HEST/F initial impressions

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my first post here in this forum.

A quick review/impressions of the knife.

sterile RH.

general:

Overall a very nice compact folder. it is a slighlty thick, but this is due to the thick liners (approx 4mm on each side ), and the very thick spine of the blade (4.8mm). This knife is thicker than i would like for EDC, but it is a hard use knife. i would say it is a compact and dense knife. i like it.

ergos:

the knife fits in my hand very nicely. the grip geometry works well in a standard or ice pick grip. i also find the knife to be very balanced.

build quality:

disclaimer:this is a first production knife. that is mass produced. and there will always be issues that are found after extensive use, and initial production.

generally speaking i think the build quality/tolerances are top notch for a first run knife. and a knife at this price point. The edges of the scales and frame lock are all beveled. i really like the texturing of the g10 side and how grippy it is.

The blade on my example is very sharp and pointy. The edge bevel is very even from tang to tip.

lockup is very positive and solid. there is ZERO blade play vertically, or horizontally. opening and closing is a little stiff, but i attribute this to the knife being new and needing to be broken in. i can try and adjust the pivot, but it doesn't bug me enough to adjust, yet.

pocket clip is OK to me. first, i LOVE how low the clip makes the knife ride in pocket. Pic Below. ALL pocket clips should let the knife ride low like this. second, i wish it was textured underneath the contact point so it stays put. it is smooth underneath the contact point. so the knife comes in and out pretty easily. i would rather tear up 10 pairs of pants than lose one HEST.:)

nit picky crybaby section:

my knife when closed does have the blade exposed. (pics below). same issue that has been reported. i have been pulling the knife in and out of my pocket for the past few hours and the exposed tip has cause ZERO interference with anything. it doesn't bug me that much. i still want that new stop bar, but i'm not running out to mail in my knife or anything. and the only time the exposed tip has poked me is if i try to jam my finger in there and try to poke myself.:eek:

on my example, on the g10 side, the g10 liner is not perfectly even with the internal liner. the g10 overlaps the liner in a few spots. i can fix this with some sandpaper and a few beers.

also, on my lock real close to the tang on the lock itself it is kind of ugly. like there was an problem with the casting or machining. it does not affect the operation of the lock, its just kinda ugly. pics below. If i look at it in a different light it might be RARE and more valuable because of this! LOL

on the pivot side of my knife there were some tooling marks where someone got a little to happy with the hex wrench. maybe one too many beers. its hard to see but its there. i am just going to assume RYP did this because my knife was special. no biggie that's why i put this in the crybaby section.

conclusion:

a great knife well worth the wait. i plan on ordering a regular production model if i can find one. i will EDC this one until i can get another.

so if you haven't got one or on the fence about getting one. YOU WILL NOT be let down.

suggestion:

i wish the clip was black. maybe sell one separately .

thanks for reading.:D
pics:

blade tip
hestblade.jpg


RARE version frame lock

hestlock.jpg


custom hand adjusted pivot by RYP:D
hestpivot.jpg


added: Pic of HEST in pocket.
hestpocket.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the thoughts and the pics. Still waiting to get mine.
 
Excellent and well thought out review of your HEST/f.

Thanks for sharing it.
 
Sheer awesome. I still love reading the "that tip will catch on everything i can't believe they'd ship it like that!" posts, and then hearing from someone that actually possess the knife that it doesn't catch on anything.

I just can't wait for my production run knife to get here! Thanks for the pics to hold me over.

~Robert
 
Great review.

1) As you know the skull tool (eyeball) removes the clip and it can be coated, painted, replaced etc. You can also swap out the skullbasher for a round screw. Its stainless steel and we can look into coating a clip. We did some tests and it does look sexy

2) Play with tension adjuster (skull tool horns). I like mine loose and thumb tight. Teflon reacts differently to being tightened than brass

3)the Rotoblock smooths out after some use. As does the pivot feel.

enjoy and start cutting!
 
1) As you know the skull tool (eyeball) removes the clip and it can be coated, painted, replaced etc. You can also swap out the skullbasher for a round screw. Its stainless steel and we can look into coating a clip. We did some tests and it does look sexy

Take a little bit of fine sandpaper, and rough it up just a little to allow paint to stick. They carry krylon stainless steel spray paint an any lowe's or home depot, ask if you have to, they'll have what you need.

At least thats what I have done in the past, and it works out fairly well. I was gonna do it when I get mine. (or maybe dark blue? it would go well with blue jeans)

~Robert
 
1) As you know the skull tool (eyeball) removes the clip and it can be coated, painted, replaced etc. You can also swap out the skullbasher for a round screw. Its stainless steel and we can look into coating a clip. We did some tests and it does look sexy.

How about the Titanium Carbide coating for the clip? I'm guessing it would be much more durable than paint... I'd be very interested in one of these.
 
Yes you can coat the clip but its tempered stainless and TiC just slightly darkens it. Milspec or Teflon works better. We didn't go with too many "black" finish because I like the honesty of a naked knife. The blade is coated for reasons mentioned many times before
 
Roger that. Will we be able to buy extra clips with which to experiment?
 
Let me get the first shipment of knives out to customers before I start promising new stuff. But yes we will have parts n' stuff.
 
Ha! No problem. I'm OK with waiting until you're not pulling your hair out... looking forward to getting #20.
 
Overall a very nice compact folder. it is a slighlty thick, but this is due to the thick liners (approx 4mm on each side ), and the very thick spine of the blade (4.8mm). This knife is thicker than i would like for EDC, but it is a hard use knife. i would say it is a compact and dense knife. i like it.
- Can you tell us what the overall width of the folder is? Simple math tells me it is 4mm+4.8mm+4mm=12.8mm?
 
How about the Titanium Carbide coating for the clip? I'm guessing it would be much more durable than paint... I'd be very interested in one of these.

There are several PVD coatings that would work well on the clip, but are expensive. If you had a run of 100 or so it would be a lot cheaper. I'm definitely gonna coat mine when I get it. I may coat the entire knife.
 
There are several PVD coatings that would work well on the clip, but are expensive. If you had a run of 100 or so it would be a lot cheaper. I'm definitely gonna coat mine when I get it. I may coat the entire knife.

I look forward to seeing the results!
 
Well its gonna take awhile to see it cause I don't have my folder yet. I think im in the 2nd production run waiting list. Ha.
I do custom ceramic coatings and films for firearms so I can definitely do a black ceramic coating on someones clip if they want to send it to me.
 
Well its gonna take awhile to see it cause I don't have my folder yet. I think im in the 2nd production run waiting list. Ha.
I do custom ceramic coatings and films for firearms so I can definitely do a black ceramic coating on someones clip if they want to send it to me.

I may take you up on this!
 
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