CRKT McGinnis Summa

04/16/2010 by jthomas

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

Well, I know that a couple of others have already reviewed this knife, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. I bought this one for my nephew, who is starting to be interested in knives, but needs to be saved from an apparent love of S&W knives. The specs are:

* Blade: Length: 3.75" (95 mm)

* Thickness: 0.12" (3.0 mm)

* Steel: 8Cr14MoV, 58-59 HRC

* Closed: Handle length: 4.88" (124 mm)

* Open: Overall length: 8.50" (216 mm)

* Weight: 3.6 oz. (102 g)

My first impression is that this is a very, very attractive knife. I like the combo of the blue/black micarta and the blue liners. Fit and finish was good. The scales were finished very well and everything fit well with everything else. The blade was not perfectly centered, but it wasn't rubbing on the liner either. I think that a small adjustment to the pivot will take care of it. The opening action is extremely smooth... it swings open just like my Mcusta, which is one of my smoothest opening knives. The flipper works very well, which is good since that is the only way to open it. The liner lock seems thin. It engages about halfway across the tang with an authoritative click, but man it looks thin. There is zero play in the blade in any direction.

The clip is right handed tip down only, with no other mounting options. Due to the contour of the micarta, I doubt you could tap it for any other position. The knife was shaving sharp out of the box with a nicely finished blade.

For the price (~$32) I am impressed with this knife. So much so that I am keeping it, and ordering another for my nephew. The only concern for me really is the thin liner, and we'll see how I feel about that after some use. Otherwise, it is an attractive, hand-filling knife that is pretty darned comfy to use.

Kershaw RAM

04/16/2010 by jthomas

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

Well, here are some opinions on the Kershaw Ram... I've had quite a few Kershaws run through my hands here lately, and have been uniformly impressed with nothing to really fault any of them with. I think I may sound like a broken record... "love it, love it, great knife, great knife...". Well, as far as the Ram goes, I love it, it is a great knife.

First off, it is a bit smaller than I thought it would be. I had read the specs (3 1/8" blade, 4 3/8" closed overall) but it was still smaller than I had envisioned it. It is also very, very lightweight, coming in at 3.8 ounces. The Kershaw website says the blade steel is 13C26, and the 2010 catalog says 14C28. Mine has a 'born on' date of Sept. 08, so I am assuming I have the 13C26 version, but I have had very good experiences with the 131C26 from Kershaw (takes a keen edge, touches up easily). The frame is 6061-T6 aluminum, anodized, and the handles are G10 overlays that do not cover the entire frame. The clip is TU/TD for RH carry, or TD for the wrong-handed carry.

First off, my dislikes. I have the coated blade, and I wish that the unfinished components of the knife were black as well. The stop pin, thumbstud(ettes), clip, female half of the blade pivot and the part of the lock that you can see through the handle stick out like a diamond in a goat's derriere to my eye.

That is it for the things I don't like....

The lock is the Hawk lock, and I think it is pretty awesome. When the knife is closed it provides tension to keep the blade closed, much like a detent. When open the knife locks up solidly as one would expect. Zero blade-play in any direction. When the blade is open, releasing the lock allows the blade to swing closed almost like an axis or arc lock, and conversely, when closed, pulling the lock to the rear allows the blade to be swung open in the same manner. The beauty of this lock, IMHO, is that when closed, if you used the flipper with a little pre-load before letting it go, the tension on the lock helps the blade open. It won't work really without some pre-load on the finger, but the resulting action is extremely solid, fast and pleasing. It even sounds cool. The thumb stud(ettes) are good for opening the knife with the thumb, but only slowly in my case. The are too small for rapid deployment, but this knife is meant to be a flipper. There was also a little learning curve in that my thumb wants to set directly on the lock button when using the flipper, and if you restrict the movement of the lock the flipping action doesn't work. A tiny bit of practice overcame this and it wasn't an issue. The ergonomics are great. There is jimping on the spine of the blade for thumb placement, and jimping in the finger choil on the front of the ricasso, and these allow you to choke up on the handle if need be. If using the choil this is a four finger knife for me, moving the band back makes it a three finger knife. The handle shape is great, and the G10 is either the smoothest grippy G10, or the grippiest smooth G10 I have ever seen. It is perfect for grip and ease of deployment. (that being said, I am still ordering custom scales for it, but just for aesthetics, not because of lack of functionality). There is also a smallish lanyard hole.

Fit and Finish... well, the standard Kershaw stuff. Everything seems as it should be, nothing to complain about. The blade was shaving sharp... not hair poppin sharp, but shaving sharp. The blade shape is good, a modified drop point with a high grind that is probably a pretty good slicer (haven't sliced anything with it yet). The clip in the TURH position allows about 3/8" of knife to show above the pocket, which isn't bad. The frame is an extremely open build, with no back spacers or such things, so keeping it clean should be very easy. I don't know much about earlier versions of the knife, but it seems that I had read about earlier Rams having a one-sided grind (maybe a chisel or unequal sabre grind of some sort) but mine doesn't.... it is 'normal'.

All in all, I think that the designers (G and G Hawk) deserve some kudos for this one. I wouldn't really call it a 'heavy use' folder right now, but we'll see how it does in the coming months. Of all my recent knife purchases, this is my favorite (I've said that about just about every new new knife lately, but I mean it this time) and will probably see quite a bit of pocket time.

Spyderco Manix 2

04/16/2010 by jthomas

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I recently decided to pick up a Manix 2... I've read a ton of reviews about them, and they seem to be universally loved, so I thought I'd give one a spin. Now that I've lived a week or so with it, I totally understand all the positive things people have said about it. It's a pretty sweet knife.

Size-wise it is bigger than I expected, but not too big for EDC. It is a little smaller in length and maybe width than a JYDII. It seems to be about the same weight to my untrained hand, but I have no scales to see (the net calls the JYDII 5.2 ounces, the Manix 2 5 ounces...). For anyone who doesn't know, the M2 has a 3 3/8" blade of 154CM, ball lock, g10 over stainless liners.

The main complaint I have read about the knife is that the lock can be stiff. Mine was stiff when it arrived, but the learning curve for getting it open and closed smoothly was about 2 minutes. The lock is similar in function and operation to the Axis lock or arc lock (Sog), but instead of using a bar the lock is comprised of a steel bearing (BB?) housed in a plastic doohicky that is manipulated by the user. I wasn't thrilled about the doohicky being made of plastic, but after having the knife for a while I've decided that it certainly seems strong and durable. When the lock is pulled to the rear, it allows the blade to swing free from either an open or closed position. When the knife is locked open, pulling the lock back allows the knife to swing closed very sweetly with nothing more than gravity, and opening the knife with the lock pulled back requires a small flick of the wrist, like the axis lock. The action is extremely smooth (and I've cut myself twice now closing it on a finger...). I think it opens more smoothly than the few Axis knives I've had actually...

Construction wise... The knife had a small 'tag' of G10 in the lock opening that was left behind after cutting (stamping, milling... whatever). Other than that I could find no fault with the knife. I cut the tag out with no problems. The scales were nice, not too grippy, not too slick. The torx screws were all seated correctly with no stripping. The grinds looked good, the pocket clip is nicely done, blade is centered when closed and lockup is extremely tight.

The clip is set for RH or LH tip up carry. There is a large lanyard hole as well. But the thing that really makes this knife stand out to me is the jimping. The knife has jimping on the spine of the handle where the backspacer is, on the belly of the handle, in the finger choils and on the spine of the blade. The jimping in the blade (spine and choil) is fairly aggressive, while the jimping on the frame is a little less so. Still the frame jimping protrudes from the G10 a smidge and gives great confidence when the hand is sweaty. I'd like to see this type of jimping on all knives. This was one feature of the M2 that I didn't know about prior to ordering it.

The knife was hair popping sharp. As a matter o fact, the hair on my arm kinda fled from the blade as it got near. After a week of typical use (cutting cardboard targets, cutting zip ties, shaving my arm, cutting paper, excessive ogling) it is still hair popping sharp. I've always liked 154CM just fine.

Either way, just like the other 200 people who have reviewed it, I like this knife. The only thing I'd change is making the doohicky out of metal, but that is not based on anything other than some sort of anti-plastic prejudice and has nothing to do with the function of the knife. All in all it was $60 well spent.

---

Cold Steel Spartan

04/15/2010 by Droppoint1110

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Self Defense
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

If your on the look-out for a large size tactical/defensive folder that won't drain your bank account...well, this is it! The Cold Steel Spartan!

I purchased this knife for the exact reasons stated above. I wanted a primarily defensive knife that would do exceedingly well. As i stated before, this knife is well beyond its price point as far as overall quality and value is concerned. These can be had for around 50-60 USD. The first thing i noticed when i opened the box was the sheer size and weight of this knife. 7.5 Oz., 4 1/2" blade, and 10 1/2" overall! Despite its large size and heft, the Spartan features a hilariously small pocket clip (and an extra for left-handed carry). It is useful but the knife is still slightly exposed when in the pocket. The blade steel is Japanese AUS-8A and the handle is Grivory. The blade steel has very nice "semi-matte" satin finish that has good wear resistance. The edge comes razor sharp from the factory and the steel isn't difficult to touch up. The blade shape has a very aggressive recurve to it; reminiscent of a khukri design. This is what makes the knife so great as a defensive blade. The recurve will slash like nothing is in its way and the robust, yet sharp tip will pierce if need be. The blade is hollow ground and also has a swedge ground into the spine. This makes for a very asthetically pleasing design and a practical one. The handle is Grivory; a material I can best describe as a mix of Zytel and G10. The handle is very ergonomic and has two very deep finger choils which provide a superb grip. The handle shape is styled after the Kopis swords of anctient Greece. The grivory is finely textured and is fluted for added grip and looks. The Spartan features the Tri-Ad lock whcih locks up very solidly and exhibits no play at all. The blade is deployed by the thumb plate. This plate can also double as "Emerson" style pocket opener. It catches on the edge of the pocket when drawing the knife and deploys the blade. This is an excellent advantage to have on a defensive folder, especially on one that looks like it would be very slow to open. Everything about this knife is above expectations in my opinion. Its bomb-proof and can take very hard abuse. The blade shape, deployment speed, solid ergonomics and size make this one of the best tactical/ defensive folders on the market!

SOG Aegis

04/15/2010 by Droppoint1110

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Self Defense
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

At first, I was a bit skeptical about SOG in general. After watching a few reviews that all seemed to have a very positive verdict, I decided to purchase the Aegis.

Upon receiving the knife, i inspected it for any adjustments that needed to or should be made. I was happy to see all it needed was little pivot tweaking. The Aegis features a Japanese AUS-8 blade steel, Zytel handle with rubber inserts, and SOG's S.A.T.- Surest Assisted Technology. The knife also has a safety which prevents the knife from being deployed accidentally. I found this to be unnecessary and rather annoying. If you would ever need to deploy the blade quickly in a defensive situation and under pressure, you may forget it was locked- costing valuable time. After removing this lock, the knife was a pleasure both as an EDC blade and could easily function as a great defensive knife. The Arc lock is the same featured on many of SOG's models and locks the blade up very solidly every time. The S.A.T. system is very fast and also very solid. The knife actually "kicks back" as the blade locks up.

The blade steel itself is a pretty good steel in my opinion. the heat treat on it is done well and the edge retention is decent. The satin finish is very glossy and consistant. Through use, it will show scratches though. The actual shape of the blade is very useful as well. It is a full-flat grind making it great for slashing cuts. In addition, the leaf-shaped profile of the blade tapers to a nice, thin point that is very good for piercing but isn't very strong.The ergonomics of the Aegis are very comfortable, however, to me, they're not the best. The pocket clip is a bayonet-style and lets the Aegis ride completely in the pocket. The rubber inserts are textured with: "sogsogsogsogsog" etc. and can get caught on your pocket at times when drawing the knife out of your pocket. Overall, the knife is made very well with a very nice fit and finish. For the price, i think the steel could be a bit better but that's really it. This is an excellent defensive knife that can ride with you at all times and pull double duty as an awesome EDC blade.

Kershaw ET External Toggle

04/14/2010 by Droppoint1110

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

Comments:

Every once in a while, a knife comes out that really catches the eye. The Kershaw E.T. is just such a knife. I will start off the review by saying that this is definately an unconventional design in all respects. It is based entirely upon Grant and Gavin Hawk's E.T. design. If you are planning on buying this as an EDC or deffensive blade, try to find it in-store and handle it first. The toggle system for deploying and closing the blade does and will take some getting used to. On to the review!

The E.T. utilizes Sandvik 13C26 blade steel and T6 aluminum handles. The blade steel has very good edge retention and isn't a pain to sharpen. The Blade shape is a modified drop point. It has decent belly for slashing and a fairly acute point making it a great piercer. The hollow ground blade makes the edge very acute as well, allowing for a very sharp edge. Out of the box, the knife does have a very minimal amount of side-to-side blade play. This is partially due to the design of the knife and also due to a possible need to adjust the pivot screw. The pocket clip is fixed in right hand, tip-up carry and cannot be removed. However, the knife rides completely within the pocket. The caribeaner clip along the top of the blade nearest the handle is useful for backpacking but not really much else. The jimping on the spine of the blade as well as the finger choil at the front of the handle could be made sharper but it still provides an adequate amount of purchase while in use. The finish on the handle is very well done and doesn't get damaged easily. Depending on the model you choose, the knife may either be satin finish or have a Tungsten D.L.C. coating on the blade. The D.L.C. or "Diamond-Like Coating" does a great job at resisting wear. The finish is also a true matte color. it has no gloss to it at all. Ergonomically, the E.T. feels excellent in hand, both in the standard or saber grip and is particularly comfortable in the reverse grip making it suitable for use as a tactical folder. The most notable feature of the knife is the toggle mechanism. Kershaw includes an instructional DVD with the knife to help get you started.Learning to use the knife is very easy and can be mastered after about a day or so of using the knife. All in all, the unique toggle system coupled with its practical blade design and excellent quality make the E.T. an excellent choice for E.D.C., tactical uses, or just as a very unique collector's piece.

Heckler and Koch 14205 Snody Axis

04/14/2010 by M2HSSR

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

Comments:

This knife is a tank!!!!. It has solid liners, Axis-lock, and a Uber thick blade. The only knife I say that is tougher in BM line up would be the 520 presidio.

The HK 14205 fits well in the hand and rides great in the pocket. The blade thickness is second to only the 630 and 755 in the BM line up of folders. This is also the smoothest opening BM folder I have ever owned.

Benchmade 635 Mini Skirmish

04/14/2010 by M2HSSR

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Greater than 1 year

Comments:

I have had a 635 for around 3 years now. I have sold them and bought them. Every time I sell one I regret it. These are now discontinued so they are going for a pretty penny. These knives pack a big blade in a small handle. Mine has zero blade play nad is ultra smooth opening. If you can get on for a decent price I say jump on it.

Spyderco Persistence

04/13/2010 by Tom

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

The Spyderco Persistence was my first real knife which I received as a christmas present about 3 months ago.

Initially, I tried to use it as an everyday carry knife, however I just couldn't get into carrying a knife every I went.

For a while, I left it in my car, and it came in very handy countless times. It has also made its way into my office and still proved to be useful there. I have considered getting another one many times so I will always have one lying around when I need it.

In terms of build quality, this thing is sturdy and SHARP! Any time I need the sharpest tool that I own, I grab my Persistence. I also like how this knife feels very study in my hand.

The only thing that I don't like about the knife is that when extending the blade, there are actually two clicks. One right before the blade locks, and one right as the blade locks. You can still really feel the knife lock into place on the second click, but I have had a few close calls when using the knife after only extending it past the first click.

Overall the Spyderco Persistence has proved to be an incredible tool to have for a huge variety of purposes.

Benchmade 585 Mini Barrage

04/12/2010 by loonybin

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Every Day Carry
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

I received my 585 mini-Barrage about 8 months ago and have alternated between it and my mini-Grip for every day carry. It is one of a few assisted opening Axis lock knives that Benchmade offers.

The blade steel is 154CM, a good all-purpose steel that holds a good edge, yet is fairly easy to sharpen. The drop point blade has a decent belly and the 2.9" length makes it less scary to sheeple.

The Axis Assist snaps open firmly and tension is applied through the entire range of motion, unlike their Nitrous assist. The handles fill the hand very well providing a comfortable grip.

My two complaints about this knife, however deal with the handle and the pocket clip. The handles are a hollow Valox, and the knife sounds like a cheap plastic toy when opened, even though the Valox is incredibly sturdy and durable. The mini-Barrage could really benefit from G10 handles as a standard production option, not just the SHOT Show special. The only other shortcoming of this knife is that the pocket clip screws into thread liners that are glued into the scale instead of using longer screws that thread into the liner.

Overall, it has almost replaced my mini-Grip as my EDC, and I am in the process of making some "micarta" scales to replace the plastic ones.

Spyderco Military

04/12/2010 by mike

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

Comments:

I own the Orange G10 model. All I can say is it grows on you, the Orange that is. Get one, you won't regret it. As far as quality we all know it's top shelf. I own 3 black g10 Military's, the Orange is my favorite.

Spyderco Centofante 4

04/11/2010 by Dangerouscold

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for 6 months

Comments:

Ah the wharcliffe blade profile. Very attractive, no?

Build Quality:It's made of relatively slick frn, which is not great for grip retention. However this knife is marketed as a gentleman's knife, something of quality and performance, not down in the dirt cutting drywall. The blade comes with a nice, thin stock and hollow grind, making it easy to sharpen (especially with the blade profile). The lock inspires confidence, and the little palladium accent is very nice.

Ergonomics: The handle feels somewhat similar to a Delica 4, slightly different I suppose. There is nice, sharp jimping on the spine, and the clip and draw of the knife is perfect. It's excellent in this regard. Watch your fingers, there's no choil on this one.

Value: About the same price as a Delica 4, the knife adds a bit of length, thinned out edge and a fancy decal. I think it's an excellent bargain at the price, which many Spydercos are, but the Delica is a better deal. That being said, a nice wharncliffe lockback that is sure to impress and slice like a champion is well worth the cost.

Overall: Buy this knife if you like wharncliffe blade profile, and plan on opening more mail than batoning through a tree with it. If you think you will like it, you will.