Spyderco Breeden Rescue

02/17/2011 by 44 MAG.

-Price Paid: $150.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I just picked up this knife last week. I own 12 Spydercos and an aray of other knives. This is the best knife I own. It is a solid build, egros are great and the blade is the most pratical sheepfoot blade I've ever used, it can handle all types of cutting, the upsweep at the tip make it an all round utility blade. The liner lock is solid, no blade play left, right, up or down. Great Spyderco pocket clip, I like the satin finish on the clip, no gloss here. The G10 handles are the best, just right. This is now my new EDC. I looked at a Benchmade mini Dejavoo the same time I was buying this Rescue, the Spyderco won hands down... Weight and feel are just right on the Rescue, you won;t regret buying one.

Kershaw PackRat

02/14/2011 by Jon G.

-Price Paid: $70.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I picked up the PackRat after reading several favorable reviews on EDCforums and watching nutnfancy's video review on YouTube. The PackRat has a blade length of 3-1/4" and weighs in at ~4.2 ounces. Like many of Kershaw's mid-to-higher-end folding knives, the blade is made of Sandvik's excellent 14C28N steel (takes an extremely keen edge, good edge retention, decent rust resistance from what I hear).

Compared to the Kershaw Leek and Skyline, the blade is fairly thick at the spine, but this would plausibly lend itself towards greater durability and propensity towards harder-use situations. The blade shape is fairly unique, with a pointed tip and a sweeping convex-shaped belly running the full length of the blade. Like all the Kershaws I've ever handled, the PackRat came paper-shearing, hair-whittling sharp out of the box.

This is a SpeedSafe assisted-opening knife, primarily designed to be actuated via the index-finger flipper. The torsion bar is particularly robust on this model; it takes a fairly significant push on the index flipper to activate the SpeedSafe mechanism. Like all SpeedSafe-equipped knives though, the PackRat opens up swiftly and locks with a satisfying audible and tactile "thwack". The lock is solid and there is no blade play in any direction. However, my example has a rattle emanating from within the handle when the blade is open. Posts I've read on knife forums online suggest that this is a problem with the assisted-opening mechanism, but there I have not observed any functional deficits, apart from the noise. The PackRat also has dual thumbstuds, but they butt up directly against the handles when the knife is closed, making them nearly impossible to use in opening the knife.

The scales are made from fairly grippy textured G-10, laid over partially-skeletonized steel handle liners. This lends itself to a very solid feel, but also adds significant weight and thickness. At ~4.2 ounces, I definitely can feel when I am carrying this knife. The curvy, organic shape of the handle is extremely comfortable for my small-to-medium sized hands, and is one of the biggest strengths of this design. The index blade flipper doubles as a hand guard when the blade is open, providing additional protection from the hand moving forward onto the sharpened portion of the blade. The clip is repositionable tip-up and tip-down (right hand only), but is somewhat stubby and feels flimsy. I can hear a definite "twangy" sound when I test the clip's tension against the handle, and the knife has already been inadvertently pulled out of my pocket twice.

While it has its flaws, Kershaw has done a good job with the PackRat. It is just about the perfect blade length for an everyday carry knife, feels like an extension of my hand, and its assisted opening mechanism makes the knife just fly open. However, the weight is more noticeable than I'd like, and the organic shapes just aren't my cup of tea aesthetically. In terms of function though, the PackRat is good at what it does.

Cold Steel TI Lite 4

02/14/2011 by dwtdken

-Price Paid: $45.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

i've owned evey 4" model ti lite ever made since they came ouy with the original titanium model several years ago. the zytel model is my favorite and i never am without one. for a stilleto style knive they very durable. i have cut the door knob off my front door before after locking myself out. did'nt take but a second either. i don't cre for the snag and pull method of deployment but i can open it faster than an assisted with a flick of my thumb. i've heard people having problems opening and closing them but i think thats an operater defect. i've owned at least 20 of these knives i carry one awhile and give it away, i've never had a problem but i will say this out of the box they are razor sharp but you need to have some sharpening skill or know someopne who does cause they are hard to touch up to out of the box sharpness.

Benchmade Benchmite II

02/13/2011 by Charlie

-Price Paid: $20.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Now I don't expect much from a key chain knife, so in terms of ergonomics, I can't really dock it too much points. After all, it's suppose to be small in the hands. Either way, for the cost and quality of the knife, I have to say it is quite worth it.

Blade:

The blade steel is AUS8 with a blade length of around 1.92". Not much to say here. It's not the best steel in the world, but is there really a reason to have high grade steel on a key chain knife? AUS8 is great at what it does, and this knife came with a razor edge. I haven't put this blade under hard usage (why is there a need to for a small knife like this?) but for small tasks such as cutting open envelopes, opening bottles (I just use leverage), and other small tasks, it does the job.

Handle/Ergonomics/Locking:

Now one thing that I love about this knife is the locking mechanism. It is a fantastic lock called the "Levitator Lock". The great thing about this is the fact that the knife will lock closed or opened. I won't go into the specifics of how it works (you can see that on the Benchmade site) but I find it to be a fantastic lock. Additionally, if you become proficient enough, you can easily open the lock with one hand with a little flick of the wrist. Even better, for such a small knife, the fit and finish is definitely above average. There is absolutely no blade play and the blade was fairly centered in the handle.

Overall/History:

This is a great key chain knife that can easily be attached to the key chain. I will however admit that the weight isn't the most comfortable on a key chain if you like to have it light weight. It ranges around 1.6 oz and as light as that may sound, combining that with a bunch of other keys might add to the weight. Overall, this is a fantastic knife and hopefully, many will purchase one. They aren't too expensive and since it is constructed fully of metal, it is a rugged little piece.

Spyderco Delica FFG

02/13/2011 by Eddie

-Price Paid: $50.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I just picked up a purple FFG Delica and am blown away by the quality of this "cheap" FRN Spyderco. I have never owned a delica before, only a G10 Endura which I found WAY too big, but the Delica is perfect. The blade size is perfect for edc, and the handle is the perfect size for easy opening and closing. If you are scared about the purple ffg model, do not fear, it is not a girly purple but a dark matte style purple. And on top of this, the clip is a black matte rather than high gloss. This is a very well constructed and solid feeling knife because of the added metal backspacer. This stacks up just as well against high end spydies with premium materials such as g10/carbon fiber etc.. The FFG Delica is an awesome value, premium steel, great ergonomics and just plain quality.

Pick one up!

Kershaw Skyline

02/11/2011 by Jon G.

-Price Paid: $35.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

This is an outstanding EDC knife, and should be perfect for any general purpose task you might throw at it. The blade itself is hollow-ground and of a drop-point design, measuring out at 3-1/8". It cuts like an evil villain's laser beams out of the box (absolutely shaving sharp), and the hollow grind makes the Skyline an outstanding slicer. The blade is fairly thin, which lends itself nicely to precision cutting work, but may not be well-suited to hard-use tasks like a saber-ground Spyderco Delica 4 might. The blade is made from 14C28N stainless steel, and holds its edge quite well. I've carried this knife continuously for about a month now and used it every day (mostly opening packages and cutting lots of food), and it only once needed a few swipes across the fine stones on my Spyderco sharpmaker to bring it back to paper-slicing, hair-popping sharpness. The blade had some minor cosmetic scuffing and wear near the pivot at delivery, but was otherwise flawless.

Unlike many of Kershaw's offerings, the Skyline is NOT an assisted-opening design. However, it doesn't really need it. A firm push inward on the flipper (and occasionally a slight wrist flick) brings out and locks the blade. There are also dual thumbstuds on the blade, but these are difficult to access because they are situated almost flush to the handles/scales when the knife is closed. (Docked points for ergonomics) The pivot action is buttery smooth and offers just enough resistance (so you won't easily slice fingers off trying to close the knife one-handed) and the locking liner is rock-solid: absolutely no wiggle in the blade in any direction.

The scales are made of medium-textured G-10, which is grippy enough to inspire confidence. The G-10 material is well-machined, with no sharp points or surfaces along any of the handle contours. The deep finger choil makes controlling the knife quite easy, and adds confidence in handling the knife. The pocket clip is repositionable for tip-up or tip-down carry (right hand only), and is quite rigid and tight (which works fine with great pocket retention in my jeans, but might cause some fabric wear over time with other materials). The knife weighs around 2.6 ounces, and is so slim and light that in terms of overall pocketability, I often forget that I am carrying this knife (until I need it).

Kershaw hit a home-run with the Skyline. It is well-constructed, comfortable, and extremely good at its intended purpose. The fact that it is $35 and made in the United States is icing on the cake. If you're in the market for a lightweight ~3" folding blade, and aren't bothered by the flipper opening design, this knife seriously deserves your consideration.

Cold Steel Rajah III

02/11/2011 by Saxeimus

-Price Paid: $40.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

aus8 blade, rusted a little for me. only thing bad about the knife. kukri blade shape, super shave sharp. three mm thick blade. thumb disk will catch on pocket for quick deploy. around a three inch blade. no play in lock back or pivot. grivory steel lined handle with aluminum back spacer. closed design very easy to hold it feels great. pocket clip is great. low riding knife. its great i would tell everyone to buy. great knife great price.

Cold Steel Rajah II

02/11/2011 by Saxeimus

-Price Paid: $90.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

this is an awesome knife!!!!!! the blade is a kukri shape with a razor sharp edge like all cold steel knives. it is around a six inch blade so its not really an edc. it is a AUS8 steel blade. i have a problem with AUS8 steel blades. i carry them and they rust right away. just tiny little dots that form. i still love the knife anyways you can always fix rust spots. it is a thick blade to the spine is about five mm. it is a filler blade minus my rust i get on em. it could be me and no one else i dont know. the pivot joint of the knife is super tight. there is no play when locked out. the lock is a super good lock it will never fold up on you unless you do something unthinkable to to it. its a lock back knife. the handle is really nice. steel lined, aluminum back spacer, and grivory handle. its got some texture to it but its not super crazy grippy. it is a closed handle design. its a long handle so you can grip it in four places and then reverse in four ways. this knife is like a pocket machete and is perfect for hard outdoor use. i would recommend for collector, outdoor use, maybe tactical. great buy.

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Benchmade 9051 AFO II

02/11/2011 by Rick

-Price Paid: $160.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

I ranked this knife highly. It got 9's and 10's because it is a great knife. The improvements that BM incorporated in the AFOII really pay off. This includes a stronger spring, larger button, an open build, and a steel glassbreaker in the butt end that helps to add weight. Speaking of weight, this knife weighs in at 5.8 ounces so it has a really solid feel to it. I've had a few BM auto's in the past, but this knife feels like a real upgrade in their auto lineup.

The fit/finish is excellent on this knife with all anodizing expertly done, the handle halves come together flush, lock and opening button work smoothly, lockup is very solid, and blade is centered.

I've purchased three of these, two of the 9051's, and one 9052 (tanto). All three came with the same characteristics I noted in the above paragraph. One other thing they all three came with is a very, very, sharp blade, especially the flat ground, spearpoint 9051's. The grinds were perfect on all three.

I've been really pleased with these knives. The tanto version was given to a friend for his birthday back in December. The first 9051 I got was the coated blade, serrated version. Not a big fan of the serrations, so I picked up the second one in a satin finish, with a plain edge, and I am digging it!!

The only thing that makes this knife better than it was from the factory, is the usaknifemaker.com "STEALTH" foldover, deepcarry, pocketclip I installed. This lets the entire knife ride down inside my pocket with noone the wiser.

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SOG Seal Pup Elite

02/10/2011 by Frank

-Price Paid: $74.00
-Used for Other
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Just to clarify some differences between the Seal Pup and Seal Pup Elite.

The Elite is AUS 8 instead of AUS 6 and the original seal pup has no rasping on the top of the blade. If you take a look at where the cutting portion of the blade starts in relation to the handle, you will notice a gap. I see no use for this gap at all and the original seal pup has more of this wasted space than the seal pup elite. This adds unwanted weight and in my humble opinion makes the overall appearance of the knife less appealing. This also makes batoning operations in the bush more difficult because you have a blunt surface contacting the wood.

I would say that the steel used in the elite is a marked improvement over the orignal.

The handle materials used are the same in both. It's some kind of glass reinforced nylon that SOG calls "Zytel". Excellent as far as keeping the weight down and very durable. The downside is that even though they added some nurling, it's still a little bit too slippery if you have sweaty, wet or bloody hands.

The overall feel and comfort of this knife is quite comfortable and I would be happy to use one outside in the bush or in a tactical situation. It would even be adequate as a hunting knife. However, there are better blades for this purpose.

Let's face it, it's a very cool looking knife and if you're happy with paying a hefty price for looks then I wish you the best. The "mean" looks of the knife unfortunatly prevents me from leaving it on my belt. Otherwise, it would see more use.

KaBar Becker Campanion

02/09/2011 by MO

-Price Paid: $57.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

This knife is a built to work.

My first impression out of the box is "this is a stout tool... commercial grade for a tradesman that knows what tools are for and not afraid to put them to work. The black matte blade finish and black handles were utilitarian and fit the intended purpose of a tool. The handles felt very good in the hand. The origional handles were excellent and I even used them as a hammer once and they held up fine. I just wanted to dress thing up so I ordered the Micarta handles which also fit perfectly and gave the knife a "custom" look. I did notice that when unscrewing the screws to replace the old handles, the hardware was just slightly tighter than finger tight. Left untightened, I have no doubt I would have eventually lost some hardware had I not been removing them. That's a big quality control issue. Good thing they don't let cars out of the factory with finger-tight lug nuts! Locktite was used on the new Micarta handles and so far, so good.

The sheath is a combination of very good and very poor. The sheath itself is Kydex and as good as it gets. The retention and fit is excellent. The belt loop and snap that holds the knife in the upright position, however lacks sound design. Once unsnapped, the knife dangles in a loose horizontal position. This may not be a problem if you use the knife once or twice a day but is extremely aggravating if you do some work, sheath, unsheathe, work (rinse and repeat). You must also look down at what your doing to be sure the knife is secure before continuing with what you were doing. That original sheath design is a real time waster. I drilled out the rivets on the belt loop and tossed it. I replaced it with a Tek-Lok belt loop which works just fine. I was pleased to keep the sheath as the fit and appearance was perfect.

I noticed the spine of the tang had some ripples in it, either from machine marks or ripples from the coating used on the blade. This is not a problem. Again... tools are not for fondling. The sharpness of the blade was only so-so. There was obvious roughness on the edge of the blade. This was O.K. because I knew that a little care in sharpening would improve the cutting ability immensely. I tried to slice a thin plastic water bottle and only managed to "punch" it about 15 feet across the yard. After careful sharpening with a whetstone, the blade is now sharp and holds an edge nicely. It also slices through water bottles, cuts paper, shaves arm hair and cuts onions quite nicely (not to mention it's "in the field" uses).

Out of the box, basically, all this knife needed was the handles tightened and a little sharpening. The sheath... or more specifically, the belt loop & snap was ill conceived. Perhaps it's not an issue if you keep your knives in your sock drawer however if you plan it use your BK-2, fix the sheath or replace it with something that works.

Note: I personally regard fixing this sheath issue as a hidden cost of purchasing this knife. Cost of modifying or replacing the sheath may range from $15.00 to $250.00

This knife is a great chopper, batons/splits through wood like butter, is acceptably compact to carry on a belt and even has some options to dress it up a little bit (Micarta Handles). I've used it in the kitchen and as long as it's sharp, will perform kitchen tasks as well.

The Becker BK-2 is a keeper and belongs in the same category as your green Stanley Thermos, a good pair of work boots or a faithful dog.

Benchmade 522 Presidio Ultra

02/09/2011 by Nico Roger

-Price Paid: $45.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Pros:

-Benchmade's axis lock - smooth and sturdy, no blade play

-Strong pocket clip - this knife ain't falling out of my pocket

-Full SS liners (skeletonized to save weight)

-Good balanced feel

Cons:

-Molded plastic handles feel a bit cheap (but are grippy and durable)

-Hollow ground blade seems prone to chipping (fingers crossed here)