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Corneta Wotan review - Brazilian Steel in Southern California
9/28/2013 Okay, alright! 4 months later and now I have time to beat up the Wotan. I will start off with specs today with a thorough report of the testing on Monday.
Knife - Corneta Wotan - a collaboration with Knife maker Peter Hammer and Corneta of Brazil for contracted sale to Brazilian Police Special Forces Division
Material:
Drop forged 1/4" 52100 Ball Bearing Stainless steel with integral Guard (57-58 HRC)
Textured Kraton handle
Matte Black Epoxy resin coating
Ballistic Nylon sheath with a pivoting snap closure for ambidextrous carry (nice touch)
Dimensions & specs:
Blade - 6" from tip to guard, 5-1/4" Hollow grind cutting edge
Handle - 4-3/8" from guard to butt of handle
OAL - 11"
Weight - Knife = 14.2 oz, Sheath = 4 oz
First Impressions was it is a brute of a knife that felt good in the hand with the textured Kraton handle ensuring a good grip. The balance seemed a little forward of the guard, but having researched the requirements for the contract that was awarded for this knife explains that away. The sheath is efficient to the task of a quick withdrawal, although the constant testing I did forced the snap cap to remove itself from the pull tab. I was being really aggressive for this to happen.
I did proceed to put an edge on the knife that I like, the edge may not be suited to the testing I plan but I can adjust for that back to the one that came with the knife.
I will be back on Monday with test results and Pictures.
9/30/2013
The testing is done & the results are in.
I will say the testing was limited to what I had on hand at my house, Scraps and junk. But that is not to say I couldn't come up with some decent tests,
Entrenching, Chopping/notching wood & sharpening stakes: For this I used a real world Urban application, Dry pressure treated wood used for planting stakes and dried Bamboo.
- Entrenching applications, all I did here was thrust it into my back lawn 50 times, (My kids watched this through the screen door and are wondering why I don’t like my lawn.)
- Chopping and notching was a breeze, I even feebly attempted to “fuzz” the end of the stake, nice little curls were the result.
- Sharpening wood stakes was effortless, even though the wood was hard and dry the pointing was easy and made for extra shavings for a fire starter,
- Sharpening of Dried Bamboo was also easy.
- Used the tip to drill a hole in a piece of Sch 40 PVC pipe, start to finish was 45 second.
- Pry bar testing was done this morning with a pallet, no problem.
Cesar gave me this list of review testing ideas, one is for:
Combative Testing
- Being that I am out of practice & the fact that there is no one willing to spar with me, the testing is limited. So the limited testing here was done with “Shadow sparring”.
- The weight of the knife is not so heavy that it is unwieldy; it would lend assistance in downward thrusts and pommel strikes. This was tested using a piece of 3/8” thick piece of HDCB (High Density Card board) that was a part of a long forgotten Crib.
- The integral Bolster was key in the manner that I did not worry about my hand moving forward of the handle during thrusting and downward strikes.
- The final test was defense from another knife or blunt force weapon. I assumed from its experience with wood and PVC that this left only to test it against another knife. Unfortunately for the Wotan, my carry yesterday was the Benchmade Contego. Now to be fair the Contego blade is made of CPM-M4 hardened to 64 HRC. The 52100 Stainless Wotan is only hardened to 57-58 HRC, it didn’t have a chance. I used the spine of the Contego to chop down on the spine and cutting edge of the Wotan. This caused damage to the knife, denting the spine and creating divets in the edge.
My personal opinion and rating-
Being what it is, a purpose driven Combat/tactical fixed blade, I really like this knife. I had reservations about the steel, but during the testing I was constantly checking the edge by curling paper and it kept curling paper until the Contego bit it. It is still going into my bag, but it will make a trip to the Sharpener first.
My Rating 1-5 (5 being the highest) = 4.8 Because nothing is perfect and this could only improve by using a higher end steel and better protective coating.
Recomendation- Since I traded a Case Mid Folding Hunter for this knife, I am not aware of the MSRP of this knife. But, I am extremely happy with that trade. I figure if it MSRPs around $150.00 get it.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brad T. on
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I just had a nice conversation with Peter on FB. He is a humble man with talent, I like those qualities in everyone I meet.
cesar said:I have just invited Peter Hammer to be part of iKC!
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Permalink Reply by Steve Hanner on
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That's fabulous! You actually get to meet and talk to the guy who designed and built your knife. That's pretty good. Who knows he may join as a few others from Brazil have!
Brad T. said:I just had a nice conversation with Peter on FB. He is a humble man with talent, I like those qualities in everyone I meet.
cesar said:I have just invited Peter Hammer to be part of iKC!
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I did mention that I will be reviewing his Hot Steel fixed blade next and he provided me with the technical specifications I need to complete that. He also said he would like to see my impression of his other works.
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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on
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This is very exciting guys!
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Permalink Reply by Alexander Noot on
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G-10 maybe then? Or Micarta? Or Carbon Fibre. But I do believe that wood can hold up to any normal use(, which means no-one beating on it with a sledgehammer).
Wood is stronger than we sometimes think. Just look at what kind of things we've built from it throughout history.
Steve Hanner said:I would imagine after that series of tests some re-profiling of the blade to get those chips out. It would appear despite the wear the knife just plain held up to stress.
Don't know if would be quite as heavy duty with a wooden handle?
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All for the cause. We need more people for the movement.
Steve Hanner said:We actually have had two people join iKC one here a knifemaker and one I think a collector from Brazil on FB all beacuse of your review! Nice work!
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That's the truth..Jan is out sounding the call to iKC right now and we are getting help from virtually every knife company I can think of that wants us to be the collectors paradise.
Brad T. said:All for the cause. We need more people for the movement.
Steve Hanner said:We actually have had two people join iKC one here a knifemaker and one I think a collector from Brazil on FB all beacuse of your review! Nice work!
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I recently saw a post by Peter Hammer on FB, of the last Wotan he made. It was a polished blade with some warm colored wood handles. So my sample will be stripped down, coating & handle so this brute can can be fitted with civilised attire.
Alexander Noot said:G-10 maybe then? Or Micarta? Or Carbon Fibre. But I do believe that wood can hold up to any normal use(, which means no-one beating on it with a sledgehammer).
Wood is stronger than we sometimes think. Just look at what kind of things we've built from it throughout history.
Steve Hanner said:I would imagine after that series of tests some re-profiling of the blade to get those chips out. It would appear despite the wear the knife just plain held up to stress.
Don't know if would be quite as heavy duty with a wooden handle?
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So....I kind of want one to modify myself now.
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Alexander,
Contact Caesar or Peter. They maybe able to procure you one. Hopefully I get mine done first, I don't want to compete with you. LOL
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Permalink Reply by Alfredo Pallavicino on
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I only recently joined the community and am pleased to see your reviews about the Wotan and the Silvana/Peter Hammer collaboration. I was raised in Brazil and also happen to own a Wotan, number 85 of the first run. Unfortunately, Corneta shut down their operations in Brazil a while ago. I do not recall the price I paid back then, but your figure ought to be in the ballpark. Hope to read more reviews about brazilian knifemakers!
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