The Morakniv Companion is probably the first knife that comes to mind when anyone mentions the words “Mora Knife”.
The companion is now available in a plethora of versions, from these brightly coloured editions to heavy-duty, carbon steel, and even a cork handled floating version. The two brightly coloured editions belong to two of my children.
First off I really like the bright colour of these knives, they might not be a traditional brown or black but the colour has a purpose. The colours really do pop, they catch your eye and make the knife very visible to you and anyone around you. This makes the knife safer when in use, and easier to seen when you or someone else has put it down, especially on the ground.
The handles a nice grippy rubberised material with a little bit of give. There is a subtle palm swell and a flare at both the front and the back of the handle which locks it into your hand very well. This was a key feature in buying these knives for my children as they are comfortable to hold and minimal chances of their grip slipping.
The blades are 2.5mm stainless steel with a rounded spine and an equal amount of straight edge and curved edge. At 104mm long the blade is actually a really nice length even if it is slightly narrower than what I would call a traditional bushcraft knife. The edge is of course a classic scandi grind which comes very sharp out of the box, perhaps not shaving sharp but a nice clean paper slicing edge.
Putting the knife to the test the flat edge of the blade made easy work chamfering the top of a 30mm thick branch. This branch has been drying out since early March, I don’t know what wood it is but it’s reasonably hard at this point.
I then use the knife to carve a beaked notch into the side of the branch. The knife cut cleanly and easily with some nice fine shavings of wood. The tip of the knife is easy to control and light in the hand. Coming towards the end of the carving I did start to see some resistance from the sharp edge suggesting I was losing the sharpness but I was still able to complete the cuts with relative ease.
After the carving, you can see some minor edge damage on the curved edge. This knife was used before this review so wasn’t box-fresh, and on closer inspection, the damage is actually a slight burr on the edge, rather than any chips or indentation. A few passes on an appropriate sharpener will remove that burr and have it back to sharp in no time.
The included sheaths with these knives are brilliant. No, they don’t have that feeling of a natural leather sheath, but they are much better than a nylon sheath and not to mention very tough and safe. On the back of the sheath is a belt clip, and it is a proper clip rather than a loop, meaning that you can clip it on and off of a belt without having to remove your belt first. You can of course transfer it to bag straps or alike too.
A key feature of the sheath is the way that the knife locks into it, much like all Mora knives. The knife locks in with a distinctive ‘click’ and gives more than enough retention for the knife not to fall out. There is a small thumb point on the sheath to help ‘unlock’ the knife from the sheath as you draw it out. Up until this point the knife has been very ambidextrous but this thumb feature on the sheath is definatly a right handed design.
So overall this is a fantastic knife. It feels natural in the hand and easy to use. The colours and grippy handle make it safer to use and an ideal knife for beginners, including children. The stainless steel may not have the best edge retention but it can still tackle any task on the campsite, it’s easy to sharpen and there’s no worry about the blade rusting, which is another bonus for new knife owners.
I picked up these pair for less than £12 each from Springfields. Yes, only twelve pounds! For that price I recommend these knives to everyone, even if you just buy one to put in your pack as a backup knife, you really can’t go wrong, it really is a great companion.
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