United Cutlery Bushmaster Bushcraft Tactical Field Fixed Blade Knife Review

For over twenty years United Cutlery has been distinguished by their unique and innovative product designs that cover a wide range of knives and swords, from functional to fantasy. United Cutlery is well known for their movie prop replicas, fantasy collectibles, their great selection of functional sport and utility knives, traditional samurai swords, and their unique designer knives and swords by Kit Rae and Gil Hibben. Their knives are often imitated, but they are never exceeded. United Cutlery strives to make their knives and swords to the highest standards in the industry, with superior value, quality, performance, great customer service, and prices that cannot be beat.

Today, we will be talking about the United Cutlery Bushmaster Bushcraft Tactical Field Fixed Blade that sports a Black 1095 Carbon Blade.

The Blade:

The blade on this large knife is made out of 1095 Carbon Steel. 1095 is a very basic carbon steel. This formula of steel is most often used in different knives, because it is such a good blade steel. This formula has a carbon content of .95% which works to harden the steel. This level of carbon also works to reduce the amount of wear that a blade will experience over time. However, 1095 steel is not as tough as other types of steel due to the lower levels of manganese, which works to harden the steel. And the harder a steel gets, the less tough it is. This steel works to hold a great edge and is very easy to sharpen when used on knives. Unfortunately, this steel does rust easily. To combat how easily this steel rusts, the blade has a coated finish, but we’ll get to that later. Even though this steel is easy to sharpen, the blade does have a decent amount of thickness behind it, so even though it is brittle, it won’t snap. However, because it is a brittle steel, you will normally only find it on fixed blades, not on folding knives. Some care tips for this blade is to make sure that you rinse it off after very use, wipe it clean, and oil it once a week. The oiling will form a barrier that prevents moisture from reaching the steel. This is not a stainless steel, so it will stain easily, which again, is why this blade is coated. This is a low cost, tough steel and has been used in knives since World War II.

Because of the steel that is used, this blade almost certainly requires a coated finish. The coating is a black finish on this United Cutlery knife. A coated blade offers protection, non-glare, and a very pleasing look. They are often found in dark, neutral colors, which shows on this knife that has been coated in black. The look and feel of a coated blade are appealing, and it does give you light maintenance. Coatings do provide corrosion resistance, but unfortunately they will scratch off when subjected to heavy or long term usage. The coatings do help prevent wear, but once they have been scratched off, they will need to be recoated to maintain the same qualities that you desire from them. Coatings are not shiny and provide a matte surface, which makes them perfect for tactical knives, because it won’t allow the reflection to give you away in the field.

The Bushmaster Bushcraft Tactical knife has been carved into a drop point blade shape. The drop point blade shape is one of the most popular blade shapes that is in use today and for very good reason. The drop point blade shape is extremely versatile and makes a superior tool from hunting to survival, to everyday, to tactical knives. You really can’t go wrong with a drop point blade shape. Drop point knives are tough and strong and can stand up to almost anything. The most common place that you are going to find this blade is on a hunting knife, but you are definitely going to find it on a lot of other knives. The shape of the blade is formed by having the back edge of the knife run straight form the handle to the tip of the knife in a slow curved manner, which creates a lowered point. It is this lowered point that gives you more control and adds plenty of strength to the tip. It is this tip that separates the drop point blade shape from the clip point blade shape. They are both very versatile blade shapes and they do both sport a lowered point, which is what helps them be so easily controlled. However, a drop point blade shape has a broader tip, which gives it a lot more strength, but it does cut down significantly on your stabbing capabilities. Drop point blade shapes are not designed to stab or pierce and they aren’t going to. Clip point blades are designed to stab and pierce because they sport a much finer, thinner, and sharper tip. However, this also means that they are going to be prone to breaking. That being said, the broad point on a drop point blade shape is a major pro, but sometimes a drawback. But, it is the broad tip that gives it so much strength, which makes this blade shape a popular option on tactical and survival knives. Because the lowered tip makes it controllable, drop point blade shapes are popular on hunting knives. This tip makes it easier to avoid accidentally nicking internal organs and ruining the meat. One of the reasons that drop point blade shapes are so versatile is because it features such a large belly. This belly area is perfectly designed for slicing. Like I earlier mentioned, the broad tip is a pro, but it is also one of the drop point blade shapes only cons. Because this United Cutlery knife is a tactical field knife, the pros will definitely outweigh the cons, making the blade shape the perfect option for you and your next tactical knife.

The blade on this knife features a plain blade. This comes in handy when you are in the field because a plain blade is equipped to perform a lot more tasks than a serrated blade would. The only time a serrated blade would be better is if you were cutting through a rope or thicker material such as a branch. The plain blades do give cleaner cuts than a serrated blade would. And, the plain blade will help you perform slices, which will probably make up a good portion of the cuts that you need to perform with this knife.

The Handle:

The handle on this tactical knife is made out of Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon, or FRN. This material is a nylon-based plastic that is reinforced with Glass Giver and injection molded for use in knife handles. This material is one of the cheapest and toughest knife handle materials to produce in large scaled production knives. This material is not often seen in custom knives because it is optimized for large scale production with dies for injection molding, and is not very unique for custom made products. Even though this material is often viewed as a cheaper material, which it is, it does make for a very tough knife handle material and it can take some serious abuse. This material is pretty similar to other materials such as G-10, Carbon Fiber, and Micarta because they are all made out of fiberglass strands. However, FRN is much tougher and less brittle because the fibers are arranged haphazardly, so the knife cannot be stressed in a different direction. Those other materials are brittle because all of their fibers are arranged in one direction, so when the handle is stressed in other directions, the fibers start to break apart. This handle material is more flexible than G-10 and the other Resin Laminates, so it does not have the rigidity that is associated with them. But, it makes up for that in its impact toughness. Plus, because it is injection molded, almost any texture can be created on the surface. On this knife, the texture is elongated dimples across the entire handle.

The handle is easy to grasp not only because the texture is so significant, but because United Cutlery has added jimping across the spine of the handle. These small teeth give you more control when you are using the knife, especially when the going gets messy. Another benefit of this handle is that there are two deep finger grooves, which do give you a very solid grip, but also give you a comfortable grip on the knife. To protect your fingers from the razor sharp blade, there is a large finger guard. On the butt of the handle, there is a lanyard hole attached.

The Mechanism:

This is a fixed blade, which means that there is no moving mechanism. Fixed blades have a variety of benefits, especially when it comes to your tactical knife. For starters, they are strong and big. And no matter what size your fixed blade is, you are going to get the same strength behind the blade. And because there is no mechanism or moving parts, they don’t break. My favorite advantage of a fixed blade is that they are so easy to maintain. You do not have to worry about cleaning the hinge as you do with a folding knife. Plus, cleaning is straightforward and simple—all you really have to do is wipe down the handle and blade and oil the blade. You don’t have to worry about disassembling the knife to get all of the little pieces inside. One of the biggest tactical advantages to a fixed blade is that the blade is so long and thicker. The blades can be longer and thicker because they don’t have to fit inside of the handle. Another one of the major tactical advantages to a fixed blade is that they can be brought into play faster than a folding knife during tactical situations. Folding knives have to be removed from your pocket or bag and then deployed before you can use it. A fixed blade only has to be withdrawn from the sheath. The fixed blade also makes a great field knife because it is a superior survival tool. Because the knife is thicker, longer, and stronger, you can do a lot more tasks with it than just cut. You can dig, split wood, hunt, prepare food, and hammer with it.

The Sheath:

The sheath that comes with this United Cutlery blade is a nylon. Nylon is a material that is commonly used in knife sheaths. And, just like a leather sheath, nylon sheaths are strong and tough. However, nylon sheaths are mostly resistant to rot and mildew. They can also be in wetter environments or around water without breaking down. Plus, nylon sheaths aren’t easily scuffed or torn. However, nylon sheaths do break down and get stretched out over time, which means that your knife will stop fitting snugly in this sheath. While the sheath will keep working at this point, it will not be as secure or safe for your knife.

The Specs:

The blade on the Bushmaster Bushcraft knife is 5.5 inches long with a blade thickness of 0.22 inches. The handle on this knife is 5.25 inches long, with the overall length being 10.75 inches long. The knife weighs in at a hefty 13.9 ounces! The sheath weighs in at 3.6 ounces.

The Conclusion:

United Cutlery products offer a vast array of products–from tactical knives to throwing knives, swords, novelty items and seemingly everything in between. With an emphasis on providing the best quality product at a competitive price point, United Cutlery is slowly making a name for itself throughout the industry. Each full tang designed model is ideal for your next camping trip or urban adventure thanks to its high carbon steel for extra blade flex and a stout handle profile that contains both finger grooves and extra jimping. This model features a black FRN (Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon) handle, a drop point style blade in a black finish and the black heavy-duty nylon sheath features a security strap and elastic bands to house a knife sharpener or Ferro rod.