Expert Review: Morakniv Companion Knife

When customers come into our shop looking for a knife, one of our questions, in addition to asking what sorts of tasks they're looking to use the knife for, if they have a preference of steel type, and taking their hand size into consideration, is to ask about budget. If the customer answers that they have a limited budget, or want to keep costs down, one knife is perpetually recommended: the Morakniv Companion.

Why? To fully appreciate this knife, one must delve into the history of Morakniv, and the knifemaking process in Sweden.

Knifemaking in and around the town of Mora, Sweden, has been going on for over 440 years. Early on, inhabitants, realizing that the sandy soils in the area were not good for agriculture, and having an abundance of minerals and other raw materials in the area, turned their attention to making buckles, cranes, bell parts and implements for the forestry industry, which eventually lead to the making of other steel forestry tools, including knives.

Swedish steel has long been renowned due to the low occurrence of impurities in Sweden's iron ore deposits, which makes for one of the highest quality steel alloys available today not only within Europe, but globally as well.

Combining multi-generational know-how, human innovation, advanced mechanization and technology as well as very high quality steels allows Morakniv to manufacture a knife like the Companion: a tough, highly functional tool that offers excellent blade quality which can be sharpened to a razor edge, can sustain it, and costs less than $25.

It's molded polymer handle is applied to the partial tang blade in 3 separate passes: a process which which provides strength and security (we've not seen a Companion blade separated from it's handle in over 15 years of business operation) as well as a comfortable, friction grip handle that is applied on the final pass of the molding process. The included molded sheath offers a clip attachment (as opposed to a belt loop) which makes it functional and useful in utility applications where the sheath can be clipped into a pocket, or onto a pack, but for those users looking to wear the knife predominantly their hip and belt, we do suggest upgrading the sheath to one such as our standard brown leather sheath.

The Companion sports a Scandinavian grind: the grind that after hundreds of years of field testing by Scandinavians (hence it's name) has been established as one of the most practical, useful, keenly edged, and easy to sharpen grinds available for knives - making it well suited for all sorts of applications including utility use (cutting rope/lines, tubes/hoses, general knife use), wood working (whittling, carving, shaping, shaving), as well as other outdoor and camp chores (food prep, skinning, peeling, etc..).

Available in either stainless or carbon steels (we suggest going with stainless, unless you have a specific preference for carbon steel, and understand the care and maintenance routines required with carbon steel blades), in 2 blade thicknesses (standard 2mm, or 3.2mm for those looking for a thicker, more robust knife) and in either military green, high vis orange, or Dala red the Morakniv Companion is that tried and true, reliable, low cost, high quality option for those looking for an all around outdoor knife without breaking the bank.