There must be something in the fall/early winter air that makes people think of demanding outdoor expeditions, because we’ve seen a notable uptick in bushcraft-style releases lately. Latest exhibit is the Real Steel Yak, a rugged folder with lots of bushcraft blade design cues.
Ah, the yak – a noble beast. Nature’s answer to one of mankind’s oldest questions: what if a bull had a lot of hair? We see a fair number of knives named after animals, but usually makers will go for things like jungle cats, birds of prey, top of the food chain sea creatures. It’s refreshing to see good ol’ bos grunniens getting some love from the knife namers, because frankly, it embodies a lot of qualities that many people look for in their pocket cutlery: sturdiness, dependability, flexibility. It also, notably, does not talk back.
Moving on to the Yak knife, the first thing we must discuss is the blade. It isn’t anything wildly avant garde, but there is a bit more to this 3.7-inch drop point than meets the eye – namely, a gradual, broad sweep up to the tip, so there’s more belly on the Yak than the average bushcraft profile. Oversized thumb studs on both sides of the blade are the opening method on offer, and the steel choice is 14C28N, a nitrogen-enriched stainless that can deftly perform in the rough-and-ready outdoors knife role.
There’s something else interesting about the blade – or should we say ‘blades,’ because the Yak comes in two different grinds. The black G-10 handle’d model sports a standard issue flat grind, while the brown Micarta model goes full bushcraft with a Scandi grind. The 5.15-inch handle itself is clean and timeless, held together by large through-hole screws, and there is a reversible deep carry wire pocket clip. The Yak knife is a tad lighter than its 800-lb. namesake, coming in at a much more pocketable 5.19 oz.
The Yak is slated to release in the near future.
Knife in Featured Image: Real Steel Knives Yak
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