Protech Large DON

09/19/2010 by Phillip

-Price Paid: $110.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

Well, this review is for a Monaco, not a Large Don. Protech makes a wide line of automatic knives.

This is a smallish knife, but has a very aggressive blade profile just perfect for sticking things. The shape also creats a very long cutting surface with a slight belly. Probably my favorite blade shape on any knife I own. Opening is snappy, but not over-powering. No safety, thank god. A perfect vest or watch pocket knife.

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Chris Reeve Umnumzaan

09/19/2010 by Phillip

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I have one of the Tanto bladed Umunmzaan's, and feel pretty luckky about it. I traded my Sebenza for it, and got the better part of the deal.

The fit and finish of the knife is impeccable, as it should be. It is not a cheap knife, but it will always hold its value because of the CRK spa and guarantee, which will return the knife to as new condition for a small fee (I think it is 30.00).

The knife places the thumbstud in a slightly different place than most knives. It is placed more forward, and took some getting used to. The cushioned studs impact the fram, creating a tremendously strong lock-up. I hate to think what it would take to break one.

One of the more controversial changes probably was the grooves machined into the front part of the frame sides, but this gives the knife a great grip. I gave it a 9 only because I think the Strider SMF feels better in more positions. The Umnumzaan does have a large swelling at the front that should keep your hand from ssliding forward, but it is not as secure a thusting knife as a Strider.

The Tanto blade is razor sharp. Yeah yeah, everyone says that, but I shave my head with mine. I like the blade profile (it comes convexed, my preferred edge) and even the front slant of the tanto edge is hair-popping sharp.

The new perforated bushings do a great job of making the blade easy and smooth to operate. The framelock operates perfectly each time, with that ceramic ball working its stop-magic each time. The locking bar is upswept where your thumb comes across to unlock the knife, making that task a bit easier.

I've never used the glass-breaker, but it would also make a great skull-buster, making the knife a good weapon even closed.

The clip is STRONG, which is what I want on a 400.00 knife

I've had the knife a little over a year, and it is built to last a lifetime.

Cold Steel Recon Scout

09/18/2010 by Bob

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

I really like this knife. It came sharp as a razor right out of the box.

The video from the Cold Steel is very accurate. The knife is at home doing bushcraft. It works from batoning firewood to making a shelter. I wouldn't use it as an edc unless your work it outside, particularly in the woods. But you can use it any way you want. It is a solidly built knife with a great handle and a well made blade. You won't go wrong with this knife if you are an outdoorsperson.

Spyderco Tenacious

09/16/2010 by Fredde90210

-Price Paid: $35.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

This knife in my view is highly overrated. Don't forget this is a $30 knife, nothing more nothing less. The blade steel has/had some quality issues everything from poor and wavy grindings to blade breakage. On the other hand it's extremly easy to sharpen and takes a scary sharp edge.

The blade shape feels a bit misconstructed, the "high blade shape" makes it difficult/unsafe to flick open. Better to open it slowly. The blade retention is poor and it will open on you when you least expect it.

The G10 handle feels pretty good but due to the "misconstructed" blade shape it loses it's fully potential overall.

Take the knife apart and you will find very thin phosphor bronze bushing of low quality (one of mine fell out carving on some wood!!)

If you are in the market for a cheaper Spydedrco, get one from the Byrd line. People seem to think that they get so much moore for their $30 but in the end you get what you paid for.

This is a review on my Tenacious (had 3)but don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Spyderco just not the Tenacious.

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KaBar Full Size KaBar

09/13/2010 by Jordan

-Price Paid: $61.00
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

Honestly, this is probably one of my favorite knives. It's very comfortable and versatile, like the other review said. The kraton handle really stands up to wear, as does the blade. It holds a pretty steady edge for quite a while(made out of 1095 cro-van steel, which is harder than stainless). I only really have a couple of problems with the cosmetics on this knife, really. First of all, it's basically just spray painted black, which wears down very fast. Also the tip of the knife had way too much paint and I had to file it down. The edge was a bit dull when I got it too. But for around sixty bucks its a great buy.

Benchmade 940 Osborne

09/13/2010 by Jesse

-Price Paid: $165.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I've owned this knife for many years now and it has withstood the test of time. It's been camping, cut through hundreds of boxes, and was my Every Day Carry knife for at least 5 years. The version I have is the black-coated serrated version in 154CM, which isn't what I'd choose today but I did then because I thought it looked cool.

What you get is an extremely useful, well-built, well-designed knife in a very thin, lightweight package. With a little practice the knife flicks open in an instant. As with some other Benchmade knives, my 940 seems to have a "sweet spot" which relates to the tightness of the pivot screw. Too tight and the knife is difficult to open and close; too loose and there is a little blade play. However, once you find the sweet spot and the knife is properly lubricated, most people should be reasonably satisfied.

The aluminum handle is strong and lightweight, though as has been mentioned is not chip-proof. After close to 10 years of ownership, about less than 2% of the total surface area of the handle and less than 1% of the black coating on the blade has visible wear. The handle is cut out in a sleek fashion and has jimping on both the top and bottom for a pretty secure grip, though you wouldn't want to handle the knife with greasy hands.

The cutting edge of the blade is about 3" -- suitable for many tasks indoors and out -- yet nearly disappears into your pocket given how thin and lightweight the handle is. The knife is now made with S30V steel but I've always been happy with 154CM. It holds an edge well enough and is easy to sharpen. The serrations are a little under-powered which is why I'd recommend a plain-edged model. The modified reverse tanto style of the blade assures a very strong tip.

The Benchmade 940 is a great EDC option. I wouldn't want to skin a crocodile or fell a tree with it but it works great for most tasks and doesn't take up much real estate if you wear it inside your pocket. A near-perfect combination of function, design, and quality. Highly recommended.

KaBar Phat Bob

09/13/2010 by sak_collector

-Price Paid: $49.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

This knife belongs to my wife.

This is a Bob Dozier design built by KaBar. It is made in Taiwan. The scales are green micarta and give a great hand filling grip. The down side for some people might be that this is not a thin knife...its a chunk.

The liners are nice and thick (no paper thin stuff here) and lock up is very solid.

The blade is very recognizable as a Dozier design...nice high grind and cuts like a razor.

If I had to pick one flaw it would be the thumb stud. It seems smooth enough that after starting to open your thumb cannot always maitain contact with it. The blade glides pretty smooth so the blade can continue to fly open and if you are still going through the opening motion without contacting the thumb stud, you could possible end up with a nasty cut on your thumb.

My wife has gotten pretty good at opening it with a little practice and has not cut herself. Still the thumb stud could stand to be looked at by KaBar...maybe rough it up a bit for better grip.

Pocket clip is nothing special...can count on either side of the knife.

Really one of the better folders to come along in quite some time...and easily found for under 50 bucks.

Gerber Curve

09/11/2010 by Matthew

-Price Paid: $10.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

My friend was visiting me and forgot this little multitool at my house. Since he lives far away, he just told me to keep it and play with it until I saw him next. It's been a few months now, so I figured I'd write a little review.

The Gerber Curve is a keychain sized multitool with 5 tools on it(there's a semi hidden bottle opener on the Gerber Curve under the caribeaner styld clip. It fits in pocket nicely, looks reasonably attractive, and for what it is is pretty functional.

Unfortunately, the one I have has been well used, and it is obvious. This pocket knife is difficult to clean and the action of the tools has become stiff and difficult to open as a result. The clip is pretty flimsy, and although easy to clip on your keys, I don't ttink I really trust it. The locking feature is ambidextrious, which is nice, however it is also a bit too stiff to use comfortably. The jimping on it allows your fingers to get decent purchase to operate the lock, which is a plus.

On the cleaning, the multitool is assembled with torx bits, and to really clean this, you'd have to disassemble it. Since this multitool is not mine, I have not taken it upon myself to complete this task and give it a thorough cleaning. If I did, I suspect I'd rate it a little bit higher than I did.

Lastly, on the ergos, it is difficult to find a good two fingered grip I like, because the tools seem to be in the way. If Gerber could adjust this on the next iteration so that my pointer finger has a valley to sit in instead of a peak, the ergos on this thing would be pretty killer.

Tobe fair, my friend said he only paid like 10 dollars for this Curve. For 10 bucks I'll admit that it's a pretty decent last resort to keep on your keychain.

Strider SNG

09/11/2010 by Steve

-Price Paid: $400.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I recently acquired a New Ranger Green Strider SNG w/ drop-point tiger striped blade and standard G10 scale. This knife is an extraordinary piece of gear that has continued to improve since I purchased it. Initially the blade action was a little stiff, but with a little Slip2000 EWL and some use it has smoothed out really well and flicking the blade out is effortless. Using the oval-shaped blade hole to open the blade took a little getting use to as I was accustomed to using a thumb-stud, but after some practice I can use it effectively.

The overall build quality of Strider knives is fantastic, I have a DB-L that is also an incredible tool. The blade locks open with a resounding "chunk" and has zero play. The flame-finish on the Titanium frame looks great, and the tiger striped blade is incredible.

Initially I found the shape of the SNG grip to be really unorthodox compared to what I was used to with traditionally shaped Buck folding knives. But now I find it to be extremely comfortable and understand why its shaped the way it is. Coarse serrations are placed on the grip and blade spine that match up with my thumb whether I'm using a blade-up or blade-down grip. The g10 scale is very "grippy", I'm sure the gunner gripped variation of the SNG is even more so. There are also two large notches that cradle your index finger to establish grip positions. These details really stand out to me.

The only reason I give it an 8 for value is due to the limited amount of time owned and use. This is clearly a serious duty knife, and I haven't gotten a chance to use it accordingly, but I'm confident it can withstand any reasonable task for an edged tool with no degradation of function.

I highly recommend this knife.

Kershaw Half Ton

09/06/2010 by Switchback

-Price Paid: $12.00
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I just got my Kershaw Half Ton a couple of days ago. This review is based on my initial impressions of the knife.

The blade opens and closes very smoothly and lockup is solid. No bladeplay in any direction. Impressive for $12.00 knife.

The blade steel is 8Cr13MoV which is a decent steel. I have other knives with this blade steel and I actually like it quite well for general cutting tasks.

The Half Ton has some heft to it for a knife this size.(3 5/8 inches closed) The heft makes the knife feel solid.

The thing I like most about this knife is the blade. It's a stout little blade and would probably hold up well under heavier cutting tasks.

I'm not really sure what to think of the pocket clip. It functions well but it looks like a little wrench. I can't decide if I like that or not but it's definately unique.

The ergonomics could be better in my opinion although they aren't bad. I guess I have gotten used to the finger choils on some of my knives and the Half Ton doesn't have one.

Despite the absence of a finger choil the knife is a joy to use. The smooth operation of the action and the liner lock combined with the weight of the knife make the Half Ton a fun little knife to have in your pocket.

Overall it's a great little knife for a very low price. I had the good fortune of being able to handle my Half Ton before I bought it and I was imediately sold on the knife.

Smooth, solid lockup, heavy for its size, great blade, unique design, kinda cool looking, sharp out of the box, all for a measly twelve bucks.

Recommended.

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Boker Gnome

09/06/2010 by sak_collector

-Price Paid: $25.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Overall this a great little knife. The sheath was my only minor gripe...out of the box I put the knife in the sheath and could not remove it at all. I had to heat the sheath up a bit to where the knife would go in and out easy enough while still being very secure.

Very well built, grind lines while not perfect, are exceptionally good for any production knife. The handles are very well fitted to the tang, nice and flush.

Ergos---Feels very good and secure considering it is a one finger grip...Would not want to use it for hours on end, but you could if you had to. The corners on the spine are a tad sharp but I suspect any smoothing would up the price.

One of Bokers coolest little knives.

Chris Reeve Large Sebenza

09/04/2010 by Josh K

-Price Paid: $350.00
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

I have the Regular model, though I feel the 21 and Classic are just a bit subpar to the Regular.

This knife performs exceptionally in all aspects of my EDC. From mail, to boxes, to kitchen prep it is flawless. Light batoning, whittling, etc. Using this daily really shows the time and effort put into designing this knife.

Edge retention is fine. Some people complain about it being a bit soft, but I would prefer a roll to a chip any day of the week. I have no complaints about the edge retention.