I have a range of knives from Mora to Handmade stuff , on one of my last hunting trips someone gave me a swingblade by Outdoor Edge , which is very similar to an EKA but to my mind the handle looks better / more comfortable .. any one tried one ?
When I bought my Eka swingblade I compared it with the Outdoor Edge version (shop had both).
They were absolutely identical, other than the logo, and the blade steel. Eka is Sandvik 12c27, OE is AUS-8. I wouldn't know what minor differences there might be, so I chose the Eka, based on their good reputation with other knives, it being the original version and knowing nothing about Outdoor Edge.
My guess is that they both come out of the same Chinese factory. They cost the same.
Eka has since updated the handle slightly on the G3 version, adding an unnecessary lanyard loop, I've not seen one to compare with mine.
I've just seen that OE now have a very inexpensive pair of fixed knives using the same skinning and gutting blade profiles as the swingblade, the JaegerPair
I was mildly interested until I found that they are made of 420J2 steel, which is apparently the cheapest nastiest stuff, barely a blade steel at-all. I suppose you can't expect any more at £30 the pair.
Incidentally Sandvik12C27 is the same stuff as used by Mora. Maybe Eka do a better job of heat treatment than Mora, but I have no complaints with mine, which has now gralloched eight fallow, five muntjac, one roe, all including cutting the ribs from the sternum (suspended) as well as skinning them and a little butchery, though I usually use a fibrox boning knife for that.
I've not yet had to sharpen it, though will soon, only stropped it, so I call it fit for purpose. It is of course hollow ground rather than scandi like a Mora. That might also account for those who have found Mora's only adequate, or maybe aren't sharpening them properly (no, a steel is not a suitable method), just a theory.