Steel Willfixed Blade,Hunting Knife,Outdoor,Camping

I purchased this knife simply to compare the quality of Steel Will knives to others of similar design. The Roamer R300 knife is made in China with a blade of D2 steel, hardened to 58-60 Rc. There are many knives of similar design made of D2 steel on the market, with prices ranging from $50 to $400. Many people believe D2 is hard to sharpen and maintain, but it has been one of my favorite knife steels since the early 1970's. The steel in the Roamer performs just as you would expect D2 at 58-60Rc to perform in any knife. It is tough, will sharpen to an excellent edge and will hold the edge very well. The design of the Roamer is excellent, as good as any design for this type of knife. The black Ti coating on the blade is among the best coatings I have seen on this type knife: it is tough and seems to be quite hard, and will not scratch as easily as the coatings on many more expensive knives. The TPE handle is slightly soft and tacky, allowing an excellent grip in any situation. The end of the tang protrudes from the end of the handle about 1/8" to allow use as a beating tool. The spine is well shaped, not rounded, but the thickness of the Ti coating makes ferro rod scraping difficult. The blade is thick and heavy enough to take a great deal of abuse, as is seen in many reviews of knives these days. In fact, if you are an abuser of knives, the Roamer will be adequate for any task. I personally believe a knife should be used as a knife, not as a hammer, screwdriver, pry bar, shovel, axe or hatchet, splitting maul, throwing tool, etc. However, this knife would easily do all those things. As knife work goes, the well made choil allows a grip at any position on the blade/handle. I was able to grip the knife for delicate work near the point with very good comfort. The design of the blade/choil allows the blade to be fully sharpened near the handle, and close cutting work is quite easy and comfortable. The flat grind of the blade is a little thicker on the edge than I prefer, but makes for a very strong point. Out of the box the Roamer was very sharp. The initial edge geometry was similar to any factory knife and was as expected, so I immediately went about changing the edge profile. At this hardness, an initial sharpening of the blade to my preferred geometry took more time than I expected, which indicated to me the Rc is at least as high as stated. That is a good thing. Once I got it sharpened the way I like, it performed all my cutting tasks easily and comfortably. Testing it on very dry black oak resulted in excellent results and minimal dulling of the edge. If properly maintained, the blade will perform well indefinitely. The TPE handle is not my favorite material, but the handle is well secured to the tang and should not give any problems with normal, or even abusive, use. As a knife, the Roamer is comparable to many similar knives of this size, the steel and design are excellent. I would be content if this were my only knife in any situation. The sheath, made of nylon, or kydex, fits the knife perfectly. In my experience with probably a dozen comparable knives with similar sheaths, this is the best fitting and best looking kydex sheath I have seen. There is no rattle, the formed keeper snaps the knife into place perfectly and holds it there and there are a bunch of holes and slots for any kind of attachment you might want. However, and this is the only disappointing thing about the knife: the belt loop attachment misses the mark completely. The design of the belt loop/handle snap attachment is quite good and it seems to be very well made but in the case of the knife I received, it absolutely does not fit. After spending some time researching the proper attachment, it became apparent the attachment plate for the sheath and the belt loop/handle snap system had been put together wrong. There is no way to attach the belt loop system to the sheath to make it fit the handle of the knife. I don't know if this is a common problem, or simply a miss on this particular knife. The sheath is worth keeping, and the belt loop system is worth repairing. Unlike many knives that come with kydex sheaths, there is no need to search for an aftermarket sheath. I gave a 5 star rating for the knife. Once the sheath system is modified, it will be worth 5 stars. Hopefully the modification goes smoothly. I contacted Steel Will, but at this time have not heard back from them. I am not a fan of Kydex sheaths, so was not terribly disappointed in this one. I have other knives this size and very similar design, some costing as much as $350.00; I would put the quality of this blade against any of them. For the price, this is one of the best knife values available. I have not named the knives I used for comparison, but would place this knife, based on quality and design, in the $175 - $250 range of competitors. How it actually compares over the life of the knife will take many years to determine (I am still using a similar knife, without the black coating, from the 1960's, and expect the Roamer to live that long, though I won't). The only weakness might be the handle material.

Sharp and stabby?!

Gorgeous blade! The pictures don't do this justice. Beautiful neck knife & wicked sharp right out of the box ... probably the sharpest factory blade I've ever bought (Spyderco, KaBar, Cold Steel, Ontario, CRKT ect...). This fits my hand perfectly (large to XL glove). The blade has a perfect satin polish to it. Very refined, well rounded corners.The sheath is very good; small, thin kydex with o.k. retention. If I had to find anything wrong I would like a little bit more retention do to the fact that this thing is a razor blade hung around your neck. I'd hate to have it fall out even though I doubt it will. Cold steel uses a finger safety on their Double Agent I & II (which I also own) that's a great piece of mind at the expense of a faster draw. With that said I'd hate to quick draw this under a shirt and give myself open heart surgery. Not faulting the sheath, just an observation.This knife is probably the best well-rounded concealable knife out there. I'd count on this from anything from a week in the woods, daily cutting chores, emergency pry bar & last ditch self defense. The pinky hole gives fantastic retention in both standard & a reverse grip (like a karambit).This is by far the best neck knife I own to date. Steel Will got it right on this one...GREAT job you guys! I look forward to buying the 282 & 283 model as well. If your on the fence with this knife...get it. You will not regret it.

outstanding quality to price ratio. If you’re looking at this particular knife I can’t see how you will be disappointed in your purchase. This knife can handle all tasks from feather sticking to chopping to Battoning .

You really can't go wrong with this knife and I would highly recommended to anybody that's looking for good dependable camping knife.

Great edge holding ability. It's become my go to knife for camping.

I just wish they made a desert tan or coyote brown sheath and handle for this.

The knife is outstanding and the sheath is perfect.