Sep
This meaty chopper will make quick work of most heavy duty camp tasks – from clearing brush to splitting wood – it’s an excellent all rounder with some great features.
It’s classed as a machete, but my initial thoughts were that isn’t anywhere near as big as most machetes I’ve used. The blade is 10″ long – the normal definition for a machete would be for a blade at 12″+. Think of this more as a small machete or a big knife!
The first thing you notice out of the box is how cool this thing looks. The black and grey Kershaw Camp 10 (pictured above) looks almost tactical, with it’s black and grey rubberised handle and tough looking GFN sheath.
I especially like the sheath on this – it has been well thought out to cater for different carries – horizontal and vertical belt loops and multiple lashing holes means it will fit your own personal carry style.
The Camp 10 is kept secure with a solid press stud and strap. The strap doesn’t give up it’s bladey goodness easily, a bit of force is required to pop that sucker. This is a good thing – you don’t want a 10″ blade bobbling about and falling out, especially on a horizontal carry.
Unsheathed, the Kershaw Camp 10 is a hefty 18oz with the balance of the knife in the blade. This is ideal for a knife designed for heavier camp tasks – the momentum the blade weight provides will help you cut through tree limbs with ease.
The handle coating is glass filled nylon (GFN) wholly covered in a very comfortable and grippy rubber. Compared to some machetes, this feels like you could use it for a long time without fatigue or a fistful of blisters. The handle has two lanyard holes, one at the end of the handle and the other where the sturdy handle guard meets the blade.
The blade has a nice fat belly, not quite the Buddha belly you see on some machetes, but enough to make this a great all rounder. Hacking, slashing, clearing, cutting, slicing – all meat and drink for this good sized chopper.
Steel wise, it’s a super hard 65mn carbon steel blade. This is a great choice for this blade – it’s super tough and holds an edge well. It’s the kind of steel that truck springs and railway tracks are made from, so you can be confident that this is a blade that is more than up to the task.
In the hand, the Kershaw Camp 10 feels surprisingly controllable, with the gently curving handle fitting my meaty hand nicely. I like the rubberised grip too, some machetes just don’t feel that grippy.
If you were using this to clear brush, for example, the handle isn’t going to be slipping out of a sweaty hand, that grip just feels solid.
This feels like it’s not just been designed to be purely utilitarian, it actually feels someone made a nicely designed knife and then scaled it up. It’s neither too big nor too small – it feels ‘just right’.
It’s also available in two different colours as well – this black and grey number as well as a tan version. The tan version looks very ‘safari’ which is rather nice, but I’ve a love for the darker version myself.
This is a great value, incredibly versatile camp tool. It’d be equally comfortable taking down a tree as it would cutting cord. If you’re on the look out for a solid performer you’d do well to check this out.
