Mora

Light My Fire

Review

Love them or hate them, Mora knives are great tools for beginners and experts in wilderness. More has been making knives since 1891 in Sweden.  They are legendary knives which are incredibly tough, have a very good edge retention and most appealing of all, are very inexpensive. Most Mora knives run from $12.00 to $100.00 for their highest end model.

This review is of the Mora Light My Fire which has a unique feature of having a ferrocerium rod built right into the handle for easy use and access.

Some people feel the Mora isn’t a good choice because the blade does not run through the entire blade, and is known as a “1/4 tang” because the blade only goes 1/4 way into the handle. After several years of working with students who have abused various models of knives at Barefoot Bushcraft, we can assure you, the knives are very, very tough. Below is an x-ray of a similar Mora Knife. As you can see, the tang is short, but the moulding process ensures that they rarely come out or get damaged through regular use.

This blade has a thick modified scandi-grind blade of Sandvik 12c27 stainless steel, the same steel that many other Mora models come in. The blade is approximately 1.74cm in width, with a profile grind extending from the tip back about a couple of centimetres. The handle is made of whats called “high friction rubber”. It’s tacky to the feel which is great if your hands are covered in dirt, oil, or potentially blood (if you are a hunter). The handle, like most of the non-traditional polymer handled Moras is sized just right for average to large-sized hands and is as ergonomic as you can expect a knife to be. It’s comfortable, in other words, with a variety of grips.

The butt of the handle is what sets the Fireknife apart from its brethern. In the butt of the handle is a 1.5cm” long Light My Fire firesteel. To extract it, you simply turn the butt about a 1/4 turn to the right and pull it out. If you’re not familiar with Light My Fire’s firesteels, they are good quality and spark well, even with a stainless steel blade.  It’s certainly never a good idea to go out into the woods without some form of knife.

Tens of thousands of hikers, backpackers, hunters, anglers, woodsmen, bushcrafters and others use both firesteels and Moras, so the combining of the two makes total sense.

If you manage to loose or break your ferro rod for the knife, they are available for purchase independently so you don’t have to throw away a perfectly useable blade simply because you lost the ferro rod end cap.

Sheath:

Removing the blade from its sheath is simple, however the blade really is stuck into its plastic sheath. In the video, Wolfmaan demonstrates this by vigorously shaking the blade, and it does not fall out.

Sharpness:

The thick modified scandi-grind blade of Sandvik 12c27 stainless blade is sharp. Shaving sharp. Right from the factory, these blades can effortlessly remove body hair as good as a razor blade. The blade makes tiny, curly shavings with ease. It doesnt take much time at all to create a good pile of shavings to create a fire.

Tough:

Many outdoor experts agree, using a knife to “Baton” or hammer through a piece of wood is not a good idea. It’s rough on the blade, and can easily break a lesser quality blade. The Mora Light My Fire blade went through a piece of pine wood effortlessly.

Ferro Rod:

The Ferro rod that comes with the knife is small, but convenient. The back of the blade quickly makes it shoot a large amount of sparks out onto your tinder bundle and creates ignition. Light My Fire, the ferro rod manufacturer claims the sparks that come off the rod are over 2,900C in temperature and will light even damp tinder.

Specifications:

• Blade Material: Sandvik 12C27 stainless steel
• Grip Material: TPE rubber material
• Swedish FireSteel®: magnesium alloy
• Actual size: 225x45x38mm Weight: 94 g

Knife Features:

• Flexible and sturdy profile-grounded blade.
• Sheath with clip.
• High-friction rubber handle.
• Includes an original Swedish FireSteel® firestarter.
• Lights campfires, gas-stoves, gas-barbecues.
• Works equally well when wet.
• Predictable performance at all altitudes.
• Produces a 2,980°C (5,400°F) spark.

Overall the Mora Light My Fire is a decent quality blade, has a very good price point ($20.00 – $60.00 depending on where you live) and is tough, sturdy an can handle most camp tasks. This blade is defiantly recommended over many of it’s expensive counterparts which do not measure up in quality, edge retention or toughness.