Damascus EDC, the start of a journey: Est. 2017 (w. Feb 2024 update).

[kidcongo]

kidcongo did you buy yours originally with a silver thumbstud or did you polish it?

Mine is factory silver (double) thumbstuds

 

[sailfish]

Mine is factory silver (double) thumbstuds

I polished mine off in a haste because I didn't really care for the way it looked new but now I'm wishing I gave it a chance to wear in on its own.

 

[kidcongo]

I guess I’m a boring guy. This same knife keeps going back in pocket. Just can’t quite get over it. The mix of mundane and special just does it for me. Definitely my favourite CRK.

 

[sailfish]

The mix of mundane and special just does it for me.

This was almost word for word my exact thoughts on the damascus/plain combo. Such a unique, special blade with not much else on the knife to draw attention from it.

 

[kidcongo]

This was almost word for word my exact thoughts on the damascus/plain combo. Such a unique, special blade with not much else on the knife to draw attention from it.

Nice knife!

yeah, when you think about it, with many knives almost all of the decoration and artistry is found in the handle as opposed to the blade, with inlays and anodized colours and different woods and materials and fancy locking mechanisms and decorative pocket clips etc, etc, etc.

The PJ Sebenza with a Damascus blade turns that equation on its head, with the blade being the star of the show.

 

[sailfish]

While I still find my CF scale 21 to probably be my favorite, this one seems to have worked its way to the #2 spot. After getting acquainted with these two, inlaid models almost seem... obese. And these satisfy that streamlined look and feel while offering a little more for the eye than pure plain. Now a damascus tanto, that would be the last knife I'd ever want again.

 

[loon#r]

Nice looking!

Nice choice, here's my Bog oak, with CN Damascus,

 

[KrisNZ]

Got to agree with you fellas, love my PJ Damascus,

I guess I’m a boring guy. This same knife keeps going back in pocket. Just can’t quite get over it. The mix of mundane and special just does it for me. Definitely my favourite CRK.

This was almost word for word my exact thoughts on the damascus/plain combo. Such a unique, special blade with not much else on the knife to draw attention from it.

 

[abbazaba]

This thread is great!

 

[kidcongo]

This thread is great!

Beautiful photos!

 

[abbazaba]

Beautiful photos!

Thank you! Here's another from a couple days ago. I keep thinking about polishing all that blue off the hardware, most of it's gone from the stud anyway.

 

[Silverstonev8]

Thank you! Here's another from a couple days ago. I keep thinking about polishing all that blue off the hardware, most of it's gone from the stud anyway.

Do it

 

[mattstauffer]

This was a very interesting thread to read through and now I have a strong a desire to carry this Mnandi more!

 

[kidcongo]

So my old Micarta 21 (first CRK) has kicked this Raindrop CRK knife outta my pocket for a while. I have no doubt, at all, that my Raindrop PJ 21 is my favourite CRK of all time. Actually returning to my 1st 21, I am missing the edge holding of the Chad Nichols raindrop. My old Micarta 21 was from the era of 58 Rockwell, and may even be softer than that! I love that old knife, but the edge goes dull so fast.

Anyways......I was getting obsessed with my Raindrop 21 so it has to go away for a while. Don’t want to become too attached.

Snail trails are very hard to photograph. The sun was out the other day, so I snapped these pics in no particular order. These are not good photos, but hopefully give a person and idea of what the aging process looks like on this type of knife.

What you should notice, is that although all of the greyish, etched surface is now gone from this well-used blade, the Raindrop pattern remains plainly visible. It’s way past that ‘awkward stage’, when only the area around the thumb stud shows polish, and now is fully worn in. Still beautiful, and totally functional. A great knife.

 

[kidcongo]

A couple more. Love this thing

:

 

[sailfish]

I am missing the edge holding of the Chad Nichols raindrop. My old Micarta 21 was from the era of 58 Rockwell, and may even be softer than that! I love that old knife, but the edge goes dull so fast.

So CN damascus holds better than the 58 s35. How do you think it compares to your old DT blade?

 

[krazichinaman]

Love all the photos of the damascus users! I want one, but am holding out to one day of having an Insingo variant as its my favorite blade shape....One can dream and hope!

 

[kidcongo]

So CN damascus holds better than the 58 s35. How do you think it compares to your old DT blade?

Honestly, the majority of the miles I’ve put on this knife have been with the Chad Nichols blade so I don’t have a detailed comparison in my mind. The Devin Thomas blade got its crack at the thumstud pretty early in the life of this knife, and I was not paying as much attention to edge holding at the time (I’ve learned a lot in the last three years).

Keep in mind my 58HRC S35VN Sebenza 21 Micarta is what I would say is the worst possible example of CRK heat treat. I would guess that knife is on the very lowest end of the scale, as it has the worst edge-holding of any CRK or Spyderco I own.

In short: the CN Damascus is likely similar to the DT Damascus in edge retention, and both are equal to my other CRK S35VN and S30V CRK knives, excluding my S35VN Micarta 21, which seems to be the “softest” blade in my collection. The CRK heat treat on their Damascus blades is good-to-go for actual use and EDC.

Hope this makes sense.

 

[brock stewart]

My cn demascus is my favorite edc. Edge retention is close enough to the same as my s35. And it sharpens just as easily but looks way better imho

 

[Pitek]

Great thread, many useful info!!

All pictures much appreciated, in fact looking at those hardwear polished blades helped me to decide on choosing small PJ damascus for my folder.

I know it won’t be easy to find one..

Thanks all