I swear I have zero intention of turning this blog into a gun and knife blog, which is why I’m reluctant to even add a knife category. However, a fair number of folks keep asking about knives. And then crazy opportunities to review knives, like The Wanderer from Skallywag Tactical, just seem to keep falling into my lap. Opportunities that I’m not going to pass up because, while I’m not a huge knife nerd, I do like knives.

No joke. There I was, minding my own business, when an email notification from the affiliate network hit my inbox. The email informed me that Skallywag Tactical joined the network. Having been an admirer from afar since I learned about Skallywag from the collaboration they did with Toor Knives a good while back, I applied to their program. Not only did I get accepted, which means I have a financial relationship with them where I make a small percentage of sales that originate from links clicked on in this blog, but I got an email a couple of weeks later asking if there were any products they could send me to review.

Duh! Of course, I’m not going to turn down some bad mamajama blades to review.

The first knife I asked them for was The Wanderer. Which they sent to me about four weeks ago. I’ve been beating on it since then. And, now… well, now here we are.

The Wanderer stood out to me from the wide array of really cool and wicked knives because of its simple and traditional design. Don’t get me wrong, I do cool and wicked as often as my wallet allows me, but cool and wicked ends up in the collection looking pretty. The Wanderer was going to be my first Skallywag Tactical knife and I wanted something I could use and abuse to get a feel for what I can expect from Skallywag. A simple mediums-sized drop-point blade with a nice belly and a saber flat grind is perfect for that. It’s something I can use to do a little food prep, start a fire or two, open packages, harvest a deer, and so on. You know, something utilitarian that can be thrown into a hunting pack, a get home bag, or bug out kit that can be depended on. That’s the promise I felt The Wanderer making when I laid eyes on it.

Now the question is, did The Wanderer live up to that promise?

Being brutally and completely honest, like I am in all the reviews I write at the risk of abruptly ending affiliate relationships prematurely, first impressions were more than a little rocky. But let me back up just a little before we jump into why that was the case.

The specs for the $225 knife are on point for a dependable knife that can perform a wide variety of camping, hunting, or survival tasks. You’ve got a 9.5″ knife that is equal portions blade and handle with middle of road thickness of 3/16″. The materials excellent picks that strike a balance between quality and value with a G10 handle and 154CM steel – not to be confused with CPM-154 which very similar but is considered to be a slightly more premium steel with similar edge retention, ease of sharpness, and corrosion resistance qualities but greater toughness. I’d say, the specs look just as promising on paper as the knife looks on the website and price felt right. As such, my expectations for the knife were pretty high.

Turns out that my expectations were perhaps a little too high and arguably unfair, because there was a mismatch between what I expected and what was in the box.

The first thing I noticed was the included Ferrocerium rod that was in the leather sheath’s attached fire steel loop. That was pretty neat. Except for the small G10 fire steel handle which doesn’t give you a lot to hang on to when striking it. I should have picked up on that when looking at the knife of the website, but I missed it. Not a huge deal, but a forgivable small miss in my book given the knife’s price point.

The very next thing that caught my attention was the keeper strap on the sheath that is used to prevent a knife from slipping out. I very much loath keeper straps and sheaths that rely on them because I inevitably end up cutting into them and eventually through them as I remove and return a knife to its sheath. It’s going to happen to this sheath. It’s only a matter of time. Again, this is something I should have noticed on the website, but didn’t. Mea culpa.

At this point I’m unimpressed by the fire steel rod and disappointed with the sheath and it’s time to draw the knife from the sheath and hold it in my hand for the first time. Things were just not clicking and I immediately commenced hunting down flaws. I started thinking that the fire steel makes no sense since the blade has a black PVD coating and coated blades generally suck for throwing sparks from a fire steel. I’m now apathetic towards what then seem to be an unrefined vanilla handle design with scales that can be removed using two flat head screw drivers on the two pins that hold it together. I was so unmoved by it that I don’t even recall noticing the lanyard hole, the ricasso, the guard, or the choil.

I ended up putting the knife down and walking away from it.

I did say first impressions were more than a little bit rocky. Remember?

A little later that evening while playing tug-o-war with one of the dogs, I came to the realization that it was the knife that caught my eye. Not the Ferrocerium rod and not the sheath, but the knife itself. Thinking back on it, I’m pretty sure it was the stupid little keeper strap that got to me. I truly have endless disdain for them that most likely comes from me being a careless idiot that can’t figure out how not to end up cutting into them.

At any rate, I decided to stop being a grumpy old man. I went and got the knife. Then I used it to cook up a nice ribeye steak and eat it. And that was the beginning of a marvelous friendship.

I still don’t care for the sheath and I continue to be ambivalent towards the fire steel, but the knife has really grown on me. I’ve literally used it on a daily basis to open packages, prepare food and eat it. Just the other day, I used to cut and splice some wire that needed some cutting and splicing just to see if I could do it with the knife and I did. I also used it during the last cold front to do some light wood processing and start a fire.

It turns out the knife is proving to be as useful as it promises to be. The belly and grind work pretty well for slicing and cutting. It’s no replacement for a chef’s knife in the kitchen, but it is good enough to do some rudimentary cooking. The grind and thickness really lend themselves well to light batoning and feathersticking. The 90º spine works surprisingly well for throwing sparks from the Ferrocerium rod even with the PVD coating. The best part is even with daily use, which has been light for the most part, the sharp edge is still crazy sharp and shows no signs of dulling. When it does, I expect sharpening will be relatively easy given the simple grind, simple blade shape, and blade material.

I’ve even found the “unrefined” G10 handle to be quite comfortable even though contouring is quite simple with plain flat sides and single long belly along the bottom. There is plenty of material to fill out the hand and just enough texture to maintain a steady grip. The front and rear handle flares do a fine job at keeping the hand from slipping too far forward to too far back. It’s like the rest of the knife – simple, traditional, and functional.

As it stands right now, The Wanderer from Skallywag Tactical has become my regular trusty beater fixed blade knife. I don’t know that it will ever end up in one of the packs, bags, or kits. That’s only because those spots are already taken by other knives that I developed a strong trust for. If that wasn’t the case, then I’m sure I’d confidently toss the knife in one without a second thought. I’ll keep on dealing with the sheath until I cut through the keeper strap. At which point, I’ll figure out what to replace the sheath with. Until then, I’m just going to continue beating on the knife. And I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself buying one or two more as gifts to good friends. Who knows? I might even pick one up to giveaway to one of y’all since it’s been a long time since the last giveaway.