Hey everyone David C Andersen here
coming at you from the woods behind the
KnifeCenter because today we're taking
the TM hunt m18 out for a spin.
Let's check it out. So the M18 by T.M. Hunt
certainly looks like nothing else out
there. But while it may seem a little bit
outlandish every curve and edge on this
has been very carefully thought out. The
more you actually use this knife the
more it makes sense. Today we're gonna go through each section of this blade and
show you exactly what it can do. Now Todd
Hunt is very well known for the
performance he's able to get out of O1
 tool steel and that's why the m18
features a blade that's about ten inches.
That's a full quarter inch thick made of
O1. They've got very girthy handles
that are very easy to hold on to. They are
contoured very nicely so you have a lot
of traction even though there's not a
lot of texture on these handles. So the
front section of the M18 is made for
chopping because of that it's convex
ground with a pretty thick secondary
bevel that's gonna help it withstand
these hardcore chopping tasks. We're
gonna put it through some of that right
now.
Make sure the lanyard here is tight
enough
get a little bit of security.
So I've not spent too much time at all
hitting on this big log and you can
already see quite the gouge that it's
left out. Now this is a pretty big log to
be tackling with a knife like that but
it's still as you can see, didn't do a
bad job at all. The way I'm using the
knife right now I'm actually choking
back a little bit on the handle so that
my pinkie finger actually wraps around
the other side of the bird's beak here.
Combine that with the lanyard here for
retention and it allows you to get a
really good snap cut going with this
blade which is going to magnify your
force when you're doing stuff like this.
So I don't have a ruler out here to
measure but I'd say that this log right
here was maybe about six inches in
diameter that's probably a little more
than you'd want to normally tackle with
the M18 but it's good to know that the
knife can stand up to it if you really
need to do it. This is gonna be even
better though going through smaller logs
and far fewer swings so we're gonna see
if we can find some stuff Down here
that's ready to be taken down. So we've
actually got a lot of younger trees out
here that are growing pretty closely
together which means they're a little
bit in competition with each other. So we
know we can safely remove this one right
here and demonstrate what the m18 can do
on Greenwood
That was cool. So now that we've got this
down it's a good opportunity to take the
m18 and see what it'll do on some
lighter stuff where you might usually
use a machete such as delimbing the top
of this tree right here. So it is a bit
heavy to be using all day long like a
normal machete but it is gonna get the
job done and for those heavier chopping
tasks that a machete just won't cut it
this will also get the job done.
So it's a good bridge to being that one
tool option for all your yard work and
survival needs. so normally if I was
taking this tree down for myself I would
have taken it down a little bit closer
to the root but the reason I cut it off
up here not only did it look a little
nicer on the camera but I'm also going
to use this since it's propped up and
stable to demonstrate why the M18 is
great in a draw knife scenario.
So while the chopping section at the
front is convexed as I mentioned this
recurve section of the back is actually
hollow ground. That's going to make the
shoulders right behind the edge a little
more narrow than up here which is going
to help it to slice a little better. This
is also a shape that works very well as
I said when using this in a draw knife
configuration it's also very comfortable.
Because on the back of the spine here
this part where it dips down behind the
convex edge it's actually completely
crowned right here and that does a
couple of different things. But in this
context it makes it very easy to hold
onto with your fingers when you're using
it as I said as a draw knife so first
I'm going to clear a little of the bark
here and then see how fine curls we can
make pulling up with that section there.
Ss you can see it's working very well at
removing the bark so if you were
preparing logs or timbers for some sort
of survival or bushcraft shelter that's
going to make a great tool for clearing
off that bark and giving yourself a
smoother surface to work with.
So even though I wound up cutting off a
lot of my curls as I was doing that it
was doing a very good job so now let's
see how it works in a forward grip for
doing more controlled feather sticking.
So I have been having a little bit of
trouble not cutting off my curls as I'm
pushing through this but that's more
down to my technique as well as this
particular piece of wood. I've never been
the best feather sticker but as you can
see right here we're certainly get
plenty of curls off of that piece right
there which is indicative of what I've
been achieving with this this whole time.
There is another area of this blade that
I found to work well for feather
sticking and that's the forward section
of this recurve right before it
transitions to the convex and if you
hold it just so I'm pinching up on the
blade a little bit right here and you
can actually use that to carefully pull
towards you and achieve a similar result.
As you can see I've got plenty of small
curls coming off of this now. What I
would normally do in this sort of
situation because I am accidentally
cutting all of these off is underneath
of the area you're doing this you can
place either a bandana or a smog to catch
all of these things that way you'll be
easy to collect them when you're ready
to start your fire. So if there's any one
thing you can do to test out an outdoors
knife that really gives you an idea of
how it's gonna perform you can make a
tent stake with it doing this is going
to require a few different types of cuts
both including long stripping motions as
well as finer motions so we're going to
use the m18 now to make ourselves a tent
stake. So I'm gonna use this section here
that I was using to feather stick here
just a moment ago start with the length
I need and I'm gonna score all around
the side
so I've essentially made a stop cut that
goes all around the edge here. Now I can
do the next part two ways of course I
could chop with this and just chop
straight through where I want but
because I want to test the smaller
dexterity right now first by push cuts
cutting in towards that stop but the
other thing you can do with the M18 with
this front section here it can function
almost like a wood chisel. So if I have
this braced I can actually get in use my
thumb on the back here and do my push
cuts with the end of the knife. Whichever
is easier for you go ahead and do it
that way but having that there gives you
one more option to use the tool in a
different way.
Depending on what you're doing this can
actually be a little bit more
controllable by doing it this way than
it was if you were doing it in a typical
grip. Now this is not bad by any means
but you do have a little bit more weight
out here to contend with when you are
doing it that way but again having those
multiple options as a way to do it is
very helpful cut away the curls.
Now despite the weight of this knife I'm
actually not having much trouble at all
doing these finer tasks. So far the
balance of this knife sits a little bit
forward right about where the edge
starts and because of that when I'm
choking up to do those smaller tasks
like so especially with my thumb behind
here on the spine I'm actually working
right along the pivot point. So the edge
is coming into contact with the wood
with equal weight on either side so that
makes it very easy to control despite
the size of the M18.
So I'm just gonna snap this off now.
Now I want to clean this top up just a
little bit real quick I'm gonna get rid
of some of this bark.
I'm gonna come in with a reverse grip
keeping my thumb well below the level
here and just kind of shear some of this
off. You can also do this of course in a
typical forward grip as well.
basically we just want to level that out
a little bit to provide a smoother
surface when we go to hammer this into
the ground. Next step we're actually
going to want to crown the edges on this
a little bit which is gonna help keep
this from splitting when we're hammering
on it. For this I'm just gonna go in
with a reverse grip just chew a little
bit off as I go around. I'm doing this
the same way as I would be doing it with
a smaller knife.
next up we're gonna want to put a small
notch up here at the top to catch our
guy line that's gonna secure our tarp
when we drive this into the ground. Now
you can do this anywhere of course but
we actually had a small branch coming
out right here and that forms a small
knot. so I'm gonna put it right
underneath that so that the strength of
the knot right there reinforces it. Again
start with a stop cut and then we're
gonna come in like so.
Again pinched up like this for the stop
cuts very balanced very easy to control.
There we go that should do it right
there. So I could clean this up a little
bit more but the only thing really left
to do is to put a point on it and when
I'm doing points like this again with a
big knife like this I could chop with it
but I'm testing the smaller knife skills
of this right now and when I'm putting a
point on a tent stake I like to use the
chest lever grip and when I'm doing a
chest lever grip instead of holding the
knife as it indexes naturally you're
gonna rotate at 90 degrees in your hand
then you're gonna take the knife and
brace it against your chest and bring
the stick into the edge and this is
gonna allow you to exert a lot of
pressure and a lot of leverage onto this
cut allowing you to get a bigger cut
with less effort no problem.
Smooth it out just a little bit more so
again no problem with the M18 on these
smaller tasks. It is a little bit more
fatiguing than it would be with a
smaller knife that's to be expected that
said the balance is very good as I
mentioned throughout. Makes it very easy
to control it despite the length and the
weight. One thing to keep in mind when
you're making the point on your tent
stake is that the very center of your
stick is gonna be pithy and soft so you
want to make sure your point is a little
bit off-center from that Center pith
right there. So not my best work but
that's a perfectly serviceable tent
stake right there made with the M18. So
these have all been fairly conventional
grips when it comes to this knife so far
but there's another one I haven't shown
you yet. Now you have seen me using this
lanyard when I was chopping but there's
actually another use that's integral to
the design of this knife I've buried
this knife in the tree that we chopped
down to keep it secure while I do this
but if you hold the lanyard up like so
and carry your arm forward through it
you're actually able to use this hole at
the front to index we've got some nice
jimping right here and you can actually
use this to use this section of the edge
for smaller tasks. Now the beauty of this
when you have the lanyard properly
tensioned is it holds it nice and snug
to your arm and despite the length and
the weight of this knife you're not
fighting it. Your arm is actually holding
the weight which allows you to use this
section very acutely and very precise.
Now I don't have anything to demonstrate
this on out here but I've actually seen
someone who's used this section of a
knife to skin a deer and although this
grip doesn't perfectly work for me I've
even seen some folks who prefer it when
doing the smaller tasks like so. Again it
is useful because the weight of the
knife is supported and it allows you to
get your thumb up here on the jimped
section and be very precise with your
cuts. So as we've been walking back into
the woods to get to our next spot I want
to show you the sheath real quick which
is how I've been carrying this down as
we're moving. Now there is no belt
attachment to this sheath so you are
either going to carry it in hand like so
or keep it in your pack. It is a Kydex
system quite obviously and there are
plenty of grommets along the side that
are gonna allow you to attach it to your
pack in a different 
manor if that's what you wish. Now this
is a spine draw design. You're not gonna
be actually pulling the knife out this
way as you can see the back is open but
the knife is secured by a strap with
a pull the dot snap here on the other
side now a pull the dot snap is a
little bit different than a standard
snap and that it can only be disengaged
if you're pulling it in one direction.
It's not gonna come loose if you try to
pry it this way so that makes it a
little bit more secure but when you're
ready to use the tool simply pop that up
kick the tool up out of the back. You're
ready to rock. So next up we're getting
ready to do everyone's favorite
controversial subject and that's battoning.
I'm going to use this stick to beat this
m18 through this log right here. So this
is another area where this crown section
of spine here comes in very handy this
is the area I'm gonna want to use to
baton and it's gonna allow me to beat on
the back of this without tearing up my
piece of wood quite so much as it would
as if it were a perfectly square spine.
also when I get down a little deeper
that jimp section at the front is gonna
be very nice for grabbing the baton and
getting enough transfer of power to keep
on splitting.
So as you can see the M18 had absolutely
no problem powering through this.
now there's gonna be a lot of people out
there who say that battoning a knife is
abuse and while you're not wrong on a
knife that's this hardcore and meant to
be used in extreme conditions like this
 if they can't stand up to this you got the
wrong knife and I'm pleased to say that
the m18 is not the wrong knife. When it
comes to a hard use tool, a single tool
option for survival the M18 is actually
going to be a fantastic option and it's
going to be hard to beat for the
versatility. If  you want to get your hands
on one of these click the link in the
description below to head over to
KnifeCenter.com
