GEN 2 Shepherd XL | Survival, Camp and Backpacking Knife | CPM-MagnaCut Steel | NEW Monsoon Finish

I’m a fan of Dawson for the design and construction of their knives, including the ergonomics, aesthetics, interesting always-changing designs, choice of materials, and of course sturdiness.
1. I love continued to make improvements to their sheaths. Current generation is best so far, and I appreciate the inclusion of holes and slots to give flexibility in carry options.
2. I was a bit disappointed that the Arizona copper finish on the knife I received had very little of the cool Dawson mottling that was shown prominently in the web page pictures. There was very little mottling on the grind area of the blade (which is the majority of the blade area), and only significant amounts on one side of the non-grind areas.

Well done yet again you guys.

It is difficult to explain the level of excellence that these Dawson Knives are manufactured, and the olde world craftsmanship they achieve. My life has been within the aerospace and aviation fields where excellence is critical. This company, Dawson Knives, exhibits such an excellence of character in each of the knives I now own. Their detail of work is stunning, and reminisce of circa 1930’s American firearms of being crafted to the highest quality, pride, and high standards of workmanship. Thank you!

Waited a few weeks to use it before reviewing. Have a handyman and a pathfinder and this Shep XL became my favorite all around knife. Better than even my acta non verba m311 Spelter(in Elmax) and Bark river aurora(in CPM 3V) . Very sturdy construction. Thicccc CPM Magnacut so it is plenty tough to handle any real world use and will virtually never rust. Holds an edge after scraping wood shavings, feathsticking kindling, and cutting cordage all day. Magnacut is essentially a waaay tougher version of elmax Heat treated to be harder at the blade and slightly softer near the spine so you can do some hard chopping if you need to and keep edge. The Blade shape is perfect. Can pierce, slice for skinning, or meat prep and even chop chives in every camp task I threw at it. The balance is perfectly right at the index finger so despite its weight it feels very comfortable and nimble for piercing or carving notches. The ergonomics feel so deliberate with every grind on the handle, slight blade angle and jimping placement my hand falls perfectly into it. It looks gorgeous Arizona Copper and Forest(dark) greene G10. You can really tell this is hand made. You see very slight inconsistencies on things like the jimping spacing or or finger gaurd being just SLIGHTLY off 90 degrees which but it only makes me appreciate the knife more seeing that a human made this start to finish and makes the perfect edge all the more impressive. The only complaint I can honestly say is the retention in the sheath is not as strong as my ANV Spelter but still feels secure. This knife made me go from really liking Dawson Knives to only purchasing from them moving forward. When I hold this all in one tool I think of teaching my coming son, my grandson , and God-willing my great grandson what my great grandfather taught me.

Awesome knife,,Best on the market

Excellent balance, fit and finish. It is evident that great care went into the the build on all levels. I am looking forward to seeing how it performs in camping and survival scenarios.