Every committed outdoorsman/woman needs a good bushcraft knife in their gear arsenal. A decent bushcraft knife can be used to carve, whittle, batton, chop, featherstick, and help start a fire but all knives aren't made equal, with some excelling at food prep while others might incorporate tools such as pliers, screwdriver bits and bottle openers.
A heavy use bushcraft knife might be used in place of a separate axe, saw and firestarter, if you're using it properly then it's going to take some serious abuse, which it needs to be capable of standing up to, especially if you're out in the wild and heavily relying on it.
Morakniv are known for their low cost utilitarian knives like the Companion which is eminently popular with bushcrafters but by popular demand they've introduced the Garberg which is their first full tang knive, making it more durable and therefore more versatile.
Adorned with a top end 14C28 N stainless steel blade this is a serious tool. The blade has excellent corrosion resistance and the heat treatment gives it superb edge retention meaning it stays sharper for longer. When we tested the Garberg we battened several 3-4 inch logs for a few hours, the blade was still workably sharp with no sign of nicks or folds in the edge which gives you real confidence that this is going to be a knife with longevity.
The drop point blade in conjunction with the scandi grind gives excellent strength to the tip of the knife for great durability when carving.
The Garberg is razor sharp out of the box, you really could shave with it. The zero degrees scandi grind makes the blade easy to sharpen as there's no secondary bevel to make things difficult. It's also excellent for woodwork as it bites deep into the wood but also allows you to do fine work such as feathersticking.
The ground back spine allows you to throw a large shower of sparks when used with a firestarter and allows you to shave tinder out of dry hard wood.
The exposed pommel gives you the option of hammering, useful for tent pegs or for breaking tinder from bark, it's also sharp enough to create shavings and strike a spark from a firestarter.
We were concerned about the handle on first inspection, it looks cheap but it's actually surprisingly strong and the textured flanks are very grippy. We inadvertently hit the handle with a log a few times when battening and it didn't leave a mark, testament to the Garberg's overall build quality.
The handle has a lovely big palm swell on it so it fits nicely into the hand and allows you to use the knife for a long time without causing any hot spots. The balance point is just sub of the hilt so it has a good weight and doesn't feel top heavy.
The blade is easy to choke up for great control for use on delicate tasks thanks to a lack of extended bolster. The lanyard hole is a neat touch, you can use it to attach some bright cord to it, making the knife easier to find if you drop it.
The blade isn't particularly long for an outdoor knife but it's still big enough to batten 3-4 inch logs if you really need to and the smaller size makes it very usable for all sorts of camp tasks.
The Garberg also has a thinner blade width than many other outdoor knives, however it's thick enough to cope with a multitude of heavy tasks and fine enough to do light work such as carving or food prep, although it lacks the length and weight to make an effective chopper.
The 3mm thick welted leather sheath is built, like the knife, to stand the test of time. It fully encloses the knife, has a large thick belt loop and has a reliable popper closure, so there's little danger of the knife popping out unexpectedly.
The more you use the Garberg the more it grows on you. It has an understated simplicity and will do more or less anything you ask of it. At £110 with the leather sheath there's little else out there in the price range that competes.
