Mark Hill Knives: Raven Review

Been a while since I’ve had any custom cutlery pass though my hands but sometimes curiosity gets the better of me.  As I’ve proved with my own cackhanded efforts, any chump can make a passable cutting tool, designing a nice shape is a bit harder, and actually making them to a finish where you’d think twice about abusing them is a quantum leap on from there. Mark Hill has been making a name for himself showing his work on BCUK and BB, and very nice it looks too. When the chance to pick up a ‘Raven’ in a trade came up, I used it to kid myself I am actually getting rid of some of my hoard.

Mark Hill makes most of the classic blade shapes which chronicle the history of the survival knife.
I particularly like his 1800′s Kephart,  from the last century he does a ‘Woodlore’ as popularised by Ray Mears, with this century represented by his homage to the Raven designed by Rob Bailey and popularised by well-known outdoor storyteller Bear Grylls.

Finish and fit are pretty good, you’ve got to get very very close to see the slight by-hand imperfections that give the knife its sense of handmade by one maker.

A suburban dad blogging about: Gear Freakery, Prepping, Rifles, Archery, Deer Hunting, Fishing, Urban Hunting and Homesteading, Locavore Cooking, and some Storytelling.