BluegrassBrian
Gold Member
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2015
- Messages
- 1,920
I've had my Skinny (bronze Ti/Dark Matter cf) for about a week now. It's been carried almost every day and I've done some cutting with it at work.
I've always wanted an integral, and when I saw the Skinny I knew it was the one for me. Terrific, slicey, narrow drop point with a good sized swedge in Magnacut.
Super sharp out of the box and smooth action on the flip. Not "drop shut" yet- needs plenty more breaking in.
I'm a bigger guy (6'2 240), so smaller knives that I'd consider handy are often uncomfortably tiny in hand. The Skinny though, has plenty of length and I can get a full 4 finger grip on the handle. No complaints whatsoever for the hand feel.
The point is scary sharp and requires almost no effort to pierce boxes/packaging. Cutting performance has been impressive so far- from cardboard boxes and tape to prepping strawberries/banana/raspberries.
After about 5 days of use I noticed the opening action was beginning to feel tight/slow. Figured it was time to make an adjustment to the pivot.
With it being integral and utilizing an IKBS system, I was a bit wary of what I'd find.
Removing the lock bar and pivot proved to be easy enough and I was happy to find the bearings were in their own (bronze? Brass? Aluminum?) races, accompanied by a washer on either side. Simple and effective, glad I didn't have to deal with loose balls.
So I did a quick clean and applied a loving amount of Frog Lube.
Re-installing was going to be tricky so I donned my magnification glasses. After about 5 minutes of tinkering I finally got the bearings and washers lined up well enough to pop the pivot back in. This is perhaps the biggest issue with an integral handle that I can think of. One of those situations where having a third hand would come in.. AHEM.. handy.
So, back together and it's now slicker than cum on a gold tooth. I'm going to utilize it as my primary paring knife at work today.
The only real negative aspect I've noticed is the pocket clip. It's on the small side and very basic (which I like). Its placement is the issue here. The contact point of the clip falls right at the edge of the frame lock indention. When pocketing the knife, it tends to snag or get caught up because the contact point pushes my pant material into the indention. I've had to lift the clip a bit when pocketing so that it goes in smoothly and completely.
Overall I think it will be a keeper. It's a well made tool with obvious attention to detail (aside from that damn clip). Plenty of color ways to choose from, and if you're broke there's even more aluminum color alternatives.
I give the lionSTEEL Skinny a B+.
I've always wanted an integral, and when I saw the Skinny I knew it was the one for me. Terrific, slicey, narrow drop point with a good sized swedge in Magnacut.
Super sharp out of the box and smooth action on the flip. Not "drop shut" yet- needs plenty more breaking in.
I'm a bigger guy (6'2 240), so smaller knives that I'd consider handy are often uncomfortably tiny in hand. The Skinny though, has plenty of length and I can get a full 4 finger grip on the handle. No complaints whatsoever for the hand feel.
The point is scary sharp and requires almost no effort to pierce boxes/packaging. Cutting performance has been impressive so far- from cardboard boxes and tape to prepping strawberries/banana/raspberries.
After about 5 days of use I noticed the opening action was beginning to feel tight/slow. Figured it was time to make an adjustment to the pivot.
With it being integral and utilizing an IKBS system, I was a bit wary of what I'd find.
Removing the lock bar and pivot proved to be easy enough and I was happy to find the bearings were in their own (bronze? Brass? Aluminum?) races, accompanied by a washer on either side. Simple and effective, glad I didn't have to deal with loose balls.
So I did a quick clean and applied a loving amount of Frog Lube.
Re-installing was going to be tricky so I donned my magnification glasses. After about 5 minutes of tinkering I finally got the bearings and washers lined up well enough to pop the pivot back in. This is perhaps the biggest issue with an integral handle that I can think of. One of those situations where having a third hand would come in.. AHEM.. handy.
So, back together and it's now slicker than cum on a gold tooth. I'm going to utilize it as my primary paring knife at work today.
The only real negative aspect I've noticed is the pocket clip. It's on the small side and very basic (which I like). Its placement is the issue here. The contact point of the clip falls right at the edge of the frame lock indention. When pocketing the knife, it tends to snag or get caught up because the contact point pushes my pant material into the indention. I've had to lift the clip a bit when pocketing so that it goes in smoothly and completely.
Overall I think it will be a keeper. It's a well made tool with obvious attention to detail (aside from that damn clip). Plenty of color ways to choose from, and if you're broke there's even more aluminum color alternatives.
I give the lionSTEEL Skinny a B+.
