I bought it initially because I wanted a knife with bog oak scales. The more I looked into Cässtrom, the more it felt like a good choice, as they seem to be people who stand behind their products and offer a pretty good warranty, even covering batoning for their larger models (under reasonable use). The steel was Sleipner, and I went by the photos, since the K720 is, I think, the older model, and I wanted Sleipner, so that was all good.
As for the knife itself. First, the good: the edge is one of the best I’ve received, slightly polished and well finished, cutting excellently. The handle is beautiful and very comfortable to hold, filling the hand nicely, with no gaps between the scales and the tang. It’s also pretty well finished, with no rough spots. The leather sheath is good quality and doesn’t provide a lot of friction, but since the knife slides in quite deeply, it holds it securely enough. The scandi angle is fairly high, so despite its thickness, I find it to be a pretty good slicer: a true workhorse for wood and a pleasure to use. Overall I like it, and that explains why I bought another Cässtrom pretty much straight after it, the No. 14.
Now for the less good points, or the bad ones: I’m fairly certain this is OEM’d by Joker, because the finish on the handle scales isn’t consistent or symmetrical. Fortunately, I think Cässtrom re-finishes the knives in their shop before sending them out, checking them and adding an extra QC step. Even so, the pommel on mine is bigger on one side, and on the smaller side there’s a sliver of wood that feels like it could break off with a light, accidental knock (I’m hoping that doesn’t happen). One scale is a bit thicker than the other, and at the guard they’re also asymmetrical, with one sitting a little higher and not being as rounded. The edge bevels are a bit off only at the tip. If the whole bevel had been like that, with different angles from side to side, I would have returned the knife straight away. As it is, I decided to keep it. I might be able to fix that when sharpening it, given enough patience. As for the handle, I could probably work it a bit more and even it out, but for now it doesn’t affect my comfort in use. They state the Sleipner is cryo treated, which I’m inclined to believe, and I know Joker doesn’t do that on their knives themselves, as their Sleipner on the Bushlord (a Lars Falt design stolen, as I understand it) doesn’t have it and I’ve read it performs worse despite being the same knife. As far as I know, Cässtrom also stopped working with Joker after that incident, and the No. 14 has better fit and finish on the handle and is symmetrical; however, the edge bevel doesn’t cut as nicely and there are other issues, but that’s for another product review.
All in all, I like the knife and it performs well, and I feel I can work around its defects and try to make it a bit more even. But since it doesn’t affect use of the knife, I’ve decided to keep it as it is. I do think that, for the finish, it is overpriced.
