Grohmann Boat Knife Review

Following the recent thread on rescue knives, I have a small blunt ended serrated stainless steel knife on my buoyancy aid. For camping use, though, I have hitherto used my Wilkinson Sword Woodlore knife, designed by Ray Mears and made at Wilkinsons sword factory at Acton. Unfortunately, the factory has now closed, and the knife has become a collectors item. With some regret, I decided it was too valuable to expose to sea lochs and hard use, and looked around for an alternative.

These days most outdoors people in the UK use a Swiss army knife or similar, but the traditional belt knife still wins if you are fishing or using open fires. Filleting fish is better done with a 4" fixed blade as it is easier and more hygienic. To get dry wood in the rain without an axe, you need to be able to split wood with a knife and improvised baton.

The Canadian firm Grohmann have been making knives in Nova Scotia since the 50s/60s, http://www.grohmannknives.com/pages/kits.html and they have a solid reputation. There are several models but the 'Boat Knife' is popular with sailors and is issued to the Canadian Armed Forces and Coastguard. The offset handle looks awkward but is highly ergonomic.

I recently tried JimH's Grohmann Boat Knife and was impressed enough to buy one. The cheapest way to do this is to buy it as a kit direct from a Canadian retailer - about £31 delivered. I was not billed for VAT by customs. Assembly is straightforward - you just hammer the rivets, sand down the rosewood handle, treat with linseed oil or similar and you have a very superior outdoor knife.

You can improve it further with little effort by convex grinding the edge and using hot melted beeswax on the sheath - this turns it into rigid 'Cuir boille' - literally 'boiled leather' that was once used as armour. It renders the sheath very strong, darker, and waterproof. I also used a little epoxy on the handle slabs for strength and as a sealant as it is used for food preparation. http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/grohmann.html

The blade is of German stainless steel similar to 440C and holds an edge well.

It is possible to obtain the knife with a half serrated blade for rope, and with special rosewood impregnated with waterproof resins.

The knife fillets well, cuts rope easily, and splits wood well. Overall it is every bit as good as the Woodlore (which sells on ebay for circa £400) and I recommend it highly as a camping/general outdoors knife.

UK law is actually very sensible about these things and it is perfectly legal to have with you if you have good reason - if you are in the country with a rucksack or canoe full of camping and fishing kit there should be no issue.