparks that can reach temperatures of 3,315 °C (6,000 °F). The effect is due to the low ignition temperature of cerium, between 150 and 180 °C (302 and 356 °F).
The rod is Covered in lacquer, not paint like the Chinese ones to protect it, by striking the rod, the metal shows itself.
The sheath has a dedicated loop where it can be stored.
The belt loop is pretty comfortable on a backpack’s hip belt.
The so called presentation side has the deisgner’s name only R. Harrington England, the manufacturer’s marking are on the opposite side, uncommon in the knife industry.
The blade flats are horizontally satined, while the scandinavian grind is obviously vertically ground at a coarser grade.
The reverse side has brand Marking: Casström Lapland Sweden and below Woodsman Sleipner
I was told the logo laser etch is a bit dull, hence the first factory second defect, using the firesteel made the defect disappear.
The blade is Made of Cryo Quenched Sleipner Steel, as stated on their website, the process increases the final knife’s performance to a visible level in hard use, all knives that I have in cryogenically treated steel perform better than the non cryo counterparts, the steel must obviously be cryo compatible.
All Casström knives are cryo-quenched. Cryogenic hardening is a treatment process where the steel is cooled to very cold temperatures with the use of liquid nitrogen. This enhances the performance of the steel at a molecular level and in practical terms, gives the blade more wear resistance and is less prone to chipping compared to a blade with the same hardness that was not cryogenically quenched.
More information about steel and handle materials on the Material Guide on their website
blade detail:
Handle detail, beautiful semi-polished 5.000 years old Bog Oak and brass hardware.
The wood is cut diagonally and has some beautiful brown-clack-silver color with horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines.
The brass hardware is really nice, it has some light patina already and will age nicely.
The factory second defect on mine is the small crack (fixed) near the lanyard pin.
Absolutely nothing to care, besides if was 50% off!
The handles from above are almost rounded only, with some 3D on pinky finger height
The handles are backed with G-10 liners, running the full lenght, they are both approx 1mm thick, they are glued to the tang of the knife to ensure no water can reach it to make it rust.
Being a Scandi Grind, the spine is at full thickness until the tip, naturally designed by the grind going up the knive’s belly.
Lastly I like to see on the blank sold in their website that the pin holes have a small space to get resin in it to make the whole construction stronger
In hand Shots!
I wear size S/7 gloves
Comparison Shots!
Casstrom Woodsman
TRC Urban Tactical
CRK Umnumzaan
Victorinox 91mm Alox
Wurkkos DL02
Blade length comparison:
Action Shots & Testing
Driftwood is a real challenge for feathersticks, being often humid doesn’t help to get nice curls
Some batoning of various woods
Being the tip very thick and pointy, I wanted to try to drill hole to see if it can get through, it did pretty quick.
A well loved knife, dirty and happy!
Last Words and Conclusions:
I got the knife myself, from the seconds and sale page of the manufacturer, I was not paid for the review, what you read is my honest and personal review
What I like:
- GREAT quality for the price
- Sleipner steel is a top choice for the kind of tool
- nice ergonomics
- nice sheath
- very lightweight
What I DON’T like:
- no factory second markings, could be sold as new on the secondary market for profit
- nothing else in particular
Other considerations:
- the dangler would be a good addition
Notes:
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