- Joined
- Mar 17, 2002
- Messages
- 1,752
The exact date escapes me but somewhere over two years ago I embarked on a mission to put a Superknife II razor knife through a long term EDC test. A little background first...
As we all know, there's not a real "quality" superknife style knife on the market. Oh sure, there's been whispers of Spyderco coming out with one eventually but overall we're stuck with Taiwan made, blister-packed crapola from the aisles of Lowe's and Home Depot. I had a couple of those clunkers and quickly realized they were trashbin bound. After some research here on the forums, it became clear that the best option for one of these knives was to go with the "original" Superknife. The actual patented brand-name original.
Knowing what kind of junk this style of knife often is, I opted to order mine from AG Russell. That way, if it fell apart (like the Lowe's and Home Depot crap) at least I'd have AG's excellent warranty to fall back on. Sure, we're only talking 20 bucks here, but it's the principle. I'd been burned on these knives before.
Upon first inspection the day the package arrived I was unimpressed. The linerlock slipped back and forth on the tang resulting in some slight blade play. I'd have to be careful and keep that in mind. A potential lock failure with a razor knife isn't a pleasant thought. I was also disappointed in the pocket clip's grip on my jeans. It seemed to slip easily instead of bite like my Spydies. But I was determined to see this through. I wanted an interchangable razor knife and if there wasn't a quality one available, then this 'un would have to do.
Under daily useage it became clear that the warncliff style blade is ultra handy. Man, you can slip that tip under the strongest nylon cable tie and SNAP!! she's cut. Gotta love that. I also quickly found out that Irwin blades are the best. They flex but do NOT break. A few swipes down the white sharpmaker stones and they get seriously sharp all over again. Quarter skinning a grapefruit creates a patina as these blades are carbon steel. Another wonderful aspect of these superknives is when you need to scrape a gasket, the blade just comes right out, no tools required, and you've got a gasket scraper. Very handy.
The open back design is great for cleaning. You can hose this thing down with brake cleaner and use compressed air or tap water to clean it. Nice. The Lowe's model was closed in the back and a pain to clean. As time went on I became accustomed to the less agressive grip the clip had on my pocket seam. It stays put even though it FEELS loose. I guess it has a deep enough hold. Makes it easy to draw from the pocket and get on with the business at hand.
I have a couple of compaints naturally. These problems could be addressed quite simply. Number one, the screws keep coming loose. No amount of loctite seems to help. The pivot screw works loose, the tiny pocket clip "stabilizer" screw. The tiny screw that holds the "roundel" (thumbstud) in place. It is a problem. Number two, the linerlock slips on the tang. I want to stress, however, that I've never had a lock failure and I've never been able to induce one. The lock simply slips so far, then stops. I don't know if the tang needs to be more radiused or what.
Overall, this little knife has more going for it than it has going against it. I've been using this one for savage cutting tasks daily for over two years. I have a spare, ready to go at a moment's notice because I wouldn't want to wait a week for a replacement. That's how much this little workhorse has grown on me. I only carry this knife for work. When I'm dressed casually and relaxin', naturally I have something more upscale clipped to my pocket. After all, I'm a knife snob.
This style of knife screams out for a heavy hitter like Spyderco or Benchmade to produce one. A high end superknife would fill a gaping hole in the industry. Until then, the original will have to do. And two years of daily hard use tells me that she does all right.
As we all know, there's not a real "quality" superknife style knife on the market. Oh sure, there's been whispers of Spyderco coming out with one eventually but overall we're stuck with Taiwan made, blister-packed crapola from the aisles of Lowe's and Home Depot. I had a couple of those clunkers and quickly realized they were trashbin bound. After some research here on the forums, it became clear that the best option for one of these knives was to go with the "original" Superknife. The actual patented brand-name original.
Knowing what kind of junk this style of knife often is, I opted to order mine from AG Russell. That way, if it fell apart (like the Lowe's and Home Depot crap) at least I'd have AG's excellent warranty to fall back on. Sure, we're only talking 20 bucks here, but it's the principle. I'd been burned on these knives before.
Upon first inspection the day the package arrived I was unimpressed. The linerlock slipped back and forth on the tang resulting in some slight blade play. I'd have to be careful and keep that in mind. A potential lock failure with a razor knife isn't a pleasant thought. I was also disappointed in the pocket clip's grip on my jeans. It seemed to slip easily instead of bite like my Spydies. But I was determined to see this through. I wanted an interchangable razor knife and if there wasn't a quality one available, then this 'un would have to do.
Under daily useage it became clear that the warncliff style blade is ultra handy. Man, you can slip that tip under the strongest nylon cable tie and SNAP!! she's cut. Gotta love that. I also quickly found out that Irwin blades are the best. They flex but do NOT break. A few swipes down the white sharpmaker stones and they get seriously sharp all over again. Quarter skinning a grapefruit creates a patina as these blades are carbon steel. Another wonderful aspect of these superknives is when you need to scrape a gasket, the blade just comes right out, no tools required, and you've got a gasket scraper. Very handy.
The open back design is great for cleaning. You can hose this thing down with brake cleaner and use compressed air or tap water to clean it. Nice. The Lowe's model was closed in the back and a pain to clean. As time went on I became accustomed to the less agressive grip the clip had on my pocket seam. It stays put even though it FEELS loose. I guess it has a deep enough hold. Makes it easy to draw from the pocket and get on with the business at hand.
I have a couple of compaints naturally. These problems could be addressed quite simply. Number one, the screws keep coming loose. No amount of loctite seems to help. The pivot screw works loose, the tiny pocket clip "stabilizer" screw. The tiny screw that holds the "roundel" (thumbstud) in place. It is a problem. Number two, the linerlock slips on the tang. I want to stress, however, that I've never had a lock failure and I've never been able to induce one. The lock simply slips so far, then stops. I don't know if the tang needs to be more radiused or what.
Overall, this little knife has more going for it than it has going against it. I've been using this one for savage cutting tasks daily for over two years. I have a spare, ready to go at a moment's notice because I wouldn't want to wait a week for a replacement. That's how much this little workhorse has grown on me. I only carry this knife for work. When I'm dressed casually and relaxin', naturally I have something more upscale clipped to my pocket. After all, I'm a knife snob.
This style of knife screams out for a heavy hitter like Spyderco or Benchmade to produce one. A high end superknife would fill a gaping hole in the industry. Until then, the original will have to do. And two years of daily hard use tells me that she does all right.
How can yo beat that?
