Reate is a Chinese company that produces expensive top quality knives most of which I don't like because they are liner or frame locks (I will not argue about this unbeknownst to most people I know that liner and frame locks are evil creatures from the deepest pits of hell no matter where they are made they all come from incarnate hellish evil end of story.)
When the EXO came out I was very impressed. I loved what I saw in the reviews. Simple, reliable, Sturdy titanium, a high quality steel blade (yea no big deal to me but nice nevertheless.) It was and is expensive but a still a lot less than their other hellish offerings (liners and frame locks grrrrrrrrrr.) The size was to my liking (a blade close to 4 inches.) There was one problem however the free swinging handle did not lock open or closed nor did the handle have any bias toward closing. Looking at that I quickly figured this was a sheath knife only and there was no way I would carry that thing in my pocket if I had even the slightest aversion to lacerating my leg. Bummer I passed.
One day while watching Nick Shabbazz's youtube channel he flashed the relatively newly released EXO-M with a slider switch and made a brief mention of it. I was hooked. People talked and Reate listened and came out with an EXO that can be pocket carried and also had a pocket clip. When looking around I noticed that these were not made in the larger version. I was kind of disappointed however truth be told it was a perfect compact EDC size that most people liked and considered an improvement. It was not a deal breaker for me either.
Despite having a titanium slider safety switch to lock the handle there are no individual non integrated springs. The slide switch including the 2 friction leaf springs that are on each side of the switch is all one piece of milled titanium. Every part the knife except the blade, screws, and handle pivot is titanium. I am not sure what the pocket clip is made of but it looks like stainless steel. Grips are Micarta and the knife comes in three blade choices. CPM 3V in Tanto, drop point, or dagger.
Tolerances are in my opinion perfect for a sliding OTF gravity knife. There is rattle but it's necessary for reliable operation and not enough to effect it's use as a knife. This rattle goes away when you grip the handle. The slide switch on one sample was easy and nice the other was on the rough side and stiff but broke in beautifully and is now my to my taste (firm and easy.) I like it better than the smoother easier one that other perhaps most people would like better. They are both absolutely adequate reliable safely switches.
Weight is 4.3 oz which is fine by me.
One thing you should know is that these things do not like oil anywhere where the blade slides no matter how thin it is applied. Balistol was used on the drop point blade and it significantly slowed the sliding action to downright sluggish. Wiping it down hard to an extremely thin coating made the action acceptable but only a hot water bath with soap and water followed by a vodka rinse to displace water totally removed all oil and restored the knife's snappiness. I was also able to wipe the blade channel by cramming in folded toilet paper. Because of it's open construction I did not have to disassemble anything.
Do not put any oil on any contact points between the blade and blade sliding channel. Oil is fine in the slider switch but see to it that none of that oil strays anywhere else.
During this cleaning I discovered that this action likes water and worked great when soaking wet. Most of the knife is titanium so water on most of it is no issue as far as rust but the steel parts need to be dry of water especially the blade which is not stainless. I have not taken any of these knives apart but there are disassembly videos on youtube if you want an inside look.
The tanto point version did not seem to mind a very thin application of oil. The reason for this is the tanto blade is heavier than the the drop point blade which has a higher grind as a result is lighter. That slight difference in weight makes the drop point unable to tolerate oil anywhere on the sliding contact points. Despite that I still maintain that these things are not made to have the sliding contact points oiled. I imagine that dagger grind blade is even lighter.
I don't know about dry lubes such as rem oil but I really don't think it's needed on this even if it doesn't jam things up.
Lock up what can I say anyone with eye sight or even a good sense of feel can quickly figure this lock is not going fail short of anything but total destruction of the knife or blade. It's open construction allows easy access to quickly see and knock out and/or blow out most debris. If for some reason the gravity function doesn't work you can manually slide the blade open and closed easily via thumb on locking bar.
The condition of lint or debris that jamm up other types of locking mechanisms making them downright unsafe with a lurking nasty injurious surprise does not exist on the Reate design. Direct visualization of the Reate EXO will tell you if anything is not right. Since it is not a folder it will not fold on your fingers.
This thing is not by any means a finicky unreliable gadget on the contrary it's a gravity knife with an AK type of reliability and simplicity. A lot of gravity knives and allmost all OTF switchblades (except for paragon OTFs?) will require disassembly before safely using again (blade may not fully retract into handle) if the sliding channel gets obstructed. This knife does not have those weaknesses.
Is it worth it yes.
Some suggestions:
I love 3V and don't mind it at all but since this thing is mostly titanium putting a highly stainless super steel blade on this would probably make a near rust-proof, safe, reliable sea worthy one hand knife. Will this significantly increase the cost ? If so I can see why they might choose not to.
This is something that I think Reate can do without significant cost increase. Give this thing a box cutter mode by simply milling another pair locking bar cutouts to allow the blade to be locked in a partially open position (tip exposed) making it a better all around utility tool which is an area where this small, reliable, sturdy, one hand knife excels.
When the EXO came out I was very impressed. I loved what I saw in the reviews. Simple, reliable, Sturdy titanium, a high quality steel blade (yea no big deal to me but nice nevertheless.) It was and is expensive but a still a lot less than their other hellish offerings (liners and frame locks grrrrrrrrrr.) The size was to my liking (a blade close to 4 inches.) There was one problem however the free swinging handle did not lock open or closed nor did the handle have any bias toward closing. Looking at that I quickly figured this was a sheath knife only and there was no way I would carry that thing in my pocket if I had even the slightest aversion to lacerating my leg. Bummer I passed.
One day while watching Nick Shabbazz's youtube channel he flashed the relatively newly released EXO-M with a slider switch and made a brief mention of it. I was hooked. People talked and Reate listened and came out with an EXO that can be pocket carried and also had a pocket clip. When looking around I noticed that these were not made in the larger version. I was kind of disappointed however truth be told it was a perfect compact EDC size that most people liked and considered an improvement. It was not a deal breaker for me either.
Despite having a titanium slider safety switch to lock the handle there are no individual non integrated springs. The slide switch including the 2 friction leaf springs that are on each side of the switch is all one piece of milled titanium. Every part the knife except the blade, screws, and handle pivot is titanium. I am not sure what the pocket clip is made of but it looks like stainless steel. Grips are Micarta and the knife comes in three blade choices. CPM 3V in Tanto, drop point, or dagger.
Tolerances are in my opinion perfect for a sliding OTF gravity knife. There is rattle but it's necessary for reliable operation and not enough to effect it's use as a knife. This rattle goes away when you grip the handle. The slide switch on one sample was easy and nice the other was on the rough side and stiff but broke in beautifully and is now my to my taste (firm and easy.) I like it better than the smoother easier one that other perhaps most people would like better. They are both absolutely adequate reliable safely switches.
Weight is 4.3 oz which is fine by me.
One thing you should know is that these things do not like oil anywhere where the blade slides no matter how thin it is applied. Balistol was used on the drop point blade and it significantly slowed the sliding action to downright sluggish. Wiping it down hard to an extremely thin coating made the action acceptable but only a hot water bath with soap and water followed by a vodka rinse to displace water totally removed all oil and restored the knife's snappiness. I was also able to wipe the blade channel by cramming in folded toilet paper. Because of it's open construction I did not have to disassemble anything.
Do not put any oil on any contact points between the blade and blade sliding channel. Oil is fine in the slider switch but see to it that none of that oil strays anywhere else.
During this cleaning I discovered that this action likes water and worked great when soaking wet. Most of the knife is titanium so water on most of it is no issue as far as rust but the steel parts need to be dry of water especially the blade which is not stainless. I have not taken any of these knives apart but there are disassembly videos on youtube if you want an inside look.
The tanto point version did not seem to mind a very thin application of oil. The reason for this is the tanto blade is heavier than the the drop point blade which has a higher grind as a result is lighter. That slight difference in weight makes the drop point unable to tolerate oil anywhere on the sliding contact points. Despite that I still maintain that these things are not made to have the sliding contact points oiled. I imagine that dagger grind blade is even lighter.
I don't know about dry lubes such as rem oil but I really don't think it's needed on this even if it doesn't jam things up.
Lock up what can I say anyone with eye sight or even a good sense of feel can quickly figure this lock is not going fail short of anything but total destruction of the knife or blade. It's open construction allows easy access to quickly see and knock out and/or blow out most debris. If for some reason the gravity function doesn't work you can manually slide the blade open and closed easily via thumb on locking bar.
The condition of lint or debris that jamm up other types of locking mechanisms making them downright unsafe with a lurking nasty injurious surprise does not exist on the Reate design. Direct visualization of the Reate EXO will tell you if anything is not right. Since it is not a folder it will not fold on your fingers.
This thing is not by any means a finicky unreliable gadget on the contrary it's a gravity knife with an AK type of reliability and simplicity. A lot of gravity knives and allmost all OTF switchblades (except for paragon OTFs?) will require disassembly before safely using again (blade may not fully retract into handle) if the sliding channel gets obstructed. This knife does not have those weaknesses.
Is it worth it yes.
Some suggestions:
I love 3V and don't mind it at all but since this thing is mostly titanium putting a highly stainless super steel blade on this would probably make a near rust-proof, safe, reliable sea worthy one hand knife. Will this significantly increase the cost ? If so I can see why they might choose not to.
This is something that I think Reate can do without significant cost increase. Give this thing a box cutter mode by simply milling another pair locking bar cutouts to allow the blade to be locked in a partially open position (tip exposed) making it a better all around utility tool which is an area where this small, reliable, sturdy, one hand knife excels.
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