Kestrel Ultralight Knives – BPL Special on the Worlds Lightest Knives

Nate and I trade gear occasionally. He's currently making me each of these and I'm excited. I have 2 of his ultralighter model, 1Ti and one Stainless. They have been great for me and I was always impressed with their light weight. Now 2 of these have more blade at 2/3 or less the weight of my 13gr Ti ultralighter. Very nice tools!

-Tim

Stop! I'm trying to save money… :P

Beautiful knives.

email sent

A collective thanks from all of us for the special offer. What is the RC hardness on these knives? I'm accustomed to using SS knives with RC in the range of 59-63, and am curious what hardness to expect from these knives.

These look great, wow! Do you have a picture of the sheath that's included by chance?

Thanks Tim!

Titus…Thanks for the compliment. You know you want one! LOL

Garth…Email replied.

Delmar…The Ti itself is only about 36RC. The edge is about 72RC thanks to the tungsten carbide embedded on one side. It makes a great micro serrated edge that excels in cutting cordage, meat, veges, cardboard etc. With these knives you will need to draw cut whatever medium it is you are cutting. Although hard at the edge they are very easy to sharpen thanks to only being hard on one side. A mousepad with some 320-600 grit sandpaper is all you need. I also make UL Sharpening kits. For normal use you wouldnt need to sharpen these very often at all. I go months without sharpening mine. They keep a usable edge for a very long time. Just ask Tim I dont think he has even sharpened his yet.

Peter…Thx for the reminder. Picture uploaded on original post.

I have received a few emails asking if these are suitable for batoning wood and wanted to address that here in case there are others wondering also. These particular knives in this thickness are strictly meant for for cutting. If you will be batoning wood I would recommend a slightly thicker stock. These are .050" thick and I would recommend .080"-.090" thick. I have these designs in those thicknesses and if you would like to order one please email me at kestrelknives at gmail.com

As always feel free to email or post any questions you may have.

Nate,

I have used steel ultralighter for some light batoning but I haven't used the Ti one that way because I'm not sure how the carbide will hold up to that. Thoughts?

Yeah I never sharpen them:) granted these are not hard use knives for me, just light camping and fishing tools, opening food packages, trimming cordage, fishing line, fuzzing up sticks for a fire or getting to dry heart wood on finger sized sticks.

I personally don't like to use carbide coated
Blades on raw meat as I worry it will get trapped in the Velcro like grit of the carbide. Is this founded or not something to worry about?

-Tim

Tim

The carbide and edge will hold up just fine. I have really abused these Ti knives and you will be surprised how well they hold up. Especially the .080"-.090" ones. I have tested the knives on various woods batoning through the grain and against the grain and although the edge may dull over time it held up very well and still had a usable edge. When batoning the only time the edge is in contact with the wood is at the initial strike. Once the knife has split the wood the wider portion of the blade takes over.

Again these thin stock (.050") SUL knives are not meant for batoning but rather slicing and cutting various materials. If one wishes to baton or bushcraft I recommend a thicker Ti knife.

To answer your question about the carbide collecting gunk when cutting meat, I process a lot of game and although a little bit of meat and fat does stick to it, as long as you wash it with soap and warm water you will be fine. Wash it like you would any other knife and give the carbide a quick scrub then let it dry. I have cheap kitchen knives with the tungsten carbide on it that I use on everything in the kitchen.

Awesome, thanks Nate. I always wondered but never bothered to ask

-Tim

I received a SUL Minimalist from Nathan today. I cut down the sheath and wrapped the handle with black nylon grosgrain. The package comes in at 10 grams without the handle wrap, and 12 grams with. This is a great piece of SUL gear! It feels better in the hand and is more functional than my Baladeo or A.G. Russell Hunter's Scalpel, and at about half the weight. I have very large hands and the handle on this knife is long enough for me to grasp normally. Plus the blade is a very useable length. Well done Nathan!