Planning your next camping or hunting trip? There’s no better companion to any good camping experience than a good quality knife that’s not only well-designed, but also attractive and comfortable.
That’s why in this post, we’re taking a look at Bradford Knives. Founded by Brad Larkin back in 2012, Bradford Knives was built out of Brad’s love for knives. Since then Bradford Knives has supplied thousands of high quality, American-made pocket knives that are perfect for hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities.
Specifically, in this post, we’ll be taking a look at the Guardian Series by Bradford Knives. At present, there are a variety of sizes available in the Guardian Series that start off at 3.0 all the way up to 6.0. Each size comes with a good variety of finishes as well as sabre and flat grinds, giving you a variety of options to choose between what best suits your needs and preferences.
Guardian 3
First up is the Guardian 3 series. These fixed blades are about 6.75 inches in overall length, with the blade length resting at 3.5 inches, and the cutting edge length at 3 inches. The Guardian 3 blades are made with premium Bohler M390 steel, and are double tempered and cryo treated to give it that superior performance.
The size of the Guardian 3 makes it a great tool that you can carry around in your belt. It uses a horizontal sheath, with the blade itself weighing at about 3.4 oz, making it easy to carry around for long periods and also easy to conceal.
These small fixed blades are great to use for hunting, fishing, whittling and hiking. They’re meant more as carving tools as their size isn’t exactly made for splitting logs or clearing a trail. But the exceptional edge is perfect for those cutting tasks that need finer movements. The handle on the Guardian is great in that it’s large enough to give you a firm grip on the knife.
Overall, they’re wonderfully constructed and a joy to behold for any hunter, camper, or knife enthusiast, and is recommended for those looking for an excellent fixed blade that’s not too big for what they need.
Guardian 4
About an inch longer, the Guardian 4 series stands at 9.1 inches in length overall, with a blade length of approximately 4.6 inches, and a cutting edge length of about 4.1 inches.
At 6.30 oz these knives are built to withstand much tougher conditions and uses. In fact, these types of knives are often used by those in the military or in law enforcement. The Guardian 4 is of a great size and can tick nearly all of those boxes for your next camping or fishing trip.
While it’s not made to do a lot of chopping, it’s capable of side splitting wood and batoning to help you shape firewood and tools. The handle on the blade feels perfect, as it’s able to give you fine control of your movements and is even capable of handling smaller woodworking tasks. It’s a great overall knife when you’re out and about in the woods.
Guardian 5
As the second-largest Bradford Knife available (the Guardian 6 being the biggest), the Guardian 5 is a great survival knife perfect for those who prefer larger blades compared to the Guardian 3 and 4. One thing about bigger knives is that they’re more difficult to handle and control compared to their smaller counterparts. That said, the balance of the Guardian 5 is near perfect, giving you a lot of control for a larger blade.
Because of its size, the Guardian 5 is better-suited for those chopping tasks compared to the smaller blades, which are a better fit for carving, fileting, and food prep.
For those expecting to perform a lot of camping chores it’s perfectly fine to carry around two knives of different sizes. Thankfully, The Knife Connection has the entire Bradford Knives Guardian Series available in their store. Their customer service is excellent, and the shopping experience on their website is world-class. So if you’re looking for a good place to get your next-favorite knife, check out The Knife Connection.
