Atlanta Cutlery OSS Smatchet
May 6, 2011 2:33:23 GMT
Post by Sébastien on May 6, 2011 2:33:23 GMT
Atlanta Cutlery OSS Smatchet Review
by
Sébastien Bilodeau, Montréal, Québec
I love big knives. I love WWII. Introducing the Smatchet. Large knife/machete for british and american special troops fighting the good fight against fascism. I wanted one bad, and I got what I wanted :twisted:
Introduction
I'll let Mr. Fairbairn do that part ;
"The psychological reaction of any man, when he first takes the smatchet in his hand is full justification for its recommendation as a fighting weapon. He will immediately register all the essential qualities of good soldier - confidence, determination, and aggressiveness. Its balance, weight and killing power, with the point, edge or pommel, combined with the extremely simple training necessary to become efficient in its use, make it the ideal personal weapon for all those not armed with a rifle and bayonet."[4] (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smatchet)
Mr. Fairbairn was amongst the elite of the Allieds during WWII. So, if those words don't get your testosterone flowing and make you want that blade, I don't know what will.
This replica is made by Atlanta Cutlery/WIndlass Steelcrafts. I bought it by contacting Kult of Athena and asking them if I could get the blade through them, to avoid troubles with Atlanta Cutlery (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=33&hilit=bowie). KOA accepted to help me out and ordered the knife. The price they gave me was much lower than the one on AC website's (about 10 to 15 $ less), and shipping was cheaper too. Awesome !
Personnaly, I strongly recommend dealing with Kult of Athena.
The blade arrived quickly. I fell in love. Let's find out what took my heart ...
Oh, I forgot, numbers ...
length: 16 3/4"
blade: 11"
blade width: 2 5/8"
grip and pommel: 5 1/2"
pommel thickness: 1 1/8"
guard: 3 1/2"
balance point: 1/2" from guard
weight (knife): 1 lb 8.7 oz
weight (knife and sheath): 1 lb 13.3 oz
I took these from TherionArms. A great website, check it out !
Fittings
Such a lovely blade ... 11'' of pure awesome. It is a large, leaf-shaped blade that reminds me of filipinos Barongs. Although long and wide, the blade isn't very thick, feeling almost like a machete's business end. The edge is paper-cutting sharp. A large part of the back-edge is sharpened, it is paper-cutting sharp too. The steel is covered with an antiquated, rust-resistant, dark grey coat. It has a chemical smell. Not a very pleasant one, but I think it gives the blade even more charm.
The handle is wide and large. Even though it is made for one-handed us, it seems to dwarf my L-sized hand. It is made of wood and steel. The handle seems quite fat comapred to the thin blade. The full-tang is sandwiched between two large slabs of wood, pinned there by two large steel pins. The pommel is quite sizable too. The ergonomics of the handle are nothing special. The grip doesn't hinder the handling and is just enough comfortable. The hilt is a steel-disk, dwarfed by the thick handle and the wide blade.
The scabbard has a thin wooden core covered with black leather. It comes with a small safety-clip (who seems to be there more for apparences than actual safety) and a small belt-loop. Not the best scabbard I have seen on the market, but for a sub-100$ blade coming from Windlass, it is very good.
Handling
Here this blade shines ! Although it has a decent weight for its size (about one and a half pound, for a near 17'' blade), the Smatchet feels very light and lively in hand. Swings, cuts and jabs are incredebly easy to do. The blade moves from one strike to another with ease. However, it also feels strong in the cut. The wide, thin blade seems to want to bite hard and deep. It's size and shape, combined with the large pommel/grip, seems to offer this knife a great balance of autority and speed in handling. I love it. If this is how the real, old smatchets handle, I can understand why they were used. This replica feels like an extremely vicious and deadly melee weapon.
The sad part is that I didn't have the opportunity to do backyard cutting with it... yet. I hope I will do so one day, soon. I believe this blade will perform very well. I hope I will get to test that impression soon.
Conclusion
Pros
-Lively, fun handling
-Large, sharp blade out of the box
-Great historical replica for the WWII geeks
-Well-made for the price
Cons
-Simple ergonomics of the handle
-Mediocre scabbard
-Mostly available through Atlanta Cutlery ... and I don't like them ...
-Probably not made for outdoor, survival tasks
Overall, this is one of my favorite large knife, short sword. I believe that the combination of pros that this product offers is an incredible deal for people interested in collecting large knives (and I insist on the word collectin, 'cuz this blade doesn't seem made for outdoor hard use). The few cons of this blade seem small compared to its qualities, in my honest opinion. Blade collectors who want a manly, exotic piece of history should consider getting this baby !
I hope you enjoyed this review. Next time ... I will review something just a bit smaller :twisted:
by
Sébastien Bilodeau, Montréal, Québec
I love big knives. I love WWII. Introducing the Smatchet. Large knife/machete for british and american special troops fighting the good fight against fascism. I wanted one bad, and I got what I wanted :twisted:
Introduction
I'll let Mr. Fairbairn do that part ;
"The psychological reaction of any man, when he first takes the smatchet in his hand is full justification for its recommendation as a fighting weapon. He will immediately register all the essential qualities of good soldier - confidence, determination, and aggressiveness. Its balance, weight and killing power, with the point, edge or pommel, combined with the extremely simple training necessary to become efficient in its use, make it the ideal personal weapon for all those not armed with a rifle and bayonet."[4] (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smatchet)
Mr. Fairbairn was amongst the elite of the Allieds during WWII. So, if those words don't get your testosterone flowing and make you want that blade, I don't know what will.
This replica is made by Atlanta Cutlery/WIndlass Steelcrafts. I bought it by contacting Kult of Athena and asking them if I could get the blade through them, to avoid troubles with Atlanta Cutlery (viewtopic.php?f=6&t=33&hilit=bowie). KOA accepted to help me out and ordered the knife. The price they gave me was much lower than the one on AC website's (about 10 to 15 $ less), and shipping was cheaper too. Awesome !
Personnaly, I strongly recommend dealing with Kult of Athena.
The blade arrived quickly. I fell in love. Let's find out what took my heart ...
Oh, I forgot, numbers ...
length: 16 3/4"
blade: 11"
blade width: 2 5/8"
grip and pommel: 5 1/2"
pommel thickness: 1 1/8"
guard: 3 1/2"
balance point: 1/2" from guard
weight (knife): 1 lb 8.7 oz
weight (knife and sheath): 1 lb 13.3 oz
I took these from TherionArms. A great website, check it out !
Fittings
Such a lovely blade ... 11'' of pure awesome. It is a large, leaf-shaped blade that reminds me of filipinos Barongs. Although long and wide, the blade isn't very thick, feeling almost like a machete's business end. The edge is paper-cutting sharp. A large part of the back-edge is sharpened, it is paper-cutting sharp too. The steel is covered with an antiquated, rust-resistant, dark grey coat. It has a chemical smell. Not a very pleasant one, but I think it gives the blade even more charm.
The handle is wide and large. Even though it is made for one-handed us, it seems to dwarf my L-sized hand. It is made of wood and steel. The handle seems quite fat comapred to the thin blade. The full-tang is sandwiched between two large slabs of wood, pinned there by two large steel pins. The pommel is quite sizable too. The ergonomics of the handle are nothing special. The grip doesn't hinder the handling and is just enough comfortable. The hilt is a steel-disk, dwarfed by the thick handle and the wide blade.
The scabbard has a thin wooden core covered with black leather. It comes with a small safety-clip (who seems to be there more for apparences than actual safety) and a small belt-loop. Not the best scabbard I have seen on the market, but for a sub-100$ blade coming from Windlass, it is very good.
Handling
Here this blade shines ! Although it has a decent weight for its size (about one and a half pound, for a near 17'' blade), the Smatchet feels very light and lively in hand. Swings, cuts and jabs are incredebly easy to do. The blade moves from one strike to another with ease. However, it also feels strong in the cut. The wide, thin blade seems to want to bite hard and deep. It's size and shape, combined with the large pommel/grip, seems to offer this knife a great balance of autority and speed in handling. I love it. If this is how the real, old smatchets handle, I can understand why they were used. This replica feels like an extremely vicious and deadly melee weapon.
The sad part is that I didn't have the opportunity to do backyard cutting with it... yet. I hope I will do so one day, soon. I believe this blade will perform very well. I hope I will get to test that impression soon.
Conclusion
Pros
-Lively, fun handling
-Large, sharp blade out of the box
-Great historical replica for the WWII geeks
-Well-made for the price
Cons
-Simple ergonomics of the handle
-Mediocre scabbard
-Mostly available through Atlanta Cutlery ... and I don't like them ...
-Probably not made for outdoor, survival tasks
Overall, this is one of my favorite large knife, short sword. I believe that the combination of pros that this product offers is an incredible deal for people interested in collecting large knives (and I insist on the word collectin, 'cuz this blade doesn't seem made for outdoor hard use). The few cons of this blade seem small compared to its qualities, in my honest opinion. Blade collectors who want a manly, exotic piece of history should consider getting this baby !
I hope you enjoyed this review. Next time ... I will review something just a bit smaller :twisted: