- Joined
- Apr 8, 2004
- Messages
- 277
I have never bought a knife before without at least some degree of thought as to how it would fit in with how I might use it on a practical level. But this time sheer curiosity drove me to purchase the Pocket Bushman. I've got to tell you, I think this is one fascinating folder; the lock, the construction, the design and the controversy over it all captured my attention.
As for the blade steel, I have a few other of the CS Krupp 4116 knives and have found them to always be more than adequate for my needs; and as with most other of the CS stuff I've purchased it came razor sharp. I don't think I would want it to be the only knife I carried out in some sort of survival situation, but for something to use and abuse I think they're great. So unless I decide to do a little rope cutting testing I won't be commenting here on it's edge holding abilities. Just it's construction and design.
My first impression as I pulled it from the box was that it is certainly a good sized folder. I like mega-folders and have had one of the old Round Eye Sifu's, and still have several examples of the CS Vaquero Grande, XL Voyager Clip Point and the XL Tilite (which also serves as an EDC). With a blade of 4 3/16" and a handle of 5 7/8" I suppose a lot of folks would consider this a mega-folder, I just consider it large. According to my micrometer the blade is 1 1/16" (27mm) wide at it's widest point and the folded steel stock in the handle is 1mm thick. My magnet does indeed confirm that the knife is all of steel construction. I can't find my little Weight Watcher scales (ahh, those were the days, when I was a svelte 150 lbs) so I guess I'll take their word for it when they say it weighs 6.1oz. The website says it's hollow ground, well okay, that's the flattest hollow grind I've ever seen.
This thing is intimidating to open and a one handed opener it is NOT! To open it you've got to overcome that huge spring and it's tension. And whether you're opening or closing it you'd better damn well have your fingers and hand clear of that big exposed locking bar in back because as it goes in and out it will nip you between the lock bar and the frame and it hurts.
This knife is even more intimidating to close due to that huge spring driven lock bar. I had watched Lynn Thompson's video about a dozen times before trying to close it and it is every bit as awkward as it appears. This is a locking mechanism unlike any I have ever seen, but I guess that that is the price you pay for trying to design a folder that's the next best thing to fixed blade. I don't think that there will be any problem with this knife folding up on you. However, when you are folding it you absolutely, positively, without any discussion in the matter MUST have you're fingers clear of the line of travel of the blade!! You have to overcome that spring to both open and close it and that spring drives it shut with considerable force. If you don't keep your fingers clear you will lose a considerable amount of blood and maybe even chip some bone!
The thumb studs are totally useless in trying to open this knife and as I first played with it I thought about removing both them and the clip. If you are thinking about doing so my recommendation is don't. I have found that they both serve as anchor points for your thumbs when closing this knife. There's another thing the clip is good for but I'll talk about that later.
That handle is designed really big to hold that locking mechanism and I find that with my smallish hands it's just about too big. It is 1 3/16" deep at the handle swell and 15/16" deep at the finger cut out, it measures 1/2" thick at the handle swell. But perhaps the most disturbing feature I found about the handle are the edges formed by folding the steel stock around the lock bar. Even though they are nicely rounded and smooth they are still only a millimeter thick and dig into the palm of my hand like twin plates. This is not a knife that I find comfortable to hold in my bare hand and I believe it would actually hurt to try to use it for moderate to heavy cutting.
However...there is one consideration I think must be made for this construction. I tried holding the knife while wearing different styles of gloves. Oh My! This became a totally different knife! The size, the bumps, the curves, the edges, they all worked together to lock that knife in my gloved hand.
If you are needing a big tough knife that seems designed to be used while wearing gloves, I would highly recommend that you look at the Pocket Bushman!
Oh yeah, one last thing, the clip. When we were first looking at the knife I was considering removing the clip because it's position just didn't feel good in my ungloved hand. Of course I later realized that it was needed for an anchor point for me to close the knife. But my friend noticed something else. He clipped it into his pocket just like you would normally carry it and then grabbing the lanyard loop he ripped it from his pocket and struck out with it using it as an impact weapon while holding the loop.
WOW! That knife is one great little club!
However, be warned!! When swinging this knife through empty air the weight of the knife and the forces generated are enough to pull that spring back and the blade will deploy to some degree! And it will deploy point/edge first. Let the potential of that little bit of information sink in.
So like I said, I'm really happy with the novelty of this knife and if I wanted a big folder that I could use as an impact weapon or use while wearing gloves this is the one I would want. This might very well be a great knife for our heroes who are serving this country on foreign fields. But for a little old urban boy like me I think I'll be satisfied with it's novelty.
I hope this review has been of use to somebody. Thanx for reading it
As for the blade steel, I have a few other of the CS Krupp 4116 knives and have found them to always be more than adequate for my needs; and as with most other of the CS stuff I've purchased it came razor sharp. I don't think I would want it to be the only knife I carried out in some sort of survival situation, but for something to use and abuse I think they're great. So unless I decide to do a little rope cutting testing I won't be commenting here on it's edge holding abilities. Just it's construction and design.
My first impression as I pulled it from the box was that it is certainly a good sized folder. I like mega-folders and have had one of the old Round Eye Sifu's, and still have several examples of the CS Vaquero Grande, XL Voyager Clip Point and the XL Tilite (which also serves as an EDC). With a blade of 4 3/16" and a handle of 5 7/8" I suppose a lot of folks would consider this a mega-folder, I just consider it large. According to my micrometer the blade is 1 1/16" (27mm) wide at it's widest point and the folded steel stock in the handle is 1mm thick. My magnet does indeed confirm that the knife is all of steel construction. I can't find my little Weight Watcher scales (ahh, those were the days, when I was a svelte 150 lbs) so I guess I'll take their word for it when they say it weighs 6.1oz. The website says it's hollow ground, well okay, that's the flattest hollow grind I've ever seen.
This thing is intimidating to open and a one handed opener it is NOT! To open it you've got to overcome that huge spring and it's tension. And whether you're opening or closing it you'd better damn well have your fingers and hand clear of that big exposed locking bar in back because as it goes in and out it will nip you between the lock bar and the frame and it hurts.
This knife is even more intimidating to close due to that huge spring driven lock bar. I had watched Lynn Thompson's video about a dozen times before trying to close it and it is every bit as awkward as it appears. This is a locking mechanism unlike any I have ever seen, but I guess that that is the price you pay for trying to design a folder that's the next best thing to fixed blade. I don't think that there will be any problem with this knife folding up on you. However, when you are folding it you absolutely, positively, without any discussion in the matter MUST have you're fingers clear of the line of travel of the blade!! You have to overcome that spring to both open and close it and that spring drives it shut with considerable force. If you don't keep your fingers clear you will lose a considerable amount of blood and maybe even chip some bone!
The thumb studs are totally useless in trying to open this knife and as I first played with it I thought about removing both them and the clip. If you are thinking about doing so my recommendation is don't. I have found that they both serve as anchor points for your thumbs when closing this knife. There's another thing the clip is good for but I'll talk about that later.
That handle is designed really big to hold that locking mechanism and I find that with my smallish hands it's just about too big. It is 1 3/16" deep at the handle swell and 15/16" deep at the finger cut out, it measures 1/2" thick at the handle swell. But perhaps the most disturbing feature I found about the handle are the edges formed by folding the steel stock around the lock bar. Even though they are nicely rounded and smooth they are still only a millimeter thick and dig into the palm of my hand like twin plates. This is not a knife that I find comfortable to hold in my bare hand and I believe it would actually hurt to try to use it for moderate to heavy cutting.
However...there is one consideration I think must be made for this construction. I tried holding the knife while wearing different styles of gloves. Oh My! This became a totally different knife! The size, the bumps, the curves, the edges, they all worked together to lock that knife in my gloved hand.
If you are needing a big tough knife that seems designed to be used while wearing gloves, I would highly recommend that you look at the Pocket Bushman!
Oh yeah, one last thing, the clip. When we were first looking at the knife I was considering removing the clip because it's position just didn't feel good in my ungloved hand. Of course I later realized that it was needed for an anchor point for me to close the knife. But my friend noticed something else. He clipped it into his pocket just like you would normally carry it and then grabbing the lanyard loop he ripped it from his pocket and struck out with it using it as an impact weapon while holding the loop.
WOW! That knife is one great little club!
However, be warned!! When swinging this knife through empty air the weight of the knife and the forces generated are enough to pull that spring back and the blade will deploy to some degree! And it will deploy point/edge first. Let the potential of that little bit of information sink in.
So like I said, I'm really happy with the novelty of this knife and if I wanted a big folder that I could use as an impact weapon or use while wearing gloves this is the one I would want. This might very well be a great knife for our heroes who are serving this country on foreign fields. But for a little old urban boy like me I think I'll be satisfied with it's novelty.
I hope this review has been of use to somebody. Thanx for reading it
