Knife Review: Vehement Knives Wharncliffe EDC

Vehement Wharncliffe EDC and a Flush of Wood Ear

Since late June 2016 I’ve had a constant companion at my side: the Vehement Knives Wharncliffe EDC. I’ve long been a wharncliffe aficionado and wanted to give Vehement Knives’ rendition a try for quite some time. When Vehement Knives ran a very good sale in November 2016, I just couldn’t take it any more. This was to be my first custom knife! It also would mark the single most expensive knife that I had ever purchased and one that I would wait quite some time for. Was it worth it? Absolutely. My purpose here is to give my honest impression of the knife.

The Perfect Equipment for a Forest Excursion

Here are the basics:

Original Retail Price (Not on Sale) - $200

Steel – 154 CM

Composition of 154 CM is typically 1.05% Carbon, 0.35% Silicon, 13.50-14.00% Chromium, and 4.0% Molybdenum according to KnifeCenter.com. 154 CM is considered a good high carbon knife steel with excellent edge retention properties and decent corrosion resistance.

Blade Profile – Modified Wharncliffe

A traditional Wharncliffe blade features a flat cutting edge and a gently curving spine. Vehement Knives’ version actually has a slightly recurved blade, which makes it better for cuts involving a drawing or pulling motion, but performs less satisfactorily for chopping. This style of blade is particularly appropriate for defensive knife work.

Blade Length and Width – 3” cutting edge (as measured straight across) and 3/8” thick until the spine curvature begins

Handle Type and Material – Two piece canvas micarta scales (natural color), 3/4” across the handle

Construction – Unibody, with rear lanyard hole

Sheath – Custom kydex with Blade-Tech Tek-Lok

These basic facts can only tell you so much. Here is my subjective opinion regarding what the knife is good at:

Vehement Wharncliffe EDC and a Prime Yellow Chanterelle

FORAGING

Over the 7 months that I have been using the EDC I have enlisted it in a number of tasks. Some of these it was practically designed for—others were pretty unreasonable give the knife’s intent. To begin with, I have become somewhat of mushroom fancier as of late, a mycophile if you will. I’ve found that even when the fish aren’t biting and game is uncooperative you can traipse around the woods and finding interesting, often edible mushrooms. I’m glad to spend my leisure time this way! There is actually a considerable niche in the knife world for specialty mushroom knifes. Typically, these are characterized as folding knives with a deeply recurved blade (typically a hawk bill profile) that may or may not feature an integrated brush. The archetypical mushroom knife is produced by Opinel and features a wood handle and a locking collar. Opinel knives are classy, respected, and very continental. While these are all good things, I wanted a mushroom knife more suitable for an American outdoorsman. The Wharncliffe EDC fits this role exceedingly well. The curvature of the blade makes it perfect for precisely cutting mushroom stipes (like the Opinel) but you could also wield it fairly effectively as a defensive weapon (unlike the Opinel).

Opinel Mushroom Knife

PARING

From a culinary perspective, the Wharncliffe EDC also excels in peeling fruits and vegetables. I mentioned before that the recurved blade is good at pull-cutting---it really shows in the kitchen. In fact, if you were to examine the best samples of paring knives the blades would closely resemble that of the Wharncliffe EDC.

ROPE WORK

Most cordage is processed through a drawing motion and here the Wharncliffe reigns supreme. Folk tradition attributes the development of the Wharncliffe-style blade to sailor-folk. This makes logical sense on its face because of the need to prevent punctures on the rolling seas and the need to quickly cut rope. However, such claims regarding the development of the Wharncliffe seem tenuous, at best.

PRECISE CUTS

The fine tip of the Wharncliffe EDC and the pronounced choil mean that you can choke up on the knife and perform detail cuts with ease. Applications for this style of cutting range from scribing wood to remove a thorn from your finger-tip.

From Harvesting Mushrooms to Cleaning Squirrel

GENERAL OVERVIEW

My overall impression of the knife is that it is a robust, beautiful piece of functional artwork. The knife has been handy in day-to-day chores like opening boxes or obnoxious plastic packaging which I suspect is the primary duty for most everyday carry (EDC) blades. It is, however, unlike any knife in my personal collection (which has previously been largely dedicated to skinning or butchery). The only area that the Wharncliffe falls a bit short is in processing game. However, that is not flaw in the design, rather it is an issue with applying the wrong tool for the job. Nonetheless, I have incidentally taken small game (including rabbit and squirrel) while foraging and employed the knife successful in the skinning, gutting, and break-down of these critters.

Due to its small size, the knife can be easily concealed under an untucked shirt. Likewise, the short blade length (3”) means that the knife may be excluded from ‘dangerous weapon’ restrictions in some jurisdictions. Nonetheless it could likely be wielded as a formidable defensive tool if circumstances required such. My only hesitation in using the knife in this capacity is the brevity of the handle. Though  I don’t claim to be a defensive knife expert, I would prefer to see at least another 1” of handle space for better grip purchase. For those looking for a dedicated defensive wharncliffe, Vehement offers the fearsome Wharlock.

The included kydex sheath is the single best sheath I have owned. The knife fits in the sheath securely and comes out in a flash. The form-fitting kydex does not dull the blade upon withdrawal and the Tek-Lok provides complete adaptability. The fit and finish of the knife are very good overall. The high polish on the metalwork has remained very attractive despite hard use and exposure to occasional showers. I have oiled the knife infrequently and it has never developed any rust spots whatsoever. Edge retention on the knife has been good, but I do find edge touch-up to be a more difficult process with the knife’s recurved blade. Vehement typically recommends blade touch-up with a leather strop loaded with a honing compound.  

I would certainly consider myself a very satisfied customer of Vehement Knives. During my impatient waiting for the knife to be delivered, owners Matt and Jenna Martin were very gracious in answering my frequent (often annoying) questions. Vehement Knives was originally based in Longmont, Colorado but has since relocated to Gladstone, Michigan. Matt doesn’t appear to be accepting custom orders on his website due to backlog but you can purchase ready-made Vehement products from Knives Ship Free. Although it takes me a long time to save enough pennies to purchase a quality knife, I can’t help but think about some one-off Japanese-inspired blades that I have seen on the Vehement Knives Facebook page. Maybe one of these days...

An Anthem for 2017

Our Banner in the Sky, Frederic Edwin Church

Every political campaign worth its salt has to have a catchy slogan. This isn’t written down anywhere, but is an implied and inviolable rule of marketing. It is a simple matter of heuristics. If you can easily recall a short and pointed catchphrase then you are more likely to spend time contemplating that particular product or person.  I’d argue that De Beers has one of the best slogans: Diamonds Are Forever. It is so successful, in fact, that pretty much every sod that gets married is required to buy a diamond for his betrothed or face incalculable disdain, unending questions, and disapproving looks. The foreverness of diamonds has, for ages, symbolized the foreverness of marriage. You didn’t purchase a lasting gemstone? You have no right to expect a lasting marriage!  For better or worse, most Americans are beholden to a powerful social norm that necessitates that we buy diamonds. Perhaps that is why De Beers controlled 90% of the global diamond trade for a number of years.

Yet, despite the outrageous cleverness of some catchphrases, political campaigns often don’t have the astuteness of De Beers. Take, for instance, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1936 campaign slogan: Sunflowers Die in November. What!? As it turns out, Roosevelt was running against Kansas Republican Alf Landon. Thus, since Landon hailed from the Sunflower State, Roosevelt’s slogan was meant to forecast his defeat in the general election. Roosevelt’s forecast was true and Landon lost in a landslide.  The efficacy of the political slogan seems unlikely to have been a major contributing factor.

Fast forward to 2016 and the current President Elect’s successful campaign slogan was Make America Great Again. Let that soak in for a while! Regardless of your political leanings (and I’m not here to talk about that), one has to admit that this phrase is quite loaded. On its very face, there are a number of implicit assumptions:

1. America was once great

2. America is no longer great

3. It is possible, through voting, to elevate a candidate to office who will restore America’s greatness

In order to really evaluate this phrase, we have to examine the importance of America’s greatness in the first place. Why do we care about it? Why is it critical that we be a unipolar international hegemon? The answer is because many of us have either an implicit or explicit acceptance of the principle of American Exceptionalism.  Simply put, American Exceptionalism is an ideology where the United States of America exists separate from and better than the rest of the nations of the world. American Exceptionalism is a mainstream ideology, at least among Americans.

This much can be easily demonstrated by surveying the past testimonies of U.S. Presidents. American Exceptionalism is perfectly described by former U.S. President Reagan in his retiring address, wherein he quotes Massachusetts Bay Colony leader John Winthrop:

    The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the 'shining city upon a hill.' The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

    And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are    hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

Reagan’s oratory prowess has been unmatched by American Presidents, until perhaps the administration of Barack Obama. Like Reagan, Obama too was a self-professing believer in American Exceptionalism yet his viewpoint appears to be tempered by the recognition of the contributions of other nations:

I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in    British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I’m enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. If you think about the site of this summit and what it means, I don’t think America should be embarrassed to see evidence of the sacrifices of our troops, the enormous amount of resources that were put into Europe postwar, and our leadership in crafting an Alliance that ultimately led to the unification of Europe. We should take great pride in that.

And if you think of our current situation, the United States remains the largest    economy in the world. We have unmatched military capability. And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.

In appears then that Mr. Trump follows in the footsteps of his predecessors in believing in this nationalistic perspective. At least, he did believe in it at some point. Make America Great Again could easily be rewritten as Make America Exceptional Again. Can we really make America exceptional through voting? Have we then made America exceptional again?

I think not.

This isn’t because I don’t have confidence in the President Elect or because I might disagree with his policies. I don’t believe that we have made America exceptional again because doing so isn’t as simple as checking a box on a ballot. Furthermore, I would posit that American Exceptionalism as a result of geo-strategic location, natural resources, guiding documents, or political institutions does not exist. Rather, exceptionalism, true exceptionalism, is the product of righteousness.

During those times where American exceptionalism peaked, national righteousness was leading the curve. When American exceptionalism faltered, so too did American righteousness wane. Yet, by even mentioning the word righteousness I have already disenfranchised half of my readership. But, hear me out. Righteousness too is a loaded term. I have found that the standard response to the term righteousness is a visceral shuddering. People simply don’t like the term. Righteousness instantly evokes bitter memories of encounters with hypocrites who looked down their noses and judged you harshly, despite their own shortcomings.

The fact is that those people are not righteous. Rather, they are self-righteous. The difference is night and day. From a Biblical perspective, true righteousness represents “ethical conduct that conforms to God’s standards and moral character” (Weirsbe, Warren, Be Skillful, pg. 150). The Hebrew word for righteousness throughout much of the Bible is tsaddiq (צַדִּיק). The best synonyms that we can find for this word are just and blameless. These words don’t have the baggage that righteousness does. If I were to assert that exceptionalism is the product of justice or blamelessness then the reaction is likely to be much less negative.

The Book of Proverbs offers multiple reassurances that national exceptionalism is, in fact, the product of righteousness (11:10-11, 14:34):

    When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices;
    And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.
    By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted,
    But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

    Righteousness exalts a nation,
    But sin is a reproach to any people.

The reason that we find self-righteousness so loathsome is that its claim to correctness is derived from the person who exhibits the characteristic. Oftentimes, these persons are deeply flawed. Thus, the source of the righteousness is compromised. In practice, a self-righteous person is like a doctor instructing you to treat a case of dehydration by drinking from a poisoned well. Yet, true righteousness is not derived from sinful people but from a sinless God (II Corinthians 5:20-21):

 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Given this context, I wholeheartedly agree that we should make America great again! I personally am tremendously broken and subject to all sorts of missteps. But, I know that the source of righteous does not come from within me, but rather from God. American greatness is dependent on American righteousness. American righteousness is dependent upon our knowledge of the Word, our relationship with Christ, and our willingness to do God’s works.

 For 2017, won’t you join me in this anthem?


 MAKE AMERICA RIGHTEOUS AGAIN