Home > Archery Kit > Herbertz Belt knife

Herbertz Belt knife

Reviewed By Steve, 25 January 2010

The Perfect Archers Knife ?

 This is the question I asked myself when I saw the same words without the question mark issued as fact on the Flybow website. It caught my eye because despite the fact that I try to kid myself that I never miss the truth is that I still do.

At a shoot just before Christmas I missed on 2 occasions and both times the arrows hit wood, even with a field point I am still surprised how much penetration a moderate weight bow and fairly light arrow will get. The knife I carry is a rather fine blade from a Finnish company renown for their classic knives.  The knife doesn't get out much and each time the arrow was stuck so fast that a good deal of probing and digging was required, it's easy with a thin bladed knife to pry just a little too hard and snap the tip off, something I was in danger of doing and there is nothing less manly than asking to borrow someone elses' knife when your just doesn't cut the mustard (or the wood), a position I hope never to find myself in again.

That is how I came to be considering the purchase of a knife more suited to the rigours of hacking arrows out of trees.

Someone describing something as the perfect solution to a problem was like a red rag to a bull - so lets see how well this blade stacks up as an archers companion.

By Herbertz the box is marked just "messer", of course being German this means just "knife", for me that's a good start on several counts, knives with names usually turn out to be more for Rambo's than for use as utilitarian tools, secondly it's made in Solingen Germany, itself a guarantee of quality.

The blade is marked with C.Jul.Herbert, a serial number and AISI 420. This is the grade of steel used and indicates the various levels of elements contained in the steel, it's a standard specification and is of the rating one would expect to find in a quality knife blade. With this steel you would expect a hardness of Rockwell 55. Just so you know, expect to find Chromium 13%, Silicon 1%, Manganese 1%, Carbon 0.42-0.50%, the rest would be Iron. AISI 420 is used for components which require high tensile strength.

The business end is 5 inches long, the handle is just short of that giving an overall length of almost 10 inches, small enough to be useful but large enough to cope with rough tasks and it comes with a sturdy leather scabbard with a belt loop and a strap & popper button to retain the knife itself. The first thing you notice is the 1/1/4" wide blade which tapers only at the last inch and a half to a rounded point, that couple with the thickness of the back of the blade (3/16") leaves you with the impression of a very strong and sturdy knife, an excellent shape for digging and prying, the tip although sharp has plenty of meat on it and would be very difficult to break.

The handle is nice looking and upon closer inspection 3/4's of it is finished in stacked leather which not only offer superb grip but looks really good too. The very top of the handle is a combination of Cocobolo and layered fibreglass. The pommel is Brass as is the guard and the pommel also has a pre-drilled hole to take a lanyard, you can also see the tang of the blade at the base which is always a sign of a quality blade.

It has a very nice balance and feels good in the hand. A carpenter friend of mine always tells me that you need the right tools for the job and that's why my slinky Finnish knife will be coming off the belt and this Herbertz knife will be taking it's place.

An Archers knife needs to be able to handle being used for chopping, prying, digging, hammering and splitting, it also need to be handsome enough and macho enough so that when your mates say " let's have a look " it will draw admiring glances, this beauty ticks all the boxes and as far as being the perfect archers knife goes it's as close as I have come to finding one.

Weight 299g

Handle 11.7cm                4 3/4"

Blade   12.7cm                5"

Overall Length 24.4cm      9 3/4 "

Every archer should have a knife, we recommend that you get yours from Flybow, who stock a range of fantastic Traditional Archery Products, and when you do, please mention Archers-Review. .

http://www.flybowshop.com

Rating
Features & Design
I don't imagine the designers of this knife had an archer in mind when they concieved this knife, but it fulfills all the requirements of one.
Performance
Excellent, the most common function of an archers knife will be trying to open a split to allow an arrow to be pulled free. The robust, thick and strong blade is perfect for this task.
Value for Money
Quality never comes cheap but this knife is surprisingly affordable.
Overall
As an archers knife Flybow pretty much hit the nail on the head - " it's perfect" however this knife will happily perform all the tasks required of a knife even if you never miss !

 

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Steve Nicholson and Andy Gilfrin, are real archers interested in the best archery suppliers have to offer. In our search for the very best bow, arrows and equipment we have shot, used and worn pretty much everything on offer.

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Essential Details
What : Herbertz Belt knife Price : Euro 39 Where : http://www.flybowshop.com

 

A nice thick spine gives this knife the strength to really get stuck in.

At just a tad under 10" it's a very useable size.

Secure popper keeps the knife retained in the scabbard.

Nicely finished at the pommel.

A tough utility knife, ready for some action.

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