- Joined
- Feb 25, 2001
- Messages
- 6,675
I picked up a CRKT Bladelock this weekend, so I figured Id do a short write-up for everybody. Ill use the Camillus EDC for most comparisons, just because I love all of the EDCs features. The EDC is also about the same price.
The first thing you notice when picking up the BladeLOCK is that it feels like a tank. It has that overbuilt feeling of a Buck 110. Well not that heavy, but you get the idea. This is a big honker of a knife. Actually opening the knife takes a little practice. You push in on the thumb stud to unlock the blade, and then draw the knife open. You only have to have the thumb stud pushed in for the first part of the opening. It then locks into place once its fully opened. I will mention that the thumb stud is awfully close to the pivot, much closer than on my EDC. This gives a slight mechanical disadvantage when opening the knife. You then push back in on the thumb stud to unlock the knife and close it up. I have not had any problems closing the BladeLOCK like others have. All of my fingers are still intact.
As for the ergonomics of the handle, I like the feel. The handle just happens to be exactly the right size for my hand. The EDC actually runs a little small for my hand. The Zytel inserts on the handle have a nice grippy texture that adds to the very nice thumb grooves on the blade itself. You get a very secure hold on the BladeLOCK. I can see some people with smaller hands complaining of pocket clip discomfort. The end of the clip rests right between my middle and forefinger, but might not on smaller hands.
I know that many people dislike AUS6 steel, but its okay for me. It holds a reasonably good edge. At least it wasnt bead blasted like my Point Guard and KFF. Actually, the finish is nicer than my similarly finished EDC. The blade on my combo edge model is very thick and hollow ground to a chisel grind. Ive never used a chisel grind before, so I thought Id try it out. More on that later. If you hate chisels, youll have to live with the plain edge model. The shape of the blade is quite the opposite of the EDC. The edge is quite straight and long until is upsweeps slightly to a very pointy point. My dad would call it a pig sticker. It may not pack the cutting power of a recurve, but points do come in handy sometimes. The BladeLOCK, with its chisel grind and straight edge should be MUCH easier to sharpen than my EDC; a big plus in my book.
Seeing that Im just an average guy, and not a knife maniac, Ill let other people fight over the merits of the blade length. Theres a lot of extra space here. You dont get that maximum amount of blade for the size of the handle like on an EDC. The BladeLOCKs handle is much longer than an EDCs, but only gives you an extra 1/8 of useable edge. But since the handle fits my hand perfectly, lots of blade length would just be icing on the cake. 3 1/8 of usable edge is fine for me.
The pocket clip sticks out a little further than Id like, which may cause some problems with scratching your car door when brushing up aside it. I much prefer the near perfect rounded clip of the EDC. The EDC has the best pocket clip made IMHO. The BladeLOCK clip also doesnt make for deep pocket carry. A lot of knife sticks out of the pocket. This may be good for tip up carry, but makes no difference to me. I will say that the knife clips in my pocket very securely
So do I see any big problems? My only big gripe is the thumb stud. The thumb mechanism leaks oil like my old Isuzu pickup. You can wipe the oil off a hundred times, and still end up with oil on the pocket of your pants. Maybe thatll calm down in a week or so, but I dont like a lubrication point exposed to my clothing.
The big plus for me is the Zytel scales. I can easily see replacing them with some nice wood. The job should be a piece of cake since the scales just sit atop the extremely thick liner.
Oh yah. The CRKT says that this lock could be the strongest on the market. I'll let the axle handle reviewers find out if this is true. All I know is that I'm right handed, so the lack of ambidexterity means nothing to me personally.
Well, thats about it for first observations. Ill give the BladeLOCK a week or so of use and see how I feel.
The first thing you notice when picking up the BladeLOCK is that it feels like a tank. It has that overbuilt feeling of a Buck 110. Well not that heavy, but you get the idea. This is a big honker of a knife. Actually opening the knife takes a little practice. You push in on the thumb stud to unlock the blade, and then draw the knife open. You only have to have the thumb stud pushed in for the first part of the opening. It then locks into place once its fully opened. I will mention that the thumb stud is awfully close to the pivot, much closer than on my EDC. This gives a slight mechanical disadvantage when opening the knife. You then push back in on the thumb stud to unlock the knife and close it up. I have not had any problems closing the BladeLOCK like others have. All of my fingers are still intact.
As for the ergonomics of the handle, I like the feel. The handle just happens to be exactly the right size for my hand. The EDC actually runs a little small for my hand. The Zytel inserts on the handle have a nice grippy texture that adds to the very nice thumb grooves on the blade itself. You get a very secure hold on the BladeLOCK. I can see some people with smaller hands complaining of pocket clip discomfort. The end of the clip rests right between my middle and forefinger, but might not on smaller hands.
I know that many people dislike AUS6 steel, but its okay for me. It holds a reasonably good edge. At least it wasnt bead blasted like my Point Guard and KFF. Actually, the finish is nicer than my similarly finished EDC. The blade on my combo edge model is very thick and hollow ground to a chisel grind. Ive never used a chisel grind before, so I thought Id try it out. More on that later. If you hate chisels, youll have to live with the plain edge model. The shape of the blade is quite the opposite of the EDC. The edge is quite straight and long until is upsweeps slightly to a very pointy point. My dad would call it a pig sticker. It may not pack the cutting power of a recurve, but points do come in handy sometimes. The BladeLOCK, with its chisel grind and straight edge should be MUCH easier to sharpen than my EDC; a big plus in my book.
Seeing that Im just an average guy, and not a knife maniac, Ill let other people fight over the merits of the blade length. Theres a lot of extra space here. You dont get that maximum amount of blade for the size of the handle like on an EDC. The BladeLOCKs handle is much longer than an EDCs, but only gives you an extra 1/8 of useable edge. But since the handle fits my hand perfectly, lots of blade length would just be icing on the cake. 3 1/8 of usable edge is fine for me.
The pocket clip sticks out a little further than Id like, which may cause some problems with scratching your car door when brushing up aside it. I much prefer the near perfect rounded clip of the EDC. The EDC has the best pocket clip made IMHO. The BladeLOCK clip also doesnt make for deep pocket carry. A lot of knife sticks out of the pocket. This may be good for tip up carry, but makes no difference to me. I will say that the knife clips in my pocket very securely
So do I see any big problems? My only big gripe is the thumb stud. The thumb mechanism leaks oil like my old Isuzu pickup. You can wipe the oil off a hundred times, and still end up with oil on the pocket of your pants. Maybe thatll calm down in a week or so, but I dont like a lubrication point exposed to my clothing.
The big plus for me is the Zytel scales. I can easily see replacing them with some nice wood. The job should be a piece of cake since the scales just sit atop the extremely thick liner.
Oh yah. The CRKT says that this lock could be the strongest on the market. I'll let the axle handle reviewers find out if this is true. All I know is that I'm right handed, so the lack of ambidexterity means nothing to me personally.
Well, thats about it for first observations. Ill give the BladeLOCK a week or so of use and see how I feel.
