Joker Nomad Review

Joker Knives is a world-renowned Spanish knife company, established in 1987 in Albacete, Spain. It is one of Spain’s proud cutlery makers with some of the fines edged tools available. It also has one of the largest ranges of edge cutlery on the planet!

Joker Knives produces fixed-bade knives, folding knives, Bowie knives, saws, axes, survival and hunting knives. It uses premium materials such as 440-grade stainless steel, 1075 high-carbon steel, and Bohler and Sandvick steels. It is known for its authentic Spanish craftsmanship and affordable prices.

The Joker Nomad is a 9.75” fixed-blade knife with a 5” Bohler N695 stainless steel blade, with 4.75” black Micarta scales. It comes with black leather sheath with a firestarter. It is suitable for fishing, hunting, camping, and hiking.

The Joker Nomad came in a standard cardboard package branded with Joker along with the product specs. It came wrapped in the leather sheath, and the knife was very sharp out of the sheath.

It was able to slice open a plastic water bottle from a close distance – that is how sharp the knife was. But the finishing of the blade was not good at all. It was dirty and full of scratches.

But that was because it was not a brand new knife. But the blade was still sharp as ever. The handle had a pretty good grip, and was able to cover the entire hand.

It even covers big hands almost entirely, and the extended tang does not get in the way of it. The Bohler N695 blade with a true drop point convex grind did not accumulate dirt in it, and neither did the handle. Although, the used knife had considerable wear and tear, it still performed well. The grind all the way to the cutting edge without any secondary bevel on it.

The knife’s branding however, was still intact, since it was etched into the blade on the front side. It said Joker Nomad, the logo and the blade material on it. The knife did feel thick and bulky in the hand. The blade spine was also pretty thick. However, that did not impact its sharpness level.

The leather sheath is very durable and easy to carry. It has small drain holes to make washing it easier. It locks the blade fully in and hangs well onto a thick belt loop. All in all, it looked and felt a lot like a bushcraft knife for outdoor usage.

Joker Nomad features a 5” drop point satin finish plain edge Bohler N695 steel blade, with a blade thickness of 0.19”. It is a wide belly with a spine as wide as 1.33”, which provides enough room for precise and deeper cuts. It has sturdy jimping at the back of the blade’s spine, which is much accentuated and comfortably thick to choke up the knife.

However, it does not come with a finger choil, whether forward or sharpening. But it does have a beak just along the spine to stop the finger from sliding down on the blade.

The Bohler N695 is a chromium stainless steel with high hardness, wear and corrosion resistance. It is a widely used blade material for fixed-blade knives, tactical gear and outdoor knives. It has a hardness level of 59-62 HRC at standard heat treatment. It can withstand everyday wear and abrasion, and does not rust or stain when used in wet or moist conditions. It is an improved version of 440C, and though it is a softer steel in comparison to other higher-end steel blades, it is comparable to VG10, which is also a hard carbon steel.

The grind lines are not so visible and are evenly done vertically, with a wide enough cutting edge. Although, the grind lines are visible throughout the edge.

The handle of Joker Nomad is a finely done black Micarta with a full extended tang and comes attached with a lanyard. The three pins along the handle are super thick and screwed inside the scale to add curves for the finger. The handle is also well-contoured with curves for the knuckles. You can take advantage of it along with the swedge to indulge in chopping action.

The extended tang is well-contoured and sharpened around the edges, so it does not pinch. It is a pretty thick full-tang blade without any gaps between the Micarta and the blade, and the blade sits perfectly straight within the scales. It is probably due to this that adds weight to the knife weighing around 10.05 ounces without the sheath.

Although the handle is well-done, it is too thick for comfort. It goes with the fixed blade, but may not work on a folding knife. It is ergonomically engineered, and you can hold the handle for extended period. You can also use the heavy jimping to choke it up, down, and center. It is just as easily configured for left-handed action as it is for the right hand.

The Joker Nomad comes with a black leather sheath with a belt loop and a thick ferro rod for starting a fire. It does not come with a strap to strap in the knife, but locks the knife inside automatically. That means that pulling out the knife is a two-handed action. The leather is thick enough not to let the blade cut through its thick material and stitching.

The ferro rod comes placed on the side of the sheath with a small loop. It is pretty thick with a Micarta handle. That completes this knife as an outdoor survival knife, since you can now start a campfire with it easily. The ferro rod is also branded with Joker etched onto the handle with a lanyard. The lanyard also helps to lock the ferro into place on the sheath. You can simply loop it around to lock it in place.

The sheath also has small drain holes on its side, which you can use to further strap in onto a thinner belt. However, the sheath would add more weight to the knife to hang on to a thin belt.

Next up, we tried chopping wood chips off of a thick block of wood, and the results were beyond impressive. It chopped thin chips of wood without much effort, and the handle felt comfortable in the hand as well. The blade worked really sharply and expertly as it kept chopping off the wood for an extended period.

We also batoned the blade by attempting to chop the thick block of wood right from the middle, and the blade showed extreme resilience.

The Joker Nomad chopped the piece of wood right off. We also batoned on the handle, and it remained firm under pressure. That is the advantage of a firm Micarta handle. It is able to absorb the pressure.

We continued chopping the wooden plank until it was left in shreds, and batoned the knife quite frequently. Although the knife did not give way, it did start to hurt the hand, as it was a laborious process.

This is what the knife looked like in the end. It had the same signs of wear as it did when it came slightly used out of the box. We do not mind the wear as long as it is still able to perform well. That makes it a very practical knife. Although it does feel bulky, it makes up for it with its exceptional resilience in the face of batoning and hard usage.

Joker Nomad vs LionSteel T5

LionSteel T5 and Joker Nomad are both fixed-blade bushcraft knives and come with a leather sheath. Both the knives’ blades have larger belly, are 10” long with a 5” blade. Both he knives also have a Micarta handle, although in different colors.

The LionSteel T5 only weighs slightly lesser than Joker Nomad, and costs more than the Nomad. Its blade finish is better than that on Joker Nomad, and has a thicker blade stock thickness. Both the knives perform well and passed their field tests.

However, the LionSteel T5 does not come with a ferro rod, but has multiple belt loops on its sheath but no drain holes. It is easier to carry and slides the knife in smoothly.

Joker Nomad vs Nomad 6.5

The Nomad 6.5 features a 6.5” blade as opposed to a 5” blade on the regular Joker Nomad. It weighs 10.6 ounces, and features the same Bohler N695 steel blade. It also comes with an attached lanyard and extended full tang. It does the same job as the Joker Nomad, but is only larger, and hence costlier than the Joker Nomad.

It is also perfect for batoning, and features the same durable Micarta handle. So if you want a knife with larger blade and a longer cutting edge, then the Nomad 6.5 is the best alternative to Joker Nomad