Testing The 2 Blade #48 Dogleg Trapper
I finally had an opportunity to try out a two blade #48 Dogleg Trappers last week and actually used it for something other than opening boxes! My journey up North was the perfect place to do a little whittling, maintenance and work around the campfire.
As soon as the knife came out, I’ve liked the way it lay in my hand as the slightly rounded butt fit nicely in my palm and the handle’s long enough to give you plenty to hang onto. The blade length was another appealing factor. It’s hard to find the perfect compromise in a larger ‘working’ knife with blades long enough to be practical yet not so long as to require a belt sheath.
The Dogleg gives me the feeling that the blades are longer then you’d expect to find in a knife this size. I’m sure it’s just an illusion rising from the relative low profile and the upsweep at the butt making it look like the knife is shorter then its 3 7/8” length. It’s not a small pocket knife.
While I’ve often been critical of the edge that comes on the Great Eastern knives, this knife was sharpened the way I like a blade to be sharpened. This isn’t a criticism of the edge on the factory knives, it’s just that I like a little flatter angle on my blades. I put it to work without touching the edge and it was right on the money for me. After a couple of days of fairly regular use, all it took was a quick hit on a leather strop to bring the edge back. No stoning required!!
(Never leave home without some ParaCord!!)
As I said, the handle is a great fit. The knife I grabbed for testing is an EDC with Burnt Stag handles. The stag has a perfect swell in the middle making it feel right in your hand. The rounded butt is particularly comfortable in the palm of your hand and doesn’t dig in like the square end of the Congress’ can. One other fact I noticed was the wide springs, liners and handle give you plenty of area if you’re whittling or making shaving cuts to comfortably apply ‘pushing’ pressure with your thumb.
The bad news is, I found this knife to be really uncomfortable if you’re doing a lot of cutting or if you’re cutting hard material. When your index finger is against the tang of the blade you’re using, the butt end of the blade you’re not using is digging into your finger. The corner is sharp and really digs in. It didn’t take long and I was changing my grip trying to find a different way to hang on. A couple of minutes with a fine stone would probably round that edge enough to make it a bit more comfortable to use.
Overall, it's a really nice knife with what I feel is one issue that I'd need to address for long term use. (It might just be my chubby fingers!!) The fit and finish were superb. I particularly like the feel of the knife as it lays in my hand and the blade length is excellent. I think the single blade version may be the answer for me!!
Thank you for posting your review Greg. So you find the 48 pattern suitable for pocket carry? Generally speaking, I like 3.5" (or less) for pocket carry, but this pattern still looks like a candidate, especially in single-blade form.
I certainly agree regarding the closed corner of the blade being an issue on trappers. I am not a big fan of the spey blade shape either, to be honest.
I am glad to see GEC making the slimmer/sleeker 48 as well as the new 66 pattern, and I am looking forward to variations on the 66 as well.
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Nick, I do find it suitable for pocket carry. It was comfortable in the pocket. I'm used to carrying a 73L in burnt stag and was surprised when I put them on the scale the the single blade 73 linerlock and the 2 blade dogleg (both burnt stag) weighed exactly the same at 3.4 oz.
That sleek little single blade dogleg comes in at a paltry 2.1 oz. If my math's right, that's about a 38% reduction in weight. I've had days that I carried more pocket lint and wood chips in my pocket!!
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Nick,
Give yourself an enjoyable afternoon's project and turn your Spey blades into nice, usable and attractive Spear Point blades. I find no practical use for the Spey blade these days, (haven't skinned anything but my knuckles lately), and I have been "customizing" all of my Spey blades by slowly and carefully grinding them down in a graceful curve making them into nice Spear Point blades. I have done quite a few of them. The first time you do it will be hard to put that blade to the grindstone but the results you get will be pleasing and it gets to be fun. Finish off with progressively finer sandpaper and you can even put a nice swedge on blade as well. Careful work will give you a blade you won't be able to distinguish from a factory job.
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Yeah, for a strict user, I would, and do, sand the sharp tangs down so they don't cut into my finger, or tear pockets and such. Especially when I go to grab it out of my pocket and scratch my fingers on it.
On another note, I kept getting some strange cuts on my thumb the last few weeks and knew it was from one of the knives I carry. I finally tracked it down, not to the tang, but to the blade of the GEC lockback.
My thumb skin would slide into the end of the closed knife sometimes and the tip would either poke a hole or cut a shallow slice. So on the users, I am grinding down the kick so the blade sits lower in the frame.
Sometime the users need to be tweaked for comfort.
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I've done the same on the Exec Whittler I have. The tip on the primary blade was just high enough you could get poked a bit if you ran a finger across it when it was closed.
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Eric,
Glad to know someone else out there does the same sort of "tweaking" I do.
I had the same problem with several of my #2351's and solved it the same way.
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Greg,
Enjoyed the review. Sounds like the single blade version may be just the ticket for you.
I have always liked the beautiful Muskrat style blades that GEC offers, which is why my favorite knives are the #5383 Stockman, the #12 Toothpick, and the limited run of 2382LM.
I'm glad the #48 pattern is another GEC winner.
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