Morakniv510 Carbon Steel Craftline Allround Knife with Sheath, 3.75 Inch

Basic info, as measured from the one in my hand:* 96.2mm blade* 112mm handle* 227mm when in sheath* 66 grams for the knife, 23 grams for the sheath (total 89 grams)Blade:Much better metal that I expected for such a low price. It's not stainless- stainless is much softer. And it needs to be a hard metal because the "Scandinavian grind" (which means there's just one bevel on each side of an otherwise flat bar of metal) can be a pain. To sharpen a "scandi" ground knife you have to remove a lot more metal than on something with a secondary bevel. I would not recommend getting one of these in stainless unless you plan to put a secondary bevel on it.As you can expect from a knife at this price-point (they're practically giving them away) corners have been cut: the blade arrives plenty sharp, but the back of the blade is completely raw. This rounded edge (which is loaded with polishing compound, see picture) is too slick to effectively strike a ferrocerium rod and make meaningful sparks. If you are going to use this for fire-starting your first step should be to grind the back to a usable shape.Handle:Cheap feeling injection molded plastic, feels like what they make molded garbage cans from. That's not a bad thing in terms of durability (garbage cans are meant to sit outside for years), but it will feel cheap in your hands. The plastic contributes to its relatively light weight. There are mold lines as well as a a small lump where the sprue was quickly cut away. I don't think the mold lines are significant enough to be uncomfortable. The texture is ok, but waxy. I will probably take it to a sander...Sheath:I see a lot of complaints about the sheath but honestly it's fine. It's the same tough-but-waxy plastic used on the handle. It securely holds the knife with a satisfying "click." It is light weight and protects the blade. I might drill a small hole at the tip to make sure water doesn't accumulate in it.Overall thoughts:I'm a wildlife photographer that often hikes for days to get far enough from the influence of civilization to see how beautiful this blue marble really is. It's also, of course, a rather dangerous marble at times. I've been carrying a folding knife for a long time because it's very light, but folders are much more likely to break...possibly both injuring you and leaving you without an important tool. I don't want to add a lot of weight to what I carry, so a bigger or thicker knife would likely end up in the box full of other items that never seem to go with me.It's not a pretty knife. It's a very simple blade design with a plastic molded handle and a plastic molded sheath. Its proportions aren't attractive, but it is quite functional. The blade is strong and hard and I think the handle isn't going to fail me any time soon. I understand it isn't a full-tang design, but if it was that would contribute to weight. For the uninitiated: the tang is how much of the metal used for the blade extends in to the handle at similar thickness. Yes, if a handle shatters a full tang knife is still a pretty good tool and can be wrapped with something to make it comfortable again. On a knife like this you would have to really, really want to break that handle to find yourself in that situation.Uses:* Yes, of course you could "baton" it, as in hit it with a stick to cut through things. No, of course it's not as good as having a hatchet or axe with you.* I thought it would be nice if it had even a couple serrations, as cutting through dyneema/amsteel/spectra rope can be very slippery, but this sliced through a dyneema rope right out of the box with absolute ease.* You need to take the top edge to a grinder to make it any good for striking a fire.* It properly looks like a simple tool rather than a weapon, so keeping one in your trunk probably won't scare your less woodsy friends or curious officers.* If you drilled a hole in the handle for a tether it would probably make a great dive knife, other than the risk of the carbon steel blade rusting. You'd have to be pretty meticulous about cleaning it after every dive.* The lack of a secondary bevel is very helpful for shaving pieces of wood in to thin, fluffy tinder for getting a fire going.* While I have no interest in eating the animals that I'm taking photos of, I'm sure you could use it to dress one if you're so inclined. It's plenty sharp enough. I would imagine it would have the same dive-knife problem of needing careful cleaning to avoid rust.* I guess you could take this thru-hiking, but it wouldn't be my first choice. I find for such things you only just barely need a knife at all, and a basic mini swiss army knife is lighter with the added benefit of basic hygiene tools. Don't mess with infection.

The steel is some European type which is supposed to be the same as 1095, and it is hardened to 58-60rc which is as hard as many fancy brands make their best stuff (more modern steels have smoother grain structure and more wear resistance, but this matches most for hardness and durability). And not being loaded up with chromium to make it stainless, it remains easy to sharpen even at high hardness. Everyone should have at least one Mora and keep it in mind when judging more expensive knives.A version of this used to be the "Basic" model (with a one-side finger guard). It would probably be the same price, or even a hair cheaper, as the new 511 Craftline-style "Basic" if it were produced and wholesaled in the same quantities. But like most Moras, even at a small increase it's still a great deal.The 511 is a very good deal and its handle is better for more intense work, but I find the 510 handle is fine for anything less than long or rough tasks, and I actually prefer the 510's narrower handle for closeup work and more basic uses. The 511 is not bad, but I do feel just slightly ham-fisted sometimes when I use it.The 510 is easier to click into the sheath. Neither takes much force at all, but the 511 can fail to engage correctly if you push it in at the wrong angle. The 510 is basically impossible to do incorrectly. Either of them click in well enough to prevent accidentally slipping out, but you will be disappointed if you go all paratrooper and try shaking them upside down.If you are using this knife for outdoor tasks where the factory Scandi bevel (one bevel all the way to the edge) is useful, sharpen it by laying that bevel flat on the stone as is recommended. But if you just want it for a good basic utility knife replacing any of the many other knife brands, it's also fine to sharpen it on a preset-angle ceramic V-style sharpener and do a micro bevel at the edge similar to a normal knife. Just be VERY gentle when starting out so you don't bend the edge. It will sharpen very fast and easy.

Very sharp right out of box. Holds edge tooJust keep it dry and clean, this ultra high carbon steel will rust like no other if neglected. Better yet spray it with wd40 or wipe it down with oil. NO ISSUES 100% GREAT!

This knife is great. Lightweight at only a few ounces with the sheath and the price is awesome. The handle is a little slick, but the shape is comfortable in several grips. The sheath surprisingly has decent retention too. Drawback of the sheath is that it can only be attached to a button, so can't carry on a belt without some type of loop with a button on it. But still a keeper.

I cut the belt loop off of the sheath entirely and appendix carry my moras. I really like the 510. It weighs nothing and still gives you the rigidity of a fixed blade for edc use. Mainly just a good stropping to keep it very sharp and you’re good to go. Some people in today’s unfortunate world may be intimidated by a fixed blade coming out from your appendix so i usually have an Opinel or my wingman in my side pocket for “pocket knife” tasks when needed. Just love the razor sharpness and ease to maintain that sharpness with Mora and Opinel.