This is the Cold Steel Kudu, model number 20K. It's based off of the South African Okapi, a folding knife that locks with a ring that you must pull to release the lock. Here's the review:
Specifications and Impressions The Kudu is 4.8" closed. The handle is Zytel, and has a wood grain feel to it because of the texture. There is a stainless kudu horn fastened to the left side of the handle. The blade is 4.25" long, and is a clip point. No serrations on this one. The left side of the blade has the Kudu logo, while the right side has the Cold Steel logo above the word "CHINA". There are two Torx (T-8) screws, one on each side of the blade pivot, for tension adjustment. The blade locks open via a ring, which in this case, is a standard 1" keyring. You pull the keyring back, and then close the knife while holding it back. The lock is pretty stiff, and takes a little bit of getting used to. I say this after being very familiar with the Opakis, so it's a bit tough.
The blade is made from Cold Steel's 4116 Krupp stainless steel, and is hardened to 56-57 Rc. From my experience, the Krupp steel is just a fancier name for 420 steel. It came out of the box shaving sharp, but had a few grain marks on the edge. A minute on a ceramic and strop cleaned them up. The Krupp stuff is a little tough to sharpen, but not too terrible. It also has five notches on the tang, so you can close the blade gradually while getting used to the lock and without cutting yourself.
The knife locks open very firm, and stays there until you really want it closed. If you're not familiar with the locking mechansim, Cold Steel gives you a sheet of paper with instructions. It's important not to close the knife too fast, or you'll cut yourself.
All in all, this is a good knife. It's not the carbon steel that I like in a Okapi, but it's good. I paid $5.50 for it. This will most likely be a working knife. I may be done with Cold Steel's Krupp line though, as it seems like I can get a really good carbon steel knife for the same price. Opinels and Sodbusters are at a very close price, as is a Mercator or Mora. For $5.50, I might (or might not) buy one more of these for use in the tacklebox.
Specifications and Impressions The Kudu is 4.8" closed. The handle is Zytel, and has a wood grain feel to it because of the texture. There is a stainless kudu horn fastened to the left side of the handle. The blade is 4.25" long, and is a clip point. No serrations on this one. The left side of the blade has the Kudu logo, while the right side has the Cold Steel logo above the word "CHINA". There are two Torx (T-8) screws, one on each side of the blade pivot, for tension adjustment. The blade locks open via a ring, which in this case, is a standard 1" keyring. You pull the keyring back, and then close the knife while holding it back. The lock is pretty stiff, and takes a little bit of getting used to. I say this after being very familiar with the Opakis, so it's a bit tough.
The blade is made from Cold Steel's 4116 Krupp stainless steel, and is hardened to 56-57 Rc. From my experience, the Krupp steel is just a fancier name for 420 steel. It came out of the box shaving sharp, but had a few grain marks on the edge. A minute on a ceramic and strop cleaned them up. The Krupp stuff is a little tough to sharpen, but not too terrible. It also has five notches on the tang, so you can close the blade gradually while getting used to the lock and without cutting yourself.
The knife locks open very firm, and stays there until you really want it closed. If you're not familiar with the locking mechansim, Cold Steel gives you a sheet of paper with instructions. It's important not to close the knife too fast, or you'll cut yourself.
All in all, this is a good knife. It's not the carbon steel that I like in a Okapi, but it's good. I paid $5.50 for it. This will most likely be a working knife. I may be done with Cold Steel's Krupp line though, as it seems like I can get a really good carbon steel knife for the same price. Opinels and Sodbusters are at a very close price, as is a Mercator or Mora. For $5.50, I might (or might not) buy one more of these for use in the tacklebox.
