Fixed Blade | NemoKnivesReview

There are teeth… and then there are teeth.
Serrations — and rasp.
Let’s get one thing straight.
This is not a “knife made from a rasp.”
This is a farrier rasp that refused to die.
(A farrier takes care of the feet and hooves of equines, whether donkeys, ponies or horses. He takes care of fitting and trimming the shoes.)
And when the knifemaker knows exactly what he’s doing — and here, Robin Medina Thomas from La Coutellerie de la Vallée clearly does — you end up with a blade that doesn’t just cut. It commits. Playfully.
Carrying its inheritance in both form and function.

The blade retains the unmistakable imprint of its former rasp life.
A thick spine, yet a remarkably fine cutting geometry. Along the upper section, the rasp’s triangular teeth remain smoothed — not as ornament, but as a deliberate act of preservation… a generous spine that offers a wide, comfortable track for the thumb.
These elements speak of force.
From abrasion to raw, unapologetic function.
And then, just below, everything shifts — through transformation.
In an age of excess and waste, this feels almost essential.
Not just recycling, but refinement.
A second life in excellence !

Rasp steel is high-carbon steel, typically around 1% carbon.
An old-timer alloy — simple, proven, and unforgiving if mishandled. No modern complexity.
Just steel that responds directly to heat, to grinding, to use.

And when treated right, it delivers exactly what matters:

Edge, bite, and honesty — with a potential remarkable tolerance for abuse.

That’s why this kind of steel has long been favored for expedition and field knives (TOPS, ESEE…). It has proven itself where it matters most: in wood, in weather, in real use.

Not in theory. In the field. You cant go more traditional than this.

Deep, smooth, almost liquid in its reflection, the zebu horn handle creates a striking contrast with the blade’s aggressive texture — a dialogue between softness and bite.
The transition is not only visual. It is tactile. Almost sensual.
Oh, this is a tool made with love, and a companion, still becoming.

And you feel it immediately in the balance and ergonomics.
The fingers and palm find their place naturally — no adjustment, no hesitation, no hot spots.

The spine is just right for controlled push cuts, offering both comfort and precision.
This is, above all, an excellent trimming knife.
It can also find its place in bushcraft.
Easy to bring back to a razor edge, and forgiving in use — a knife that works with you, not against you.

The profile remains restrained.
A compact geometry, balanced, with a gentle curvature that favors control over demonstration. The bevel is generous, inviting engagement without excess resistance.

Used in wood, the blade reveals its true character. It confirms the visual promise: entry is immediate, the cut remains stable, the material yields without fracture.

Under diamond stones, the edge feels stubborn—almost reluctant to yield.
But that resistance is a good thing.
As legendary knifemaker Des Horn once put it: “It’s not easy to grind carbon steel without raising the temperature too high. If it turns blue while grinding, it’s much softer.”
And that Bull Cutter’s rasp steel? It’s properly hard.

As a bonus:
Carbon steel and zebu horn share a common trait: they will change.
The steel will soon take on a patina, marking time and use.
The dark brown horn will slowly deepen, its surface already showing and gaining subtle complexity.
These are not signs of wear. These are the continuation of the object.

And Robin’s Bull Cutter is really a knife made to be enjoyed in the woods. He will see a lot of kitchen times too because the sheepfoot blade is non-threatening, almost reassuring — even to those who don’t speak the language of knives, as they are drawn to the story of a farrier’s rasp given a second life.
The guard locks the hand in place with quiet confidence, and the thin edge invites controlled push cuts with ease.

Robin made this knife for his own enjoyment — and you can feel it.
There is substance here. A certain heft in the hand, just enough to carry momentum when working light branches. It’s not meant for show — it’s meant to be used.
A compact blade with presence.
A small tank, stripped of frills and completely free of tacticool pretension.
Instead, it carries something rarer:

There is an old-timer aura….
The kind of knife that feels familiar the moment you pick it up as if that steel had already lived a looong life before reaching your hand.
It also echoes my long-standing appreciation for Schrade Old Timer fixed blades: the same kind of steel, the same pragmatic lineage.

“Excellent. Those are heat treated for hardness and not strength but are thick enough to be strong enough.” Des Horn.

And then there is the sheath. Modern. Minimal. Black. Functional.
No unnecessary flourish — just a pancake kydex shell, shaped tight to the blade, held by a simple cord system that lets you adapt carry without overthinking it.
Your knife is a tool, destined to be in your pocket, belt or bag, when you go in the woods.
This kind of sheath are indestructible and they dry easy.

The handle can be crafted from a selection of carefully chosen woods and natural materials, each bringing its own character and depth:

Curly Birch — light-toned and finely figured, with subtle flame patterns that shift under the light, offering both elegance and warmth.
Boxwood — dense and smooth, with a pale golden hue that evokes traditional European craftsmanship and understated refinement.
Yew — rich in contrast, blending warm amber tones with darker veins, a wood long associated with heritage and resilience.
Yellow Locust (Black Locust) — robust and naturally durable, with a deep, earthy coloration that speaks of strength and longevity.
Rosewood — dark, luxurious, and complex, with deep reddish-brown tones and a natural luster that brings a sense of quiet opulence.
The list goes on…

For around 100 euros (mine was 110), the Bull Cutter doesn’t belong in a display case. This is Robin’s favorite design and best seller. It belongs in the forest — in valleys of green and grey, following the rivers as they meander through the land.

It is a coup de cœur for me — and my kind of tribute to a young, gifted knifemaker.

In use. This rasp steel was born to remove matter.
It still does in a new sharp shape.

La Coutellerie de la Vallée
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582645504772
Dampierre-en-Yvelines, France
An artisan workshop dedicated to the crafting of bespoke knives and the art of fine sharpening.
Each piece is shaped with care, guided by tradition, and made to endure in use.

📞 +33 7 61 83 52 59

Bird & Trout knives are small thin fixed blades, lightweight sharp knives able to process a bird or a trout. Those knives got of course no chopping purposes and no bushcrafting purposes but we have found the Sprig by Phil Wilson to be a reliable wood companion.

I already knew Phil Wilson as a knifemaker and clever metallurigist for his writing on CPM420V (S90V) back in 90’s. He was the first to provide fillet knives for people who process salmons all day and was measuring the edge retention of this new powder steel back in the past century. His results were outstanding: the S90V steel was able to process much more fish than the normal stainless steel used on that time (440C ?). He was also able to heat treat them to 60HRC and higher. Bringing the powder steel edge to uncharted territories long before people were spoiled with S30V and S110V and Elmax…
When Phil Wilson did edge holding test, lower Rockwell numbers yielded much poorer edge holding in real world use. High hardness prevents rolling and blunting of the edge, a major cause of loss of sharpness, even though the steel has very high abrasion resistance. His blades do have very high soak temps, oil quenched followed by deep cryo in liquid nitrogen but he did not have any problems with chipping as he considers the use for his S90V knives to be only for slicing. (source Bladeforums).

To quote him:
“Edge holding will be proportional to hardness to a large degree. Experience with CPM 10V, S90V, and 3V showed me that, with a particle-based steel, the hardness can be pushed a little higher up the Rockwell scale and still retain enough toughness to prevent edge chipping. (CPM S60V is the exception; it has it’s best qualities at about Rc56.) This is because the particle-metallurgy-based steels have a very fine grain structure.”

Let’s quote Phil Wilson about knife making and steel testing to understand the way he design knives, this is from an article he wrote in 2002 about the coming of S30V then new to all 15 years ago:
” I chose to make a fillet knife because, in my opinion, it has the hardest work life of any knife. Use around salt water will reveal a fillet blades ability to resist corrosion in a short time. Edge holding is tested quickly when cutting through scales and bones and working against an abrasive cutting board. A fillet knife must have a thin, flexible blade to ride over the rib bones during the fillet cut. A brittle steel will soon chip out or break under such use. A fillet knife also makes a very handy kitchen blade. It’s a natural for boning a chicken breast, slicing prime rib, or filleting out a grapefruit. Kitchen knives are left wet on the counter and bounced around in a drawer with other utensils, which is another pretty severe test for a new steel.

In addition to the fillet knife, I made a simple slab-handle semi skinner with the new S30V, and two other [nearly identical] knives from CPM S90V and 3V. This effort would give me a fresh comparison on the heat treating, grinding and finishing of all three steels. It would allow me to do some cutting and edge-holding tests against the new grade. Does the new S30V meet the challenges? The answer is yes, and I’m willing to bet that it will be the favorite steel of many knifemakers in a short time.”

— August issue of Blade Magazine in 2002 —

So as you can see Phil Wilson knows his craft and was testing those new particle-metallurgy-based steels to their limits. No surprise Jim Ankerson and Sal Glesser are huge fans of Wilson’s knives.

The Sprig is not the first Spyderco edition of Wilson knives. The South Fork FB30GB was the first. This design combines very high cutting ability, point penetration and grip ergonomics into a very high performance working knife, to quote Cliff Stamps test of the custom original version. Strangely I was never able to bound with the South Fork when with the Sprig it was love at first cut !!

First thing was the handle. The rounded Sprig handle is much more confortable in my hand when the South Fork feels more square. The Sprig is nested in my palm very very confortably and I can cut i wood for long time without any hotspots noticed. It’s important for a fixed blade. With folders there is often some kind of compromised due to the folding of the blade into the handle, but for fixed blade the confort during cutting needs to be optimum hence the Mora’s handles compared to any thick edged squeleton tactical gadgets.

The Sprig is great on wood, even with its factory edge. It is ground thin in Taichung and is able to get to work right out of the box. The belly also helps a lot to push cut fibers acting like a guillotine edge. So really this knife can be used for bushcrafting purposes which are not implemented hard drilling in wood or batoning. The thin point is wonderfully handy and not made for snuff Russian tests.

But for cutting wood and whittling the Sprig is even better than the South Fork or the Gayle Bradley Bowie and Junction, because its edge is so thinly ground.

I had used some diamonds on it but it was not really necessary really. Just a compulsive attitude of mine when I got too much time on my hands… S90V is a legendary steel. I already quote Phil Wilson’s articles in my Paramillie 2 review.

“Crucible Materials Corp has introduced three winning steels in the past 10 years: CPM S90V, CPM 3V, and now CPM S30V. CPM 3V is still the undisputed toughness champ, even surpassing some carbon steels such as A-2. Originally known as CPM420V, S90V was introduced as an upgrade for S60V (originally called CPM 440V), and met all the targets of improved corrosion resistance and toughness. It has the reputation of being hard on heat-treating equipment and is a bear to finish, but is still the best edge-holding stainless steel going.”

Easy to carry in my denim pockets with its kydex sheath, the Sprig is not really bigger than the Sliverax. The sheath is well made and flat enough to be packed in any Go-Hunting bag. So it’s very easy to bring him along for a walk in the forest or near the sea as S90V is very stainless.

I was really surprised by the cutting abilities of the Sprig. It really caught me by surprise.
The drop point design is useful even in the kitchen , so the Sprig will suit hunters as much as cooks and also it will take a very serious place in any expeditions needing a reliable cutting tool which you won’t need to sharpen every hours.