Old Timer Carving Knife Vs Flexcut Carving Jack - Mantis Outdoors

Description

There is a $100 difference between the two. So should you grab the cheap one, or save for the more expensive one?

Tags: survival,bushcraft,woodcraft,survival kit,outdoors,knife,camping,gear,primitive,skills,mantis outdoors,preparedmind101,william myers,family,education,preparedness,wilderness,woods

Video Transcription

hey hey guys doing this we Mars Mass outdoors back at you with another video in today's video we're gonna do kind of a recap video I don't know a good year year and a half eighty two years ago I had to look I did a video on the Flex cut carving Jack one of my favorite tools to use for carving you know small intricate details bowls spoons you name it you know I'll use this tool and it served me very well for the past I've been using this for a long time pretty much almost since it first came out and you know seen the designs for it stuff like that okay and I got to have it got to have it because before something like this you know I have to carry three four five six small tools with small wooden handles and I even had one that was really cool it was all the tools that I wanted but they didn't have a handle on them you know you put the handle on each of them and then you had an allen key that he tightened the handle down and I thought that was really cool and it was really you know it was modular to my needs for my carving needs and the woods and things like that but it was kind of a hassle you know it is what it is this it's all the tools that I pretty much want for fine intricate carving details of say sans maybe a couple that I could carry for even smaller pinpoint stuff but when I did the video on this there was something that I seen in the comments section that really kind of you know I knew it was coming and it was the price point you know this this isn't cheap it comes I believe right now you get flight 125 you know it was that one time was like 150 180 at some places you know it's an expensive tool it's not budget item and if you're not out here carving you know spoons and bowls and making recreating things that are in your kit from the woods maybe it's not for you maybe you don't need it so you know I could understand people like me I'll pass on it because I really just don't need it

you know I don't need to make that much of an investment into a tool that I'm not really going to use that much me when I'm in the woods this is always with me and probably first say like a three to four night camping trip I'm using this thing probably 25% of the time you know this thing's always being used little carving detail showing somebody certain things teaching somebody certain things but the price point is what really got to some people and so I found an alternative and this is I know I'm not the first one to do a video on this but we're gonna be shooting this side-by-side with the Flex cut is this old-timer get that focus focus alright so old timer by charade I know we all have our some issues especially Chris now as issues was charade it is what it is this is something completely different in my mind this is every single tool and we're going to show you side by side this is every single tool that comes with the Flex cut for only like 30 bucks what was like 38 $35 so for $35 you can get every single tool that comes with the Flex cut carving jack and I can't tell you anything about the steel I can't tell you versus versus versus we're not gonna think about anything like that we're just going to use the tools side by side I don't even want to know what the steel isn't this don't is it you know if it's american-made probably China all made in Taiwan

okay so Taiwanese steel it is what it is it doesn't mean that it's junk absolutely not you know for something like this this is like I said small car beat ass building recreating in the woods so you know you can kind of slack back on the steel quality as long as the edge keeps up now the one thing that I will say about that is the flex-cufs carving jack comes with a block of wood like this that has certain intricate designs cut in it that allows you to get into say you know that you know dropping that out you kind of see how that would be a little bit of an issue it can be done without the tools that they provide it just is a little bit of an issue so as long as the steel keeps its edge I'm gonna definitely be recommending this because for 35 dollars versus 150 or 25

you know what I could say right now is the Flex cut LOX flex cut has a lock on the back of it locks things in place the old timer does not that is one thing that you can think of maybe as a kind of a negative to it because it does not lock does have a little bit of a snap to it but it does not lock that being said nine times out of ten you're gonna be dragging or pushing you're not gonna have any kind of a negative force on the blade to make it photo onto itself so a negative yes a big negative no in my opinion so what we're gonna do is side by side we're gonna use both of these tools and just from the feel you know this is just literally a pretty much a straight back so it's good to have a pretty rigid feel to it well this is a little bit more fluid at this point I can't say because I'm not even using the tools I'm just feeling it in my hand a little bit more fluid here maybe a little bit less here but again $35 hundred fifty bucks you know for $35 you're gonna get one a heck of a tool so let's get some wood and get to it all right so we're back out here in the woods and what we're gonna do is we're gonna split one piece of wood and me and my brother Gary here we're gonna kind of go through showing him some steps on like carving two simple bowls and suspend ideals and things like that some techniques that I've learned throughout the years and we're gonna kind of switch these tools back and forth between the two of us and then a way you're gonna have not just my view on it but you know Gary's view on the tool as well a little bit maybe of a carving novice you say I'm definitely okay okay so we get kind of a novice rookie view on the two blades the tool to tool systems say that three times fast and you know my view aren't I'm not I'm not at expert or anything like that has been maybe doing a little bit longer yeah so my view on it and Gary's do you want it as well so I'm gonna split this out and then Wow I'll give you a half give you some tips and pointers on how to start how to begin and then we'll get this started so the area for my spirit of the bowl of my spoon is the most important part to me handles are really easy they're straight handles unless I'm doing something intricate well where I have a dip or or something in the in the in the handle itself so what I do is I start out with kind of like an egg shape because that's the basic shape of a spoon itself and I try to be as symmetrical as possible by the way the piece looks good in the end and I draw the whole circle even though that you know there's gonna be a handle attached because that gives me just the point of reference around the circumference of the bowl itself so I mean this isn't perfectly symmetrical but we're just trying to do this johnny-on-the-spot style so I'll extend this end out a little bit more and get something that looks like this hopefully you can see that in camera there you go so this is my baseline for my handle so I can flip around and get carving into some tight tighter spots get better angles this will be the start of my bowl and then the handle which the handle will not exceed that baseline there so there you go so let Gary kind of draw out his bowl and then we'll get to reviewing these two tools so what I always start out with when I'm doing a spoon is I always start out with this with the bowl because if I'm gonna have a catastrophic failure at any time any point in time it's gonna be in the bowl or this point right here where the bowl meets the handle nine times out of 10 that's where my catastrophic failure is going to be so I'll get the basic shape of it out and then I might carve a little bit of the bowl and then I'm gonna start I'm gonna switch to a tool that can do some real like taking out of meat of this wood so I'll get my basic outlines and then I'll switch to like maybe ISOs piece or something take some real hunks wood out get the major majority of the meat out of this wood that I want out and then we'll start carving but right now let's focus on these bowls right now and if you want what I do on the reverse side of this wood is I will plan out a flat spot so I can flip this over and it can work on a flat area like here then bring it up you know when I'm carving these bowls and spoons

the piece is always spinning and flipping and twirling I look like something a freaking ballerina with a pistol would my hand so what I do is that action makes a lot of sense because then you turn around cover every angle right so I just kind of get a small flat spot going it you're gonna be carving this out anyway so what i'm gonna do since i I've used this flex cut for a very long time I'm going to actually give that to Gary we're gonna start the bowls out with the Flex cut and then we'll switch with the old-timer so when I'm doing small bowls like this not very familiar with this tool yeah the same spots in the same spot yeah so I will go with this blade here to start out with on smaller bowls you see small little curved blade that squirrels - it is all right and all that I do Gary is I'll start out by just making a depression I'll put my thumb underneath the part in the piece like just like this and I'll just start out and speak of small little cuts all the way around the bowl just like that and you know these small little cuts they're gonna add up and I seem like it's gonna take forever but you know and then get your vantage points however you can just make sure you don't have anything in front of the blade that you don't want to cut like a finger like a finger so when I'm working like this side of the this side of the edge of the the bowl I'll put my hand up here and I'll cut towards myself which seems counterintuitive you know but I'm not gonna jab myself in the heart with this thing I'm just making small cuts just like this and I'm bracing it up against my chest

make a small cuts just like this get in there and get the bowl outlined at least that's one of the more important parts is just outlining your bowl so you could proceed on some more dark deeper cuts so now we're going to switch back and forth here real quick so we can use side-by-side comparison of the tool and Wow you can tell it you could tell you could definitely tell the difference and the tool I mean I'm not taking anything away from the old-timer but no yeah at least straight out of the box the box like you know I could tell after was using using just making these deep cuts that that flex good is infinitely sharp of missing yeah Gary think you're right brother I think we might that's not to take anything away from it as of yet cuz I mean we could take it sharpen it up but and out of the box comparison as of right now it's like it's definitely easier to use the Flex cut okay so when I'm carving like this and I got this braced against me like this again I don't let me not bump the camera I don't want to put anything in front of the blade that I don't want to cut so I'm gonna put my hand up here behind the blade and I just want to take small slivers of wood I don't want to get in here and get too deep because what's gonna happen is eventually that woods gonna get away and pop and all of a sudden have taking a big hunk out at the top of my spoon I don't want to do that I want to be slowed controlled right where I want them and then once I go around this bowl and make small carves make small incisions into the grain they just give it yeah no no no no I just have some verbal tics like what was that word that's not a word so once I go all the way around my bowl and then I come back and I take those all those cuts out that's when I stop and I go back around take all the cuts out go around take all the cuts out that's how I control the initial carve into my bowls until I get deeper into the bowl like where I am about now and then I could just kind of go in and dig the bowl you'll just you know you won't do so much damage to yourself okay so I like your theory but the bad thing about that is the dollar your tool is the more you're struggling to get that work done the sharper your tool is the more precise and slow you can be you know so the sharper tool in my opinion is definitely more safer option that is just you know it's my opinion it's shared along other words that I know especially with me I've got enough scars on my knuckles you know my hands I'm using a dull blade and having that thing slip and when it hits it has done seen one bite at that point and back time is too late you already touched it you know this the old-timer version the cheaper version it is working I just put a little bit of a home on it just to get something a little better I am start I I have to use a little bit more of a power assist with it that it is working all right now where will turns around and takes those little cuts around the shape everything else so he can keep his conformity all right when I start getting towards the middle mm-hmm all right now what I found that works for me is I'll just make that's what I'm doing feathers mm-hmm yeah then knead it so that way I'm not coming all the way to my age right and that's the same that's the same principle so what you're doing is you're creating a cut in the middle all the way to the middle and then flipping and just meeting that cut all the way in the middle and it's the same principle basically it's just I'm going all the way around making that same cut and I'm coming all the way to where I want to stop which you know you can have an accident and bust through your wall there you know and make a cut you don't really want so if you're more if you feel safer doing it that way then definitely do it that way you know I'm definitely not saying that my way is the only way

nothing I'll ever say all right so just to move on you know we'll only be showing Gary some more stuff but I want to get into more of the tools of this you know so I'm very familiar with the Flex cut so I'm gonna move on with the tools that this offers you know it offers some new offers the same tools but this like gourd basically is a really nice tool show it up to the camera basically the same tool is just a flat you know straight chisel almost and you know it's good for getting in here and making those Wow okay right away I could tell that this is a lot more springing a lot more flexible can you take this but that's all with the same tool out

yeah

it's ours people are walking all right so to use this this tool you really got to put a little bit of a pressure into it you know and to get that out now using that and feeling how stiff that is switch that's actually that's actually a little bit thicker can I use that one shup flexing it that's not good yeah that means you're gonna have to put your finger right here and then summer sweater it's plain you just can't buzz did it didn't lock so what Gary was doing when he was using this you know he was in here and he was getting ready to pushed in to get a sliver out and he actually went a little bit of negative pressure and he and it it closed blade a little no flex to blade a little bit to a closed position which being pinched a finger so as you can see this has a heck of a lot more flex than the Flex cut on our ironically enough so that's one thing I don't like that's definitely negative in my opinion but it's still I still am not passing on that tool exactly so I'm gonna switch to a different tool and as you can see right here comfortable that using now this cord

yeah it really definitely it's definitely taking out something yeah I really can do a lot of work really really fast and then if I switch around and I just meet those cuts that I already did you know this video is gonna be long this video is not something that's going to be you know a 5-10 minute video

we're sitting down here we're taking our time we're carving we're just sitting here chit-chatting in the woods so you know if you're looking for a quick video this might not be it if you want to sit down hang out with us watch this car and review these tools at the same time hang out with this stick around so you know I'm not trying to get a perfect spoon out of this you know this is this is a review so I am gonna switch tools here hello what happened it slipped careful so okay so changing things up going through the blades I'm not going to be using every blade that it comes with this set I just want to use the ones that I use the most I guess I could say and that is the small carving knife here which is the same thing that's on the old timer so what I use that for is taking slivers nice hunks of meat out just like that you know more detailed processing you know kind of overkill for what I'm doing I wouldn't have to probably go to a main knife or even a small axe or hatchet to do this but I'm just showing what a sharp blade like this can do just take little ribbons off the wood if I'm getting into detailed work then we'll ask you just squish me here in a second Gary one thing that I'm not liking here is start with the flesh cut is that right there all right right away I could tell that you know the the blade grind is different on the the old-timer I like how the Flex cut has a higher grind on it okay we'll stop stop stop all right when you're carving like that okay what I want you to do is I want you to take the blade and I want you to grab it just like this good man you comfortable way I don't want to see your thumb up like that okay just put you and then grab it just like that and old habit yeah I know I know Chris does doesn't it crazy old habit so this is pretty similar to its doing a good job just like the Flex cut the blade has more flex in it than I'm kind of comfortable with but I'm okay with it I don't like that don't lock but again 150 versus 300 clerks 150 versus 35 so I'm willing to give this tool some respect as far as that goes flip it over to the same thing and I'm just looking to get some of the meat off the wood to thin the blade or thin the project out a little I know that I'm cutting towards Gary but it looks like a we're closer together than we really are actually I did move back a little bit cuz I wasn't as comfortable as I was should it be me so that's pretty comparable to both blades you know I'm not seeing too much of a difference as far as that goes except for maybe and the flex of that blade yeah it just seems a lot more sturdy a lot more controlled with the Flex cut that flex cut is a lot more comfortable it seems more comfortable more sturdy doesn't it is actually more solid of a blade yeah but right and I know there's gonna be some people out there it's gonna say this alright well you could find a variety of a price at this location this is true all right yes I paid 30 I paid $35 for this I paid $35 for this model yeah all right where'd you get it up it don't matter no but nobody sponsored there and then you say where he got it from as you got it a truckstop oh really no kiddin yep my being out on your mugging a trucker and my being out on the road all right sometimes affords me the opportunities to stop in two places for unique phones and yeah I actually I actually do I just brought some pretty unique finds now the box was from charade and sex trade on it hey you had said old-timer old-timer yeah which is an affiliate of charade we got thumb down you have more power more control and it's safer see if I'm if I'm cutting you get this played out again now so I'll tell you this if I'm cutting like this you know I don't feel once as it was very uncomfortable for me right now but I don't feel like I have very much power and control and then also you see where that curls going yeah it's gross if I get up in there thick enough curl yes bring the ball going in my thumb yeah and I just think that I have more power in control if I grab the knife like this keep my thumb down and I just go straight down now I do use certain thumb assist for smaller detail work like if I'm gonna come in here and I'm gonna get my base of my spoon out I will get those little tiny control cuts because what that does is it it allows me to get the cut that I want and stop where I want so you know I got a line that I don't want to pass then I could turn the piece around come back in here use my control power assist to kind of just clip those off just like that yeah those well that's where I'll use my thumbs to actually get into the blade like this Gary like you have these small control cuts I'll come up in here you're almost like your mom was just that's just so if I'm going like this I'm trying to get that small control cut Gary and I don't I'm not using that thumb assist I might miss my mark and go past my mark on accident and yeah you know engage everything yeah I don't I don't want the video to be like an hour long me and Gary are gonna sit here and we're gonna continue to teach him how to carve out some spoons and stuff like that show him some more carving techniques and things like that but I got the point across that I wanted to get across I wanted to handle this thing it's the first time I've ever handled this I wanted to put it side-by-side with the Flex cut but because I've seen it being compared a lot to it if this was the exact same thing for 35 bucks I'd say you need to go out and you need to buy right now that being said in my opinion it definitely to be expected is of lower quality the blades a lot of them has a lot of jiggle a lot of wiggle a lot of flex the blades do not lock it didn't come sharp out of the box the blade okay so the actual like carving knife is pretty dang sharp other than that some of the tools aren't as sharp they're not as dirty so for my money I would rather save up and get a flex cut just my opinion take it for what it is this tool is rock solid it's been rock solid since I've got it and I've used a flex cut pretty much since they came out so for my money I would rather buyer's remorse you know whatever buy wants this might be something that you buy a couple of I can see myself breaking a blade or two on this just my opinion so you know buying this for 35 bucks breaking something on it and saying well it's just 35 bucks next week when I get paid I'll go pick up another 100 order another one and then two months down the road I broke this it's just 35 bucks you know next week when I get paid I'll get another one on Amazon you know now we're in a $90 you know so $125 whatever the price is right now 150 you know buy wants you know buy ones so that's just my opinion on it you guys might have different opinions on it in mind some of you might have this and you love it some of you might have it and you haven't tried the Flex cut and if that is the case I would definitely suggest that you get one of these in your hands just from my continual use of this and Gary getting it in it in his hands for the first time first time that he's used this and this same day Gary come on up here in definitely flex cut there's a far better tool I'm go flat out turn around and say it exactly the way it is flex cut is a better tool it's solid that's flex that's a pen this right here is a more inexpensive tool if you're starting out just like me and you don't have the money to invest in a flex cut yeah go ahead and get this sharpened up work with practice with it save up your money while you're practicing and then get you a flex pay that's just my two cents yeah yeah I think I could go along with that you know if you want to get into wood carving and you want to get out here and get in the woods and start making spoons and forks and knives and spatulas and bowls and cups many many things that I can make with this you know that traps even weapons I mean you name it this is come in handy for a lot of things that I will you know choose to maybe save my main knife one on my neck knife owner hey my flex cut will be really good in this situation yada yada yada so if you're new to it and you you know hey I'm just gonna get this see if it's my thing if I want to do it as Steve I would practice with this or something like that I could see that you know pick this up practice with it it's only thirty five bucks probably cheaper on Amazon probably cheaper here probably cheaper there if he got it at a truck stop I'd almost guarantee it probably cheaper on Amazon yeah about three months ago yeah okay truck stops usually have pretty big markup so you know I would say you probably get this $19.99 20 bucks something like that on Amazon pick us up get it it's pretty decent it's not bad don't get this video wrong this is not a bad tool it's just inferior to this in my opinion and that you know that's maybe a slated ego talking you know like oh we'll just like that one better no I do I just like I like this tool better it's a lot sturdier it handles better the ergonomics of the tool itself is better it seems like more of a stir your tool have you said it's also a hundred and X X X amount of dollars more so all right this video is dragged on long enough thanks you guys for watching if you guys enjoyed the video click like down below really helps me in the channel not a lot what also helps me and the channel is clicking subscribe down below and visiting manis outdoors LLC com4 / shop shopping in the amazon store that helps bring content like this to you guys you know I don't get you know free stuff just hand it to me 90% of the time I got to rely on friends to give me stuff like this or you know this is his go out in the woods and do a lot of stuff like that you know going and shopping in the Amazon store that helps me and bringing you videos content like this but all right hope you guys enjoyed the video and hopefully we'll see you out in the woods