Hello and a Happy New Year to everyone! A special thanks to TJT and Boker for puting on this contest and a hearty congratulations to Daywalker for designing and getting this knife into production.
I won the the SUBCOM from Boker and thought I would share my opinions about this little knife with you. This is going to be a little wordy, but hopefully it will help you make an informed decision and keep things in perspective if you are thinking of buying this knife.
I'd first like to make a few statements before I give you my impressions. I am 45 years old, 6'2" tall and weigh in at about 215lbs and am in good shape. I am not a ninja warrior, but can handle myself just fine if the need arrises. What I do not use my knives for are things like building shelters, piercing car doors, digging trenches, battling the forces of evil. What I do use my knives for are cutting food, opening packages, cutting rope, sharpening a pencil once in awhile, digging slivers out of my fingers, etc. Pretty mundane stuff and pretty easy duty for nearly any knife.
Also, I am pretty much a slipjoint guy. Though I do have my share of one handed openers from other manufacturers, I always seem to carry my trusty Boker Tree Brand Stockman and Vic Tinker and Rambler. Since I work at an after school program for at risk middle schoolers, it's not appropriate for me to carry a knife clipped to my pocket. However, I have been given special permission to carry and use my pocket knives because I am the "fix-it" guy along with my other duties.
A word about blade steels. I do have a Kershaw Chive, which people seem to really like, which has a blade steel of 420. I have a Spyderco Jester which has a blade steel of AUS-6. My Boker stockman has good old 1095 carbon steel blades. And of course my Vic's. These steels work fine for what I use my knives for and I make no excuses for their performance. Yes, I have other knives which have the D2, BG-42, 154CM blades. But for what I do, they are pretty much overkill. They are nice, but I could easily live without them.
Ok, onto the SUBCOM! When I received this knife it was larger than I anticipated, which is fine as it fits my hand very nicely when open. For me, opening it took a few minutes to figure out the best place to put my thumb on the stud to open it smoothly. What works very well for me is to place my thumb on the part of the thumbstud closest to the tip of the blade as I can, which is close to the logo. Those who have this knife will be able to see what I am talking about. Since I do not clip knives to my pocket I decided to let it ride inside my pocket. This works out very well as it's wide enough that it doesn't really flip over. So when I reach into my pocket, it's there and I don't have to fumble around to find the thumbstuds to open it.
Though this knife leans towards being used for self defense it is perfectly happy performing my mundane cutting chores. Because the handle and choil are designed the way they are, you would be hard pressed to slip and cut yourself. The way it's designed, you have very little chance of cutting yourself by closing it one handed as well.
The thin blade makes this a nice slicer, which encompasses the majority of my cutting needs. The only place it really isn't well suited for is slicing up fruit, the blade just isn't really long enough. That's to be expected however for a knife this size and is not a negative against it.
The edge stays acceptably sharp for me, and bringing it back to shaving sharp is quick and easy. I used my belt to strop it and know others have used the back of note pads. Obviously, a very dull blade would be easy to bring back as well.
All and all, this is a robust little knife which would serve anyone nicely should they decide to buy one. Again, the materials currently being used are perfectly acceptable for this knife in my opinion. You can clip it to a pocket, drop it inside a pocket, or carry it around your kneck on a chain and it would work well.
Is it worth the asking price of about $40.00. Since it's a unique design by one of our own good guys no less, made by a reputable company, and performs well, I would say yes it is.
I won the the SUBCOM from Boker and thought I would share my opinions about this little knife with you. This is going to be a little wordy, but hopefully it will help you make an informed decision and keep things in perspective if you are thinking of buying this knife.
I'd first like to make a few statements before I give you my impressions. I am 45 years old, 6'2" tall and weigh in at about 215lbs and am in good shape. I am not a ninja warrior, but can handle myself just fine if the need arrises. What I do not use my knives for are things like building shelters, piercing car doors, digging trenches, battling the forces of evil. What I do use my knives for are cutting food, opening packages, cutting rope, sharpening a pencil once in awhile, digging slivers out of my fingers, etc. Pretty mundane stuff and pretty easy duty for nearly any knife.
Also, I am pretty much a slipjoint guy. Though I do have my share of one handed openers from other manufacturers, I always seem to carry my trusty Boker Tree Brand Stockman and Vic Tinker and Rambler. Since I work at an after school program for at risk middle schoolers, it's not appropriate for me to carry a knife clipped to my pocket. However, I have been given special permission to carry and use my pocket knives because I am the "fix-it" guy along with my other duties.
A word about blade steels. I do have a Kershaw Chive, which people seem to really like, which has a blade steel of 420. I have a Spyderco Jester which has a blade steel of AUS-6. My Boker stockman has good old 1095 carbon steel blades. And of course my Vic's. These steels work fine for what I use my knives for and I make no excuses for their performance. Yes, I have other knives which have the D2, BG-42, 154CM blades. But for what I do, they are pretty much overkill. They are nice, but I could easily live without them.
Ok, onto the SUBCOM! When I received this knife it was larger than I anticipated, which is fine as it fits my hand very nicely when open. For me, opening it took a few minutes to figure out the best place to put my thumb on the stud to open it smoothly. What works very well for me is to place my thumb on the part of the thumbstud closest to the tip of the blade as I can, which is close to the logo. Those who have this knife will be able to see what I am talking about. Since I do not clip knives to my pocket I decided to let it ride inside my pocket. This works out very well as it's wide enough that it doesn't really flip over. So when I reach into my pocket, it's there and I don't have to fumble around to find the thumbstuds to open it.
Though this knife leans towards being used for self defense it is perfectly happy performing my mundane cutting chores. Because the handle and choil are designed the way they are, you would be hard pressed to slip and cut yourself. The way it's designed, you have very little chance of cutting yourself by closing it one handed as well.
The thin blade makes this a nice slicer, which encompasses the majority of my cutting needs. The only place it really isn't well suited for is slicing up fruit, the blade just isn't really long enough. That's to be expected however for a knife this size and is not a negative against it.
The edge stays acceptably sharp for me, and bringing it back to shaving sharp is quick and easy. I used my belt to strop it and know others have used the back of note pads. Obviously, a very dull blade would be easy to bring back as well.
All and all, this is a robust little knife which would serve anyone nicely should they decide to buy one. Again, the materials currently being used are perfectly acceptable for this knife in my opinion. You can clip it to a pocket, drop it inside a pocket, or carry it around your kneck on a chain and it would work well.
Is it worth the asking price of about $40.00. Since it's a unique design by one of our own good guys no less, made by a reputable company, and performs well, I would say yes it is.
