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- Jul 21, 2007
- Messages
- 167
Just got my Winkler Blue Ridge Hunter in
Everyone's latest acquisitions!
- Thread starter SW-EDC
- Start date
Just got my Winkler Blue Ridge Hunter in
That's quite an interesting assortment you've got!
Booba1000
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2018
- Messages
- 701
Beautiful. I bought the same knife just a few weeks ago
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2018
- Messages
- 5,016
I had a few come in over the last couple of days. Still waiting on a Spyderco McBee and a bunch of titanium hardware and then I think that's all I have left in the mail. 
It's probably time to cool my jets for a bit anyways, lol.
First to come in was the one I've been most excited about. The Quiet Carry Drift 2 with the knurled titanium.
This thing is awesome. Thin blade stock and is thin behind the edge. Very slicey! The knife is a bit thinner overall than I was expecting, which is about the closest to a negative I can think of. I purchased this used, and when it first came in it had an issue with early lockup and sometimes didn't engage all the way. I took it apart, cleaned and lubed it and noticed there was some gunk on the lockbar insert. I cleaned it up, threw it back together and the lockup is perfect now. While taking it apart, I noticed all kinds of things that made me happy. Internal milling, D shaped screw inserts, a custom milled pivot so it doesn't free spin, ceramic detent ball, titanium hardware, titanium scales, Vanax blade, and a freaking LCN200N lockbar insert and overtravel stop! This thing is a serious (rust proof!) piece of work!
I highly suspect that these things are going to be pretty hard to come by over the next year as people become more aware of them.
Next to come in was the North Arm Skaha 2 in carbon fiber.
I've been on the waitlist for one of these for almost a year. I purchased a North Arm fillet knife for myself and my brother and was pretty impressed so I thought I would give the Skaha 2 a try. Now I have to be honest... I was on the waitlist, but I wasn't in any kind of hurry to purchase one. I just didn't see what the hype was about. It's a liner lock, I don't like liner locks. It is linerless, I don't usually like linerless knives. It looks a little funny, like the handle is too long for the blade or something. I figured I would just wait it out for another year or so and then pick one up when my number was finally called. Then North Arm changed it! The new Skaha 2.1 no longer has the mill lines on the blade! They have recently switched to ground blades instead.
To me, that was the only really interesting thing about the knife, and the main reason I wanted to pick one up. So off to the secondary market to get the older version it was.
Holy crap, I should have purchased one a long time ago! This thing is crazy! The action is just something else. It has the most crisp detent I've ever experienced. Seriously. It kind of needs to be felt to understand. It's just... Crisp. Like a piece of glass snapping under your finger or something. It is just soooo satisfying. And it fires like a rocket. And about the blade, yes it has some really cool mill lines... But it's got a lot more going for it than that. The stock is nice and thin and they put a wonderful finish on it. The blade is completely free-falling once you disengage the liner-lock. Drop "shuttyness" doesn't mean much to me, but I guess it's cool. Oh, and the liner-lock! I hate liner-locks. This might finally be the exception to the rule though! The liner-lock is really thick, almost like a frame-lock. That, on top of a very well done thumb ramp, makes the knife easy and comfortable to disengage.
I get the hype now.
And last but not least is a Spyderco Brouwer.
I also purchased this little guy on the secondary market. The pile side scale is quite a bit more scratched than I was expecting, but it's going to be carried and used, so no harm, no foul. This originally came with silver hardware and a green G10 show-side scale, but I thought I'd dress it up a bit. It came with the Lynch clip, and I added the blue titanium hardware and carbon fiber scale. I'm still deciding if I like the carbon fiber scale or not. I think it looks great, but I failed to read the description completely and didn't realize that the scale swap was also a steel liner delete. I tend to like the heft that a steel liner gives a knife, although I'm sure others disagree. The main bummer about the liner delete is that the phosphor-bronze washer now rides directly on the carbon fiber, instead of stainless steel. This has very slightly affected both the action and the centering. The blade is nowhere close to rubbing and the action is still really good (drops shut with the lockbar completely disengaged), but I don't like leaving performance on the table. I might swap it out with a titanium show-side scale and have them stonewashed to match later down the road.
Aside from that I really like the knife. Small, but a very usable size. Nice ergonomics. Just an all around nice knife. I think with a different pocket clip (the placement of the stock clip is terrible) and a little bit more spiffy hardware from the factory, this knife could have been a hit. As it stands, it's a little boring from the factory in my opinion.
It's probably time to cool my jets for a bit anyways, lol.
First to come in was the one I've been most excited about. The Quiet Carry Drift 2 with the knurled titanium.
This thing is awesome. Thin blade stock and is thin behind the edge. Very slicey! The knife is a bit thinner overall than I was expecting, which is about the closest to a negative I can think of. I purchased this used, and when it first came in it had an issue with early lockup and sometimes didn't engage all the way. I took it apart, cleaned and lubed it and noticed there was some gunk on the lockbar insert. I cleaned it up, threw it back together and the lockup is perfect now. While taking it apart, I noticed all kinds of things that made me happy. Internal milling, D shaped screw inserts, a custom milled pivot so it doesn't free spin, ceramic detent ball, titanium hardware, titanium scales, Vanax blade, and a freaking LCN200N lockbar insert and overtravel stop! This thing is a serious (rust proof!) piece of work!
I highly suspect that these things are going to be pretty hard to come by over the next year as people become more aware of them.
Next to come in was the North Arm Skaha 2 in carbon fiber.
I've been on the waitlist for one of these for almost a year. I purchased a North Arm fillet knife for myself and my brother and was pretty impressed so I thought I would give the Skaha 2 a try. Now I have to be honest... I was on the waitlist, but I wasn't in any kind of hurry to purchase one. I just didn't see what the hype was about. It's a liner lock, I don't like liner locks. It is linerless, I don't usually like linerless knives. It looks a little funny, like the handle is too long for the blade or something. I figured I would just wait it out for another year or so and then pick one up when my number was finally called. Then North Arm changed it! The new Skaha 2.1 no longer has the mill lines on the blade! They have recently switched to ground blades instead.
To me, that was the only really interesting thing about the knife, and the main reason I wanted to pick one up. So off to the secondary market to get the older version it was.
Holy crap, I should have purchased one a long time ago! This thing is crazy! The action is just something else. It has the most crisp detent I've ever experienced. Seriously. It kind of needs to be felt to understand. It's just... Crisp. Like a piece of glass snapping under your finger or something. It is just soooo satisfying. And it fires like a rocket. And about the blade, yes it has some really cool mill lines... But it's got a lot more going for it than that. The stock is nice and thin and they put a wonderful finish on it. The blade is completely free-falling once you disengage the liner-lock. Drop "shuttyness" doesn't mean much to me, but I guess it's cool. Oh, and the liner-lock! I hate liner-locks. This might finally be the exception to the rule though! The liner-lock is really thick, almost like a frame-lock. That, on top of a very well done thumb ramp, makes the knife easy and comfortable to disengage.
I get the hype now.
And last but not least is a Spyderco Brouwer.
I also purchased this little guy on the secondary market. The pile side scale is quite a bit more scratched than I was expecting, but it's going to be carried and used, so no harm, no foul. This originally came with silver hardware and a green G10 show-side scale, but I thought I'd dress it up a bit. It came with the Lynch clip, and I added the blue titanium hardware and carbon fiber scale. I'm still deciding if I like the carbon fiber scale or not. I think it looks great, but I failed to read the description completely and didn't realize that the scale swap was also a steel liner delete. I tend to like the heft that a steel liner gives a knife, although I'm sure others disagree. The main bummer about the liner delete is that the phosphor-bronze washer now rides directly on the carbon fiber, instead of stainless steel. This has very slightly affected both the action and the centering. The blade is nowhere close to rubbing and the action is still really good (drops shut with the lockbar completely disengaged), but I don't like leaving performance on the table. I might swap it out with a titanium show-side scale and have them stonewashed to match later down the road.
Aside from that I really like the knife. Small, but a very usable size. Nice ergonomics. Just an all around nice knife. I think with a different pocket clip (the placement of the stock clip is terrible) and a little bit more spiffy hardware from the factory, this knife could have been a hit. As it stands, it's a little boring from the factory in my opinion.
Monofletch
Basic Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2010
- Messages
- 9,371
Civivi Imperium - NitroV
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2006
- Messages
- 207
Guardian Tactical Recon 40. Arrives Friday.
I have these two coming. The Shirogorov will be here tomorrow and the Norseman will be here Friday. Can’t wait!
Oklahoma Outlaw
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- Apr 15, 2021
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- 1,920
sharp_edge
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2015
- Messages
- 5,748
Beautiful 940 scales. Is Rockscale Designs out of business or what? Everything on its website is sold out.