Introduction.
Cooking tasty food in the outdoors is a pleasure. All forest knights staff are expected to be great cooks. Food is such an important part of camp life. Proper nutrition enables one to perform at your best and makes an expedition far more enjoyable. I like many people watch a fair amount videos for cooking inspiration. One of my favourite Youtube Channels is Almazan Kitchen. I really like their Serbian style cooks knife which is available from their website.
I was rather chuffed to find Dave had a version on his stall at the Bushmoot. I have several of Dave’s tools and have always been happy with their cutting performance.
This knife cost me the princely sum of £140. I note that the recent versions Dave Budd has for sale are in the region of £200 or so. These come with a leather sheath. Mine did not.
Dave Budd’s style is to leave the majority of his cutlery forge finished. I generally prefer my cutting tools to be shiny. This is just a personal preference and doesn’t reflect on the performance of the tool. However a Serbian style chef knife in my opinion should be slightly rustic so a forge finish fits the aesthetic nicely. The handle material is a basic Hazel stick.
Review.
My first impression of the knife were very favourable. It came shave sharp. The weight is heavy but the balance of the the blade and the handle mean it is comfortable to use for extended periods. The rustic Hazel handle fits my hand perfectly. it helps that Dave and I are both short.
The knife holds an edge fairly well. The carbon steel needs a little care to maintain a truly honed edge. I tend to strop my knife after each use. When cooking on courses my sharpening kit is close to hand anyway. In my home kitchen I only strop the blade occasionally.
The blade shape is great for most cooking tasks from preparing vegetables for a stir fry to preparing a venison haunch.
I have owned this knife for a couple of years now. The sheath was made by my friend Mark. He did a fantastic job carving our logo in the leather. Generally my leather sheaths are functional to protect the blade edge and my fingers from accidents. This knife deserved a lovely sheath and Mark produced a beauty.
Conclusion.
Dave Budd makes some excellent quality cutting tools and this chefs knife reflects well on his ethos of making high quality functional tools. I own a lot of kitchen knives and I still smile each time I use this beauty. In my opinion the price range of £160 – £220 reflects the build quality and the craftsmanship needed to produce it. Dave Budd’s knives generally hold their value should you wish to move them on. Although this particular knife will continue to prepare the meals for our customers for many years to come.
