WORK TUFF GEAR NOMAD a ZEKE MENACHO Design Made with Japanese SK 85

Work Tuff Gear NOMAD a Big All Purpose Field Knife

Preview by BCT

The blade is acid stone washed and has laser engraved what production number it is along with a manufacturing date.

The philosophy behind the design of the NOMAD

"The Nomad was sketched out after a 2 week-long camping trip to the Sequoia National Forest back in 2012. The idea behind it is both wonderfully complicated and brilliantly simple at the same time. I wanted a knife that did what a Bowie is supposed to do historically. Chop like a hatchet, stab like a dagger, and cut like a kitchen knife. So in many ways, the Nomad is just that, a big, wonderful “jack of all trades” knife that in my opinion does not suffer from some of the weaknesses associated with the traditional Bowie shape knife designs ie the more delicate tip, sometimes odd ergos, and a guard to get in the way of finer jobs. So the tip was replaced with a traditional Tanto style, the guard becomes an integrated choil/guard for saving your hands in a hard stab and effectively reducing both the size of the usable blade and giving more control for finer detail work. Finally the handle, after years of working with Dark Timber Knives behind the scenes, all that ergonomic work we did on the Hooligan and Kodiak show up in this multiple position handle. Add to this package a forward cant with a long wide blade and you have a very capable large knife that looks like nothing else on the market. This knife is comfortable to hold/use in FOUR positions. The grind is high enough to be a good slicer. There is plenty of spine thickness to do heavy work, and the tip geometry makes thrusting fun and easy".

Zeke Menacho

Work Tuff Gear are without any doubt making some seriously good products in the field of outdoor equipment.

Their attention to: detail in design, use of quality raw materials, heat treatment regime and quality hand sharpened edged tools, along with excellent wood burning camp stoves, is taking the market by storm. The Nomad Knife is no exception.

Manufacturing date and number inscribed upon the blade. BTW That giant "M" does not stand for Monster but for the logo of the Designer Zeke Menacho!

Made from a sturdy slab of Japanese SK85 high carbon tool steel, featuring a high angled full flat grind to a convex cutting edge. The Nomad sports a pointy but strong tip, easily able to penetrate game, whether that's gutting fish or piercing hides.

The top of the spine is acute enough to easily strike a fire steel and also at such dimensions, can take the pounding of a baton for splitting fire wood if need be.

The blade has been acid washed making it sort of anti reflective but remember this isn't a stainless steel so remember to wipe it down and clean it with a little cooking oil or food grade mineral oil.

But what of fine tasks? Yes it's a big knife but can one perform the finer tasks like easy preparation of the evening meal? Can one feather timber for tinder or is this beast simple too big to handle?

There is a very secure and comfortable grip, plus lots of metal real estate to enable one to securely control such a large 9 inch long bladed knife in order to perform tasks such as feathering.

Careful of the toes!

This 2 year seasoned wild plum wood. It's like steel but no match for that super edge on the Work Tuff Gear Nomad! Product number 216. This is a high Sabre grind and because of that one can still slice and cut despite a 1/4" spine.

Yes, yes, yes is my answer after several days initial tests with the Nomad. Preparing pineapples, cutting raw meat, cutting cooked meat and fine slicing ingredients. SO, if one can easily achieve these things then there will be no question about being able to achieve seriously heavy duty tasks around the wilderness camp.

A quick test drive in the kitchen (and day out) only proved what I could already see in the design of this knife, one can easily use it to prepare food with. As you all know, this is an absolute must for me in an outdoor knife. If you can't easily prepare food with a knife that's supposed to be intended for outdoor use, then it "Aint for the outdoors"!

I like the design of the handle too because if one is using it to chop up food on a flat surface, your hand is protected against getting bashed into the surface, however this is achieved without the use of a tradition guard.

Speaking of the handle, not only does it look very cool and in fact appears at first glance like wood (with a kind of dark Walnut look about it), it is made from G10 with a very grippy, yet very comfortable milled pattern, that adds to the impression of a wooden handle but with all the benefits of a synthetic composite that should resist water ingression and sweat.

Those scales surround a 1/4'' thick slab of super tough, super stay sharp Japanese SK85 High carbon tool steel. The grip features a palm swell and is very comfortable and secure when wielding this massive multi-purpose knife.

Carrying this Beast

Transportation is achieved via a "Tek Lok" like tactical belt clip, fully adjustable for varying belt widths and features a safety lock (finger pointing second image). The knife itself isn't light and weighs in at a whopping big 980grams! (don't bother with a hatchet! LOL!)

No nonsense Kydex scabbard

BCT