New Knife - Yggdrasil Forge Huginn XL

A new knife! But first, first the customs must have theirs. At least as far as time is concerned. It is strange considering that the package was correctly labeled and that it is clearly visible on the x-ray what it contains. It is also a gift from one knife thrower to another which means that huge sums of money have not been sent over any border, visible or invisible. 

And yet they feel a little insecure, the men and women who work with customs operations at Postnord. It could be a shipment of drugs anyway. Or perhaps instead a cruise missile in this case. Best to tear it up and re-tape it after realizing "oops, that's exactly what the table of contents said".

Yggdrasil Forge Huginn, a handmade throwing knife from England

There was a throwing knife in the package that came from England. After Brexit, it might as well have been sent from the moon. But that's where you find the Yggdrasil Forge,  in Great Britain that is, not on the moon. A small one-man company specializes in bushcraft knives and throwing knives, although more products are in the range.

The man behind it, Joe Bardsley is both a blacksmith and knife maker. Everything from the brand via graphic profile to the names of the knives is heavily influenced by old Norse mythology as you may see. As a Swede and a knife thrower, it is a combination that is hard to resist.

The XL version measures 250 mm in length and weighs 240 g

This model has accordingly been named after one of Odin's ravens to the Huginn (Sic!) Or to be more precise, the Huginn XL. That addition is extremely important as it is what decided me became interested in the knife. I found Yggdrasil Forge via Instagram already about six months ago and thought that several of the models looked very interesting, mainly for no spin throwing. But they had one drawback as far as my taste was concerned, they were too small. As an example, an original Shard measures 220 mm in length and is 6 mm thick, giving a claimed weight of 200 g. I have knives that are so light, but in general, I would like to see 50-70 g more, which in absolute terms does not sound like much, but it is purely percentage-wise and not least in the feeling when you throw.

That's where "XL" comes into play. Obviously, there are more people than me who have been looking for a larger size and as a crafter, Yggdrasil Forge has the ability to be flexible. So Joe sat down in his chamber, I imagine, and remodeled this knife. It is not just about enlarging them, balance and throwing characteristics must remain.

The result was, among other things, this model that weighs in at 240 grams instead. This was achieved by extending the length to 25 cm. Incidentally, that measurement is the same for all XL models. The material is, as always, carbon steel in the form of 1080 which is then reportedly hardened to 65HRC (!) before being heat treated down to 55 HRC. It can still be seen as relatively high for a throwing knife.

It will be damn fun to get to know this knife and its throwing characteristics. I will come back to the topic, be sure!

/ J - returning to the roots

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