I've been trying to stay away from bladeforums for a while because it makes me spend too much money. I had a bit of extra cash though, so I decided to get a Hest/F. After I ordered it, I started looking around and seeing all of the issues people are having, not to mention the ESEE/DPX split. Don't know what happened, don't really care. After a few days of worrying that I might've gotten a lemon, it arrived today and has passed my initial inspection. I have no idea if this is a first or second run. It feels like a well made heavy duty folder to me. Blade snicks out really quick and locks up like a bank vault with almost 3/4 of the lockbar mating the blade ramp. No play vertically or horizontally and is perfectly centered when closed. The ball detent seems pretty strong (a lot stronger than most of my Emerson's) although I could probably flick it open with my wrist if I really tried... would take several tries though. I love that the blade is almost all belly. The fact that the bottle opener (which is awesome by itself) doubles as a wave was an unexpected bonus for me. I typically only carry waved blades anymore.
I do have a few minor gripes though. For a knife in this price range and style, I expected a serial # on the blade. I thought I saw somewhere that the warranty was only good for the initial registered owner? I didn't get a registration card either, so if there is ever a problem, hopefully DPX will fix it anyway. I'm not really a fan of the pocket clip... it seems really bulky, at least compared to an Emerson clip. That doesn't matter much though because I usually carry without the pocket clip in the little front pocket of my jeans... no need to advertise, but there in a flash! The blade isn't hair shaving sharp out of the box, but that will be easily remedied with my Edge Pro! Couldn't they have used bronze phosphor washers instead of nylon? My last complaint is the stupid writing "lock" with the arrow on the rotoblock. Really?!
A couple of complaints I read about from others but don't really bother me are that this knife has some really close tolerances as far as the blade goes when it's closed. The tip on mine is just barely recessed in the handle, but isn't visible. Also, the edge of the blade is super close to the edge of the liners on the lower portion. I can feel it with my thumb if I press down. I don't really worry about cutting myself with it, but it feels like it has a potential for becoming dulled more easily. The other complaint I heard was about the deep relief cut on the lock bar. It is pretty deep, but I compared it to an Emerson liner and it looks like it's at least the same thickness. Feels sturdy enough for me!
All in all, I'm very happy with this knife and I think it's going to see a lot of carry time. I don't typically go for black blades (with the exception of my ESEE knives) but I loved the blade shape and everything else about this that I might just end up scrubbing the coating off instead.
Hopefully DPX will get the kinks worked out because I think this is a pretty darn good pocket knife! Sorry to hear about all of you guys getting lemons. I'm loving mine!