Post by Pete1977 on Aug 6, 2009 17:16:30 GMT -5
I picked this up for about $35 at the local Gander Mountain. It is an assisted opening knife with a 3 inch sheepsfoot/wharncliffe style plain edge blade of Sandvik 13C26 stainless. It has an ergonomically shaped Polymide handle. Polymide feels and looks like FRN. The scales on this knife feel cheap to me. Tapping the handle makes a sound as if the scales are hollow. The closed length of the knife is 4 1/8 inches.
The knife is thicker than say, a Delica, and weighs 3.5 oz. Carrying it in my pocket for a few days I find it more noticeable than the stainless Delica, more due to the thicker handle than the weight itself. I have to carry it in pocket because the clip is both too short and too tight to get it to clip to my pocket. Once I get it clipped it is not as difficult to draw it but I've pretty much given up on carrying the knife clipped. The small, wide clip is noticeable and combined with the 2/3 inch of knife left sticking out of the pocket it is obvious that I am carrying a knife.
The knife opens by means of the Speedsafe assisted opening initiated by a flipper. The flipper on this knife is large enough to access but not so large that it catches on things. It is shaped so that it curves downwards into a curved part of the handle that naturally fits the tip of my index finger. There is jimping in the curve of the flipper for traction and the assisted opening of this knife is fast and smooth, opening the knife to a positive lockup 99% of the time.
The lock is a liner lock and engages securely and is almost centered on the blade tang when the knife is open. Fit and finish are on par with what I would expect from Kershaw, a hair shaving sharp blade that easily slices computer paper. My particular knife came with a noticeably rolled point. I don't know if it came from the factory or this was done by customers in the store handling the knife. It should sharpen out but it is easily felt with my thumbnail and visible to the naked eye.
This is an ugly knife with ergonomics and function taking precedence over form. Unfortunately this limits the knife to a couple of comfortable grips. In an ordinary saber grip the handle was short even for my small hands. When I place my thumb in the curve on the back of the blade the knife begins to fit my hand perfectly except for the lip of the clip. It presses into my palm and I can see this becoming uncomfortable during extended durations of cutting. The knife actually is extremely comfortable in forward grip edge up, a grip I often use for cutting rope. Couple that with the ruler-straight cutting edge and this would be an excellent knife to use on a boat. I'd like to see a serrated version of this knife. Reverse grip edge out is also comfortable but reverse grip edge in does not work for me.
The Polymide handle scales offer a secure grip. They are textured with large circular divots. Though smoother and slicker than the FRN on Spyderco and Byrd knives, combined with the ergonomic handle I don't see this to be too much of a problem.
I did some cutting with the knife on stuff I had laying around the apartment. I had some popsicle sticks, water bottles, and cardboard boxes. I whittled the four sticks down to shavings (they were the only wood I had on hand) and the knife still shaved hair. It was also still shaving after cutting four water bottles into strips. It was comfortable to use in a paring grip and I peeled the bottles into a "slinkie" with one continuous cut. It was also comfortable in a hammer grip when slicing cardboard into thin strips.
I used the knife in the kitchen to peel and cut up some sweet potatoes to make fries and to cut the crowns from some broccoli to have with dinner. the knife did well as a paring knife though it had a lot of difficulty slicing the thick potatoes. This is more due to the short blade length than design flaw and a dedicated paring knife is more suited for kitchen use than a tactical/utility folder.
This is a decent knife for the money. I prefer the designs of Spyderco and Byrd folders. This has the typical Ken Onion lines and those are not aesthetically pleasing to me but the Needs Work would make a serviceable utility knife. I would think of giving the option of left and right hand carry and make a longer narrower, more discrete clip and perhaps giving the Polymide handle scales a little more texture.
Some pix with a Delica 4 and Endura 4 for size comparison:
pete
The knife is thicker than say, a Delica, and weighs 3.5 oz. Carrying it in my pocket for a few days I find it more noticeable than the stainless Delica, more due to the thicker handle than the weight itself. I have to carry it in pocket because the clip is both too short and too tight to get it to clip to my pocket. Once I get it clipped it is not as difficult to draw it but I've pretty much given up on carrying the knife clipped. The small, wide clip is noticeable and combined with the 2/3 inch of knife left sticking out of the pocket it is obvious that I am carrying a knife.
The knife opens by means of the Speedsafe assisted opening initiated by a flipper. The flipper on this knife is large enough to access but not so large that it catches on things. It is shaped so that it curves downwards into a curved part of the handle that naturally fits the tip of my index finger. There is jimping in the curve of the flipper for traction and the assisted opening of this knife is fast and smooth, opening the knife to a positive lockup 99% of the time.
The lock is a liner lock and engages securely and is almost centered on the blade tang when the knife is open. Fit and finish are on par with what I would expect from Kershaw, a hair shaving sharp blade that easily slices computer paper. My particular knife came with a noticeably rolled point. I don't know if it came from the factory or this was done by customers in the store handling the knife. It should sharpen out but it is easily felt with my thumbnail and visible to the naked eye.
This is an ugly knife with ergonomics and function taking precedence over form. Unfortunately this limits the knife to a couple of comfortable grips. In an ordinary saber grip the handle was short even for my small hands. When I place my thumb in the curve on the back of the blade the knife begins to fit my hand perfectly except for the lip of the clip. It presses into my palm and I can see this becoming uncomfortable during extended durations of cutting. The knife actually is extremely comfortable in forward grip edge up, a grip I often use for cutting rope. Couple that with the ruler-straight cutting edge and this would be an excellent knife to use on a boat. I'd like to see a serrated version of this knife. Reverse grip edge out is also comfortable but reverse grip edge in does not work for me.
The Polymide handle scales offer a secure grip. They are textured with large circular divots. Though smoother and slicker than the FRN on Spyderco and Byrd knives, combined with the ergonomic handle I don't see this to be too much of a problem.
I did some cutting with the knife on stuff I had laying around the apartment. I had some popsicle sticks, water bottles, and cardboard boxes. I whittled the four sticks down to shavings (they were the only wood I had on hand) and the knife still shaved hair. It was also still shaving after cutting four water bottles into strips. It was comfortable to use in a paring grip and I peeled the bottles into a "slinkie" with one continuous cut. It was also comfortable in a hammer grip when slicing cardboard into thin strips.
I used the knife in the kitchen to peel and cut up some sweet potatoes to make fries and to cut the crowns from some broccoli to have with dinner. the knife did well as a paring knife though it had a lot of difficulty slicing the thick potatoes. This is more due to the short blade length than design flaw and a dedicated paring knife is more suited for kitchen use than a tactical/utility folder.
This is a decent knife for the money. I prefer the designs of Spyderco and Byrd folders. This has the typical Ken Onion lines and those are not aesthetically pleasing to me but the Needs Work would make a serviceable utility knife. I would think of giving the option of left and right hand carry and make a longer narrower, more discrete clip and perhaps giving the Polymide handle scales a little more texture.
Some pix with a Delica 4 and Endura 4 for size comparison:
pete