Crocodile Hunter

This is a beautiful knife. Almost too nice to take camping. When I checked out Linder's official english website, the thickness is listed as 6.4 mm, but that's incorrect. Mine is about 3/16 inch (4.8 mm). All other dimensions listed are correct. When I contacted Linder, they said the knife's thickness will vary because of the way it's produced. Apparently, they machine press it when red hot or something like that, so it's not just bar steel ground down into a knife, which would have resulted in uniform spine thickness for all samples. One thing that's a concern is that it appears to be a stick tang going into the guard. A stick tang, if done right, can be plenty strong enough. I think that the way Linder makes this, it's supposed to be stronger than the stock removal method. Hopefully the C60 German carbon steel's tang is strong enough to withstand heavy chopping. I don't know if I would baton with this. First of all, it's too nice looking, but secondly, I'd only baton with a very strong full tang slab handled knife or maybe a Cold Steel trailmaster or recon scout. So I haven't had a chance to test the steel yet, but I'm impressed with the overall quality and good balance and feel confident that it'll do fine. Made in Solingen, Germany, this knife feels much more expensive than the price. The handle is beautifully done as well and, with both a guard and a pommel, is not likely to slip out of your hand. I have no idea whether the handle will withstand the elements. Best to wipe off water as soon as possible and shield it from rain, as carbon steel will rust. Keep the blade slightly oiled when not in use. They provide an average to crappy leather sheath - no way would I take this knife camping in that. There is little to no retention, so you have to use the small leather band with its snap. You'll have to either make a satisfactory sheath yourself or get one custom made. It's a big knife that feels pretty quick and balanced in your hand. I suppose if you want a survival knife that you can bet your life on, then a better choice might be the Tops Condor Alert. If you're looking for a beautiful, modified large bowie style for camping (light to medium use), I'd recommend this highly.Update: Linder's website has fixed the inaccurate thickness description. It now says it's 5 mm thick, which is approximately correct.

Well worth the money

Construction is outstanding and it came insanely sharp right out of the box. It's a carbon blade, about 3/16" thick and weight forward so it's a bruiser. I did end up stripping the thin finish off the cocobolo handle and letting the natural oils in the wood serve as the finish. Much smoother grip now. Keep a light film of oil on the blade to avoid rust. Sheath is thick hand-stitched leather that matches the quality of the knife.