Spyderco UK Penknife

02/16/2010 by SteelSnob

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

Comments:

Well I've had the UKPK for a long time now and I must say it has turned out to be one of the most impressive knives I own. That means a lot because I have a lot of nice knives like Sebs, XM18,Galyean Pro Series, Customs etc. What Spyderco did with heat treat of the S30V brings the best of it, I do tasks with it regularly that rolls and chips edges on all the other knives I own. Eventhough it's a slipjoint the way it's designed unless you're doing something really careless you won't get hurt. The Choil prevents closure and it has a halfstop also. The wire pocketclip is awesome and works well no matter what the thickness of the pockets I'm wearing is. The blade shape with the full flat grind and leaf shaped blade makes this styles bar none the best slicer/cutter on the market that I've seen. The g10 is just the right texture as to be grippy enough but no so rough that it will damage your pants. And you get Spydercos CS which is pretty good. The opening hole(Spyder hole) is IMO the best opening device on any knive. The ergos are off the charts with deep choil and stuff. This is one of my favorite users. If I could I would love to have a locking version but to be honest a lock has never once been needed.

Chris Reeve Small Sebenza

02/16/2010 by SteelSnob

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

Comments:

Well I've had the same Small Regular Seb for a few years now and I figured I would contribute what I think about it. Incredible F&F, best framelock I own and I own a bunch, very easy to maintain because it comes with a tool and you just take it apart and pop it back together and it's perfect with the blade centered no locktite or adjustment required, it's very tough yet light, you can get it refurbed by CRK for a small fee and they have the best CS I've ever experienced, they hold their value well, very pocket friendly yet it packs a punch, out of all the knives I've bought it still get consitantly carried even more than custom knives I've bought. I've been carrying it a long time and it's just as good as the day I bought it for the most part.

The cons are it's not the best slicer in the sub 3" blade cattergory, the ergos aren't the best and they could do better than the 58-59 hrc S30V. But all in all IMO beats the competion by far.

Kershaw Oso Sweet

02/15/2010 by CountyRat

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

Comments:

As others have noted, Kershaw chose AUS 6 steel for the blade. This is a very good, modern stainless, and performs well. It also contributes to the Oso Sweet's low price. However, it results in a blade with only fair edge-holding and strength. The Oso sweet is light and very comfortable in the hand. The assited opening makes it easy to deploy with either hand. Oso's blade geometry is excellent (as you would expect from him). All in all, this is a very good economy pocket knife for light to moderate use. It allows the knife lover on a budget to enjoy the design genius of one of the best knife makers around at a price that is easy to afford. It is well assembled and reliable. Just be prepared to sharpen it more often than some other knives.

Spyderco Tenacious

02/15/2010 by CountyRat

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

Comments:

This is a solid, reliable knife that rivals other that cost much more. Its ergonomics are less than excellent because, like most Spydercos, the grip is thin. However, while this makes it less effective for long periods of heavy work, it makes the knife easier to pocket carry. If you carry a knife a lot, but use it only for brief chores, the Tenacious is a great choice.

Benchmade 610 Rukus

02/15/2010 by CountyRat

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

Comments:

The Rukus lives up to the expectations we have of Benchmade knives: thoughtfully designed, meticulously assembled form first-rate materials, good balance and strength. The Rukus has all of these characteristics, ESPECIALLY STRENGTH! This knife is solid as a brick. I prefer fixed blades to folders because of their strength, superior balance (when properly designed) and greater user safety. I wanted a large folder for situations when a fixed blade knife was not permitted or would attract unwanted attention. As a stand-in for a fixed blade the Rukus holds up very well.

Though not an assisted opening knife, the action is smooth and easy to operate with either hand. Lock up is decisive and SOLID, with no wobble between blade and handle in any direction even in hard use. The S30V steel blade takes a very sharp edge with just a few passes over the stone and holds it well. The G10 and micarta scales are thick, tough, and handsome, and provide good control even when wet or dirty. The pocket clip works well, allowing the knife to ride low in the pocket or on a belt, but does not interfere very much with a good, comfortable grip. The clip is removable and reversible for left or right carries, but not for tip down carry. Balance is good, with center of gravity about three centimeters back of the hilt. If you use your blades more aggressively, you might prefer a center of gravity closer to the blade tip, to facilitate chopping motions.

Still, there are some negatives, in my opinion. This is a bulky, heavy folder. If you want a knife that disappears into your pocket and lets you forget about it until you need it, keep looking; the Rukus is not your best choice. Handle ergonomics are O.K., but the relatively straight, boxy form is inferior to the more contoured, "hand friendly" handles found on Benchmade's Griptilian, Deja Voo, and other better shaped tools. I do not look forward to using this knife for long periods in cold weather, where those beveled handle corners will be less comfortable than a more contoured handle would be. I also regret Benchmade's decision to include finger groves in the underside of the handle. While these do enable the user to grip the tool with less chance of it getting away from him or her, it only does so when the fingers are properly lined up in the groves. This will require some users to shift the tool back and forth in their hand before they get maximum purchase. Without these finger groves the user could just grab it and go straight to work.

Bottom line: I like this knife and enjoy using it. I was looking for a large, heavy folder for camping and potentially, outdoor survival and this knife fits the bill nicely. It is a knife you can carry in the most rugged situations with confidence that it will never let you down when the going gets rough. However, it is probably not the best choice for casual carry or common, light to medium duty use. I would also not take it backpacking: too heavy! For those applicaions less would definitely be more.

Emerson Knives CQC7 Mini

02/14/2010 by JimD

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

Comments:

Well let's see I bought this Mini CQC7 after all the hype I had heard on the forums and I was expecting a incredible knife. The design stinks first off because of the Chisel grind it tilts while cutting, the handle is blocky, bulky and umcomfortable, the liner lockbar is paper thin and accidentally disengaged, the wave feature doesn't work a good 30-40% of the time and I would not dare try to use it in a self defense type situation, the socalled satin finish is just silver colored blade coating that scratched all up and EKI won't refurbish it. What a joke! He has the nerve to call these the number one hard use knives in the world!?! Give me a break. Oh yeah let's not forget the 154cm steel. Most other knives at that pricepoint are atleast s30v. I can comfortably say that this is easily one of the worst buys I have made in knives.

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Kershaw Skyline

02/13/2010 by Matt

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

Comments:

The Kershaw Skyline is a sweet little knife.

When buying a knife like this, it always comes down to three: The Kershaw skyline, the spyderco tenacious, and the buck vantage pro. Each knife has their merits, but if you are looking for a lightweight EDC general use knife, the skyline is tough to beat. I own a tenacious and skyline, and have handled the buck, but could never bring myself to buy it.

The Skyline is made in the USA, and when compared to the spyderco(made in china) and buck(made in usa) is much lighter. The skyline only has one liner, whereas the buck and spyderco have two. The kershaw has a very sleek profile and hardly feels like it's there in your pocket. The tenacious and buck are both bigger knives as well.

The handle on the skyline has great G10 on it with a nice texture. Comparible to the Tenacious in quality. Superior to the Buck. The skyline also has a stout clip. The liner lock is great, snaps open, and locks up tight. I'd say it is equally as good as the tenacious, the vantage pro is much thinner. The handle on the skyline is also long enough to be used as an impact device and possibly break glass, although would be better for this task if it had two liners.

The blade on the skyline is a hair over 3". The steel is good, takes an edge, and holds it for a reasonable amount of time. The blade is much thinner than the buck and spyderco. On the skyline, I'd say the thumb stud is useless. Literally, you can't open the knife with it. I even have strong guitar fingers. Still have a hard time getting it open with the stud. Fortunately Kershaw gave us the convenient flipper, which allows you to deploy the knife with your index finger. It opens quickly, but you need to readjust your hand once you get the blade open, something not necessary when opening the Tenacious or the Vantage Pro with the holes in their blades. For this reason I dinged this knife a little bit on ergonomics.

In terms of overall, I'm going to say that it's a tossup between the skyline and tenacious, depending on how you use the knife. The skyline is a little more EDC/light use than the Tenacious but the weight savings as a result are tremendous. The Tenacious is more robust, but probbaly unnecessarily so for what most people would do with it. The Buck just falls short in every category for me and does not stack up well against these two.

Benchmade 710 McHenry and Williams

02/12/2010 by BM

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

Comments:

The Benchmade 710 is a super solid knife and holds its own for heavy cutting tasks. As many on this site have already mentioned, the axis lock on this knife is nothing short of awesome. My favorite locking mechanism for a folding knife without a doubt.

This knife can cut through anything. I've used it in the kitchen and I've used it in the woods. It has good grip when wet, which is desirable of a knife in both environments. Benchmade makes a great product and I'd recommend the 710 to anyone who wanted a sturdy knife.

RAT Cutlery RC-4

02/03/2010 by Matthew

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Outdoor/Survival
-Owned for 3 months

Comments:

I recently got a Rat Cutlery RC4 and am very happy with it. It is sized just right for camping, hiking, and fits nicely on your belt, on your thigh, or in your pack.

To start, the knife is made from 1095 steel. For those unfamiliar, 1095 steel is an exceptional hard use blade steel. You can really beat it hard and it will perform. One caution is that without a little care, 1095 steel will develop some rust, so you need to keep this knife oiled. You'll start to notice rust on the cutting edge and on the laser engraving first. The 1095 steel is pretty easy to sharpen, and holds a great edge.

The blade is 3/16 thick, and full flat ground. I find the blade to be the perfect thickness for batoning and general cutting tasks. This knife will have no trouble cutting anything from game to tree branches...doesn't have any problems cutting food either.

On the blade spine, there is some nice jimping. Not too sharp, but very usable. I'd say just about perfect. On the bottom of the blade, there is a nice slot for your index finger. At first I thought this was a little too small, but then I found a comfortable way to hold the knife where my finger fits perfectly.

The scales on the RC4 are micarta, which is a great, durable material. The micarta has a nice weave-like texture, and grips quite well, wet or dry. On the bottom of the handles, there's a lanywad hole, and you could use the end to break glass if you had to, although it is a little too rounded to be ideal.

My only complaint with the RC4 is that I wish the handle on this knife was a half inch longer. I like the handle to be slightly larger than the blade I carry in knives this size.

The sheath is kydex, and the knife snaps in tight. You can get the RC4 with the Molle back and clips, which is what I did. These serve their purpose as expected, and don't have any noticable shortcomings.

Overall, the RAT Cutlery RC4 is a really superb knife though. It is incredibly tough, and has handled everything I've thrown at it. I don't expect to take RAT up on their warranty ever...I think this knife will outlast me.

Also, I should mention that RAT Cutlery has by far the best warranty I've heard of from any knife manufacturer. If you break it, whether it be by abusing it or during normal use, they will replace it, no questions asked.

RAT Cutlery RC-3

01/31/2010 by 1066vik

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

Comments:

for a small knife, this is an great tool!

it's been used for splitting kindling, cutting up apples, breaking down boxes, and opening x-mas presents with no problems on any of it.

when I first got it I took a hone to the edge and haven't had to touch it up since.

steel is 1095 with a heat treat that allows the blade to flex during hard use but not break.

blade is coated with a tough baked finish that shows scuff marks but is pretty durable so far.

scale to handle fit is excellent.

to top the package off, this knife came with the best warranty of anything I've ever seen.

Ontario RAT 1

01/31/2010 by 1066vik

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

Comments:

factory edge was excellent, holds edge well, flat grind makes this a great knife for slicing/shaving - I've used this to trim a lot of wood while building a house, including fitting door strikes and cutting hinge mortises, as well as breaking down boxes, cutting up rope and food, making fuzz sticks, etc....

The only downside to the knife is the durability of the black blade coating, which started chipping with the first cardboard box I cut up with it.

Kershaw Blur

01/31/2010 by mqqn

-Price Paid: N/A
-Used for Light Duty/General
-Owned for Less than 1 Month

Comments:

I purchased my Blur as a factory blem, and as such I paind $40 for it. It is a very well made knife, but I would not be as satisfied if I had paid a price closer to the $139.95 suggested retail price.

The knife is very nice in hand, with T6 aluminum handles and a rough-textured "Trac-Tek" insert material that is rough textured enough to provide good grip even in wet, slippery conditions. The somewhat rubbery surface of the Trac-Tec tends to grab the liner of your pockets, which causes some interference when trying to pull the knife out of your pocket. I think this would wear on the fabric of your pants if you used this knife as your working EDC.

The clip is small and does not have the goofy styling of some of the other Kershaw clips, and so the knife does not stand out when carried. The clip is reversible for tip up or down carry. The end of the knife sticks up abour 1/2" out of your pocked when clipped in - I prefer the deep-carry style of clip such as that found on the SOG's.

The blade is a modified clip-point, with a nice thickness that gives you confidence that this knife is made to be used hard. My knife has the composite blade, consisting of a 14C28N spine with a ZDP-189 cutting edge. The two steels are brazed together using a copper-colored braze. The two billets are lazer cut with an interlocking pattern that ensures not only a strong bond but also a unique and desirable aesthetic.

The blade is 3.38 inches long, with an overall length of 7.5 inches open.

The knife is a liner lock, and the lock is strong and positive. On my example the lock was at around 60%, and the blade is perfectly centered. There is no blade play detectable in hand.

The weight is listed at 4.2 ounces. I would have guessed it is a little lighter, but did not weigh my example. The knife's balance favors the blade, as the handle is quite light and the blade is thicker than other Kershaw knives I have (Leek, Centofante).This is the most robust and rugged feeling Kershaw I now own.

I find little to quibble with about this fine piece of American cutlery.

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