Shelby, NC 

704-434-6496

blgoode@bellsouth.net

Review by Jeff Wong of the Sidekick and Trailsman
Thanks to my buddy Burnsy56, I was privileged to receive a couple of Brian Goode’s knives to briefly play with before passing them along to another USNer to do the same. The companion set of Brian’s Trailsman and Sidekick arrived to me with the Piggy back sheath for two, and a separate sheath for the little fellah. Brian crafted the piggyback sheath so that it could be uncoupled if desired, leaving the Trailsman sheath solo. A very nice touch. The kydex sheaths were well-fitting and nicely made. A webbed nylon belt strap was attached to the sheath, but it could be removed for IWB or pocket carry of the knife(s). You’d need a good sized pocket for the Trailsman.

Steel O-1, Brian shoots for an Rc of about 58 for the edge as hardness that is a good balance between edge holding and ease of sharpening. Blades had a nice full flat grind with a convex edge. I stropped the edges some to bring the edge to a higher level of sharpness. Out of the box the blades would easily cut paper (a nice working edge) but I prefer my knives even sharper. There are some great pics of the two knives on the thread by Brian Goode in this forum. Specs on the two knives:
 
Trailsman

Blade Length: Approximately 5.75”, tip to handle
Blade Width: Just over 1 ¾” at the widest point
OAL: 11”
Weight: 9.6 oz.
Balance point: Middle of the index finger cut-out in the handle

Sidekick
Blade Length: 2 7/8”
OAL: 6 3/8”
Weight; 3.25 oz.
Balance point: Rear cusp of index finger cut- out in the handle

Piggy back sheath: 4.8 oz.
 


 
Sidekick. Started cutting tests with little guy, on some fairly sturdy cardboard. All cuts were made perpendicular or diagonal to the ‘grain’. I cut a pile of cardboard as pictured, until the blade started to drag some. It was pretty easy to bring the edge back to the sharpness before cutting with a few swipes on a fine Spyderco ceramic rod and some stropping on a piece of cardboard loaded with compound.
Next, I proceeded to do some wood work with the Sidekick, making fuzz sticks from heavily resinated ‘fatwood’. The blade performed well, making curls of any size desired. After cleaning off the gummy resin from the fatwood, some well-aged Douglas Fir was attacked. The blade bit aggressively and carved off smooth curls. As you can see from the picture, the cuts are good and clean. By now, the little blade had dulled some. About half a minute stropping with cardboard loaded with compound brought the edge back to nice and sharp
In the kitchen, the Sidekick was a great little slicer, though a bit thick for real delicate cuts. Very nimble because of it's shorter handle.
 
Trailsman. I began testing this larger blade on a decently thick cardboard box. My first impression was how nicely the handle filled the hand and how well the broad blade sliced through the cardboard. The handle was comfortable in the bare hand and worked great with a gloved hand too. I made a considerable number of cuts before the blade dulled to the point where it would no longer cut the cardboard cleanly. Bringing the edge back to keenness was done easily with the Spyderco ceramic stone and loaded strop.
 
The Trailsman is not designed to be a chopper, but I just had to try it out. As might be expected the cuts were pretty shallow, but well defined. Next a baton was used to split some small pieces of kindling, and to notch out a piece of Doug Fir. No sign of chipping or edge deformation was seen on the blade which is evidence if a good heat treat and appropriate blade profile. The baton test is the notch on the left, and chopping is the notch on the right.
 
The Trailsman is an excellent whittler, which was a pleasant surprise because of it's blade width. I was able to shave great curls or dig deeply for more substantial cuts into seasoned Douglas Fir.
Just for fun, I executed a few snap cuts on some shrubbery and was easily able to shear off small branch tips, until my wife gave me ‘the look’. Okay, on to kitchen duty.
A few tough and fibrous outer leaves from an artichoke seemed like good stuff to cut, so I proceeded to julienne the leaves cross-wise into small strips. The knife cut well and seemed like it would be great as a camp kitchen knife. The Trailsman strikes me as an all-around camp knife that could do a multitude of tasks.
 
In closing, these are fine knives. I especially like the size and ergonomics of the Trailsman. I had a chance to chat with Brian by phone and found him to be friendly and concerned about the quality of his products and happiness of his customers. He impressed me as a maker who strives to continually improve his craft and is receptive to what customers and other knife makers have to say.