Cudeman FAB Survival Hunting Knife

Cudeman FAB Hunting Knife . A full tang* Full flat grind camping hunting and survival (if you happen to have it on you at the time) knife.
* This is NOT a full tang knife in the real sense. Whilst the tang appears to be solid with the exception of the handle scale holes, it isn't. When I removed the scales there is very little metal within the handle. Two thin strips of metal, one running at the top and one running along the bottom are all that is inside this handle, that gives the "illusion" of being a Full tang knife.
The tang is really a "semi full tang" knife. Cudeman market this model as a survival model but because of this tang I would not recommend this application. There is not much "meat in the sandwich".
I should say here that many manufacturers market their knives as "full tang" and in actual fact are not but heavily machined/forged/water jet cut out tangs covered up by handle scales.
Made from MOVA steel alloy. A spear point blade profile, with thumb gimping and choil for added control of the knife. The cutting edge is about 115mm and total blade length as measured from the scales,111mm. This tested model came with lovely cocobolo scales, a tropical timber of excellent mechanical and physical properties. The grip was comfortable and I never felt like I was going to lose the knife out of my hand whilst in use. This is an excellent light duty hunting and camping knife. It goes without saying it came razor sharp out of the box and was still razor sharp much to my amazement after all of these tests. (that includes all that unedited footage you didn't see LOL).
Not much more to say about this knife. I give it a 7.5 out of 10. BTW the fluoro orange Paracord is mine, the knife didn't come with this.It did come with a thin cord for fixing the scabbard to your leg when mounted vertically. I didn't use it because I think this is a good way to get caught up in the bush.
Note: some may argue that this blade profile is a drop point but the design is closer to a spear point as the tip is almost on axis.

[@BushCampingTools]

A note on Tangs Ok I'm actually not one for splitting hairs over what the knife world classifies as a "full tang knife" But for the sake of any argument here on this channel (for everyone). I'm going state what I define as a "full tang knife" "A full tang knife has a tang of which whose width approximates the width of the blade at the point of which blade become handle and continues to the butt of the handle at this width (give or take dimensional changes to allow for hand ergonomics). The tang will have no machining done to lighten/skeletonize the handle, other than metal which is removed to allow the placement of rivets or screws for fixture/location of the knife scales and or injection moulded grips. A "hole" can be present for a lanyard. As far a any "strength arguments" go (on KZbin reviews), this is all subjective and really of non scientific basis. UNLESS one was to test knives with exactly the same blade geometry and handle geometry, except one model has a milled out/skeletonized tang; under a bending moment, to destruction. Do this many times to obtain an "N" number for statistical purposes, to test the hypothesis that the full tang will fail less under the same load as the lightened handle. Now, my mechanical engineering friends tell me that whilst removing "excess metal" from a tang will indeed lighten it, it will also "weaken" it under a given bending load. As to whether this "weakening" would affect any expected or even unexpected function of the knife in a human hand, this is entirely up to what one does with the knife. To be honest, my in excess of 20 years old ONTARIO SPEC PLUS MARINE knife, old rusty 1095 high carbon steel, injection moulded KRATON grip, AND dare I say it narrow/rat tail tang, has NEVER let me down, and it even got lent out a few times too (where I had no idea of how they treated my baby LOL).Yes it has been used multiple times as an improvised lever, something which a knife is simply not designed for. The knife in the above video and any others with milled out handles, they will require special maintenance if submerged in either fresh or sea water as water will ingress into the grip and can depending on the situation affect the materials of construction, hence one would def have to remove the grips to administer some "after care". If this latter thing is not an issue then let's not get too hung up about this tang business. As far as stuffing materials into the milled- out handles go, well IMHO this is pure gimmick under real conditions other than for wanna be survivalists, who are definitely carrying their TORX head drivers, Allen keys, at the ready in a situation to move those scales and extract some "survival" implement. The whole marketing ploy behind the suggestion from manufactures stating this, is to distract one away from the "full tang argument" (if you believe this, like I've said) and try and turn this simple manufacturing technique into a "feature" and or "benefit". My advice, don't be a sucker and fall for this rubbish. Just get out there, go: hunting; camping; fishing or do whatever you do in the great outdoors and leave marketing garbage back in the big city. Full tang; milled out tang; rats tail; partial tang; tapering tangs etc etc............blah blah blah, what the heck! I own them all and no knife of mine (they all get used not just for looking at) are still in one piece.

[@okhouri]

That was a fun video to watch, thank you

[@BushCampingTools]

Hi thanks!

[@proelsupervivencia6716]

Muy bueno el vídeo. Saludos

[@manuelayala3799]

Excelent!

[@BushCampingTools]

Hi, thanks!

[@DivingDonut]

Do you mean the tang is skelletonized, like in the Eickhorn GEK, or the ESEE Izula? Usually skeletonized tangs are little weaker than "real" full tangs.

[@BushCampingTools]

Galgenvogel Depends on what kind of design the tang is, ie if FEA has been used to obtain the best strength and lower the overall weight. I have had full tang knives fail but it was due to a brittle fracture and more than likely a poor heat treatment. See my blog about full tang knives and I go into this in more detail

[@strikershockey]

G'day Mate. I am loving the reviews. Straight to the point no bullshit Aussie style. I am in the market for a new blade and am looking hard at the Cudeman MT 5 or the Kizlyar Echo. I like the Cudeman for traditional looking wood scales and the leather sheath ( non military so not to scare the feebles out there). I know you have reviewed the MT 1 and gave it a thumbs up. Is the fit and finish of cudeman comparable with the Kizlyar. I do not want to hack down the bush but as you know it will be used for processing very hard Aust native wood on occasion when tinder is wet. Your thoughts please mate. Cheers Mick

[@BushCampingTools]

Hi Mick, thanks for your comments, keep watching! I have to say in this order Kizlyar Supremes fit and finish is MUCH better than the Cudemans and I think, but don't quote me, the price may be similar??? If you want a good Spanish made knife look towards the Rhino or Kodiak in Sandvik's 14C28N. from Muela. I spent a long long time researching on these latter two models before buying them and deciding to field test them. They are traditional style knives while the Kizlyar Supreme knives look a little more modern but still have traditional blade shapes (in some models). I am about to upload a long field test of Kizlyar Supremes Maximus. Not sure how old you are but I have an original PUMA Hunter's friend made in Germany. It went on ALL of my hunting trips in the outback, one knife for dressing game same one for eating/camp duties, Not made anymore to the same standard at all but the Maximus in D2 come pretty damn close anyway hope this helps, stay tuned and thanks for watching. Trying to keep a good standard of reviews.

[@strikershockey]

BushCampingTools Hey mate I am nearly fifty and have had a few knives in my time but beyond being a hard core camper I have been watching knife reviews nearly every day since 2009. Your reviews are very honest straight to point and to me are very trustworthy. As much as I like to see paper being cut, but as you pointed out in one video I realise that cutting paper in a camping situation let alone survival situation is very unrealistic and just stupid. GET a GRIP hahahha To me a knife must be functional and practical. I will take on board your advice and see what is best for me. Again mate keep up the good work. Australia should be proud of their bush craft heritage and it fellas like you and some other Aussies on youtube only do good by promoting this wonderful pastime. keep well and cheers Mick

[@BushCampingTools]

Michael Little Hi thanks for the feedback mate re what I say. It's just my opinion but I'm trying to base that on all these years of being in the outdoors etc and pass on this knowledge for you guys. When I go into a hunting store/internet shopping etc it's a paradox of choice even for me and I figure for those who have never or have little experience with knives, or just want to see some reviews it might help them out in their choices. Yeah I guess I can be a bit blunt but you certainly know what I mean by the "paper test" A much better test ( and I have seen some channels do this, the more knowledgeable ones) show the test of knives cutting tomatoes, as everyone knows you really need a sharp knife to do this, of course it's not always practical to have tomatoes with you in the field LOL Once again thanks for your comments.

[@peterandersson4295]

Hi! Love your review of cudeman knifes. U like them alot? I do. Any plans on reviewing the newly released cudeman 251? Seems alot like the 298 exept for longer blade (1cm+) but not as wide (-3mm) and -0.5mm in blade thickness and Another steel: N690co böhler which is said to be very good. The short blade on the 298 kept me from buying. Having their folder 325 (love it) and the littlebrother to cudeman 299: 291 with 15cm blade instead of 18cm. U reviewed the 299 model i think. Can highly reformens the 291.

[@peterandersson4295]

Recommend*

[@BushCampingTools]

Hi there, yeah I have a bit of a thing for some Spanish made knives. I'll look into that model, although I'm about to get divorced if too many more knives start appearing in the house or I spend too much time in damn knife shops LOL! Let me check it out.

[@BushCampingTools]

Yeah that 251 looks good! Just checked it out!

[@peterandersson4295]

Yeah, looks like a real versatile knife and a real Good slicer/cutter, thinking of the flat grind and a not so thick blade. Should be useful in food prep etc.

[@leobruno9102]

Hi, it's about "* This is NOT a full tang knife*" look at that by the way .... www.blackscoutsurvival.com/2012/05/becker-bk2-micarta-grip-upgrade.html

[@ryhtz]

This IS a full tang knife .

[@BushCampingTools]

+Blind Fredy Hi, yes and no. Technically yes as the tang is the full width and extends all the way to the butt end. No because it has been skeletonized/machined out and so is quite hollow inside, otherwise this knife would be handle heavy. The bottom line is that it performed flawlessly for me. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@peterandersson4295]

@Bush Camping Tools: Women are strange that way cus they have problems understanding why you would want another knife..and another..and another...and another... "I like it" just doesn't seem to cut it..:)

[@BushCampingTools]

LOL!!! But what happens if you question them about the number of shoes, handbags, ear rings etc etc!