Speaker A
So, you know you're beloved Mora Garberg. Well, it's time to dump that old tired blade for a better alternative. At least, that's what Victorinox would like us to do with their recent release of the Venture fixed blade series. This Sandvik 14C 28N Swiss-made knife was clearly created to take a big chunk out of the kingdom of bushcraft that the Mora Garberg has been reigning in for many years now. The Venture is attempting to do that with different design characteristics and features so that it's not just another Garberg clone. But there are definitely a few stumbling blocks that this knife is going to have to overcome if it's going to usurp the role that the Mora Garberg has in many of our rotations when we go on our outdoor adventures or just utility around our property. And so, I can't wait to unpack all the capabilities and limitations of this tool with you. Thanks for joining me today. I'm Aaron. This is Gideon's Tactical. And as we dive right in, I want to point out this first characteristic that's very rare on most knives. It's back here by the full tang. It goes all the way through the polymer handle and comes out the back. This lanyard hole is cut out in a hex formation to be able to handle most quarter-inch pallet bits so that you can then bore out a hole for different bushcrafts that you may be doing. I tested it out on about a half-inch, maybe it was three-quarter-inch thick piece of wood. Took me a few minutes for sure. So, I mean, it's to do in a pinch. If you want to lighten your load, a two-handed auger would obviously be way better if you're doing several of these, but one or two that you need to do, it is absolutely doable and gives an extra layer of capability for those of you who really like to build and craft on your adventures in the bush. Now, on top of that, it's got a nice sharp edge all the way back there on that exposed tang portion that can not only throw sparks if you want to, but is actually designed to help easily cut out the bowl of a spoon. So, if you like doing spoon carving, this will actually speed up that process because that's one of the trickiest parts, is, you know, cutting into that bowl. Now, as I was doing it, it can definitely do it. You'll be there a while before you get through, at least with a piece of wood I was using. But I remembered, well, the Mora Garberg has that as well. It's got a razor-sharp, you know, striker portion back there so you can throw sparks. Now, it's wider and more recessed, so you're not going to get as deep with it, but in a pinch, you could do it with the Mora Garberg as well. But the Swiss Army Venture is definitely designed to do that, so that's a cool two, you know, double feature that this knife has that a lot of other designs don't offer. And since we're on the back end, let's hit this handle real quick, which is a polymer over that full tang construction. And you're going to get really nice contouring. It's about 4.75 inches overall handle length, good kind of swell in the middle, a little bit of tapering near the front and back. The texturing is pretty cool. It is the Victorinox-like logo, and it says Victorinox all over the place. Little ribs up top and down below. No hot spots anywhere on this. I mean, it's definitely designed to grip in any reverse angle, whatever you would want. Fills out my large size hands very nicely, even with gloves on. I'll have plenty of real estate. A little bit of a guard there, actually pretty good-sized guard, in fact, a lot more than what you're going to get on a Garberg. So, if you like having a deeper guard and just more control in that way, a little bit more safety, if you will, this will have that. Nice scalloping on either side there so you can do pinch pulls, you know, guide the blade if you're doing draw cuts, things like that. And then you can get it in this OD green, almost like a natural green. It's not really OD green, and then you can get red, you know, stereotypical of Victorinox, and then black as well. And I would argue this is an ultra-light knife being over four inches in blade length but coming in at 4.1 ounces for the knife itself and about five and a half if I remember correctly with the sheath. That means that's a third less in weight than the Mora Garberg, which is going to be six ounces for the knife itself and then I think seven and a half or even eight with the base model polymer sheath. Now, there's a pro version that comes with a bow drill divot hole and a few extra features in the sheath that we'll talk about a little bit later. This model does not have that. It will be a little bit heavier because of that material in the handle for the pro series. But when you hold the standard Venture versus the Garberg, you can definitely tell that the Venture is lighter, quicker, and more nimble, whereas the Garberg is definitely a little bit denser, feels a little bit heavier, and a little bit more robust. And that robustness is going to play into the blade performance where I have discovered that there's a potential fatal flaw in the blade on the Venture, and we're going to unpack what that looks like and whether or not we can overcome it and overlook it or not. But before we do that, I want to give a quick shout out to today's sponsor, which is LA Police Gear. Now, they've been giving us access to tons of excellent brands for over 20 years, but you may not be aware that they are a direct supplier of Danner boots and footwear, and they've recently gotten a large influx of styles and designs for both men and women. And so, I recently picked up a pair of their Free Spirit Monks Robe hiking boots, and my wife scored a pair of their Inquire Chukka boots, and they have been our constant companions as we've been exploring the Rocky Mountains this fall. And with plenty of designs to choose from, from their trail runners to more casual design hiking boots and hunting boots, you'll be able to find the right style for your next adventure. So, guys, I'll have a link in the description below this video over to the LA Police Gear website as well as my exclusive 10% off promo code that you can apply site-wide to all types of different gear and equipment. So, I invite you to click that link, hop on over, and check out all they have to offer. Now, let's set all the highs before that one low with this blade profile. Now, at 4.3 inches overall blade length into a spear point design with a full flat grind with Sandvik 14C20 and Rockwell 59, which is really nice. That's actually on the blade versus what Mora has been doing lately, which is really annoying, which just says recycled stainless steel across the website, across all their blades. It's fine to say that, but like, tell us what type of steel first. Say Sandvik 14C 28N, recycled stainless steel, and give us the Rockwell. Say 12C 27, Sandvik, recycled stainless steel, and then give us the Bro. You know, it's just, it feels like they're kind of hiding the ball. It's really annoying. So, anyway, the blade, what makes me and probably a lot of you gravitate to it is because it's a full flat. We have so many skinny grinds on the market. I love scandies; they're great, but there is an extra level of utility that full flat grinds can sometimes give us. And this offers a very classic profile in that mainly, and where you're going to see this really excel is in slicing, meaning like food prep. This is an excellent food prep knife. It's a great steak knife to have just on your body all the time or when you're camping, you know, out in the wilderness doing your bushcrafting, whatever it is. This is superb for that. And, you know, meat processing and really particularly like harder fruits and vegetables. That's where a flat full flat will definitely outperform a scandi. That Mora is not fun to use doing food prep. I don't enjoy using it. I way prefer this blade, and it will excel in that. And then just general slicing, like if you're doing a lot of cardboard, man-made material, doing those types of activities, this edge geometry, because the blade is only 0.13 on the thickness, an eighth of an inch thick, um, just to hair over Nathan and she—
