Having stalked this knife for a while i finally decided to pull the trigger, the shop showed it as "availible in 20 days" and for under 140 so i tried it out thinking id have enough time and its probably a mistake with the price anyway.
In two days they send me a message that its in stock and on the way and a day later (today) i received it.
First of all, its really gorgerous, however as a nitpicking perfectionist i decided to mention as many bad things as i can (we all know the good stuff but it is very difficult to find the bad stuff among the amounts of good reviews)
I purchased the G10 version thinking of durability and easy of care - the disadvantage is weight which might or might not be an issue for you (ill mention it a few times more) I really wanted the wood for leight weight and appearance but a good argument of my friend made me decide. "You can always make your own wooden scales" G10 wont break on me.
At first when i get something this expensive (for me it is) i am very careful with it and pay attention to details...
Anyway time to nitpick!
- The fit and finish is very nice, the edge is SLIGHTLY wider at the end and the tip shows me that the right side (looking from top) has been sharpened SLIGHTLY more. its a different of mere tenths of a milimeter
- the inside of the choil (the outsticking part between the handle and the sharp edge) is sharp on the inside (this doesnt matter much since noone touches it, but then the sheath kinda cares about this...
- searching online i got the information that the olive handles have a balance point at the place where the first screw is, compred to that the G10 has its balance point about 1cm further. This makes the knife feel slightly heavy. (i dont have wooden scales to compare it though)
Thats about all i have as far as blade goes all the other nitpicks are about the sheath.
But first, here are some more things i tried with the edge out of the box
paper cut - too easy
push cut tissue paper - nope, cant
shaving arm hair - VERY good
cutting cardboard - bites in easily
shaving facial hair dry - no way - i havent had even a polished edge do that though (i really enjoy the angle of the M4, its right where it should be IMO)
cutting an apple in half with a push - too thick, i had to rotate the apple (didnt want to scratch my table so i did not use too much force)
peeling an apple - I fell like the wooden scales would do a much better job at this, the knife feels very heavy in reverse grip trying to get close control on the edge (It cuts very well though) the balance point makes me hold the knife with a lot force and my finger is right in the walley where the olive scales have their balance point, my hand hurt after a single apple so this isnt the best knife for that. This is not a cooking knife! (it did cut pretty well though)
slicing apple pieces - very good again
Youve all seen it with wood already...
Now about the sheath...
- It comes kinda stiff, i would like to treat it somehow (PLEASE HELP, here are things i have home and could maybe use? Shoe cream, linseed oil for wood, cooking oils like sunflower and olive, water.. wd40? i dont know anymore.. suggestions welcome)
- the button is not perfectly centered
- Pulling the knife out takes some force, which is okay, opening the rivet takes quite some force too (i know how to solve this, do you?)
- Putting the knife back the knife gets stuck a whole 5 times. Since the knife is very sharp i am careful with leather and dont want to cut it.
The first stop is when the handle hits the end of the belt loop (probably wont happen with the belt on)
The second stop is when the tip of the blade hits the leather hump inside (tried to put it in sliding on the handle, side, top and havent found a 100% succes in not stabbing the leather)
The third stop is when the sharp edge of the knife hits the strap of the leather (which wont allow it to continue until moved out of the way)
The fourth stop is when the scales hit the metal part holding the strap (its a rivet too right?) Interesting thing to notice is that the top part where the button rivet is, is covered with some piece of cloth tape or so,
while the bottom rivet is uncovered (the rivet isnt sharp though)
- i might try to cover it with something later. (A permanent solution would be to attach this strap to the back side of the sheaths belt loop, it would be hidden and as far as i can see it would still work the same.)
And finally the retention of the sheath stops it for the fifth time
I admit that most of these dont happen when you are more forceful and just push it in but i dont want to cut the sheath. the strap for example i believe will loosen up with time, but already now due to the sharp edge it has marks on it (ive had the knife for around 20 minutes)
- Due to the stiffness of the sheath i barely could fit my belt through - which i actually like it holds firmly (but the button is stronger nevertheless)
- You cant put it on when your belt is already on (the M5 had this option, i wonder why they changed it)
- I havent found a single spot on my belt where it would be comfotable to take out and put in with one hand.
I am right handed -
Left side for cross draw - best option but not ideal
Right side - uncomfortable in my shoulders both in and out, cant really grab it - im quite flexible at that
back side - cant see or feel anything
I guess i will have to come up with a good way to carry it and make a sheath. It does fit in my deep pocket though.
- The sheath for G10 could be black, as i heard mentioned in some thread, it does stick out quite a lot on my black pants
- The sheath hang very low and thus is exposed even more and isnt very conceal-able, i can imagine a cross draw carry sheath very well.
Allright thats everything i got. I think.
The sheath is really high quality and the leather is really nice and so is the knife. TBH i forget every nitpick when i use the knife, it is a worker. Does its job VERY well.
Already after about ten minutes of resheating most of the problems are not happening so often, but they still happen.
I really tried to be as negative as possible but this knife is really good.
EDIT: added pictures, i hope they will stay up but i have no experience with the picture site